Research and analysis

Committee publishes paper on referendum seminar

The Committee has published a working paper summarising the discussion from its seminar on the impact of referendums in the UK.

• From: Committee on Standards in Public Life
• Published: 30 January 2017

Documents

Working Paper - Referendum Seminar

MS Word Document, 34.8 KB

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Details

There have been four referendums in the last five years: Welsh devolution (2011); the Westminster electoral system (2011); Scottish independence (2014); and EU membership (2016), which have tested the legislative framework for referendums put in place in 2000.

In November 2016, the Committee joined with the Constitution Unit to draw lessons and consider whether current ideas around the role of referendums in UK politics and current practices for conducting referendums are optimal.

This working paper explores the themes arising from the day’s discussion.

Video highlights of the seminar are available here:

Session One- What are the problems?

Session Two - How are referendums in the UK conducted?

Session Three - Can we draw lessons from elsewhere?

Session Four- What ideas are worth pursuing in the future?

Published 30 January 2017