-
Views
-
Cite
Cite
David Melding AM, British Politics: A Very Short Introduction, Parliamentary Affairs, Volume 68, Issue 1, January 2015, Pages 218–221, https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gst027
Close - Share Icon Share
Extract
Towards the end of this lucid little book, Tony Wright with an almost audible sigh says ‘A weak parliament has been the other face of strong government’ (p. 88). This statement is one of a string of home truths uttered in the course of a 120 page analysis that is thoughtful, clear and relevant. Wright speaks with the precision of an academic but also the passion of a former practitioner. He loves Parliament, understands and values the complexities of the British parliamentary tradition, but cries from the heart for a more ‘constitutionalised’ political system. Calling his book an introduction to British politics is a complete misnomer, as Wright delivers an emphatic judgement on the British constitution. It is a judgement that is free of jargon or circumlocution and instead hits home directly in phrase after pungent phrase.
Let us start the account with the comfortable platitude that the king was thrown out of Parliament—or at least the House of Commons—an action which set in place the cornerstone of parliamentary government. Well Charles I may have been sent packing but executive authority soon crept back into the chamber and became increasingly dominant. Where the Stuarts failed Britain's prime ministers have succeeded with disturbing alacrity. As Wright puts it ‘government controlled the House of Commons … and was able to convert the formal sovereignty of Parliament into the effective sovereignty of the executive’ (p. 57). Perhaps more sinisterly for those promoting political accountability, ‘a range of prerogative powers that were formerly possessed by the monarch … had transferred intact to the prime minister, by-passing the legislature on the way’ (p. 53). Separation of powers? No, their fusion in fact!
