Should the UK have a codified constitution?
The UK has an uncodified constitution drawn from statutes, common law, conventions and treaties, with parliamentary sovereignty as its core principle allowing any law including rights protections to be repealed by simple majority. Prime Minister Andy Burnham stated in August 2026 that his devolution plans strengthen the case for a written constitution to clarify principles and rights. A Lords Constitution Committee inquiry into constitutional safeguards is ongoing as of September 2026.
5 Opinions
If we can't point to a single thing that says how the country is governed, the answer is usually that it's governed poorly.
Our rights are set under parliamentary acts and laws, politicians getting involved to write a constitution will only allow them to mess something else up.
No doubt it will be codified into something that includes blasphemy laws and benefits those of a certain cast.
Entrenching a Bill of Rights and the separation of the executive, legislature and judiciary would be the #1 most important evolution to the UK we could possibly enact. The current system gives free reign to the party which wins around 30% of the electorate's support, which presents a very slippery slope to the erosion of fundamental liberties and democratic values.