Could it Happen Here?

The Day a Prime Minister Refuses to Resign
Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-1-914979-18-7
Verlag: Haus Publishing

Buch, Englisch, 95 Seiten, Format (B × H): 113 mm x 178 mm, Gewicht: 89 g

Reihe: Haus Curiosities

Does the UK’s constitution sufficiently protect our democracy from a rogue prime minister?

In light of the resurgence of the far Right across Europe and some of the rhetoric of the 2024 General Election, which carried whiffs of political authoritarianism, Could It Happen Here? explores the possible consequences of a British prime minister refusing to leave office.

Mapping out the processes which might occur after such an eventuality, the responsibilities of key players in the UK’s democratic system, and the integrity of that system after years of stress, Hennessy and Blick analyse the UK’s ‘unwritten’ constitution and provide a crucial recommendation for protecting and strengthening the resilience of our parliamentary democracy.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hennessy, Peter

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Prologue 1

1. The Limpet Prime Minister: A System Under Threat // 5

2. Protecting the System // 18

3. The Ten-Year Stress Test // 53

Conclusion // 86

Notes // 88

Über Autor(innen)

Andrew Blick is professor of politics and contemporary history in the department of political economy, King's College London, where he co-directs the Centre for British Democracy. He is author of books including Electrified Democracy: The Internet and the United Kingdom Parliament in History and Beyond Magna Carta: A Constitution for the United Kingdom. Before entering academia, he worked in the UK Parliament at Number 10 Downing Street. His PhD on the history of special advisers in UK government was supervised by Peter Hennesy. He is director of the Constitution Society, an educational charity for the promotion of knowledge of constitutional issues.

Peter Hennessy is Attlee professor of contemporary British history at Queen Mary University of London. He is the author of several books including a postwar trilogy (Never Again: Britain 1945-51; Having It So Good: Britain in the Fifties; Winds of Change: Britain in the Early Sixties). His most recent work is On the Back of an Envelope: A Life in Writing. He is a fellow of the British Academy and an honorary fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. He sits in the House of Lords as an independent crossbench peer.