united-kingdom constitutional-law
Can the Queen still dissolve parliament?
<p>Traditionally it has been the constitutional power of the monarch to dissolve parliament and trigger a general election at will.</p>

<p>Ostensibly, the Fixed Term Parliaments Act of 2011 removed this power.</p>

<p>However, since parliament derives its power from delegated royal prerogative and acts can only become law with royal assent. Is this actually binding and could the Queen still dissolve parliament if she so wished, even if she had to take a few steps to repeal that law first?</p>

<p>Parliament derives its power from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_United_Kingdom" rel="noreferrer">Britain's unwritten constitution</a>, not from delegated royal prerogative. This certainly dates to at latest the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorious_Revolution" rel="noreferrer">Glorious Revolution</a>. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_of_Rights_1689" rel="noreferrer">Bill of Rights 1688</a> explicitly confirmed that the King has no power to dispense with laws, and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case_of_Proclamations" rel="noreferrer">Case of Proclamations</a> in 1610 established that the King could not legislate without the consent of Parliament. The ultimate authority in the UK is <em>not</em> the Queen, it's the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen-in-Parliament" rel="noreferrer">Queen in Parliament</a> (in other words,  Parliamentary action with royal assent).</p>
