The changing constitution

Norton, Philip

Abstract

Demands for reform of the constitution grew. Many of those demands were met by the Labour Government elected in May 1997, with major changes being made to the constitutional framework of the country. Less expectedly, more constitutional change took place under the Coalition Government formed following the General Election of 2010 and the Conservative Governments returned in and after 2015. The constitution of the United Kingdom differs from most in that it is not drawn up in a single codified document. Even in countries with a formal, written document, ‘the constitution’ constitutes more than the simple words of the document. Statute law is the pre-eminent of the four sources and occupies such a position because of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. The constitution, formed on the basis of the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and developed in the following three centuries, has four principal features. The traditional constitution as so described was in place for most of the twentieth century.

Citation

Norton, P. (2021). The changing constitution. In B. Jones, P. Norton, & I. Hertner (Eds.), Politics UK (348-373). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003028574

• Online Publication Date: Jul 29, 2021
• Publication Date: Jul 29, 2021
• Deposit Date: Apr 1, 2022
• Publisher: Routledge
• Pages: 348-373
• Book Title: Politics UK
• Chapter Number: 15
• ISBN: 9780367464059 ; 9780367464028
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003028574
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3884686