We’re constantly told “we don’t have a constitution.” Teachers say it. Journalists repeat it. Politicians hide behind it.
It’s rubbish. The English constitution exists. It’s just not wrapped up in one shiny document you can wave around like the Americans do. And if you want proof, go back to 1808 and read a forgotten book called A Concise View of the Constitution of England by George Custance. That’s what I did – and it completely changed how I talk about our system in England.
In this post I’m going to walk through what Custance actually wrote, why it matters today, and how you can use his work to push back on the “we’ve got no constitution” myth, both online and in real life – from an English point of view.
Meet George Custance – Your New Old‑School English Guide
George Custance wasn’t writing “UK” think‑pieces. He was writing about the constitution of England as it actually functioned in his time. Nearly 500 pages on how the English state is structured and how power is supposed to be limited. That alone should kill the “we have no constitution” line. Nobody writes a 452‑page book about something that doesn’t exist.
He breaks the English constitutional set‑up down in plain terms:
- The Crown in England – what the monarch can and cannot do under English law.
- The Lords – the English peerage and bishops, and how they’re meant to check legislation.
- The Commons – the “people’s” house for England, sending English MPs to Parliament.
- The courts – English judges, case law, and why independent courts matter.
- The rights of English subjects – what an Englishman is meant to be able to do without the state kicking his door in.
Reading him, you realise something simple: in 1808, people already understood that the constitution of England was a thing in itself. They argued about it, wrote about it, and tried to defend it. They didn’t sit around saying, “Oh well, we’ve got no constitution.”
If the English constitution didn’t exist, Custance’s entire book would be pointless. It clearly isn’t.
What Custance Shows – A Constitution of England Built from Many Pieces
Here’s the key shift in thinking: stop looking for one single piece of paper called “The Constitution of England”. Start looking at the building blocks that make up the constitution of England.
Custance walks through those building blocks one by one:
- English statutes: Magna Carta, the Petition of Right, the Bill of Rights 1689, the Act of Settlement 1701, later Reform Acts and so on. These are all products of English constitutional struggles.
- English case law: decisions like Entick v Carrington, which make it clear the state can’t just send agents into your home in England without lawful authority.
- English constitutional conventions: the “unwritten rules” – for example, the monarch appointing as Prime Minister the person who can command the confidence of the House of Commons that represents the English (and later UK) electorate.
Modern academics use polite phrases and talk about an “uncodified constitution”. All that means is this: the rules of the English constitution are spread across laws, court decisions and long‑standing practice, not in one neat document. That’s exactly what Custance was cataloguing over 200 years ago from an English perspective.
So when someone rolls out the line “we’ve got no constitution”, what they really mean is “I’ve never bothered to read the English one we actually have.”
Unwritten Doesn’t Mean Non‑Existent – Especially in England
Let’s be clear. “Unwritten” is one of the most misleading words in English politics.
An uncodified English constitution is not some mystical cloud of vibes. It’s a system where the fundamental rules for England are in a mix of statutes, court judgments, conventions and practices. There’s plenty of writing – it’s just not all gathered into one “Constitution of England” booklet.
Custance’s Concise View of the Constitution of England is practically a manual on how that kind of English system works. He shows:
- How Parliament, drawing heavily on English constitutional history, can change constitutional rules using ordinary Acts, instead of special “constitutional amendment” procedures.
- How English judges interpret and apply principles over time, turning individual English cases into part of the constitutional fabric.
- How political habits in England – conventions – become binding in practice because everyone acts as if they are law, and the English public expects it.
Modern writers say the same thing: the UK‑level constitution is mostly written but uncodified, built on English foundations. Custance just got there earlier and said it in a blunt, practical way about England itself.
The English constitution exists. The problem is not that it’s missing. The problem is that most people in England have never been shown where to look.
Why This Matters for England Right Now
You might be thinking: “Nice history lesson, but why should anyone in England care in 2026?”
Because every time someone in England repeats “we’ve got no constitution”, they hand bad actors a free excuse. If there’s “no constitution”, then apparently there are no limits. Everything is just politics and whoever wins can do what they like to the English.
Custance exposes how dangerous that mindset is for England. He shows that:
- There are real limits on power in English constitutional law, even if they’re scattered across different texts.
- Rights like habeas corpus, petition and free speech exist in English legal tradition long before modern human rights instruments.
- Parliament is supposed to be sovereign over the executive, not the other way round – an idea rooted in English struggles against arbitrary power.
Fast‑forward to today and the debates haven’t really changed. Modern commentators still argue over whether our uncodified constitution gives politicians too much freedom to bend rules. The point is: there are rules, anchored in English history. They can be defended. Arguing that “we’ve got no constitution” makes that harder, not easier.
