Cities as Foundation of Constitutional Order: Reflections on the English Devolution Bill 2025

When we think about constitutions, and the political authority behind them, we naturally turn to the state. That is especially the case with a highly centralised polity like the UK, juridically constructed as it is around the totemic idea of a supposedly sovereign Parliament. But is it not also possible to see constitutional authority as a phenomenon that is as much bottom-up as it is top-down? As much about plural localities - cities, regions - as it is about the singular central. There seems good grounds for thinking so. Democratic politics, it might be said, both historically and normatively, grows out of cities.

To ground these reflections, Professor Thomas Poole (LSE) will turn to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, currently making its way through the UK Parliament. While the Bill devolves power from the centre to various cities and region, there are hints in the Bill, and its supporting documents, of a recognition of the desirability, even the necessity, of reviving civic democracy across England. Prof. Poole will examine these localising elements, placing them in the wider historical and constitutional context, including existing - transformative - devolution to Scotland and Wales. Is it possible to ascribe genuine meaning to the ‘principle of constitutional autonomy and partnership’ that is supposed to animate the proposals in the Bill?
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