The Government and Politics of Britain and Northern Ireland

Background Devolution – the transfer of specific powers to regional government from central government which it is subordinate to; Parliament manages important issues like defence but Stormont now has control over education and policing Britain has had political power over Ireland since the late 12th century, however this was only asserted in 1541 when Henry VIII was granted the title of King of Ireland Ireland has had its own parliament for a majority of British rule until 1801 when the Irish parliament was suspended During the second half of the 19th century there was a move to try and restore Home Rule to Ireland however this was paused during the First World War After WW1 the debate between Home Rule and the Union lead to the Irish Civil War until 1921 when the issue was resolved with the Act of Partition which created the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland During several extended periods of the Troubles there was direct rule, i.e. NI was ruled directly by Westminster and local government had no power The problems were mostly resolved in the Good Friday Agreement and subsequent St Andrews Agreement which devolved certain powers to the Stormont government Direct Rule – Northern Ireland governed by the Northern Irish Office in Westminster; no local government leading to a democratic deficit Nationalist – believing that Northern Ireland and Ireland should become one single independent country Unionist – believing the union between Great Britain and Northern Ireland should be maintained

Northern Irish Politics “Your white house is bigger than my White House.” – George W. Bush Our politicians are called MLAs – Members of Legislative Assembly There are 108 MLAs in the Assembly; each constituency in Northern Ireland is represented by 6 MLAs We have a wide range of political parties in the Assembly; Democratic Unionist Party, Sinn Fein, Ulster Unionist Party, Social Democratic and Labour Party, Alliance Party, Green Party, Traditional Unionist Voice, NI21, UKIP and two MLAs who are independent of any political party affiliation These parties designate themselves as Unionist, Nationalist or Other in order to ensure there is proportionate representation of all communities in the Executive and Committees Our government is lead by a First Minister and Deputy First Minister (Peter Robinson and Martin McGuiness); these posts have equal powers and are filled by the leaders of the largest unionist and nationalist parties in the Assembly To ensure one side doesn’t dominate the other we have cross community voting on certain matters, this means a majority of unionists and a majority of nationalists must vote in favour of a decision/bill/action in order for it to go ahead Peter Robinson DUP First Minister Martin McGuiness Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister

The Westminster Legislature The Queen’s Speech – the Government’s Manifesto for their term in office 650 MPs (Members of Parliament) from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales Elected every 4-5 years; the Prime Minister decides when the election will be The main legislative chamber in Parliament The Monarch is not allowed to enter the House of Commons ever The Commons is dominated by the three main parties; Labour, Liberal Democrats and Conservatives Based in London, the Houses of Parliament are the sovereign legislative body in the UK, powers have been devolved (transferred) to the Scottish Parliament, and Welsh and Northern Irish Assemblies Like Congress it is a bicameral system Made up of a diverse mix of hereditary and Life Peers The 92 hereditary peers have inherited their title but must be voted in by their fellow peers Life Peers are appointed by the Prime Minister, they are respected experts in their fields and keep their title for the duration of their life but it can not be inherited by anyone The Lords are not elected therefore are not distracted by campaigning and can act freely following their heads and hearts They can delay bills passed in the Commons provided they are not finance bills or fulfilling the Queen’s Speech; they cannot vote against the bill again after the year House of Commons House of Lords

The British Executive The government is the party with the largest number of MPs in the House of Commons The leader of the party chooses MPs to take up government positions and form the Cabinet The next largest party forms the opposition If no party gains enough votes to have a parliamentary majority this is called a Hung Parliament and a party with a large number of MPs will join with a party of a moderate number of MPs to form a coalition government such as the one currently in existence David Cameron Prime Minister Conservatives Nick Clegg Deputy Prime Minister Liberal Democrats Ed Miliband Leader of the Opposition Labour

First Past the Post The Candidate with the most votes wins A 19 B 2 C 3 D 1 Candidate Votes A 10 B 8 C 2 D 5 Situation 1 – A wins with an outright majority of votes Situation 2 – A wins but has gained less than 50% of the total votes First Past the Post leads to governments with less than 50% public support and introduces the argument of wasted votes, i.e. you waste your vote if you don’t vote for the winning candidate However, FPTP greatly reduces the chances of a coalition government which would have a negative effect of the efficiency and effectiveness of government. The current coalition under Cameron is the first since the Second World War

