‘A naked scrap for party advantage, dressed up as a principled defence of democracy’: the House of Lords on the number of MPs and defining their constituencies

The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government formed in May 2010 in the United Kingdom has instituted a programme of considerable electoral and constitutional reform. The first major element of this was the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, which was debated at great length in Parliament over a five‐month period. During its passage through the House of Lords debate over this Bill raised a number of issues relating to both the country’s constitution and the role and operations of that House. This paper uses those debates, in particular the sections dealing with the number of MPs and the rules for defining constituencies, to illustrate those substantial concerns and their implications for the future role of the House of Lords.electoral reform, constitution, House of Lords

Household incomes in New Zealand: The impact of the market, taxes and government spending, 1987/88–1997/98

How well have New Zealand households fared over a decade of extensive economic and social changes? This study compares household incomes in 1997/98 with household incomes in 1987/88, using the concept of "final income". Final income is a measure of the income accruing to households after adjusting for payments to, and benefits from, central government, whether these benefits are in cash or in kind. In particular, receipt of government health and education services is counted as adding to a household’s income, and payment of consumption taxes is counted as taking away from a household’s income. In all income deciles, the real final incomes of households were, on average, at least the same in 1997/98 as they were in 1987/88, and in most cases had increased. Government intervention, through taxes, cash benefits and social services, has maintained the incomes of less well-off households over a period of upheaval in New Zealand.final income; income distribution; redistribution; fiscal incidence; income inequality; New Zealand

Book review: British general elections since 1964: diversity, dealignment and disillusion by David Denver and Mark Garnett

This book reviews the history of British general elections since 1964, charting the changes in voters and parties at every step. In parallel, it shows how electoral analysts have responded to these developments. This enjoyable read is evidence that despite all the pressure for publications that will rate highly in the REF and have impact on the national economy there are still academics who will take the time to synthesise research findings into a format that deserves – and will surely get – a wide and appreciative audience, writes Ron Johnston

Ron Johnston on remembering urbanist Professor Sir Peter Hall

Professor Sir Peter Hall died in July 2014. Active as a scholar, policy analyst and future-thinker almost to the end, his most recent book – Good Cities, Better Lives – appeared earlier that year, alongside a festschrift edited by his colleagues – The Planning Imagination. Here Ron Johnston reviews those two books as a contribution to appreciating this amazingly prolific – in every sense – scholar’s contributions to British academic and public life

Book review: advancing electoral integrity edited by Pippa Norris, Richard W Frank and Ferran Martínez i Coma

Are elections free and fair? How can we measure whether they are? And what is the popular reaction to different types of electoral regime? Ron Johnston reviews a recent edited volume exploring electoral integrity, an outcome of a major international project focusing on these relatively under-studied questions

The South West – contest by contest

Throughout the short campaign, this blog will be publishing a series of posts that focus on each of the electoral regions in the UK. In this post, Ron Johnston discusses the key things to look out for in the South West. He suggests that it is unlikely that there will be substantial change – with Labour the main beneficiary of any shifts

Book review: handbook of political party funding edited by Jonathan Mendilow and Eric Phélippeau

How much should political parties, candidates and other interested bodies be allowed to spend, both generally and during election campaigns? With the Handbook of Political Party Funding, editors Jonathan Mendilow and Eric Phélippeau bring together contributors to explore questions surrounding both the funding and expenditure of political parties. Ron Johnston welcomes the volume as a valuable resource for discussions on how the current situation can be changed as well as the difficulties that may be encountered in the process

Book review: rank hypocrisies: the insult of the REF by Derek Sayer.

Publication of the results of the 2014 Research Excellence Framework evaluation of the quality of work undertaken in all UK universities last December attracted much attention, as league tables of university and department standings were constructed and estimates of the financial consequences of the achieved grades were assessed. Soon after that, a book was published savagely criticising the peer reviews undertaken at the heart of not only that exercise but also the mock exercises as they prepared their submissions. Ron Johnston reviews Derek Sayer’s critique

The long read: the working class hasn’t gone away by Ron Johnston

Ron Johnston reviews three recent books that, in very different ways, explore the changing nature and politics of the working class in post-industrial societies. The New Politics of Class: The Political Exclusion of the British Working Class. Geoffrey Evans and James Tilley. Oxford University Press. 2017. The New Minority: White Working Class Politics in an Age of Immigration and Inequality. Justin Gest. Oxford University Press. 2016. The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class. Guy Standing. Bloomsbury Academic. 2016