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Could it Happen Here?: The Day a Prime Minister Refuses to Resign
Does the UK’s constitution sufficiently protect our democracy from a rogue prime minister?
In light of the resurgence of the far Right across Europe and some of the rhetoric of the 2024 General Election, which carried whiffs of political authoritarianism, Could It Happen Here? explores the possible consequences of a British prime minister refusing to leave office.
Mapping out the processes which might occur after such an eventuality, the responsibilities of key players in the UK’s democratic system, and the integrity of that system after years of stress, Hennessy and Blick analyse the UK’s ‘unwritten’ constitution and provide a crucial recommendation for protecting and strengthening the resilience of our parliamentary democracy.
In light of the resurgence of the far Right across Europe and some of the rhetoric of the 2024 General Election, which carried whiffs of political authoritarianism, Could It Happen Here? explores the possible consequences of a British prime minister refusing to leave office.
Mapping out the processes which might occur after such an eventuality, the responsibilities of key players in the UK’s democratic system, and the integrity of that system after years of stress, Hennessy and Blick analyse the UK’s ‘unwritten’ constitution and provide a crucial recommendation for protecting and strengthening the resilience of our parliamentary democracy.
104 pages, Paperback
Published August 19, 2025
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About the author
Peter Hennessy
60 books49 followersPeter Hennessy is an English historian and academic specialising in the history of government. Since 1992, he has been Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History at Queen Mary University of London.
He was born in Edmonton, the youngest child of William G. Hennessy by his marriage to Edith (Wood-Johnson) Hennessy
Hennessy attended the nearby Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School, and on Sundays he went to St Mary Magdalene church, where he was an altar boy. He was educated at St Benedict's School, an independent school in Ealing, West London. When his father's job led the family to move to the Cotswolds, he attended Marling School, a grammar school in Stroud, Gloucestershire. He went on to study at St John's College, Cambridge, where he was awarded a BA in 1969 and a PhD in 1990. Hennessy was a Kennedy Memorial Scholar at Harvard University from 1971 to 1972.
Hennessy went on to work as a journalist during the 1970s and 1980s.
He went on to co-found the Institute of Contemporary British History in 1986.
From 1992 to 2000, Hennessey was professor of contemporary history at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London. From 1994 to 1997, he gave public lectures as Professor of Rhetoric at Gresham College, London. From 2001, he has been Attlee professor of contemporary British history at Queen Mary.
Hennessy's analysis of post-war Britain, 'Never Again: Britain 1945–1951', won the Duff Cooper Prize in 1992 and the NCR Book Award in 1993.
Furthermore, his study of Britain in the 1950s and the rise of Harold Macmillan, 'Having It So Good: Britain in the 1950s', won the 2007 Orwell Prize for political writing
Hennessy was created a life peer on November 8, 2010.
He was born in Edmonton, the youngest child of William G. Hennessy by his marriage to Edith (Wood-Johnson) Hennessy
Hennessy attended the nearby Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School, and on Sundays he went to St Mary Magdalene church, where he was an altar boy. He was educated at St Benedict's School, an independent school in Ealing, West London. When his father's job led the family to move to the Cotswolds, he attended Marling School, a grammar school in Stroud, Gloucestershire. He went on to study at St John's College, Cambridge, where he was awarded a BA in 1969 and a PhD in 1990. Hennessy was a Kennedy Memorial Scholar at Harvard University from 1971 to 1972.
Hennessy went on to work as a journalist during the 1970s and 1980s.
He went on to co-found the Institute of Contemporary British History in 1986.
From 1992 to 2000, Hennessey was professor of contemporary history at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London. From 1994 to 1997, he gave public lectures as Professor of Rhetoric at Gresham College, London. From 2001, he has been Attlee professor of contemporary British history at Queen Mary.
Hennessy's analysis of post-war Britain, 'Never Again: Britain 1945–1951', won the Duff Cooper Prize in 1992 and the NCR Book Award in 1993.
Furthermore, his study of Britain in the 1950s and the rise of Harold Macmillan, 'Having It So Good: Britain in the 1950s', won the 2007 Orwell Prize for political writing
Hennessy was created a life peer on November 8, 2010.
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December 30, 2025
2.5ish - I unfortunately found this a bit disappointing. It deserves praise for probing a good and live question, and more broadly for outlining some of the structural/institutional risks that leave the country vulnerable to authoritarian rule. However, it's too attached to its specific scenario (an authoritarian PM who refuses to step down or convene Parliament at the point of losing a parliamentary majority) to ask deeper questions about what factors would make such a scenario plausible or worth considering, while simultaneously wanting to make this scenario sufficiently generic to avoid a detailed treatment of how it would play out. A big part of this seems to be a hesitance on the part of the authors to discuss in serious detail the prospect of the King using his reserve powers to dismiss a PM. This, alongside deciding not to discuss any relevant examples from outside the UK (the dismissal of Gough Whitlam is given a footnote; the role of the King of Spain in averting the 1981 attempted coup is not mentioned at all), leaves a clear absence in the text. It ends up artificially focussed on a narrow range of legal institutions and mechanisms, divorced from underlying political currents that have made authoritarianism a present concern. To give one example: I don't feel persuaded, as the authors do, that the creation of a public oath of office for incoming Prime Ministers as to fidelity to constitutional principles is likely to make any tangible difference, however sternly they might later be reminded about it in the middle of some clear breach. It would be very nice if it were that easy.
Displaying 1 of 1 review