Evaluate the view that Parliament is No Longer Sovereign in the UK

Introduction

Parliamentary Sovereignty refers to the fact that Parliament is the sole and supreme legal authority in the UK

Paragraph Focus

• Para 1 = The Executive

• Para 2 = Devolved Bodies

• Para 3 = The People

Para 1 - Weaker Argument = Not Sovereign

• in July 2025, the Labour government MPs were whipped to push through their welfare reform bill

• this shows that the executive is able to use whipping and its large majority to ensure they very rarely lose votes

• this may mean that parliament’s sovereignty is gone as an elective dictatorship ensures that the government can usually dominate parliament

Para 1 - Stronger Argument = Remains Sovereign

• Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman introduced the Illegal Migration Bill in 2023 stating it might be incompatible with the Human Rights Acts, but the government wanted to proceed with it regardless

• this shows that Parliament still still remains the ultimate legal authority in the UK as it can pass laws on any subject

• this suggests that legal limitations imposed by statutes such as the HRA are political rather than absolute, as Parliament can amend or ignore them through primary legislation

Para 2 - Weaker Argument = Not Sovereign

• eg. in 2020, the UK government aimed to introduce a Shared Prosperity Fund but devolved bodies such as Wales and Scotland withheld consent through the Sewel Convention

• this demonstrates how devolved bodies can undermine parliamentary sovereignty through convention to protect their own political agendas

• this limits Parliaments freedom to legislate unilaterally and constrains their power as a central authority

Para 2 - Stronger Argument = Sovereign

• eg. in 2023, Rishi Sunak used a Section 35 Order to block Scotland’s propose gender reform bill, which would’ve introduce self identification for those who wanted to change gender

• this shows that Parliament still contains most sovereignty as they retain the power to control legisaltive agendas within devolved bodies

• this means they can reassert control when constitutional boundaries are challenged

Para 3 - Weaker Argument = Not Sovereign

• eg. in the 2024 election, when the public overwhelmingly voted against the Conservative Party, removing them from government and replacing them with Labour

• this shows that through representative democracy (Component 1) the people ultimately have popular sovereignty, with which they grant Parliament and other bodies legal sovereignty

• this means that MPs will be more likely to tailor their polices and legislation to better represent their views of their constitutions, highlighting their role in delegating legitimacy

Para 3 - Stronger Argument = Sovereign

• eg. in 2025 a petition was created to call for another general election and gained over 1 million signatures however the parliament refused

• this shows that Parliament still remains sovereign as they do not have to implement everything the people want

• this means that attempt to influence Parliament through direct democracy may be futile when parliament holds all legal authority in the land