PM’s repeated flouting of uncodified rules highlights the need for a trustworthy, future-proofed system
In keeping with his entire tenure in No 10, Boris Johnson’s departure from the premiership is proving a test of the UK constitution’s heavy reliance on convention and principle. His final weeks or months in the job provide yet more questions about what the UK does with its constitution in the post-Johnson era.
Before the 2010 general election, the House of Commons justice committee met constitutional experts and the then cabinet secretary, all to discuss whether the UK needed to set out rules for any “caretaker government”. The worry then was if the general election produced a hung parliament it could take time before a government was formed, and the rules for any interim government should be set out in advance. Though there were some principles and precedents about what should and should not happen, it wasn’t explicitly set out anywhere.
