Held in contempt

If MPs do not take responsibility for reforming the House of Commons the cornerstone of our democracy it will be held in contempt by the British public. In this timely book, Hannah White offers a perceptive critique of the internal shortcomings of the House of Commons.

She argues that parliamentary rules have become too complex for many MPs, let alone the public, to understand. Meanwhile, MPs undermine their own credibility by acting as if the rules they set for others should not apply to them. This reinforces the public's sense that MPs are detached from their own lives, and their awareness that MPs are still not representative of the population they govern from the crumbling Palace of Westminster.

Hannah White argues these internal flaws are undermining the public reputation of the House of Commons. And they have been compounded by government attempts to side-line parliament, particularly during Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic. At a time of populist challenge to representative democracy, this book is a much-needed rallying cry to reform the House of Commons as an institution or see it fade into irrelevance.