In September 2007 Gordon Brown announced that his New Labour Government would undertake a number of ‘citizens juries’ on key social issues such as crime and punishment and the future of the NHS. He said that this was party of a process of “reaching out, of doing the business of government differently”. However, despite this pledge, the concept of Citizens Juries in the UK has never really taken hold as a conventional political practice. So, what is a Citizens Jury and why have they never had a significant impact on the UK political process?

On Thursday Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party from 2015 until 2020, was sensationally suspended from the Labour Party and had the Labour Whip withdrawn. The MP for Islington North now sits in the House of Commons as an independent.

So why has he been suspended and what is the potential significance of this?

This week the Hybrid Parliament that has been in operation since 22nd April ended. The Hybrid Parliament saw large screens set up in the House of Commons chamber to allow members to participate in debates via Zoom. In addition, MPs voted electronically meaning that everyone could participate.

United States

In the United States, there is a clear line of succession should the President die or be incapacitated. A number of constitutional mechanisms and congressional laws exist to ensure the continuity of government. These include: