Leah Trueblood

I am currently a Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Surrey. I previously studied for my D.Phil. in Oxford. I was then a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, as well as Fellow and Tutor in Law at Worcester College. My research is about how law can help to build resilient democracies. Some of my publications are:

Monograph

Referendums as Representative Democracy (Hart 2024) (2025 Paperback)

The subject of a symposium in Comparative Constitutional Studies with contributions from Jeff King, Daniel Moeckli, and Ayesha Wijayaleth

Reviewed in:

The International Constitutional Law Journal (Spanish edition) - Maris Köpcke: ‘This book is a brilliant attack on…current constitutionalist orthodoxy.’

The Modern Law Review - Richard Stacey: ‘On the whole…Trueblood’s descriptive account of referendum as in, in fact, exercises of representative democracy is hard to fault. Similarly, her recommendations for improving the representativeness of referendums are pragmatic and appealing.’ 

 Public Law - Pedro Nobuyuki Urashima: ‘an insightful book.’

 British Association of Comparative Law Blog - Joel Cólon-Ríos: ‘Trueblood’s superb book has shown that voting in referendums should not be conceived of as the ultimate or sole form of involvement in constitutional change.’  

‘Response to Critics’ (2026) 3(2) Comparative Constitutional Studies 371-377

Peer-Reviewed Articles

‘Judicial Review, Ouster Clauses, and the Democratic Credentials of the Judiciary in the United Kingdom’ (2025)  45(2) Legal Studies 231-245

‘The Science of Accountability: The Role of Reason-Giving when Deferring to Scientific Assessments in Judicial Review’ (2025) 30(1) Judicial Review 55–71

‘Public Functions of Political Parties’ (2025) 88 Modern Law Review 660-688

‘The Impact of Federalism on Secession Referendums: Comparing Scotland and Québec’ (2023) 34 King’s Law Journal (Special Issue on Referendums) Keith Ewing and Chris McCorkindale (eds) 321-339

‘The Case for Supermajority Requirements in Referendums’ with Matt Qvortrup (2023) 21 International Journal of Constitutional Law 187-204

‘Schmitt, Dicey, and the Power and Limits of Referendums in the United Kingdom’ with Matt Qvortrup (2022) 42 Legal Studies 396-407

‘Are Referendums Directly Democratic?’ (2020) 40 OJLS 425-448

‘Legislating for Referendums in the United Kingdom’ (2020) Public Law 49-56