They discuss why Parliament has legislative Sessions that begin with State Opening and end with Prorogation, and disagree over whether it’s time to abandon the pageantry!
Mark and Ruth then head off to the House of Lords to meet Professor the Lord Norton of Louth to discuss the subject of his new book, the 1922 Committee of the Conservative Party, which has risen to prominence in recent years due to the number of Conservative Party leadership elections. The 1922 Committee was not founded in 1922 and it is not a Committee, so what is it? And is the selection of party leaders by the party membership really compatible with our system of parliamentary democracy?
Parliament Matters is supported by a grant from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, a Quaker trust which engages in philanthropy and supports work on democratic accountability.
![©House of Lords [CC BY 4.0 Deed]](https://images.ctfassets.net/n4ncz0i02v4l/1O81zmM7MLzqCaQuWkh03I/03d68c82198ff239f157544270c04179/Philip_Norton_Lords_Official_Portrait_1x1.jpg?fm=avif&fit=fill&q=60&w=1500&h=1500&f=center)
©House of Lords [CC BY 4.0 Deed]
Lord Norton is Professor of Government, and Director of the Centre for Legislative Studies, at the University of Hull. He was appointed to his professorial chair in 1986 and elevated to the peerage in 1998. The author of over 35 books, his most recent work is The 1922 Committee: Power Behind the Scenes.
Lord Norton is a member of the Hansard Society, the former Director of Studies for our international Hansard Scholars programme, and a member of our Delegated Legislation Review. He chairs the History of Parliament Trust and the Higher Education Commission, is President of the Study of Parliament Group and Editor of The Journal of Legislative Studies.
Mark D'Arcy, Co-host, Parliament Matters
"What you're seeing is a Victorian romantic conception of medieval monarchy... You might as well be in Narnia. It's a conception of government that is way, way, way out of date now. It's 19th century romanticism about the Middle Ages raised up into the shell for a Parliament in the 21st century."
"...there'll be provisions to say that these specific clauses will come into force straightaway or it may say they will come into force after a particular event or a particular date, or it will be left open to ministers to decide when they come into force. And if they don't commence them, then they never come into force... famously the Act that set the date of Easter has never been commenced."
Dr Ruth Fox, Co-host, Parliament Matters & Director of the Hansard Society
Hansard Society
House of Commons Library
State Opening of Parliament – history and ceremonial David Torrance
Lord Norton
The 1922 Committee: Power Behind the Scenes Philip Norton, Manchester University Press (2023)
Please note, this transcript is automatically generated. There are consequently minor errors and the text is not formatted according to our style guide. If you wish to reference or cite the transcript copy below, please first check against the audio version above. Timestamps are provided above each paragraph.
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:34:00
You are listening to Parliament Matters, a Hansard Society Production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Learn More at hansardsociety.org.uk/pm. Hello and welcome to Parliament Matters, the new podcast from the Hansard Society about the institution at the heart of our democracy - Parliament itself. I'm Ruth Fox and I'm Mark D'Arcy. Every week we're going to be analysing what's going on behind the Gothic facade of Westminster.
00:00:34:02 - 00:00:52:00
We'll be explaining how the system works and hearing about the latest research on the workings of parliaments and politics, and looking back at key moments of parliamentary history. We're going to talk in this episode about The King's Speech, the new laws the government has proposed, the State Opening of Parliament. And indeed, why do we have a State Opening of Parliament?
00:00:52:01 - 00:01:23:22
Why do we have this slightly strange system of parliamentary cycles that start with The King's Speech and closed with the prorogation ceremony providing a sort of hard stop to the legislative agenda? And then we'll be talking to Lord Norton, political savant and Tory peer who dropped by to discuss the 1922 Committee, the mysterious institution whose inhabitants may or may not wear gray suits, but who can make or break a conservative prime minister.
00:01:23:24 - 00:01:46:05
But first, The King's Speech. The King's Speech is the beginning of a parliamentary year. It's when His Majesty sets out on behalf of the Prime Minister of the day the program of laws they're planning to pass in the coming year. But we all know that an election is due in the next 12 months or so. So how much of what's being proposed this time around is actual law that they want to get on the statute book?
00:01:46:11 - 00:02:08:13
And how much is political performance art? I suppose you might say something intended to create dividing lines with labor, something intended to set up the debates of the next general election. Ruth, you've been looking at the list. Yes. So the 21 bills that the government has has identified. Of course, the thing to remember is the government can bring bills in that are not in The King's Speech.
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The UK Spending Review outlines how Government funds will be allocated over several years. Unlike the Budget, which raises revenue, the Review decides how it is spent. But how is it approved? What role does Parliament play if it doesn’t vote on the Review itself? This blog explores how the Spending Review works, how it differs from the Budget, and how Parliament holds the Government to account through the Estimates process.
On Friday 13 June, the House of Commons will once again debate the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which would legalise assisted dying in England and Wales. Specifically, it will hold a second day of Report Stage, during which the whole House will debate and vote on amendments. This briefing explains the structure of Report Stage, what happened on the first day of Report Stage, how amendments are selected and grouped, on which amendments a decision can still be taken, and the likely sequence of events this Friday, including whether a final vote will take place.
The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves MP, will deliver a statement on the Spending Review. MPs will resume Report Stage of the assisted dying bill and debate key legislation on football governance, mental health, and planning and infrastructure. Peers and MPs are expected to resolve their standoff over AI and copyright in the Data (Use and Access) Bill. The Commons Defence Committee will hear from the lead reviewers of the Strategic Defence Review, while a Lords Committee will examine the Chagos Archipelago sovereignty issue. The Hansard Society’s Director will give evidence to the Modernisation Committee about access to the House of Commons and its procedures.
In this episode, we explore why ministers keep bypassing Parliament to make major announcements to the media — and whether returning to the Despatch Box might help clarify their message. We unpack the Lords' uphill battle to protect creators’ rights in the Data Use and Access Bill, challenge claims that the Assisted Dying Bill lacks scrutiny, and examine early findings from a Speaker’s Conference on improving security for MPs, as threats and intimidation against politicians continue to rise. Please help us by completing our Listener Survey. It will only take a few minutes.
Our evidence on treaty scrutiny has been published by the House of Lords International Agreements Committee. Our submission outlines the problems with the existing framework for treaty scrutiny and why legislative and cultural change are needed to improve Parliament's scrutiny role. Our evidence joins calls for a parliamentary consent vote for the most significant agreements, a stronger role for Parliament in shaping negotiating mandates and monitoring progress, and a sifting committee tasked with determining which agreements warrant the greatest scrutiny.
