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UCL Constitution Unit @conunitucl.bsky.social · 7h

ON THE BLOG: Prime Minister's Question Period in the Canadian House of Commons: Lessons in parliamentary reform

@ruxandrasrbn.bsky.social explains how Canada's experiment with a Prime Minister's Question Period procedure between 2017 and 2025 worked and how it differed from the traditional model.

Prime Minister's Question Period in the Canadian House of Commons: Lessons in parliamentary reform

Between 2017 and 2025, the Canadian House of Commons operated a Prime Minister’s Question Period procedure, introduced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In a new published article summarised here, Ruxandra Serban explores how this procedure worked, and how it differed from the traditional Question Period model.

constitution-unit.com

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Marc Geddes @marcgeddes.uk · 8d

🚨 Job Opportunity! 🚨 Applications are now open for a new 2.5-year postdoc at @edinburghpir.bsky.social to examine how parliaments gather, analyse and use different types of knowledge - see the full job listing here: elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

Postdoctoral Research Fellow (SPARK)

We are looking for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with experience in the politics of the UK, Scottish, German or Bavarian parliaments to join the UKRI-funded research project, ‘Studying Parliaments an...

elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com

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PSA Parliaments @psa-parliaments.bsky.social · 12d

📣 Inter Pares and the International Parliament Engagement Network have created some fantastic Citizen Engagement Guides for Parliaments! 🗳️

📚Check them out here with 🔗 below

#PublicEngagement #Democracy #Parliament

Guides on Citizen Engagement for Parliaments

Parliaments in Partnership

eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

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Daniel Gover @danielgover.bsky.social · 18d

Very happy to be back on the Parliament Matters podcast, discussing the latest developments on the assisted dying bill with @ruthfox.bsky.social & @matthewengland.bsky.social. Thank you for having me!

Listen to the episode here: pod.link/1714627828/e...

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Ruxandra Serban @ruxandrasrbn.bsky.social · Aug 29

It was great to talk about all things PMQs with @ruthfox.bsky.social and @darcyxtip.bsky.social on @hansardsociety.bsky.social Parliament Matters!

We discuss why France and Canada have experimented with PMQs, and why it may be time to retire the ‘engagements’ question.

youtu.be/OtpApR3fNQE?...

Prime Minister's Questions: Westminster's weekly gladiatorial combat

YouTube video by Hansard Society

youtu.be

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Stephen Holden Bates @stephenholdenbates.bsky.social · 19d

Bloomsbury Set hangout.

Nice venue for the Birkbeck / Birmingham / @psa-parliaments.bsky.social sponsored workshop on what is a parliament.

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PSA Parliaments @psa-parliaments.bsky.social · 26d

📣 International Parliamentary Engagement Network is launching a world map of parliamentary public engagement!

🗓️ 25 September 2025, 4-6pm in Westminster, London.

💫 Email [email protected] by 17th September for details and to sign up!

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PSA Parliaments @psa-parliaments.bsky.social · Jul 28

📣The Call for Papers for PSA26 in Oxford is also now open 📣

Submissions are via ExOrdo: psa26.exordo.com/login

❗️The deadline for submissions is 17 October❗️

PSA 76th Annual International Conference | Ex Ordo

psa26.exordo.com

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PSA Parliaments @psa-parliaments.bsky.social · Jul 28

🎉 PSA Parliaments Annual Conference on 28 Nov @york.ac.uk 🎉

📣 Call for Papers is now live! Submit your abstract here: bit.ly/4o879gP

✏️Our ECR methods workshop will also take place on 27 Nov! Apply here: bit.ly/3J4uQXk

💻 Check out our website for more details: psaparliaments.org/annual-confe...

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Ruxandra Serban @ruxandrasrbn.bsky.social · Jul 18

Some reflections on this from a comparative perspective:

constitution-unit.com/2023/09/06/i...

Is confrontational questioning bad for parliaments and democratic politics?

Parliamentary procedures such as Prime Minister’s Questions in the UK or Question Time in Australia are often criticised for their contentious style of debate. Ruxandra Serban compares questioning …

constitution-unit.com

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Ruxandra Serban @ruxandrasrbn.bsky.social · Jul 18

Changing adversarial behaviour at PMQs is a collective action problem. MPs and parties criticise it, but continue to engage in it because confrontation draws attention to PMQs and is the way it has worked for a long time. Meaningful change would require all parties agreeing to stop engaging in this.

Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · Jul 17

This, by @alanrenwick.bsky.social, is spot on about the dire impact of Prime Minister's Questions - the flagship event of the parliamentary week.
www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/n...

