Should the monarchy become elective?

I think unless the monarchy changes at some point it faces extinction. The ultimate flaw of our constitutional monarchy is the fact that it is still based on hereditary principles, which is fundamentally wrong. I am not necessarily against having a monarchy, but why not elect the person who is the monarch? Rather than having a royal family based on blood, the position should in principle be open to any citizen of the United Kingdom. Of course the ‘king’ or ‘queen’ would have to be a respected person of society, possibly an elder statesman or someone of high academic or personal achievement, maybe in fields like science, arts or law, or someone who has been highly successful in economics or business. Once elected the ‘monarch’ would do exactly as the queen does; act as kind of representative of Britain at home and abroad, but they would have earned the right to do that, not gotten there based on class, blood, but by being chosen by the people of Britain to be that representative.

Reply 1

congpert2

I can't decide which is worse...

Reply 2

RtGOAT

12

King David Beckham would be awesome.

The monarchy should **** off though.

Reply 3

User990473

Our monarchy is just a way of keeping tradition alive and attracting tourists in.
It doesn't really have any real affect on our politics -- and if it did interfere then it would be going against the whole point of having parliament.

For the sake of the profit their image brings in, why not keep them?

Reply 4

wildrover

19

No, they are our last defence against a potentially tyrannical organisation.

Reply 5

gladders

16

Seeing as most countries deliberately do not elect their Head of State for the express purpose of preventing them for being tempted to become involved in day-to-day politics, I think the monarchy is just fine as it is and won't go anywhere yet.

There's nothing inherently wrong with hereditary succession, no more than any other mode of appointment, it just needs to be placed in a position where it works best. The Head of State is the optimal place.

No it shouldn't.

There is this general aurora of republicanism on this forum. In the real world, almost no-one supports the disestablishment of our Monarchy. It is not "facing extinction" as you say – ordinary people do not care about it, so nothing will happen. There are more pressing issues at hand. Besides, the Queen has done a great job.

Reply 8

AttackofTheBoris

1

I think an elected monarchy would be a terrible idea. However, I think that the succession should be chosen by the monarch from the royal line rather then the next in-line, so that we don't constantly have OAPs for monarchs as the health care available means that by the time the monarch is dead, the next in-line could already be a pensioner.

Reply 9

bloomblaze

17

Original post by engrishdegree

I think unless the monarchy changes at some point it faces extinction. The ultimate flaw of our constitutional monarchy is the fact that it is still based on hereditary principles, which is fundamentally wrong. I am not necessarily against having a monarchy, but why not elect the person who is the monarch? Rather than having a royal family based on blood, the position should in principle be open to any citizen of the United Kingdom. Of course the ‘king’ or ‘queen’ would have to be a respected person of society, possibly an elder statesman or someone of high academic or personal achievement, maybe in fields like science, arts or law, or someone who has been highly successful in economics or business. Once elected the ‘monarch’ would do exactly as the queen does; act as kind of representative of Britain at home and abroad, but they would have earned the right to do that, not gotten there based on class, blood, but by being chosen by the people of Britain to be that representative.

Someone like Tulisa Constavolos would probably end up getting it...

Reply 10

Kiss

2

No, that wouldn't make sense.

Reply 11

That Bearded Man

22

To be fair, the monarchy will change eventually, kings and queens die you know.

Reply 12

Maid Marian

20

No, because then it wouldn't be a proper monarchy anymore :s-smilie:

Reply 13

Iron Lady

Then you're clinging on to a term that doesn't really match it.

Reply 14

liblabcon123

Countries like France and Germany have both had monarchies in the past but have gotten rid. It would make little difference as the monarch does very little and despite being a historical tradition, France and Germany haven't suffered from having Presidents/Chancellors. There's more important things to deal with and it's hard to draw a line on when the monarchy would end as there's no urgent need for change.

Reply 15

Spaz Man

13

Either have a hereditary constitutional monarchy or a full parliamentary republic. An "elective monarchy" would be so awkward and even more tiresome.

Reply 16

Telecaster Steak

9

If you're gonna change it, get rid of it all together, have an elected president with much the same responsibility but no real power.

Reply 17

cl_steele

2

Original post by RtGOAT

King David Beckham would be awesome.

The monarchy should **** off though.

or you could?
Dont be a ... to a family you know nothing of.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 18

Republic1

3

Elected Monarchy - No. An Elected Head of State in general is just no.

"Head of State" is such an old fashioned idea and should just be combined with Head of Government imo. Make the PM both of them.

In an ideal world the Monarchy would be abolished but their isn't enough support for that from the public. It makes me sick seeing people going to food banks because they are struggling and then the Monarchy being chauffeur driven from palace to palace.

For sure the political powers of the Monarch (Royal Assent) etc should be scrapped. The idea that the courts and parliament get a mandate from the crown should be scrapped. The Crown should at least be taken out of political life altogether if the public insist on keeping this terrible, old fashioned system of governance.

Reply 19

Xeasi

2

How about we take the church out of our political system first?

...Just an idea.

Should the monarchy become elective?

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