What would a Labour landslide mean for parliament?

As Rishi Sunak faces electoral oblivion today, his final gambit before polling day is to threaten voters with the risk of a Labour ‘super-majority’. The term ‘super-majority’ is constitutionally meaningless in the UK: in our system of government a majority of one gives a party the same right to make and unmake laws as a majority in the hundreds. But voters should care about the impact of a large Labour lead.

Arguably, a Labour landslide could have a practical impact on the way parliament works. Parliament’s two core functions are making legislation and holding the government to account. The most obvious concern is the effect a landslide would have on the quality of scrutiny.

It is already broadly accepted that the House of Commons does not do a great job of scrutinising legislation. Line by line scrutiny of new laws primarily occurs in the House of Lords.