Constitutional Crossroads and Coalition Politics

The changing nature of political engagement, and declining levels of political participation have led to some calling for less partisan politics, and more pragmatic and inclusive forms of governing.

Could we see more consensual forms of government coming out of this period of disaffection and disillusionment?

This project, funded by the British Academy and led by Felicity Matthews, addresses these questions by exploring the implications of UK coalition government following the 2010 general election, which produced the first hung parliament in nearly forty years, and the first formal coalition government since 1940-5.

The outcome of this election challenged the conventional expectations of Westminster politics, and this research directly responds to this conundrum.

It offers an analysis of the interplay between coalition politics, the prevailing institutional norms of Westminster and the broader governing structures of the United Kingdom. In doing so, it explores the extent to which the ‘Westminster model’  has been transformed by more consensual forms of governing.

In 2015, “The watchdogs of ‘Washminster’ – parliamentary scrutiny of executive patronage in the UK” by Felicity Matthews and Matthew Flinders was published in Commonwealth and Comparative Politics. It focuses on the parliamentary scrutiny of public appointments in the UK and reveals how select committees have accrued increasing powers to challenge ministerial appointments and how this has resulted in a series of unintended consequences that raise critical concerns regarding the overall added-value of pre-appointment scrutiny.

Also in 2015, “Inaction and reaction – Coalition government and constitutional reform in the United Kingdom” by Felicity Matthews was published in British Politics. It is the first complete in-depth analysis of the 2010-2015 Coalition Government’s record on the constitution, focusing on the gap between rhetoric and reform, and the way in which constitutional traditions have confounded the ability to effectively manage the tensions that exist within the UK’s uneasy settlement.