Where does sovereignty lie in the UK?

Sovereignty is the legitimate and exclusive right to exercise power within a given area. This therefore means that sovereignty is supreme power. Furthermore, there are three types of sovereignty: legal sovereignty, political sovereignty and pooled sovereignty. Legal sovereignty is where the supreme power lies based on the meaning of law. Political sovereignty is where the supreme power lies based on reality and pooled sovereignty is where all members of the institution are represented but none of them have an overall say. An example of pooled sovereignty is the European Union.

Within the UK, our sovereignty is based within parliament. Parliamentary sovereignty is seen as the main principle of the British Constitution and is regarded as holding the supreme authority within the UK. This is shown by Parliament approving most key decisions that are made (however the Prime Minister has an overall say on some issues involving military and foreign decisions). 

Also, Parliament has the power to grant and remove powers given to ministers, devolved governments, local governments and other public bodies. However, parliament cannot override the prerogative powers of the Prime Minister. Furthermore, all new primary legislation must be passed by Parliament and secondary legislation made by ministers can be overruled by Parliament. This therefore shows how Parliament is sovereign in the UK because it has the power to give and take back the powers which certain bodies obtain.

In addition, Parliament is not bound by previous Parliament actions. Therefore, the current Parliament cannot pass laws which cannot be repealed or changed by future Parliaments.

In conclusion, these arguments show how sovereignty in the UK lies within Parliament due to the way it has an overriding power on laws which can be passed within the UK and due to the approval needed by Parliament on almost all of the key decisions which are made.