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Grace Cooper @gracecooper1.bsky.social · Jul 17

I’m really pleased that the @psa-parliaments.bsky.social conference will be at @uoypolitics.bsky.social this November!

If you work in the field of parliaments or legislative studies please consider applying

More details on the website: psaparliaments.org/annual-confe...

Annual Conference – PSA Parliaments

psaparliaments.org

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UCL Constitution Unit @conunitucl.bsky.social · Jul 10

ON THE BLOG: Commons procedure: why does it matter & how does it change?

Formal rules, combined with conventions & precedents, provide a framework for parliamentary action. Hannah Kelly, Lisa James & Meg Russell explain why it matters, how it evolves & what future changes have been proposed

House of Commons procedure: why does it matter and how does it change?

House of Commons procedure combines formal rules with conventions and precedents, providing the framework for conducting business and making decisions. Hannah Kelly, Lisa James and Meg Russell expl…

constitution-unit.com

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PSA Parliaments @psa-parliaments.bsky.social · Jul 2

What is a parliament?

This workshop aims to start a fresh conversation on this classic question in legislative studies.

⏰ You have two more days (deadline Friday 4 July) to submit a brief paper proposal.

Sign up details below ⬇️

Stephen Holden Bates @stephenholdenbates.bsky.social · Jun 30

📢📢📢 CfP: What is a Parliament?

***Hurry! Deadline is this Friday!***

Interdisciplinary workshop on 19th September 2025 in London.

Full details below.

Kindly sponsored by Birkbeck, the University of Birmingham and
@psa-parliaments.bsky.social

Please apply and/or spread the word!

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PSA Parliaments @psa-parliaments.bsky.social · Jul 1

New polling on House of Lords reform from @conunitucl.bsky.social ⬇️

UCL Constitution Unit @conunitucl.bsky.social · Jun 30

We have new opinion polling on House of Lords reform!

There is overwhelming public support to go beyond the government's current plans to remove hereditary peers (due to be debated in the Lords on Wednesday), including to limit prime ministerial appointments and cap the chamber's size.

A thread 👇

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Francesco Bromo @francescobromo.bsky.social · Jun 17

New paper out! Part 1 of a series on government-initiated votes of confidence (the "executive trump card").

This one is more descriptive and was the first half of my first dissertation chapter! Watch out for part 2: the empirical study!

Available (open access) at: academic.oup.com/pa/advance-a...

The executive trump card: government-initiated votes of confidence in parliamentary democracies

Abstract. Scholars have traditionally considered government-initiated votes of confidence a powerful tool that parliamentary executives can leverage to ach

academic.oup.com

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PSA Parliaments @psa-parliaments.bsky.social · Jun 13

A very interesting @conunitucl.bsky.social panel on House of Commons reform coming up next week!
Sign up details in the link below.

UCL Constitution Unit @conunitucl.bsky.social · Jun 13

Our free, online conference is taking place next week!

Our House of Commons reform panel features @catsmithmp.bsky.social, @wendychambld.bsky.social and @drhannahwhite.bsky.social. What are the priorities for changing how the Commons works?

Sign up 👉 www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution....

The Constitution Unit conference 2025. Reforming the House of Commons. 19 June 2025, 1:00pm – 2:15pm. Cat Smith MP (Labour MP for Lancaster and Wyre and chair of the Procedure Committee). Wendy Chamberlain MP (Liberal Democrat MP for North East Fife, Liberal Democrat Chief Whip and member of the Modernisation Committee). Dr Hannah White (Director of the Institute for Government). Chair: Dr Tom Fleming (Lecturer in British and Comparative Politics at UCL).

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Stephen Holden Bates @stephenholdenbates.bsky.social · May 27

📢📢📢 CfP: What is a Parliament?

Interdisciplinary workshop on 19th September 2025 in London.

Full details below.

Kindly sponsored by Birkbeck, the University of Birmingham and
@psa-parliaments.bsky.social

Please apply and/or spread the word!

