How Westminster Works . . . and Why It Doesn't

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The problem is not that the politicians are corrupt or lazy; it's that the system is simply not fit for purpose

Here and there Dunt finds reason to be cautiously cheerful. The House of Lords has shown remarkable independence, a real ability to affect the outcome of legislation by managing its own timetable and contributing much-needed expertise (the cross-bench system, he argues, works particularly well). And select committees turn out to offer a model of how things should be done – listening to the evidence and privileging cooperation and compromise over crude partisanship. Purchasing a book may earn the NS a commission from Bookshop.org, who support independent bookshopsIt is not about the failure of a particular project. It is systematic and existential,” Dunt writes. “In short,” he says, prefiguring Succession’s Logan Roy, “it is about whether this is a serious country or not.” Any reader of this essential guide will struggle to conclude that we are. Dunt diverges from other books bemoaning the state of our politics: they often call for an elected House of Lords, but he argues it is “one of the best-functioning institutions in Westminster”, rigorously evaluating bills in a way the Commons does not. “There is no need at all to make the Lords democratic.” Jill Rutter, Senior Research Fellow at UK in a Changing Europe and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government

The first problems with our political system start before we even get to Westminster, though. The chapter on ‘The Vote’ explains how there really is no public say in choosing a parliamentary candidate and that all the power lies with the party. As a scene setter, Dunt chronicles the events and the points of failure of Chris Grayling’s attempted privatisation of probation services. This provides a relatable real-world context for what follows, one example of the harm caused when Westminster doesn’t work. Democracy gets off to a bad start

The book is at its most illuminating when it focuses on one of the least scrutinised power blocs in the UK: the civil service. Dunt cites the example of Antonia Romeo, the civil servant who carried out Grayling’s ruinous probation reform, which was cancelled in 2018 after offences spiked, costs spiralled and probation providers went bankrupt. Romeo was nevertheless promoted. “No one lost their job, or was penalised, or even rebuked,” Dunt writes, echoing Dominic Cummings’s fundamental criticism of the civil service, that promotion bears no relation to performance.