Abstract | One of the constitutional curiosities of the post-2016 period is the way in which Conservative governments have claimed that their legitimation comes not from the Crown but the People. This reinforces a trend already developing before 2016, whereby voters have increasingly seen democracy in Britain not as parliamentary or direct, but as delegatory. The concept of delegatory access in Britain, through the process of petitioning, has a lineage dating back to the origins of Parliament itself. Edmund Burke’s Bristol speech in 1774 is often misinterpreted as the classic statement of whether Parliamentarians should be delegates or representatives, and has been frequently, if misleadingly, invoked since 2016 to justify contemporary developments. It is shown that in the past campaigners aimed to make Parliament more responsive to the electorate, rather than the government. In contrast, recent administrations have increasingly claimed legitimacy from the people, diminishing Parliament and contributing to the rise, not of delegatory democracy, but of delegatory government. |
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