The Future of Parliament: Issues for a new century

290 Pages·2005·2.72 MB·English

by  Philip Giddings (eds.)

The Future of Parliament
Also by Philip Giddings
THE OMBUDSMAN, THE CITIZEN AND PARLIAMENT, 2002 (co-author with
Roy Gregory)
THE OMBUDSMAN: PRESENT PRACTICE AND FUTURE PROSPECTS, 1995
(co-editor with Roy Gregory)
PARLIAMENTARY ACCOUNTABILITY: A Study of Parliament and Executive
Agencies, Macmillan, 1995 (editor for the Study of Parliament Group)
RIGHTING WRONGS: The Ombudsman in Six Continents, IOS Press, 2000
(co-editor with Roy Gregory)
WESTMINSTER AND EUROPE: The Impact of the European Union on the
Westminster Parliament, Macmillan, 1996 (co-editor with Gavin Drewry)
BRITAIN IN THE EUROPEAN UNION: Law, Policy and Parliament, 2004,
Palgrave Macmillan (co-editor with Gavin Drewry)
The Future of Parliament
Issues for a new century
Edited for the Study of Parliament Group by
Philip Giddings
Senior Lecturer in Politics
University of Reading
© Editorial Matter and Selection and chapters 17, 19 and 22 © Philip
Giddings 2005 chapters 1–16, 18 and 20–21 © Palgrave Macmillan Ltd 2005
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2005 978-1-4039-9527-8
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The future of Parliament : issues for a new century / edited for the Study of
Parliament
Group by Philip Giddings.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Great Britain. Parliament–History–20th century. 2. Great Britain.
Parliament–Reform. I. Giddings, Philip James. II. Study of Parliament Group.
JN550.F88 2005
328.41′09′051–dc22 2005045256
Contents
List of Tables vii
Notes on Contributors viii
Preface xii
Part I Prospects for Change
1 Forty Years On and a Future Agenda 3
Michael Ryle
2 What of Parliament’s Future? 12
Nevil Johnson
Part II A Changing Parliament
3 The Make-Up of Parliament 25
Byron Criddle, Sarah Childs and Philip Norton
4 Career Patterns and Professionalisation 37
Michael Rush
5 A Changing Culture 50
Michael Rush and Sarah Childs
Part III Watching the Government: Parliament and
Scrutiny
6 Objects and Questions 67
Philip Giddings and Helen Irwin
7 Parliament and Public Money 78
John McEldowney and Colin Lee
8 Select Committees: Scrutiny a` la carte? 88
David Natzler and Mark Hutton
9 Scrutiny At and Beyond the Fringe 98
Matthew Flinders
10 The House of Lords: A Chamber of Scrutiny? 107
Donald Shell
Part IV Making the Law: Parliament and Legislation
11 Parliament’s Role and the Modernisation Agenda 117
Dawn Oliver, Paul Evans, Colin Lee and Philip Norton
v
vi Contents
12 Modes of Scrutiny 125
Dawn Oliver, Paul Evans, Philip Norton and Colin Lee
13 Untouched by Reform – Private Members Bills and Delegated
Legislation 133
Dawn Oliver, David Miers and Paul Evans
14 Less is More? 145
Dawn Oliver, David Miers and Paul Evans
Part V Guarding the Citizenry
15 Time for Coherence: Parliament and the Constitutional
Watchdogs 149
Oonagh Gay
16 Judges, Lawyers and Parliament 165
Dawn Oliver and Paul Evans
Part VI The World Beyond Westminster
17 To War or Not to War? That is the Question 187
Philip Giddings
18 Devolution: From One Parliament to Four 201
Barry K. Winetrobe
19 Westminster in Europe 215
Philip Giddings
Part VII Parliament and Media
20 The Challenge of Adaptation 231
Ralph Negrine and Colin Seymour-Ure
21 New Media and Parliamentary Democracy 242
Stephen Coleman
Part VIII Conclusion
22 Purpose and Prospects 257
Philip Giddings
Appendix: Publications by the Study of Parliament Group 270
Bibliography 276
Index 283
List of Tables
Table 3.1 The socio-economic backgrounds of MPs, 1951 and
2001 26
Table 3.2 Women elected in general elections, 1945–2001 29
Table 3.3 Labour candidates by type of seat at the 1997
General Election 31
Table 3.4 The occupational experience, hereditary and life
peers 1981 33
Table 3.5 The occupational experience of members of the
House of Lords, 1981 and 2000 35
Table 4.1 MPs achieving ministerial or parliamentary Office,
1945–97 41
Table 4.2 The importance of serving as a minister or chair
of a select committee 42
Table 5.1 Number of rebellions by government MPs,
1945–2001 50
Table 5.2 Number of government defeats in the House of
Commons, 1945–2001 51
Table 5.3 Divisions in the House of Lords involving
intra-party dissent, 1999–2002 53
Table 5.4 Number of government defeats in the House of
Lords, 1974–2001 53
Table 5.5 Participation by government and opposition
backbenchers, 1947–48 and 1994–95 55
