What, if any, was the legal basis for the powers of the regional seats of government and commissioners?
<p>A major part of the UK’s contingency planning for nuclear war was the system of regional seats of government and regional commissioners; Wikipedia says under such plans, regional commissioners would have ‘absolute power’ in their region, implying the rule of law would be abrogated.   Was there ever any legal basis in either prerogative or statute for giving dictatorial control to regional appointees if central government was hit? Or was the assumption that once nuclear war set in, law was not sustainable due to necessity?</p>

<h2>Yes</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo6/12-13-14/5" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Civil Defence Act</a> 1948 gave the minister power to establish what became the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_seat_of_government" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Regional Seats of Government</a>.</p>

united-kingdom constitutional-law emergencies