Assess New Labour's constitutional reforms since 1997. Have they been successful?

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Assess New Labour's constitutional reforms since 1997. Have they been successful?

Since 1997, New Labour have attempted to change the United Kingdoms partially codified constitution. Some of their reforms have been successful, whereas others, such as the Lords, have not yet been finalised. The Conservatives and the liberal Democrats have criticised these reforms, for a variety of reasons.

The centrepiece of Labours 1997 manifesto was devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which ensured a high percentage of votes in these area, contributing to Labours overwhelming majority in the House of Commons. Devolution is the transfer of powers from central government, in this case, Whitehall, to sub national institutions. The devolution gave the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland assembly legislative and tax power, whereas the Welsh Assembly received only secondary legislative and executive powers, in 1998.

This reform means that the United Kingdom is not a classic unitary state any more, rather a quasi-federal state, a move criticised by the opposition as an attempt to become 'Little America' (Michael Howard, 2001).

Tony Blair also pledged to change the General Election voting process from 'First Past the Post' to Proportional Representation, and in 1997, he commissioned