How (and when) does party matter? Explaining MPs’ positions on assisted dying/assisted suicide

Bibliographic Data

ID6314337
AuthorsIan Bache (0000-0002-2149-210X, University of Sheffield, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume79
Issue1
Pages1-21
Publication date2025-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueParliamentary Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0031-2290 • E-ISSN: 1460-2482
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/pa/gsaf002
OpenAlexW4408140709
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited17

While the legalisation of assisted dying/assisted suicide (AD/AS)1 has enjoyed sustained public support for several decades, Parliament has repeatedly voted decisively against legalisation. This article explores this parliamentary deviation from citizens’ preferences by explaining what shapes MPs’ positions on this free vote issue and, in particular, how (and when) party matters in shaping these positions. It considers both the last Commons vote in 2015 and developments up to July 2024,2 thus avoiding a snapshot analysis of a single moment in time. It finds that while party mattered in the 2015 vote, it was one of many factors that mattered, and was not obviously the most important. However, developments since 2015 suggest that party is likely to play a greater role in the next vote, which is expected in the current parliamentary term

Assisted suicide · Commons · House of Commons · Law and economics · Parliament · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Snapshot (computer storage · Sociology · Computer Science · Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies · Foucault, Power, and Ethics · Law · Legal and cultural studies analysis · Public Administration

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