Legal sovereignty lies with Parliament which means that no other body has the power to make laws or to overrule laws made by Parliament. Statutory powers can be granted to a subsidiary body or to a minister only by Parliament. Elected MPs in the House of Commons alongside the House of Lords makes the law in Parliament which is legally sovereign as it is not bound by laws, made by previous Parliaments. The laws made by the government cannot be entrenched by each Parliament and future Parliaments cannot be prevented from repealing or amending them, by each current Parliament.
Recently Parliament has delegated its legal sovereignty to the Scottish Parliament which has primary legislative power under the Scotland Act 1998; however this could be repealed which shows that UK Parliament still has the ultimate sovereignty.
It can be argued that the central government is legally sovereign between elections because it has been granted through the people's mandate. However it has no ultimate power because it can be overruled by Parliament. Therefore legal sovereignty lies in the UK Parliament except where it has conceded some powers to the EU. This is known as pooled sovereignty where ultimate power is exercised by the members states collectively.
Popular sovereignty lies in the power to the people which is exercised in three senses. Firstly, popular sovereignty is exercised through General Elections where British citizens elect a Parliameny and a government. The people have power in this sense as their verdict cannot be challenged. Secondly, popular sovereignty is exercised through parties' mandates to carry out the policies in its election manifesto. This way people have granted authority to the government to have power. Lastly, referendums are now held more frequently, where its results are not binding on Parliament. Therefore it is argued that they are not sovereign. However it is inconceivable that a government or Parliament would refuse to accept the verdict of a referendum as it gives power to the people (popular sovereignty).
Political sovereignty is exercised through the UK government and the prime minister because these political bodies hold most power in reality. Therefore, political sovereignty can be seen in the following circumstances. The UK government is politically sovereign because it has a mandate from the people, where most of its proposals are almost certain to be accepted through Parliament. The prime minister in the UK, has prerogative powers which are exercised on behalf of the monarch. This cannot be overruled by Parliament without passing a special Act of Parliament. The Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments and assemblies have political sovereignty over certain areas of policy making, because the devolution laws have granted them wide powers. Popular sovereignty exercised by the people can also be political sovereignty as it increases political participation.
Well done, great use of the information from class
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