Introduction: Labour, Constitutional Change and European Policy

Abstract

The United Kingdom (UK) Labour government elected in May 1997 introduced a major programme of constitutional reform. This programme embraced a wide range of measures including commitment to the reform of the UK Parliament, the creation of an independent central bank, the introduction of freedom of information legislation, the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into UK law and measures for devolution. Taken as a whole, this programme was ambitious and radical in its implication. One of the world’s most ancient systems of parliamentary government, which had evolved into its contemporary characteristics over many centuries, now faced substantial restructuring on a wide front. True, reform had been undertaken in the past, but the breadth of the Labour programme made this one unique.