Shirking self-regulation? Parliamentary standards in the UK

In 2021, the UK system for regulating the conduct of parliamentarians was briefly plunged into crisis. The government responded to a proposal to sanction one of its MPs – who had been found to have egregiously breached the Code of Conduct and accompanying rules - by threatening to change the whole system. This highly unusual interference by the executive branch, though withdrawn within 24 hours, violated the axiom that the executive should not have a say in disciplining members of the legislature because this might compromise parliament’s ability to hold the government to account. Yet the ensuing debate has prompted calls to move the UK system yet further away from self-regulation and grant more powers of oversight to ‘external’ roles and bodies. This article draws on interviews with MPs to analyse whether this longstanding trajectory of reform is in line with how these “rule makers” perceive the system’s flaws. It concludes that, over the years, MPs have to a large extent forfeited the right to regulate their own conduct by repeatedly shirking their responsibilities to regulate themselves effectively. Moreover, the constant focus on ‘fixing’ the procedures for investigating and sanctioning misconduct has crowded out a more constructive discussion about how to promote ethical behaviour.