This is what Andy Burnham’s devolution plans…
Our experts explain how devolution in the UK has worked in practice – and what needs to change.
The Conversation
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Politics
Policy, power and elections — non-partisan coverage of how decisions get made.
101 stories
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Lobbying in Westminster: what the rules allow and what slips through
The statutory lobbying register captures only consultant lobbyists contacting ministers and permanent secretaries, leaving in-house…
Sarah Mitchell
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The Barnett formula: how money flows to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Devised in 1978 as a temporary Treasury convenience, the Barnett formula still converts changes in English departmental spending into…
Sarah Mitchell
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Recall petitions: how voters can sack an MP
The Recall of MPs Act 2015 lets 10% of constituents unseat an MP after a conviction or lengthy suspension, and four of the first five…
Sarah Mitchell
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Manifesto costings: what 'fully funded' actually means
Election costings documents are exercises in framing as much as arithmetic, and a short list of standard tricks covers most of what the…
Sarah Mitchell
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The House of Lords: why reform is always imminent and never arrives
The Lords is indefensible on paper and quietly useful in practice, and every reform plan collapses on the same question: a more legitimate…
Sarah Mitchell
Ministers and mandarins: how the civil service relationship really works
The permanent civil service serves any elected government impartially, and the friction between ministers and officials is a designed…
Sarah Mitchell
How the electoral register works and why millions are missing
Individual registration, verified against DWP records and refreshed by an annual canvass, ended household sign-ups but left millions of…
Sarah Mitchell
By-elections: how they happen and why they shake governments
A by-election is triggered by death, resignation, recall or disqualification, and its outsized political weight comes from being the only…
Sarah Mitchell