iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Graham Simpson @grahambs.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

“The boost that Reform enjoyed (from FPTP) was in some instances considerable. In those councils where the party won more than half the seats, Reform won just 36% of the vote on average. Yet this proved sufficient for them to secure as much as 67% of the seats” Curtice www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

How the winner-takes-all voting system has turned on Labour and the Tories

The first-past-the-post system favoured Reform in this English local elections

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Hart Publishing @hartpublishing.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

Read an extract from 'The Language of Comparative Constitutional Law' edited by Erika Arban, Maartje De Visser & Jeong-In Yun Addresses the epistemological and conceptual implications of English as the lingua franca 👉 bit.ly/4acbglR #ConstitutionalLaw #ComparativeLaw

Banner showing the cover image of 'The Language of Comparative Constitutional Law' as well as an invitation to look inside.

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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

New post out: "Who runs Britain?" Politicians complain they are unable to do anything because of the machinery of state. Yet they have more power than ever. What explains this "paradox of executive power" and how can it be fixed? (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/w...

open.substack.com

Who runs Britain?

The paradox of executive power

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Dr Adam Evans @a-b-evans.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

A lot of familiar tunes here for longtime followers/sufferers of Welsh #devolution. Of course, as previous First Ministers have experienced, there remains the equally familiar challenge of persuading the UK Govt to even entertain such reforms... #Senedd

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Cassia Rowland @cassiarowland.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

NEW REPORT: the gov’s proposals for judge-only trials will deliver only marginal savings and distract from the real route out of this crisis: reversing recent falls in court productivity.

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

Trial and error?: The impact of restricting jury trials on court demand | Institute for Government

The government’s reforms will unlock only relatively modest reductions in demand.

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Pravar Petkar @pravarpetkar.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

The latest episode of ‘what sort of a mandate is enough of a mandate for opening independence negotiations’. Some brief thoughts 🧵 1/6 www.ft.com/content/3136...

ft.com

SNP seeks to exploit unionist rift with fresh independence pitch

John Swinney to set out plans for second referendum at party conference as Reform splits Scottish pro-union vote

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Ben Yong @bymyong.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

I‘m giving a public talk at UCL on Thurs 16 Oct. The title is “Bureaucracy and distrust: the civil service in the constitution” looking at the civil service’s constitutional foundations, and how it might respond to a populist govt. @sirJJkc.bsky.social will chair! www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/...

ucl.ac.uk

Hybrid | CLP - Bureaucracy and Distrust: The Civil Service in the Constitution

This lecture will be delivered by Dr Ben Yong, as part of the Current Legal Problems Lecture Series 2025-26

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@ICONSGBIE @iconsgbie.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

📢ICON GBIE, TRICON, QUB Webinar: Familiarity, Culture & Expertise: The Future of Referendums in Ireland & the UK Oct 17th 10:00-13:00 Online To register follow the link below: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/0d55a0... 1/3 👇

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Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

The news of Conor Gearty's death has just been announced and I'm not coping. He was a mentor and the pole star in my constitutional thinking. He was also a great friend and fantastic fun to be around. I'm heartbroken for Aoife and the children.

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Pravar Petkar @pravarpetkar.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

Very sad to hear this terrible news - Conor was not just an inspirational teacher whilst I was at the LSE and an exceptional scholar, but so warm and generous as LLM Director, remembering us years later. Thoughts go out to all his family.

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Pravar Petkar @pravarpetkar.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Really interesting data on support for the major parties from last year to this year - and provides some colour to the 2025 local election results in England. 1/2 🧵

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Pravar Petkar @pravarpetkar.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Very interesting perspective on some of the ongoing grievances. Open question how England can better be represented politically, but it seems there’s a wider problem of identity to tackle irrespective of tinkering with devolution.

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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Considered and informative the thread on the history of parliamentary sovereignty, from Professor @robertsaunders.bsky.social

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Pravar Petkar @pravarpetkar.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

Some thoughts on the UK Govt’s recent ‘Votes at 16’ announcement - in short, we need much better citizenship education for voters (or all ages) that is practical as well as theoretical for this to be a success. icfs.org.uk/votes-at-16-...

