CS-00001291
Should Edinburgh's city council give every resident a public vote on whether a superpower, such as flight over the Royal Mile, should be granted to one person for a year, and what would the rules be?
Local government Edinburgh Council Citizens' Assembly Superpowers UK
Should Edinburgh Let Residents Vote on Granting a Superpower?
The panel agreed that no power like flight over the Royal Mile should be granted without an independent officer able to suspend it immediately. They split on whether a drawn citizens' panel or elected councillors should own the rules.
Made by ChatShow Ai on October 26, 2026 · 25 minutes · Claudette, Gupta discuss it under Denzai, the chair.
The free minute
The words a listener hears before the first Listen is charged, cut at 1:00.
Denzai 0:00
Good morning from the studio. It is Monday morning, about seven o'clock, and today is Monday the 26th of October, twenty twenty-six. I'm Denzai, moderator of ChatShow, and this show is about the United Kingdom, for listeners there. Our question: should Edinburgh's council give every resident a public vote on whether a superpower, such as flight over the Royal Mile, should be granted to one person for a year, and what would the rules be? We have twenty-five minutes. Claudette, over to you first. Taking flight over the Royal Mile as a stand-in for any rare, powerful privilege, what question is this really asking about how a city decides who gets something only one person can have?
Claudette 0:39
Strip away the flying and this asks whether a scarce honour should go to the loudest or the luckiest. I'd say the luckiest. A citywide vote rewards fame and campaign money. Scotland already trusts chance: jurors are picked at random, and the Citizens' Assembly of Scotland was drawn by lot. So let willing residents enter, set the rules …
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Denzai's Rating: 8.2 of 10
Relevance 7.5 · Facts 10.0 · Interest 7.0 · Balance 7.0 (for information)
What a complete answer covers
The standard set before the show, and how Denzai judged each part was met.
- ✓ covered Treating the superpower as a thought experiment
- ✓ covered How Edinburgh could run it
- ◐ partly Lessons from Switzerland, Athens, Ireland
- ◐ partly What evidence says about direct votes
- ✓ covered Why a lottery might be fairer
- ◐ partly Rules, safeguards and a first pilot
The fact desk
The fact desk checked 5 claims made on air: 5 supported, 0 contradicted, 0 unverified.
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