‘The Metropolitan Police has dropped its investigation into betting on the date of the general election, saying the bar for misconduct in public office had not been met.’
The Independent, 24th August 2024
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued a reprimand to the Electoral Commission after hackers gained access to servers that contained the personal information of approximately 40 million people.’
Local Government Lawyer, 30th July 2024
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The recent general election saw the Labour Party being elected with a majority of 171 seats in Parliament. The following morning, in his first speech as Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer claimed the nation had given the Labour Party a “clear mandate”. Similarly, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, stated the British people had voted for change and she had “begun the work necessary to deliver on that mandate” by implementing the economic ideas set out in the Labour Party’s manifesto. Lastly, in one of his first acts as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband’s lifting of the onshore wind ban was justified on the grounds of the new Labour government being “elected with a mandate to take immediate action to boost Britain’s energy independence”. Overall, there has been a heavy emphasis on the direct relationship between the electoral mandate given by the British people and the implementation of policies.
Whether intentional or not, this speaks to a socialistic-constitutional tradition that developed within the Labour Party from 1900 to 1951. This tradition saw a reformulation of the Diceyan view of parliamentary sovereignty in the British constitution. More specifically, it departed from a legal notion of sovereignty and understood the authority of the elected majority in Parliament, its legislators, and its political and policy agenda as deriving from the citizenry themselves. As such, reframing sovereignty as popular sovereignty was the basis for implementing an uninhibited, electorally sanctioned, social and economic agenda. The short and simple aim of this post is to provide a legal-historical account of this reimagination of sovereignty by key figures within the Labour Party.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 22nd July 2024
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘Lord chancellor Alex Chalk has lost his Cheltenham parliamentary seat, becoming the first cabinet minister to be defeated on a dramatic general election night.’
Law Society Gazette, 5th July 2024
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Fears that fake news could influence the outcome of the general election have led to calls for an immediate change in rules on reporting on polling day.’
The Independent, 27th June 2024
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘The essence of public administration, good or otherwise, is the exercise of public power. Decision-makers who are vested with statutory and common law powers to be exercised strictly in the public interest must actually exercise those powers if they are to fulfil their roles. As to how those powers are exercised, in the United Kingdom’s constitutional arrangements, like most other contemporary representative democracies, elected politicians pursue policies which may become law through Parliament’s enactment of legislation or may be adopted by the Executive as policy to shape the exercise of statutory powers in practice.’
Landmark Chambers, 28th May 2024
Source: www.landmarkchambers.co.uk
‘The Lord Chancellor has completed his review of the whiplash tariff but it is unclear whether the plan to publish it in early June will now happen because of the election.’
Legal Futures, 24th May 2024
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The Conservatives and Labour have held talks to work out what outstanding legislation can be rushed through parliament to become law before the Commons closes for the general election.’
The Independent, 23rd May 2024
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘The Conservatives’ promise to abolish no-fault evictions before the election will not happen, sources have told the BBC.’
BBC News, 24th May 2024
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Campaign organisation Good Law Project has sent a letter before action to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, regarding his response to a report by the Electoral Commission on the impact of the voter ID requirements.’
Local Government Lawyer, 15th February 2024
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘An estimated 3 million Britons living abroad for more than 15 years will regain their right to vote in all elections in the UK from Tuesday, ending 20 years of broken promises by successive UK governments.’
The Guardian, 16th January 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Labour is seeking to delay until after the general election a court case against five former staff alleging they leaked a report concerned with the party’s handling of antisemitism complaints, as its costs were said to have apparently soared to £1.4m.’
The Guardian, 6th October 2023
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Voters must now show photo ID at UK Parliamentary elections, police and crime commissioner elections and at local elections in England. This briefing looks at the background to voter ID in the Great Britain.’
House of Commons Library, 18th September 2023
Source: commonslibrary.parliament.uk
‘Warning policy could disproportionately effect poorer people, those with disabilities and those from minority ethnic backgrounds.’
The Guardian, 13th September 2023
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Confidence in the UK’s electoral regulator has been thrown into question after it emerged a hostile cyber-attack accessing the data of 40 million voters went undetected for a year and the public was not told for another 10 months.’
The Guardian, 8th August 2023
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The prospect of an election being challenged by an election petition is something that will no doubt form the stuff of nightmares for many of the readers of this magazine. However, it may happen and the recent case of Afzal v Khan & Ors [2023] EWHC 376 (KB)1 has given the High Court the opportunity to set out the law on some of the powers an Election Court has in deciding an Election Petition, in particular as to what it should do when the Petitioner decides they no longer wish to pursue it.’
4-5 Gray's Inn Square, 1st June 2023
Source: www.4-5.co.uk
‘The Electoral Commission has revealed it will conduct a “full report” on the May 2023 local elections, which will analyse the impact of the voter ID requirement.’
Local Government Lawyer, May 2023
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The introduction of voter ID in England has left a number of people, often from more marginalised groups, unable to cast ballots in local elections – although some officials’ fears of widespread chaos did not materialise.’
The Guardian, 4th May 2023
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘This article is intended to serve as an update on the new voter identification rules that have been introduced as a result of the voter identity requirements provisions contained in the Elections Act 2022. Save to note that, prior to its enactment, the proposed legislation attracted considerable debate as to whether the historic level of electoral fraud, and in particular personation, within the United Kingdom justified the introduction of these requirements the author does not intend to cover the arguments for or against them.’
4-5 Gray's Inn Square, 7th March 2023
Source: www.4-5.co.uk
‘A rare sitting of the Election Court has agreed to withdraw a petition for a council election to be declared void after receiving “conclusive evidence” that the petitioner handed packets of dates to potential voters.’
Law Society's Gazette, 28th February 2023
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
© Inner Temple Library 2024