If you care about England’s self‑government and English rights, you need to know what’s already there before you start shouting about what’s missing.
How I Used Custance’s Book for an English‑Focused Site
Here’s the practical bit from my own work, as someone building content around England, not some vague “Britain”.
I wanted a page on my site that didn’t just moan about “the state of England” but actually gave people concrete English constitutional material. Not theory, not slogans – original English sources.
So I did three things:
- Found a public‑domain scan of Custance’s Concise View of the Constitution of England from reputable digital libraries and archives.
- Wrote a short, blunt intro explaining that this is an English constitutional text, not a generic UK pamphlet.
- Offered a free link to either read or listen to the full book, framed around one clear message: the English constitution exists and here is one of the people who set it out in black and white.
Result? People don’t just scroll past. They download it. They quote it back. And when some pundit says “we’ve got no constitution”, those people now have a 200‑year‑old English rebuttal sitting on their hard drive.
Not everyone is going to read all 400‑odd pages. That’s fine. The point is to reconnect people in England with the idea that our system isn’t just whatever the government of the day feels like. There is an English constitutional structure. There are limits. Custance helps you see them.
Using Custance to Win English Arguments
Let’s be honest: a lot of this plays out in arguments – in England, online and offline.
Here’s how I use this book as ammo for English‑focused conversations:
- When someone says “we don’t have a constitution”, I reply:
“Then what was George Custance writing about in 1808 in his book A Concise View of the Constitution of England?” - When they say “rights only came from modern European stuff”, I point to Magna Carta, the Petition of Right, the Bill of Rights and habeas corpus – all English constitutional instruments.
- When they say “the monarchy is all‑powerful”, I remind them English law binds the Crown through statutes like the Bill of Rights 1689, and through the convention that ministers, not the monarch personally, are accountable to the English‑based House of Commons.
You don’t have to quote page numbers. Just knowing that serious people were writing about the constitution of England more than 200 years ago gives you firm ground to stand on.
And once you’ve got Custance under your belt, you can layer in later writers like Walter Bagehot’s The English Constitution, which looks at how the English‑rooted system operated in the 19th century. Same message, different era: there is an English constitution; stop obsessing over the lack of a single “Constitution of England” document.
Turning an Old English Book into a Modern Tool
A book like this isn’t just for academics. You can use it as a tool for England in three ways.
- English civic education
Recommend it to anyone in England who wants to stop relying on shallow takes. “Read Custance on the constitution of England, then come back and talk” is a good filter. - English‑focused content
If you run a site, channel or newsletter about England, this book gives you a whole series of posts:- The English Crown’s powers then vs now.
- How the English understanding of Parliament has shifted.
- What “rights of English subjects” used to mean and what that says about English identity.
- English political organisation
If you’re involved in any English political or cultural project, this gives you a serious, historically‑rooted foundation. You can say, with receipts, that the English constitution exists and always has – and that the real question is whether we still respect it.
The goal isn’t to turn Custance into some saint. The goal is to stop letting people pretend our English constitutional tradition starts and ends with whatever gets a headline this week.
The English Constitution Exists – So Learn It
Let’s bring it back to the core claim.
The English constitution exists. It exists in English statutes, English court judgments, English conventions and English political practice. It existed long before modern devolution, long before today’s party brands, long before the latest drama on the news. George Custance, writing in 1808, treated the constitution of England as something real enough to map, defend and explain in detail.
So here’s the challenge:
- Stop repeating the lazy line that “we’ve got no constitution” in England.
- Start learning the English constitution we actually have.
- Use books like A Concise View of the Constitution of England to ground your arguments in something older and sturdier than social media outrage.
If you want England to have a future worth living in, you’d better understand the constitutional tradition England is already built on. That work starts with acknowledging the obvious: the English constitution exists – and it’s on you whether you ignore it or pick it up and use it.
FAQs
1. Who was George Custance?
George Custance was an early‑19th‑century writer who produced a detailed account of how the constitution of England worked in practice, published in 1808 and running to over 400 pages.
2. What exactly is the English constitution?
It’s the set of rules that govern how England is run – built from English statutes, English court decisions, English constitutional conventions and long‑established practices, rather than one single written document.
3. What does “uncodified constitution” mean for England?
It means England’s constitutional rules are not in one formal “Constitution of England” document. They’re spread across Acts of Parliament, case law and conventions rooted in English history.
4. Why should ordinary people in England care about a book from 1808?
Because it shows that arguments about English power, English rights and limits on authority didn’t start yesterday. Custance gives you historical backing when you say the English constitution exists and has real content.
5. Where can I read the book today?
Public‑domain scans of A Concise View of the Constitution of England are available through major digital libraries and archives that host historical works on English politics and government. Or you can read and listen to the audio version through a link on this website here