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Lord Donoughue and Lord Norton give evidence

9 October 2013

The House of Lords Constitution Committee will this week take evidence from Lord Donoughue and Lord Norton of Louth as part of its inquiry into the constitutional implications of coalition government

Lord Donoughue was Head of the No.10 Policy Unit during the Lib-Lab pact of 1977–78 and when Labour was in office as a minority government. Lord Norton is Professor of Government at the University of Hull and has written extensively on Parliament and government.

Witnesses

At 10:30am, Wednesday 9 October, Committee Room 1, Palace of Westminster:-

  • Lord Donoughue, Head of the Number 10 Policy Unit, 1974–79; former Visiting Professor of Government, London School of Economics
  • Lord Norton of Louth, Professor of Government and Director of the Centre for Legislative Studies, University of Hull

Session

The Committee is likely to ask the witnesses whether the current coalition has led to departures from normal constitutional practice, what the appropriate status of coalition agreements is, whether collective responsibility still works in a coalition government, how the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 will affect future coalitions and how a coalition government impacts on the role of the House of Lords.

The evidence session will start at 10.30am on Wednesday 9 October in Committee Room 1 of the House of Lords.

Further Information