Alan Renwick

The @niassembly.bsky.social has produced a briefing paper on public views towards reform of Stormont. It looks at a range of evidence, including my 2023 report 'Perspectives on the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement' co-authored with @alanrenwick.bsky.social at the @conunitucl.bsky.social

Links below

Firm but fair criticism from @alanrenwick.bsky.social of the "glaring omission" in the Representation of the People Bill.

The independence of the Electoral Commission has been seriously undermined. The government must act to restore it.

Read in full @conunitucl.bsky.social 👇
buff.ly/qhmruE3

Must read by @alanrenwick.bsky.social

The Representation of the People Bill: contours of the debates to come The government’s long-awaited proposals for electoral reforms, published last month, will receive their first scrutiny in the House of Commons next Monday. Ahead of that debate, Alan Renwick analys…

Excellent round-up of the considerable room for improvement by @alanrenwick.bsky.social

You are much, much too kind!

We're recruiting!

Please do spread the news far and wide. We're excited by the prospect of being joined by another great new colleague!

Really looking forward to speaking at this event tomorrow on democracy, and hearing the perspectives of other participants.

There's an option to attend online for those who can't join in person - just follow the link below for details.

The Constitution Unit's latest round-up of constitutional developments in the UK is out now!

Between 2019 and 2021, we led the Working Group on Unification Referendums on the Island of Ireland.

This examined how any future referendum on the constitutional status of Northern Ireland would be best designed and conducted.

Find out more 👉 www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo....

The Constitution Unit. Do the government's electoral reforms go far enough? 24 October 2025, 1:00pm–2:00pm. Cat Smith MP (Labour MP for Lancaster and Wyre). Rose Whiffen (Senior Research Officer at Transparency International UK). Tom Hawthorn (Head of Policy at the Electoral Commission). Prof David Howarth (Professor of Law and Public Policy at the University of Cambridge and former Electoral Commissioner). Chair: Prof Alan Renwick (Deputy Director of the Constitution Unit).

Does the elections white paper go far enough?

At 1pm today, join @catsmithmp.bsky.social, @rosewhiff.bsky.social, Tom Hawthorn and David Howarth at our free, online event to consider if the government's plans are sufficient to ensure electoral integrity.

Sign up 👉 www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo....

📢 Do the Government's electoral reforms go far enough?

📺 Looking forward to this @conunitucl.bsky.social event featuring APPG member @catsmithmp.bsky.social

🎯 Ministers must go further: from a truly independent regulator, to a National Commission on Electoral Reform

🔗 ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...

How does politics work in Northern Ireland? Politics in Northern Ireland has long been dominated by two alternative constitutional visions: remaining part of the United Kingdom, or unifying with Ireland. In this post – part of the Unit’s new and updated briefing series on key constitutional topics – Lisa James, Conor J. Kelly and Alan Renwick discuss Northern Ireland’s distinctive politics and political structures, and explain the UK government’s role in supporting long-term stability.

NEW BLOG: How does politics work in Northern Ireland?

@lisajames.bsky.social, @conorjkelly.bsky.social and @alanrenwick.bsky.social explain Northern Ireland's politics and political structures, including power-sharing, the impact of Brexit and debates over Northern Ireland's future.

Many thanks, David. We wanted to keep the description as simple as we could, so chose to focus on the effect of the system. But we do realise that some points deserve more qualification. Thank you for highlighting this one.

The Constitution Unit has today published a fully updated set of briefings on aspects of politics and the constitution in the UK - with three entirely new briefings added too.

See the thread below for tasters and links.

Happy reading! We hope the briefings will be super-useful for many people.

Prime Minister's Question Period in the Canadian House of Commons: Lessons in parliamentary reform Between 2017 and 2025, the Canadian House of Commons operated a Prime Minister’s Question Period procedure, introduced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In a new published article summarised here, Ruxandra Serban explores how this procedure worked, and how it differed from the traditional Question Period model.

ON THE BLOG: Prime Minister's Question Period in the Canadian House of Commons: Lessons in parliamentary reform

@ruxandrasrbn.bsky.social explains how Canada's experiment with a Prime Minister's Question Period procedure between 2017 and 2025 worked and how it differed from the traditional model.

