Clive Coleman in conversation with Lord Sumption
Our Senior Partner Clive Coleman, former barrister and BBC Legal Correspondent, interviewed Lord Sumption at the Conduit Club on Wednesday 2nd April 2025, on the profound and multi-faceted challenges that are testing the very fabric of democracy around the world.
Lord Sumption drew on the brilliant and incisive collection of essays that make up his recently published book, ‘The Challenges of Democracy And The Rule of Law’. The discussion took place against the backdrop of unprecedented threats to democratic structures and norms thrown up by today’s unstable politics, authoritarian regimes and the extraordinary advances in modern communications and technology.
At a time when the world has rarely felt as unpredictable and unstable, Lord Sumption provided a searing analysis of the changing landscape of democracies around the world. The conversation covered Brexit, the pandemic, and attempts by governments to by-pass legal norms in the UK. In addition, it looked at the shifting tectonic plates of the US constitution with its increasingly partisan Supreme Court and a president emboldened to exercise executive power in a manner never seen before.
Clive and Lord Sumption discussed how democracies fatigue and fail. Citing John Adams, one of the founding fathers of America, Lord Sumption spoke of how democracies fail from within, as people tire of the political class and political elites, and turn to more authoritarian forms of government. He also expressed his views on the corrosive effects of economic insecurity, intolerance and fear, explaining how the situation in the UK has been aggravated by low productivity, poor levels of investment, and two major self-inflicted wounds – an ill-conceived Brexit and highly destructive response to the pandemic. On Brexit, Lord Sumption elaborated on the claim in his book that Brexit was intended to unite the Conservative party but has ended up destroying it.
Lord Sumption also provided a penetrating analysis of the state of democracy in the United States and in particular the decision of the US Supreme Court in Trump versus The United States. In his book, he writes ‘In plain language ruling means that because of the President’s awesome powers and responsibilities, he must be allowed to do what he wants, without being unduly ‘distracted’ by the thought that it may be a criminal offence.’
As a former distinguished Supreme Court justice, historian and author, Lord Sumption brought a timely, powerful and unique perspective to the challenges faced by democracy and the rule of law. His book is published by Profile Books.