The Future of the Monarchy
The Nation faces choices for the future of the Head of State.
The newly established Commission on Political Power has today (24 May) published a paper setting out six options for the future of the monarchy and head of state. The Commission is carrying out a public consultation over the coming months and will publish final recommendations in a year.
The six options are:
1 No change, which continues the gap with regard to a proper check on the power of the executive
2. Giving the monarch more formal powers to provide a check on the executive
3 Moving towards a ceremonial monarchy with some constitutional powers transferred to a constitutional court or Parliamentary committee
4 A ceremonial monarchy with constitutional powers embodied in an elected president who would sit alongside the prime minister
5 A ceremonial monarchy with increased accountability as to its public engagement
6 Abolition of the monarchy, a republic with an elected head of state
The Commission paper says that over the past thousand years the monarchy has been an evolving institution and the question for today is what is the best structure for the future?
Baroness Frances D'Souza, Co-Convenor of the Commission on Political Power, said: "We are all celebrating the reign of Queen Elizabeth but we need to have a national conversation about the future and not slip unthinkingly into a transition. The central issue is that grey area concerning proper checks on the power of the executive in the UK political settlement. We hope that our paper, deliberately short and readable, will trigger a debate about what our future as a nation could look like."
Frances Crook, Co-Convenor of the Commission on Political Power, said: "Our democracy is under intense pressure and we need to recalibrate structures so that the overweening power of the executive is constrained. Political power needs to be restructured at its centre and we hope our ideas will trigger debate about how this can best be achieved."
The publication is the first in a series of 'options papers' designed to prompt public discussion.
The full paper is available on the Commission website here: https://commissionpoliticalpower.uk/publications/headofstateoptionspaper
Contact:
Frances Crook
@francescrook
@CommPolPower