Location of sovereignty

Parliament (Commons and Lords)

• Role

  • Constitutionally sovereign - can make or unmake any law

• Political or legal?

  • Legal sovereignty

• Extent

  • Ultimate law-making power

  • Constrained by political realities such as referendums

Executive (PM and Cabinet)

• Role

  • Exercises political power via party control and mandate

• Political or legal?

  • Political sovereignty, in practice

• Extent

  • Strong influence with majority (other factors come into play here too)

  • Not legally sovereign

Devolved bodies

• Role

  • Authority over devolved areas

  • Powers granted by Westminster

• Political or legal?

  • Delegated political sovereignty

• Extent

  • Technically reversible (has happened in NI between 2002 and 2007. Section 35 of Scottish devolution was revoked in 2022 for the first time to prevent them passing the Gender Recognition Reform Bill)

  • Politically entrenched (Scotland)

Popular sovereignty

• Role

  • Referendums and elections reflect will of people

  • Recall of MPs act allows constituents to petiton to recall their MP

• Political or legal?

  • Political sovereignty

• Extent

  • Parliament rarely goes against clear public mandates

UK Supreme Court

• Role

  • Interpretation of law

  • Checks on Executive/plmtary action

• Political or legal?

  • Judicial authority as not sovereign

• Extent

  • Cannot strike down laws

  • Influences through legal interpretation

EU (pre-Brexit)

• Role

  • Had supremacy of UK law in many areas

• Political or legal?

  • Former external legal sovereignty

• Extent

  • Brexit restored areas in which the EU had sovereignty to the UK

ECHR

• Role

  • Not legally binding

  • Politically hard to ignore

• Political or legal?

  • Soft legal constraint

• Extent

  • Courts can issue incompatibility rulings

    • Govt often complies with these