News

Assisted dying bill: Special series #2 - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 71

31 Jan 2025

In this special episode we have an exclusive conversation with Dame Elizabeth Gardiner, the former head of the government’s Office of Parliamentary Counsel, who drafted the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. This is a rare insight into the legislative process from the person who crafted the bill that MPs are now scrutinising.

Dame Elizabeth reveals how she was approached to draft the bill on a pro bono basis, the legal challenges she navigated, and how she worked closely with the Bill’s sponsor, Kim Leadbeater MP, to shape the legislation. She offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the drafting process, explaining how existing laws, international precedents, and parliamentary constraints influenced her approach.

Mark and Ruth also dissect the key takeaways from this week's Public Bill Committee evidence sessions, including concerns over medical safeguards, judicial oversight, and the role of government in shaping the final legislation. With over 147 amendments already tabled, the bill faces intense scrutiny in the coming weeks.

Tune in for an in-depth discussion on the future of assisted dying law in the UK, the political dynamics at play, and what comes next in this historic parliamentary process.

Dame Elizabeth Gardiner

Dame Elizabeth Gardiner is a lawyer and former senior civil servant who served as the First Parliamentary Counsel—the Government’s chief drafter of legislation—from 2015 to 2024. She began her career in the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel in 1991, honing her expertise in legislative drafting over three decades. Following her tenure as First Parliamentary Counsel, she played a key role in 2024-25 drafting the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, a proposed law to legalise assisted dying, working closely with the Bill’s sponsor, Kim Leadbeater MP.

Hansard Society

Parliament

Please note, this transcript is automatically generated. There may consequently be 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.

[00:00:00] Intro: You are listening to Parliament Matters, a Hansard Society production, supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Learn more at hansardsociety.org.uk/pm.

[00:00:17] Ruth Fox: Welcome to Parliament Matters, the podcast about the institution at the heart of our democracy, Parliament itself. I'm Ruth Fox.

[00:00:24] Mark D'Arcy: And I'm Mark D'Arcy, and welcome to the second in our special series of mini pods devoted entirely to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, the bill that aims to legalise assisted dying.

[00:00:35] Ruth Fox: This week, MPs on the committee examining the bill have heard from nearly 50 witnesses across three jam packed days of intensive evidence taking.

[00:00:44] Mark D'Arcy: They're now taking a week off. in order to digest what they've been hearing. But in the meantime, Ruth, we've got a bit of an exclusive for the listeners.

[00:00:51] Ruth Fox: Yes, so we've been talking to Dame Elizabeth Gardiner. Until recently, the government's chief drafter, she's the person who's actually drafted the bill that MPs are now looking at. And, well, drafters, Mark, they rarely speak in public about their work, and certainly not on podcasts. So we were really pleased she agreed to come on the pod.

[00:01:12] Mark D'Arcy: Well, we're delighted to welcome to the pod now Dame Elizabeth Gardiner, who was the drafter of the bill on assisted dying. And Elizabeth, first of all, can you tell us how you got that role? Because it was a pro bono thing that you did. How were you approached? What was the arrangement that was made, if you like?

[00:01:29] Elizabeth Gardiner: So I retired from the civil service at the beginning of last year. And I hadn't planned to do any drafting, and then somebody who I used to work with contacted me to see whether either I would be interested in producing this bill or if I knew anybody who might be. As you may know, the drafting resources are in very short supply across the world, so people are always looking out for people who might undertake this sort of work.

[00:01:53] And I thought about it and decided that I would be quite interested in doing it, as you say, on a pro bono basis.

[00:02:00] Mark D'Arcy: And Parliamentary Counsel, the specialist lawyers who, who draft laws, are, as you say, in pretty short supply. But you did have quite a range of attempts to create a law on this subject from all sorts of jurisdictions across the globe.

Subscribe to Parliament Matters

Use the links below to subscribe to the Hansard Society's Parliament Matters podcast on your preferred app, or search for 'Parliament Matters' on whichever podcasting service you use. If you are unable to find our podcast, please email us here.

News / Parliament Matters Bulletin: What’s coming up in Parliament this week? 19-23 May 2025

Stella Creasy MP and Richard Tice MP will lead a backbench debate on the EU–UK summit. The Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a joint session with its Ukrainian counterpart on Russian misinformation. MPs will question the Defence Secretary, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Northern Ireland Secretary. Scrutiny of seven Government bills will continue in both Houses. Debate topics in the Commons will include an e-petition on transgender self-identification, and support for local pubs. On the Committee corridor, highlights include sessions on the security of undersea cables and the accessibility of the parliamentary estate. Michael Gove will be formally introduced to the House of Lords as its newest member.

18 May 2025
Read more

Submissions / Status and rights of independent MPs in Parliament – Our evidence to the House of Commons Procedure Committee

Our evidence on the status and rights of independent MPs has been published by the House of Commons Procedure Committee. Our submission summarises the direct and indirect references to political parties in the Standing Orders and whether they might apply to groupings of independent MPs, analyses whether small parties and independent groupings face disadvantages, particularly in relation to committee membership, and considers whether parliamentary publications should distinguish between the many different kinds of independent MP.

12 May 2025
Read more

Blog / The Planning and Infrastructure Bill: What happens when detail is deferred?

The Hansard Society has long raised concerns about the Government's increasing tendency to present undeveloped legislation that lacks detailed policy and grants ministers broad delegated powers to fill in the gaps later. This practice undermines effective parliamentary scrutiny, by preventing MPs and Peers from fully assessing how powers may be used, (or misused), in the future. The weak system for overseeing delegated legislation—especially in the Commons—exacerbates the problem. Several powers in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill currently before Parliament highlight these ongoing issues.

14 May 2025
Read more

News / Assisted dying bill: Special series #12 - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 93

Is Kim Leadbeater's Assisted Dying Bill now "over the hump?" The Bill's supporters got it though its first day of Report Stage consideration in the House of Commons unscathed, with comfortable majorities in every vote. So, with debate on the most contentious set of amendments disposed of, will it now coast through its remaining scrutiny days in the Commons? Please help us by completing our Listener Survey. It will only take a few minutes.

17 May 2025
Read more

Submissions / Evidence to the House of Commons Modernisation Committee: Priorities and strategic aims

In response to the Modernisation Committee's call for views on 17 October 2024, we submitted evidence outlining key areas we believe the Committee should prioritise. Our submission recommended a focus on: strengthening legislative scrutiny, with particular emphasis on reforming the delegated legislation system; enhancing financial scrutiny, especially in relation to the Budget and the Estimates; addressing strategic gaps in parliamentary scrutiny; making more effective use of parliamentary time; and reviewing the Standing Orders, language and rituals of the House of Commons.

01 Apr 2025
Read more