The Constitution Unit. Do the government's electoral reforms go far enough? 24 October 2025, 1:00pm–2:00pm. Cat Smith MP (Labour MP for Lancaster and Wyre). Rose Whiffen (Senior Research Officer at Transparency International UK). Tom Hawthorn (Head of Policy at the Electoral Commission). Prof David Howarth (Professor of Law and Public Policy at the University of Cambridge and former Electoral Commissioner). Chair: Prof Alan Renwick (Deputy Director of the Constitution Unit).

Does the elections white paper go far enough?

On 24 October, join @catsmithmp.bsky.social, @rosewhiff.bsky.social, Tom Hawthorn and David Howarth at our free, online event to consider if the government's plans are sufficient to ensure electoral integrity.

Sign up 👉 www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo....

In today’s episode David talks to Alan Renwick from UCL’s Constitution Unit about the pros and cons of referendums. When does a democratic question need to be put direct to the people? Do some… Fixing Democracy: What’s Wrong with Referendums?

'Democracy is not just about voting, but it is also about thinking through the issues and working out what you think.'

Our Deputy Director, @alanrenwick.bsky.social, appeared on David Runciman's Past Present Future podcast to talk about referendums.

Listen on YouTube 👇

In today’s episode David talks to Alan Renwick from UCL’s Constitution Unit about the pros and cons of referendums. When does a democratic question need to be put direct to the people? Do some… Fixing Democracy: What’s Wrong with Referendums?

'Democracy is not just about voting, but it is also about thinking through the issues and working out what you think.'

Our Deputy Director, @alanrenwick.bsky.social, is on the latest episode of David Runciman's Past Present Future podcast discussing referendums.

Listen on YouTube 👇

Lovely to talk referendums with the ever-insightful David Runciman. This is part of a series on how to fix democracy's problems - definitely worth a listen if you haven't done so yet!

Government plans for electoral reform are welcome but contain one serious error of judgement Much of what the government proposes is good. But the newly appointed ministers responsible for elections will need to make further progress on some crucial matters

NEW BLOG: Government plans for electoral reform are welcome but contain one serious error of judgement

@alanrenwick.bsky.social argues much of what the government proposes is good. But the newly appointed ministers responsible for elections will need to make further progress on some crucial matters

Thank you! Yes, I agree, and your piece on this is really good. All power to you in pushing it!

I'd mention some other points too (better information provision might top my list). The post was already long, so I focused just on what's in the government paper. But there's a lot more to say!

Thoughts from me on the UK government's elections policy paper.

In short: many good things, but several points don't go far enough, and there is one big mistake.

Many congratulations to my great colleague Luis Schenoni on this wonderful, richly deserved achievement!

@uclspp.bsky.social

UCL Uncovering Politics - Listen on Spotify - Linktree View uclpoliticalscience’s Linktree to discover and stream music from top platforms like Spotify here. Your next favorite track is just a click away!

Listen to 'Uncovering Politics' for expert insights into both the immediate drivers of the 2024 result and the longer-term transformations reshaping UK politics.

With @martamiori.bsky.social @psurridge.bsky.social @profjanegreen.bsky.social @alanrenwick.bsky.social

This, by @alanrenwick.bsky.social, is spot on about the dire impact of Prime Minister's Questions - the flagship event of the parliamentary week.
www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/n...

Plans for electoral reform mark a major step forward in reforming our democracy Speaking at the civil society summit, Sir Keir Starmer outlined a range of democratic reforms, including the introduction of votes for 16-year-olds. Professor Alan Renwick provides his in-depth…

'They should be the start of an ongoing process of fundamental democratic renewal. And on some of the matters requiring further change, the need for action is urgent.'

Read our Deputy Director, @alanrenwick.bsky.social's, instant analysis of the elections white paper for @uclpolicylab.bsky.social 👇

Don't miss the UCL Constitution Unit's new Monitor, out today.

It's filled, as ever, with analysis of constitutional developments over the past four months or so - Lords reform electoral reform, devolution, and lots more.

@conunitucl.bsky.social

Fascinating discussion of the current English devolution plans, particularly exploring their effects on democracy.

Thank you to all three speakers for bringing such insight and clarity.

The government has announced that the voting system for mayoral and PCC elections will be changed back to SV.

Our Deputy Director, @alanrenwick.bsky.social, said last year that the switch to FPTP in 2022 harmed democracy and called for it to be reversed 👉 constitution-unit.com/2024/05/24/t....

Yes.