Does the Salisbury convention apply in a minority government? Constitution Committee evidence published

The Committee's previous report Constitutional implications of coalition government, published in 2014, said the convention was that “bills foreshadowed in a government's manifesto are given a second reading in the Lords, are not subject to wrecking amendments and are passed in reasonable time.”

The report found the Salisbury-Addison convention does not apply to measures in a coalition government agreement, but that “a practice has evolved that the House of Lords does not normally block government bills, whether they are in a manifesto or not.”

Following the election in June 2017, the Committee sought views on the applicability of the convention in a minority government from the Leader of the House of Lords, the Shadow Leader of the House of Lords, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, the Convenor of the Crossbench Peers, and others.

Points made include:

• ‘The Government is clear that the Salisbury-Addison convention - that the House of Lords should not seek to prevent the Government from implementing manifesto pledges in legislation - continues to apply' [to minority governments] – Baroness Evans of Bowes Park, Leader of the House of Lords
• ‘It is far from clear that the Salisbury-Addison convention was ever intended to apply to minority Governments', however ‘While there may be a residual case for the Lords to in extremis reject a bill at Second Reading, it is not in keeping with our constitutional role and I detect no appetite or serious interest in changing that' – Baroness Smith of Basildon, Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
• ‘The position today is now very different from when the Salisbury-Addison Convention was agreed, and as such, the Convention is largely redundant' – Lord Newby, Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords
• ‘As the basis for the Salisbury Convention is a shared understanding about the respect to be given to a manifesto commitment which has been approved by the electorate at a General Election, it is hard to see why it should apply to a minority government which has not achieved a majority at the Election' – Lord Hope of Craighead, Convenor of the Crossbench Peers
• ‘Even in times of single-party majority government, it can be questioned whether there is really a ‘mandate' for all policies contained within a manifesto' – Professor Meg Russell, Constitution Unit, University College London
  

The evidence can be viewed in full here.