News and opinion

Outside the Scottish Parliament building

SNP regime change follows major developments in devolution law

Richard Parry traces the dramatic consequences for the SNP after long-dormant provisions in the devolution settlement were activated
A Parliament for All report front cover

Blog - Scottish Parliament report advances international agenda on gender-sensitising parliamentary reforms

In this blog, Professor Sarah Childs, Dr Meryl Kenny and Professor Fiona Mackay discuss the Scottish Parliament's new report on reforms to gender representation and participation at Holyrood.
A Parliament for All report front cover

A Parliament for All - Reforms to strengthen representation and participation at Holyrood unveiled

A cross-party board set up by the Scottish Parliament to look at the representation and influence of women at Holyrood - which includes three experts on gender politics from the Centre on Constitutional Change and the University of Edinburgh - has published its recommendations for improvement.
Luis Moreno

Professor Luis Moreno

It is with a heavy heart that we mark the passing of Professor Luis Moreno.
Labour: A New Britain Report

Gordon Brown’s long-run themes pose challenges for Labour

The report of Labour’s Commission for the UK’s Future relaunches themes on devolution and constitutional reform that its former Prime Minister tried to pursue in government. Richard Parry discusses how it might impact on Keir Starmer’s ultra-cautious pursuit of power
Declaration of Arbroath

A battle of sovereignties?

Since Brexit 2016, we seem to have entered a battle of sovereignties – Scottish and British – between two apparently antithetical conceptions of sovereignty, reflected in political struggles between nationalists and unionists. But can we be sure that this is a binary divide? Or do we nowadays live in a post-sovereignty world, as the late Neil MacCormick argued?
Labour: A New Britain Report

Guest Blog – A New Britain

The Labour Party’s Commission on the Future of the UK has published it report, ‘A New Britain: Renewing Our Democracy and Rebuilding our Economy'. In this guest blog, Jim Gallagher, adviser to Commission, sets out the transformative effect that it could have for the UK’s territorial constitution.
Supreme Court

Unhelpful Clarifications

The Supreme Court judgment on the legality of a Scottish independence referendum can be broken down into three elements. Two are unsurprising but the third is very problematic.
Supreme Court

Supreme Court doubles down on the UK referendum position

In rapid Court verdict on legislative competence, the justices assert that even referendums that do not directly change the law have political legitimacy. Richard Parry discusses the political implications and the balance of victory and defeat for both sides