Reshaping the British Constitution provides a vigorous critique of the deformations of Britain's customary constitution and why it could not effectively stem the growth of a centralized political authority. On this foundation it provides a critical description and assessment of recent constitutional changes including devolution, House of Lords reform, human rights and the encroachment of the European Union. Nevil Johnson suggests that since the reform programme has rested on pragmatic political expediency rather than on coherent thinking about constitutional principles, it is likely to strengthen the familiar deformations of the customary constitution.

'This is a masterly work, full of detailed commentary on different aspects of the constitution and with often wry and pertinent comments and insights into the present constitutional reform programme and current political developments, written from a position that is strongly sceptical of the European Union, constitutional reform, and new Labour.' - Andrew Gamble, Professor of Politics, University of Sheffield, UK