Politics for the Many, a group of trade unionists who want political reform, hosted a conference ‘This is What Democracy Looks Like’ which Unlock Democracy took part in (August 2019). Sarah from Unlock Democracy’s team spoke about the UK’s corrupt constitution and how to rebuild trust in our political system. Here are some highlights from what she had to say: 

Our corrupt constitution 

Under our current political system, a disproportionate amount of power is held by a small group of people, which they are more or less free to use to advance their own interests.

The centralisation and concentration of power is enabled by two of the defining features of the UK’s constitution. Those are: the principle of parliamentary sovereignty, a key pillar of our constitution, and the uncodified form that the constitution takes.

Taken together these features set the UK up as a democratic outlier, and collectively establish political inequality between the public and the British state.

Reform 

Over time there have been attempts to codify or reform elements of the UK’s constitution. But of course, many of those who hold political power have a vested interest in keeping it that way. So reform is sluggish, often half-hearted - usually a third term issue, if one at all. Unsurprisingly, those with vast and sweeping political power don’t want greater transparency, or accountability. 

Reforming the current political system continually runs into problems because under the current constitutional settlement it is ultimately left to those with political power to decide how far the reforms go. Fair votes, transparency, accountability - all of these things are vital components of a functioning democracy. But because of the UK’s constitution, any political victories that are won can be undone by the small number of people that hold a disproportionate amount of power.

The current political system isn’t serving us, and we can’t achieve the urgent political transformation we need right now by tinkering at the edges of the current political system.

Demanding democracy 

The systemic power imbalance in the UK’s constitution is a design feature, not a design flaw. And systemic challenges demand systemic solutions.

If we only treat symptoms then we might be able to hide them for a while. But if we want to cure the disease we need to identify and treat the cause of the illness.

Minor reforms won’t change the systemic imbalance of power in our constitution. Brexit won’t change that either. General Elections might change which party is in government but leaves in place the same rigged system.

If we want a political system we can trust then we need a new constitution that is owned by the people, where political power is permanently rebalanced, where a democracy that is defined by the public is protected from government overreach.

We need to demand democracy, not defend a system that has been found unfit for purpose, and wanting of the most basic democratic checks and balances on political power.

A new constitution alone is not the solution to the problems we face. But creating a new constitution through a democratic convention will mean that it is the people that get to decide how our political system works, and who it works for.

We need a new constitution that's built and owned by the people, which deepens and extends democracy by permanently rebalancing power.

What next?

At the conference, the Shadow Minister for the Constitution Jon Trickett called for a “democratic revolution” and a constitutional convention. What do you think? Leave you comments below.