What Should Replace the British Monarchy?

 

José Mujica, former president of Uruguay, called "The Most humble President".

 

The Grand Tradition

Hereditary Kings and Queens have ruled over various iterations of what we know as Great Britain and the United Kingdom for over a thousand years. A “grand tradition” you could argue.

But does tradition mean permanency? Should tradition mean permanency? In my opinion, no. Nations, like technology, society and life itself, should evolve in my view. They should change and adapt to a changing world. With this in mind, some more questions: why should any one family rule over this "Sceptered Isle"? Why is it that one family can embody the values that we cherish more than any other family from these shores? If you love this country, its people, its community, its towns and cities, its hills, valleys, woodlands and rivers, and you want to represent the best aspects of all this to the world, why shouldn’t you be given that chance?

Besides, it is very possible that England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, who have shared nationhood in various ways over the centuries, will become distinct and independent countries in the future (and in fact this article assumes that they will). If and when this happens, will there be a place for the monarchy in this new configuration of what has been called the British Isles (among other things)? If your answer to this question is “no” then we come to possibly the most vexing question: when we decide that the hereditary monarchy has had its day, and that it's time to move beyond this institution, what should replace it?

So What Should Replace the Hereditory Monarch?

The debate over what should replace the monarchy is often the time when we move to the stronger ground of those who would prefer to keep it as it is. Common arguments they put forward are things like “look at America, would you like to have a president like they do? Would you like someone like Biden or Trump? Really??” Well no I wouldn’t, and I don’t think the American presidency is something we need to aim for. 

 

So what should our “head of state” look like after the hereditary monarchy has finally had its day? What should its powers and responsibilities be? How should a future Head of State be chosen and what should be their “term of office”? Here is my attempt to answer some of these questions.

A New England

Photo by Veronica White on Unsplash

In a future England, where our parliament is elected by proportional representation, and where the old House of Lords has been replaced by a Citizens Assembly, I believe our head of state should embody the principle of serving the community. You often see special shows that honour “unsung heroes”: for instance someone who gives all their time to run a sports team for a deprived estate, or someone who took over a community centre when it was derelict and restored it to its former place as a vital location for people to meet up in fellowship and plan constructive activities and projects. As well as these unsung heroes there are scientists and engineers who have done amazing, sometimes groundbreaking work for the good of humanity, and sportspeople and celebrities who have been elevated to the status of “national treasures” but retain their common touch.

So how about, say every four years, a list is drawn up of these unsung heroes, beloved experts and national treasures? These would be our “candidates” for the next Head of State (HOS). 

 

Who would draw up the list of candidates? I would suggest that what is currently called “The King’s Trust” could evolve into “The People’s Trust”. As soon as the current HOS is inaugurated, they would begin researching, taking nominations and scouring the country for the candidates to be the next one.

A Citizens Assembly

Through a series of interviews and assessments, the People's Trust would filter these would-be heads of state down to the last 3 or 4 candidates. The candidates would then be introduced to the nation. As the current HOS nears the end of their term, we would get to know these candidates through biographical documentaries, character portraits and perhaps even light hearted reality shows like a special series of Masterchef. These programs would be fun, informative, poignant and relatable; designed for people to discuss and debate the candidates and choose their favourites. While all this is going on, a Citizens Assembly would be advertised, to which you would be able to apply to take part.

The Citizens Assembly in question would be stratified in order to take supporters in equal measure from each of the candidates, as well as finding a proportional balance for gender, race, age, area of the country lived in and and other relevant attributes. The Assembly would then deliberate on who should be chosen as England’s next Head of State. At some point before (or maybe alongside) this process takes place we would also need to do assiduous “due diligence” on the candidates, with special regard to the “national treasures”. We wouldn’t want to find out down the road that we had a Jimmy Savile on our hands!

White Smoke From the Vatican

As a bit of added theatre, we could incorporate our own version of the smoke system which the Vatican utilizes when selecting a new Pope. However, being a Citizens Assembly, this would not exactly be the act of choosing our new head of state. Rather, the “white smoke signal” (or whatever our equivalent would be) would alert us that the HOS Citizens Assembly is ready to “make a recommendation”. This recommendation would then need to be ratified by parliament. Unless there are special reasons for the recommendation from the HOS Citizens Assembly to be rejected (i.e. due diligence found something to make the applicant unsuitable), parliamentary approval would be expected to be a routine matter.*

Pomp and Circumstance

Queen Victoria Receiving the Sacrament at her Coronation, 28 June 1838

How should England’s head of state be inaugurated in the future? 

We know about the pomp and circumstance of the current monarchy and its ornate coronations, and it is widely accepted that these traditions are part of the “soft power” of the UK. Yes people will point at the cost of such ceremonies and it is a valid point that they make. And it should also be noted that many of the expensive props that are used in these ceremonies originally belonged to other countries and are the plunder of Empire. With all of this in mind I don’t think it is inherently wrong for a nation to “put out its best China” every now and then, and invite the rest of the world to witness and join in a spectacle and a celebration. A balance needs to be maintained here I think, but certainly an issue for further thought, discussion and debate.

The Duties of England’s Future Head of State

The Head of State would be a mainly ceremonial role. To me the job of this HOS would be to embody the values that I would like to think sum up this green and pleasant land - the values of service, humility, selflessness, compassion, integrity and courage (all the while accepting that the HOS is an imperfect human being like the rest of us). 

What leeway would a future HOS have to comment and agitate on the issues of the day? 
For this answer I would probably call back to the last hereditary monarch that enjoyed near universal admiration across the United Kingdom - Queen Elizabeth. I think almost everyone respected the quiet dignity with which Elizabeth discharged her duties, and I think the balance she maintained between personal beliefs and gracious objectivity (leaning very heavily towards the latter) was as near to perfection as it's possible to get. 

This is Your Land

 

A final aside - many sources cite the current British monarchy as the biggest landowner in the world, owning great swathes of land inside and outside the British Isles. In England this land would be given to the people, restoring the Right to Roam (with all the responsibilities that this entails) for all of us. Internationally it would be great, in an ideal world, for this land to be returned to the peoples of the respective countries where the Monarch’s former territories are located, but I realise this is the real world and it wouldn’t be that simple.

 

Photo by Museums of History New South Wales on Unsplash

*The more eagle eyed readers may have spotted that this blog proposes a Citizens Assembly to replace one of the legislative houses (The House of Lords) and one to deliberate on a new monarch and may wonder how that would work when it comes to ratification. The truth is I wonder the same so yeah, a potential gap in the logic there.