• Research Briefing

    Target seats: how did Labour and the Conservatives perform?

    In last week’s election, Labour gained 36 seats (while losing six), and the Conservatives gained 20 (while losing 33). But how did each party perform in its ‘target seats’? What is a target seat? Here we define target seats as those which had the smallest majority after the 2015 General Election. They aren’t necessarily the

  • Research Briefing

    Wilson Doctrine

    The Wilson Doctrine is a convention that MPs' communications should not be intercepted by the intelligence services. The Investigatory Powers Tribunal gave judgement on 14 October 2015 clarifying the Doctrine's status and effect. The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 placed arrangements on a statutory footing and extended them to members of the devolved administrations and MEPs. This Briefing Paper sets out the background.

  • Research Briefing

    Airport slots

    This paper explains the slot allocation rules in the UK, across the EU and more widely around the world. It examines the effectiveness of the current regime in place in the UK, set within EU rules, and looks at longer term options for reform post-Brexit.

  • Research Briefing

    Researching ancestry: access to civil registration records

    This Commons Library briefing paper deals with current arrangements for access to civil registration information in England and Wales, and with new provisions intended to facilitate different ways of accessing this information in the future. It also includes a summary of how to access civil registration information in Scotland.

  • Research Briefing

    Sale of Goods Act 1979

    This Commons briefing paper provides a detailed overview of a consumer’s statutory rights to return a defective good under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 in respect of goods purchased on or before 30 September 2015. In respect of goods purchased on or after the 1 October 2015, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 would apply.

  • Research Briefing

    Brexit negotiations under a minority government

    Theresa May intends to form a minority government and to work with allies, in particular the ten MPs in Arlene Foster’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), to press ahead with the Conservative Party’s manifesto commitments. What might this mean for the Brexit negotiations? Talks will still go ahead Both Theresa May and the EU have said

  • Research Briefing

    General Election 2017: the results so far

    The General Election has resulted in a hung Parliament with the Conservatives as the largest party. This is only the third time since World War II that a General Election has produced a hung Parliament – the previous occasions being February 1974 and May 2010. What were the results in the UK? – The Conservative Party have