Sources: those in favour
The hypothesis on this website is grounded on the best sources available. I did not want to fill the text with footnotes but the major books, articles and websites consulted are listed below. These are sources that, in general, reinforce the notion that there is constitution although, as I explain in chapter 7 they are usually flawed in their reasoning. Click the link at the bottom of the page for a list of sceptical authors whose work leads to the opposite conclusion.
Allen Green, D. (2019) Circling the Square: our sprawling constitution works better than you think. Prospect, 10 June.
Bagehot, W. (1867) The English Constitution. London: Chapman and Hall.
Barendt, E. (1997) Is There a United Kingdom Constitution? Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, vol 17 issue 1 pp 137-146.
Blackstone W. (1765) Commentaries on the Laws of England. London.
Blondel, J (1969) Jean Blondel An Introduction to Comparative government (1969) p266 Part V The Structure of Government. Chap 15 Constitutionalism and the role of constitutions in the government process.
Bogdanor, V. (2009) The New British Constitution. Portland, Oregon: Hart. Chapter 1: A Peculiar Constitution p3ff.
Bogdanor, V. (2013) The Telegraph 7 March
Bryce J. (1901) Studies in History and Jurisprudence New York: OUP
Burnham, A. (2022) The Guardian, 25 June.
Cabinet Office (2011). The Cabinet Manual.
Campbell, A. (2023) But What Can I Do?: Why Politics Has Gone so Wrong, and How You Can Help Fix It London: Hutchinson Heinemann
Creasey (2025) The Guardian 18 August
Curtis P. (2026) The New Deal: How to repair the broken relationship between state and citizen.London: Demos
Dicey A.V. (1855) The Law and the Constitution. London
Eliot M and Thomas R (2020) Public Law Oxford: Oxford University Press
Foley, M. (1999) The Politics of the British Constitution. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
Ford, R. (2026). Quoted in the Guardian 3 January
Haddon, C (2022) speaking on Today BBC Radio 4.14 September, confirmed the in an email to me.
Hansard (1991) https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1991/may/20/commonwealth-of-britain
Hardman I. (2018) Why we get the wrong politicians London: Atlantic
Hart, H.L.A (1961) The Concept of Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hazell R. and Foot T (2022) Executive Power: The Prerogative, Past, Present and Future. London: Hart
Hazell, R. and Morris, B (2020). The Role of Monarchy in Modern Democracy. London: Hart Studies in Comparative Public Law.
HC (1688) The Bill of Rights. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/WillandMarSess2/1/2#commentary-c2144673
Hennessy P. (1995) The Hidden Wiring: Unearthing the British Constitution. London: Victor Gollanz.
Hennessy P. (2017): Constitutions at Work, Analysis BBC Radio 4, 3 July https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b08wnc03
Hutton, W. (2009) The Observer 31 May.
Hutton W (2019)The sheer scale of the crisis facing Britain’s decrepit constitution has been laid bare The Observer 1 September
Jack M.T , Sargeant J, and Pannel J (2022) A Framework for Reviewing the UK Constitution. London/Cambridge: Institute for Government/Bennett Institute Review
Johnson, N. (2004) Reshaping the British Constitution. New York: Palgrave Macmillian.
King, A. (2007). The British Constitution. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lewis, B. (2020) Northern Ireland Secretary admits new bill will ‘break international law’ https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-54073836
Low S (1928) The Governance of England. London: Unwin
Miles, Jasper (2026) British Politics: The Starmer government and constitutional reform vol 21 article 10, 10 March.
McSmith, A et al. (2015) The Independent Guide to the UK Constitution. London: Independent Print.
Moore C (2024) The Spectator 12 October: The Spectator’s Note
NAO (2026) Investigation into residential property arrangements with members of the Royal Family. National Audit Office.
Norton, P. (2020) Governing Britain: Parliament, Ministers and Our Ambiguous Constitution. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Oliver D (2003) Constitutional Reform in the United Kingdom
Porrit E (1903). The Unreformed House of Commons; Parliamentary representation before 1832. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Price, L. (2010) Where Power Lies Prime Ministers v the Media. London: Simon and Schuster
Rees Mogg (2016) letter to the Times, November
Ridley, M. (2024) Matt Ridley The Blobocracy Real Power doesn’t belong to MPs The Spectator 22 June 2024
Robertson G. (2006)The Tyrannicide Brief the Man who Sent Charles I to the Scaffold. London: Chatto and Windus
Royal Family https://www.royal.uk/the-role-of-the-monarchy.
Sergeant J (2023) Jess Sargeant, Steph Coulter, Jack Pannell, Rebecca McKee, Milo Hynes Review of the UK constitution (2023) Institute for Government/Bennett Institute for Public Policy
Saunders R (2019) The rise and fall of British democracy New Statesman 10 April.
Schama, S. (1989) Citizens New York: Alfred A Knopf
Smith, R. (2022) Richard Smith, former editor of the British Medical Journal, The Economist 19 February 2022
Spencer, C. Killers of the King. (2015) London: Bloomsbury
Stewart R (2025) The Guardian 19 September 2025
Stewart R (2023) Politics on the Edge. London: Jonathan Cape
Supreme Court (2017) https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2016-0196-judgment.pdf.
Tomlinson, H. (2018) Prospect 20 February 2018.
UK Parliament: Parliament’s Authority https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/role/sovereignty.
Wheare K. (1966) Modern Constitutions Oxford: OUP
White H. (2022) What Boris Johson taught us about the British constitution, Prospect 17 August
Williams, E. Neville (1960) The Eighteenth Century Constitution. 1960 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Introduction.
Wolf-Phillips L. A Long Look at the British Constitution Parliamentary Affairs 1984 vol 37 issue 1 pp385-402.
Young, A. L (2021) Turpin and Tomkins’ British Government and the Constitution. 8th edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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The Cavalier Constitution 