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Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

One does not simply... rewrite the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. 😅😅😅😅😅...😭

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John Davies @stsikel.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

"Under first-past-the-post, because there are more people wanting Special Brew than cappuccino, lattes or flat whites respectively, you are all condemned to go out on the piss." Brilliant from @willhaycardiff.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.com

Here is the single thing Labour can do to see off Reform and make British politics work | Will Hayward

Farage’s party could win 42% of Commons seats with only 26% of the vote. That’s not the way civilised countries do democracy, says Guardian columnist Will Hayward

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Mariana Velasco-Rivera @marianavr.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Happy publication day to me! Here’s a little celebratory thread🧵 to explain what the book is about: One of the everlasting questions in constituional theory and practice is what makes a constitution difficult to amend?

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Pravar Petkar @pravarpetkar.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

It’s quite possible to advocate for the reforms mentioned in this article - citizenship education, media literacy and more real-world skills - and not conclude that education should better equip children for the workplace. 1/5 🧵

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Pravar Petkar @pravarpetkar.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Worth reading this piece for the stats quoted as much as anything else - a shift in electoral system will happen once the party in govt is incentivised to do it. Lib Dem/Green gains from Lab being greater than potential Reform gains might well be what provides that.

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 11/05/2025

A core feature of the Trump regime is its embrace of "authoritarian democracy", as a battering ram with which to demolish any obstacle to its power. The very notion of "authoritarian democracy" can sound contradictory. But it's an old & dangerous idea, that needs to be better understood. [THREAD]

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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

A complex switch of votes in various direction. Aggregate numbers suggest a limited number of direct Labour/Reform switchers In this contest, Reform consolidated the right-of-centre anti-Labour vote, while Labour lost voters to non-voting, and could not squeeze Greens as Reform did Tories

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Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · 12/04/2025

✍️I visited British Steel last week - just as workers were discovering that the plant's Chinese owners were effectively planning to starve the blast furnaces to death. It was a strange, unsettling experience. With deep ramifications. Some thoughts: edconway.substack.com/p/the-strang...

edconway.substack.com

The Strange, Unsettling Story of British Steel

Why the fate of a blast furnace in Scunthorpe might have much deeper implications for this country

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Pravar Petkar @pravarpetkar.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

Pleased to share my book review of Leah Trueblood’s Referendums as Representative Democracy, now published in Public Law Review. A short thread on some key points I make 🧵1/ papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

papers.ssrn.com

Book Review: Referendums as Representative Democracy

<span>Leah Trueblood’s monograph <i>Referendums as Representative Democracy</i> prompts us to re-think why modern constitutional democracies should hold referen

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Pravar Petkar @pravarpetkar.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Great discussion @mileendinstitute.bsky.social yesterday on options for electoral reform in the UK. Pleased to see territorial issues also addressed - the asymmetry of representative systems across the UK means that reform will impact different areas in different ways. @unlockdemocracy.bsky.social

Panel discussion on How to Replace First Past the Post: Electoral Reform in Action, hosted by the Mile End Institute at Queen Mary University London. The event was co-organised by Unlock Democracy, the Electoral Reform Society and Make Votes Matter.

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Pravar Petkar @pravarpetkar.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Perhaps a return to the Supplementary Vote - or some other system - for mayoral elections? Whilst there’s increasing interest in PR-STV, I don’t see that being on the table this early in this Parliament.

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

A key question for the next decade in UK politics is "how does discontent among 18-35s express itself?" Does it accelerate democratic disengagement, which can be ignored in the short-term but is catastrophic for democracy over time, or will new radical forces emerge - some on the radical right?

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Edinburgh Legal Theory @legaltheoryed.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Our annual Call for Abstracts is out! We really look forward to reading about your fascinating research as we select the speakers for our 2025/2026 Seminar Series. Also, feel free to share this call with your friends and colleagues. You can find more details (including deadlines) below:

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Edinburgh Law School @uoelawschool.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

There's only one week left to apply for a fully funded PhD position on the project "Taming the Dark Energy of EU Law: The European Union’s Unwritten Constitution". Deadline - 28 February Find out more: www.law.ed.ac.uk/study/resear...

law.ed.ac.uk

Scholarships and funding | Edinburgh Law School

There are a range of scholarships and funding opportunities available to students applying to study for a research degree at Edinburgh Law School.