Call for Papers: What is a Parliament?
Are parliaments institutions, organisations, corporations or something else? Does it make sense to ask the question Who is Parliament? or should parliaments always be considered a thing or set of relations of some kind?
This interdisciplinary one-day workshop will consider such questions from all points of view, from the metaphysical to the political, historical, legal and anthropological, as well as how our different understandings of parliaments affect the way we study, critique and run them.
We welcome papers operating at all levels of abstraction and those concerned with concrete cases. Our aim is for the workshop to include scholars working in different academic disciplines, from different intellectual traditions, and who are at all career stages from PhD onwards.
If you are interested in presenting a paper, please send a title and abstract of no more than 250 words to Stephen Holden Bates (s.r.bates@bham.ac.uk) by 4th July 2025.
The workshop will be held on Friday 19th September 2025 in Birkbeck’s Keynes Library (46 Gordon Square, London). It is being co-convened by Stephen Holden Bates (University of Birmingham), Paul Seaward (History of Parliament Trust) and Ben Worthy (Birkbeck, University of London) and co-sponsored by the School of Social Sciences at Birkbeck, the Department of Political Science & International Studies at the University of Birmingham and PSA Parliaments.
The workshop will be free, and refreshments and lunch will be provided. Early career researchers who have a paper accepted will be able to apply for funding from PSA Parliaments to cover some or all travel expenses on a case-by-case basis.

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Stephen Holden Bates @stephenholdenbates.bsky.social · May 22

📢📢📢 CfP: What is a Parliament?

Interdisciplinary workshop on 19th September 2025 in London.

Full details below.

Kindly sponsored by Birkbeck, the University of Birmingham and @psa-parliaments.bsky.social

Please apply and/or spread the word!

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Louise Thompson @louisevthompson.bsky.social · May 16

It's been fab to put together the 2nd Ed of Exploring Parliament with @estrangeirada.bsky.social & @ameakin.bsky.social. In this @psa-parliaments.bsky.social blog we asked some of our (73!) contributing authors to reflect on the experience of writing their chapters psaparliaments.org/2025/05/09/t...

The benefits of bringing academics and practitioners together: Writing the second edition of Exploring Parliament – PSA Parliaments

psaparliaments.org

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PSA Parliaments @psa-parliaments.bsky.social · May 8

This year’s @conunitucl.bsky.social Annual Conference will explore Labour’s constitutional agenda after one year in office, and looking ahead.

📆 18-19 June
📋 Sign-up details ⬇️

UCL Constitution Unit @conunitucl.bsky.social · May 7

The Constitution Unit's annual conference is taking place on 18 and 19 June!

Cross-party politicians and experts will explore constitutional paths taken and not (yet) taken after one year of a Labour government.

And we are very excited to have the Minister for the Constitution speak!

Sign up 👇

Labour’s Constitutional Agenda in Office: Constitution Unit Conference 2025

This online conference brings together senior speakers, including parliamentarians, academics and commentators, to discuss Labour’s constitutional agenda in office.

www.ucl.ac.uk

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UCL Constitution Unit @conunitucl.bsky.social · Apr 23

NEW BLOG: How has Keir Starmer changed Prime Minister’s Questions?

Keir Starmer has used his opening answer at PMQs very differently from his predecessors. @ruxandrasrbn.bsky.social & Tom Fleming explore how his approach to opening PMQs compares to that of other Prime Ministers.

How has Keir Starmer changed Prime Minister’s Questions?

Keir Starmer has used his opening answer at PMQs very differently from his predecessors. @ruxandrasrbn.bsky.social & Tom Fleming explore how his approach to opening PMQs compares to that of other Prime Ministers.

constitution-unit.com

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Institute for Government @instituteforgovernment.org.uk · Apr 22

EVENT | Book launch: 'Exploring Parliament'

📅Thursday 15 May, 17.30

Join us for the official launch of the second edition of 'Exploring Parliament', with a panel of the book’s authors to discuss their chapters and insights.

🎫Register:
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/book-l...

IfG event banner for an event titled 'Book launch: 'Exploring Parliament'. The event is on Thursday 15 May from 17.30 to 18.30.

Speakers include:
Professor Nicholas Allen, Professor of Politics at Royal Holloway, University of London
Dr Sean Haughey, Senior Lecturer at the University of Liverpool
Chloe Mawson, Clerk Assistant at the House of Lords
Dr Rebecca McKee, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government
Margaret McKinnon, Director Member and Members’ Staff Services Team at the House of Commons
Professor Meg Russell, Director of the Constitution Unit at University College London (UCL)
The event will be chaired by Dr Hannah White, Director and CEO of the Institute for Government.

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · Apr 15

What a great panel this was! Really enjoyed all the papers from my fellow panellists. Engaged audience with great questions. Thanks to all who came! #PSA25

PSA Parliaments @psa-parliaments.bsky.social · Apr 15

@rainbowmurray.bsky.social is opening this panel with work on gendered participation in Parliament, focusing on the French legislature 🇫🇷 #PSA25

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