Single Transferable Vote Candidates voted for in order of preference Example, there are 3 seats available and 4 candidates (A, B, C and D) Candidate Preference A 1st B 2nd C 3rd D 4th Candidate Preference A 1st B 3rd C 2nd D 4th Candidate Preference A 2nd B 1st C 3rd D 4th Candidate Preference A 3rd B 2nd C 4th D 1st 1st Preference Votes - A=2, B=1, C=0, D=1 A wins the first seat 2nd Preference Votes - A=1, B=2, C=1, D=0 B wins the second seat 3rd Preference Votes - A=1, B=1, C=2, D=1 C wins the last seat 4th Preference Votes have no direct impact

D’Hondt System Government of Conciliation – both sides of the community (unionist and nationalist) represented proportionately D’Hondt is used to appoint the Stormont government to ensure a government of conciliation: Number of Votes for a Party x 100 Number of seats available The party with the largest result gets to choose a governmental position first. After a party makes a their nomination their result is halved and the next highest result gets to choose a position then their result is halved. This continues until there are no more government positions left. Party Result A 40 B 16 C 12 D 11 Party Result A 20 B 16 C 12 D 11 Party Result A 10 B 16 C 12 D 11 Party Result A 10 B 8 C 12 D 11 Party Result A 10 B 8 C 6 D 11 Result - A has 2 nominations, B and C have 1, and D has none

The Judiciary and the Separation of Power The idea of separation of power requires that the principle institutions of the state, the executive, legislature and judiciary should be clearly divided in order to prevent tyranny. None of the three branches should exercise control over the other, nor should any person be a member of all three. By creating separate institutions it would be possible to have a system of checks and balances between them. Unlike the US the UK doesn't have a written constitution nor a classic separation of power.

History Since the creation of the UK Supreme Court in 1876, all judicial work took place inside the House of Lords. Therefore there were ‘Law Lords’ who sat in the House of Lords and voted on legislation and who also sat in the judiciary as judges and were able to make decisions on how to enforce the law. There was also the position of Lord Chancellor who was a member of the executive, legislature and judiciary. These arrangements clearly demonstrate a lack of independence and a lack of ‘separation of power.’

2005 Constitutional Reform Act It was not until 2005 that major changes were made to rectify the issues surrounding the judiciary. The 2005 Constitutional Reform Act imposed 3 major changes reforming the office of the Lord Chancellor who remains in the executive but his judicial functions transferred to Lord Chief Justice The establishment of a new supreme court separate from the House of Lords and removal of Law Lords A new independent Judicial Appointments Committee

Judges

UK US

The judiciary The term judiciary refers to all UK judges, from local magistrates to the 12 senior justices sitting in the UK Supreme Court. The UK Supreme Court is the highest court in all of the land, dealing with both civil and criminal law. The Supreme Court clarifies the meaning of the law as opposed to applying the letter of the law and they do this through judicial review.

Judicial Review This is defined as ‘the process by which judges review the actions of public bodies or public officials, in order to determine whether or not they have acted in a manner that is lawful.’ Generally it is scrutiny of whether a person has acted ultra vires (above the authority granted to them) rather than questioning the legality of the law itself. The act of judicial review in the UK is often seen as less significant than judicial review in the US. This is because in the US judges have the power to strike down pieces of law that are judged to have violated the constitution, UK judges however, do not have that power.

Judicial Review of Legislation 2. The Human Rights Act 1998- this gives judges the power to decide whether Acts of Parliament are compatible with ‘Convention Rights’ such as freedom of expression/religion. Unlike in the US judges cant ‘set aside’ Acts that breach fundamental freedoms they are restricted to making a ‘declaration of incompatibility’. This declaration doesn't technically effect the validity of an act. This is in place to keep Parliamentary sovereignty; the idea that it is only Parliament who can make or break laws. Despite this, over the past 35 years judicial review of legislation in the UK has been changing and developing this is due to two main events. UK membership of the EU 1973- since then judges have had the obligation to check if any statutory provision breaks EU Law. It gives judges the right, not to declare a law null and void but to suspend the law until it is changed by parliament or the EU makes a decision on the case.

Appointment to the judiciary The composition of the UK judiciary has been an issue of contention for some time and there has been many accusations of nepotism and elitism. Therefore the creation of an independent appointments committee was supposed to neutralise this issue. However in a survey in 2008 it was seen that out of ten appointees to the senior judiciary; All were white All were male 9/10 went to Oxbridge The average age was 68 It can be clearly derived that whilst, beneficial changes are happening in the UK judiciary, a lot of work must still be done to create a fully democratic institution.

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