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Pravar Petkar @pravarpetkar.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Looking forward to being part of this hybrid panel discussion on 11 March exploring participatory democracy, systems thinking and Higher Ed reform across the UK, USA and India. Register here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/interlinki...

Flyer for a talk titled Interlinking Sustainable Democracy and Sustainable Education on 11 March 2025 at the International Centre for Sustainability. The speakers are Dr Pavel Cenkl and Dr Pravar Petkar.

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Scott Wortley @scottwortley.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Proper policy making for a piece of legislation with the seismic consequences that assisted suicide legislation has would have had extensive pre legislative consultation to test the various approaches rather than make policy on the hoof during the legislative process.

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Pravar Petkar @pravarpetkar.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

Looking forward to this talk on the UK’s role in a disrupted world in a couple of weeks’ time in central London - register below for tickets!

A flyer for a public lecture at the International Centre for Sustainability in London about the UK’s role in a changing world order.

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Pravar Petkar @pravarpetkar.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Looking ahead to the start of a new year at the IACL-AIDC Blog, with some excellent symposia coming up. Delighted to continue to contribute to the work we’re doing as Co-Editor! blog-iacl-aidc.org/2025-posts/2...

blog-iacl-aidc.org

Editorial: Welcome to 2025 on the IACL Blog — IACL-IADC Blog

Elisabeth PERHAM, Mariana VELASCO-RIVERA & Pravar PETKAR 4 February marks our first publication day for 2025, after the team took a hiatus over the Southern Hemisphere summer…

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Pravar Petkar @pravarpetkar.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

Interesting to see advocacy for the sort of ‘strategic autonomy’ usually used to describe India’s foreign policy - and raises questions about where a more values-based approach to international relations goes from here. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.com

In the new Trumpian era, liberal democracies must hold their noses – and engage with difficult partners | Timothy Garton Ash

New polling says much of the world will welcome Trump. Europe will need to be more transactional abroad – but less so at home, writes Guardian columnist Timothy Garton Ash

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Verfassungsblog @verfassungsblog.de · 10/01/2025

After Justin Trudeau's announcement that 🇨🇦 Parliament would be prorogued until March 24, a judicial review application was filed challenging the prorogation. VANESSA MACDONNELL (vanessamacdonnell.bsky.social) on what we know about the legal challenge so far. verfassungsblog.de/canada-proro...

Quote from our published article by author Vanessa MacDonnell: “In my view, this is a case where the principles of parliamentary sovereignty and parliamentary accountability are best enforced politically.”

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Pravar Petkar @pravarpetkar.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Found this incredibly useful when looking at constituent power in devolved contexts in the UK - well worth reading!

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Pravar Petkar @pravarpetkar.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

Thought this was a great discussion of the history behind party members’ involvement in leadership elections - with some very considered views on how to move forwards. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/p...

podcasts.apple.com

The History of Bad Ideas: Party Members Choosing Leaders

Podcast Episode · Past Present Future · 05/12/2024 · 57m

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Pravar Petkar @pravarpetkar.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

A few thoughts around participatory democracy, the need for tech to scale this up and the need for tech regulation, based on a recent discussion on the subject. icfs.org.uk/evolving-dem...

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Pravar Petkar @pravarpetkar.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

Ignoring the title, this is perhaps one of the better made cases for greater public consultation on the assisted dying Bill - which in this case would help to bring diverse perspectives into the debate. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.com

MPs will vote, but there is a better way to decide who has the right to die | Rafael Behr

In an age of cynicism and mistrust, politicians must work harder to involve the public in difficult decisions, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr

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Edinburgh Law School @uoelawschool.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Our Class of 2024 is graduating today! 🎉 Congratulations to all of you on this achievement. We hope you have a wonderful time celebrating with friends and family. #EdinburghGrad

A picture of Edinburgh Law School's Class of 2024.

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