The City Law School’s Dr John Stanton launches his new monograph which offers a wide-ranging examination of local government across different parts of the UK.
By City Press Office (City Press Office), Published
On Thursday 25th May 2023, a book launch event was held at City, University of London for Senior Lecturer in Law Dr John Stanton’s new monograph, Law, Localism, and the Constitution: A Comparative Perspective (Routledge).
The event, chaired by Professor Javier Garcia Oliva (University of Manchester), involved contributions from Dr Stanton, Professor Stephen Bailey (University of Nottingham), Dr (and Councillor) Elin Weston (King’s College London and the London Borough of Haringey Council) and Councillor Alex Paterson (Medway Council).
The panel offered thoughts on the book, the importance of local government, and experiences of working as local councillors.
Constitutional status
Building upon Dr Stanton’s work over the last 15 years, the book offers an historical, empirical, and comparative examination of local government across the different parts of the UK. In so doing, it explains councils’ constitutional status and discusses how this hinders the realisation of genuinely “local” government, proposing a number of reforms that would correct this reality.
Local government is an aspect of UK constitutional law that is often neglected or overlooked. Councils, though, are a vital part of our governmental order, providing the services and opportunities, and making the decisions and policies, that shape a large part of our day-to-day lives.
Dr Stanton’s new book makes a valuable contribution to the area and potentially provides a prominent foundation for much needed discussion about local government.