#115 - Lord Jonathan Sumption - Can Democracy Survive the Britain We’re Becoming?

#115 - Lord Jonathan Sumption - Can Democracy Survive the Britain We’re Becoming?

From Thinking Class by John Gillam

February 13, 2026 · 58 min

About this episode

Lord Jonathan Sumption discusses the challenges facing democracy in Britain today.

Lord Jonathan Sumption is a British judge and historian, who served as a Supreme Court Justice from 2012 – 2018. He is the author of The Challenges of Democracy And The Rule Of Law, the Sunday Times bestseller Trials of the State, Law in a Time of Crisis, and Divided Houses, which won the 2009 Wolfson History Prize. Across Britain and the wider West democratic decision-making is increasingly being hollowed out by courts, by bureaucracies, by delayed elections, by restrictions on speech, and b...

People in this episode

Host: John Gillam

Guest: Lord Jonathan Sumption

Topics covered

  • democracy
  • law
  • politics
  • freedom of speech
  • judiciary
  • British history

Keywords

  • democracy
  • judiciary
  • freedom of speech
  • British politics
  • historian

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Supreme Court

Books & works: The Challenges of Democracy And The Rule Of Law, Trials of the State, Law in a Time of Crisis, Divided Houses

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