You are warmly invited to join Professor Meg Russell, Professor of British and Comparative Politics and Director of the Constitution Unit, University College London, for this year’s in person Bingham Lecture, ‘Brexit and the Political Constitution’.
The Bingham Lecture in Constitutional Studies is an annual lecture series, established in 2014 in honour of Lord Bingham of Cornhill (History 1957, Honorary Fellow and Visitor) through generous gifts from a former colleague of Bingham’s. The lectures aim to encourage a greater understanding of, and interest in, constitutional matters amongst members of Balliol – past, present, and future.
The UK’s decision to leave the EU opened up numerous constitutional and political controversies. The aftermath of the referendum in parliament, and its effect on attitudes to parliament’s place in the constitution, is subject to a new analysis in Meg Russell’s book with Lisa James, The Parliamentary Battle over Brexit (Oxford University Press). In this lecture Professor Russell draws on some of the book’s key findings to reflect on the impact of the Brexit process on the UK’s political constitution. She suggests that the antagonism stirred up after the referendum risks causing lasting damage for our core institutions, and crucially, the political culture upon which they depend. We need conscious efforts to avert this.
Meg Russell is Professor of British and Comparative Politics and Director of the Constitution Unit at UCL. She is particularly known for her work on parliament, and is author of previous books on the House of Lords and the legislative process. She is a former adviser to the Leader of the House of Commons, and to various select committees, and is currently leading the Constitution Unit’s project on Constitutional Principles and the Health of Democracy. She is a Fellow of the British Academy.
If you would like to attend, please contact the Development Office to reserve your place.