Independent report

Committee Publishes Transcript of Seminar on Referendums

On 22 November 2016, CSPL held a joint seminar with University College London’s Constitution Unit on the impact of referendums in the UK.

Documents

Session One: What Are the Problems?

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email public@public-standards.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Session Two: How Are Referendums in the UK Conducted?

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email public@public-standards.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Session Three: Can We Draw Lessons from Elsewhere?

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email public@public-standards.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Session Four: What Ideas Are Worth Pursuing?

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email public@public-standards.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

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.

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 seminar asked:

What are the problems? How are referendums in the UK conducted? Can we draw lessons from elsewhere? What ideas are worth pursuing in the future?

The Committee invited individuals from a range of disciplines and positions to a broad discussion of these issues.

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?

Read the blog by Alex Quirk from The Constitution Unit.

Updates to this page

Published 12 December 2016

Sign up for emails or print this page