The Starmer government’s constitutional reform agenda holds out the prospect of important changes to Britain’s political settlement, particularly for England and territorial governance. Therefore, this article addresses two key questions, namely how can we make sense of Starmer’s approach, and can we use constitutional reform to position Starmer within the Party’s traditions. First, this article sets out self-interest, Labour’s approaches to the constitution, the Westminster model and the British Political Tradition. From there, the paper outlines a history of Labour and the constitution, as well as New Labour’s constitutional reform agenda, thus setting the scene for the Starmer government. Here, the paper sets out how Labour’s approach under Starmer has developed, first in opposition and now in government, focusing on House of Lords reform, English devolution, expanding the electoral franchise, and intergovernmental forums. The final section writes in praise of Labour’s more limited approach. The conclusion stresses that Starmer is best understood as a cautious and conservative moderniser.
Jasper Miles (Tue,) studied this question.