https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0676-9622
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Alistair Clark, Louise Thompson, Editorial: On the Aims and Scope of Parliamentary Affairs, Parliamentary Affairs, Volume 77, Issue 2, April 2024, Pages 215–218, https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsae003
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Extract
Writing shortly after taking over in 2007, two of our predecessors as editors of Parliamentary Affairs—Jocelyn Evans and Steven Fielding—situated their development of the journal firmly within the sense of crisis that was developing around parliament and party politics towards the end of that decade, not only in Britain but also elsewhere. They pointed to the Hansard Society’s wider aim of educating the public about parliament, and how Parliamentary Affairs had been designed to combat ignorance and cynicism about parliament and the representative process.
The sense of crisis around parliamentary and representative politics has only increased since. Consider some of the events that have occurred since that 2007 editorial. The years from 2008 onwards saw the global financial crisis and the implementation of austerity in the UK and elsewhere. It is not an overstatement to suggest that the political and economic effects of those policies are still being felt today. The year 2009 saw the parliamentary expenses scandal in the UK, something that had far-reaching implications for MPs, how parliament regulates those MPs, and for trust and cynicism about politics. Questions around how best to regulate the conduct of members continue to be raised. This includes questions around standards more generally, but also issues of sexual harassment and bullying. In the UK, there have been referendums on Scottish independence in 2014 and on leaving the EU in 2016. The decision to leave the EU brought profound consequences for the UK. These consequences have impacted upon parliament, raising questions about parliamentary sovereignty, the relationship between individual MPs and their constituencies, and the government’s attitude towards parliament, with various attempts by Prime Ministers from 2017 to bypass or undermine it. They have also had an impact on political parties and Britain’s place in the world, both in terms of economics and international politics.