Table 5.6 Participation by government and opposition
backbenchers, 1947–48 and 1994–95 55
Table 5.7 Participation by government and opposition
backbenchers, 1947–48 and 1994–95 56
Table 5.8 Question: How important are the following roles
in your work as an MP? 61
Table 5.9 The most important part of the job of being an MP,
1994 and 1999 62
Table 6.1 Number of Questions on Commons Order Paper,
22–25 June 1964 71
Table 6.2 Number of Questions on Commons Order Paper,
21–24 June 2004 72
vii
Notes on Contributors
Sarah Childsis Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Bristol.
She has written widely on women and British Politics. Her book New
Labour’s Women MPswas published in 2004.
Stephen Colemanis Professor of e-Democracy at the Oxford Internet
Institute and a fellow of Jesus College Oxford. He was formerly
Director of Studies and Director of the e-Democracy programme at the
Hansard Society.
Byron Criddleis Reader in Politics at Aberdeen University, co-author
of The Almanac of British Politicsand Parliamentary Profiles, and a con-
tributor to the Nuffield election series.
Paul Evanshas been a Clerk in the House of Commons since 1981. He
is the current Chairman of the Study of Parliament Group and has con-
tributed to a number of SPG publications. The fifth edition of his
Handbook of House Commons Procedure was published by Dod’s
Parliamentary Communications in 2004.
Matthew Flindersis Reader in Politics and Sub-Dean, Faculty of Social
Sciences, at the University of Sheffield. His books include The Politics
of Accountability in the Modern State (Ashgate, 2001) and Multi-Level
Governance.
Oonagh Gayis head of the Parliament and Constitution Centre in the
House of Commons Library. She joined the Library in 1983 and has
specialised in parliamentary and constitutional issues since 1992.
Philip Giddings is Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of
Reading. He has edited and contributed to a number of books on
Parliament, including ‘Britain in the European Union’ (2004). He is a
former Secretary of the Study of Parliament Group.
Mark Huttonis currently the Clerk of the Defence Committee. He has
previously worked on the Foreign Affairs, Transport and Welsh Affairs
Committees. He was one of the Assistant Editors of the 23rd edition of
viii
Notes on Contributors ix
Erskine May. He is a former Treasurer of the Study of Parliament
Group.
Helen Irwinis Principal Clerk, Table Office in the House of Commons.
She first joined the Department of the Clerk of the House in 1970. She
is a former Secretary of the Study of Parliament Group.
Nevil JohnsonisEmeritus Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford, wherefrom
1969–96 he was Reader in the Comparative Study of Institutions.He has
written widely on parliamentary institutions in both Britain and Germany
as well as on the British constitution.He joined the Study of Parliament
Group in 1964 and is a past chairman of the Group.
Colin Leehas been a Clerk in the House of Commons since 1988 and
is a former Official Secretary of the Study of Parliament Group.
John McEldowney is Professor of Law at the University of Warwick.
He has written on many aspects of public law including public finance
and has advised the House of Lords Select Committee on the Con-
stitution on the new EU Constitution and on the role of Parliament
in the legislative process. He has been a member of the Study of
Parliament Group Executive and editor of its Newsletter since 1994.
David Miers is Professor of Law, Cardiff University. He has written
extensively on the preparation and interpretation of legislation and on
the role of Westminster in its making and scrutiny. He is a former
Academic Secretary of the Study of Parliament Group and is currently a
member of its Executive Committee. He is manager of Wales legislation
online, a database that analyses the functions devolved to the National
Assembly for Wales: http://www.wales-legislation.org.uk.
David Natzler is currently Secretary of the House of Commons
Commission, and has been a select committee clerk on and off since
1979. From 2001 to 2004 he was one of the Principal Clerks supervising
select committees.
Ralph Negrine is Professor of Political Communication in the
Department of Journalism Studies, University of Sheffield. His main
interest lies in the relationship between politics, politicians and the
media and he has written several books on these topics, including
‘Parliament and the Media’ (1998).