The UK election winner only becomes prime minister when King Charles III says so
UNB
Publish: 05 Jul 2024, 10:53 PM
LONDON
(AP/UNB) - The Labour Party has won Britain's general election, bringing a new
party to power for the first time in 14 years. But Labour leader Keir Starmer
won't actually become prime minister until a carefully choreographed ceremony
on Friday during which King Charles III will formally ask him to form a new
government.
It's a moment that
embodies the fact that, technically at least, the right to govern in the United
Kingdom is still derived from royal authority, centuries after real political
power was transferred to elected members of Parliament.
The process is swift, if
somewhat brutal for departing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Here's how the
ceremonial events will unfold.
History meets the modern
world
While Britain is a
constitutional monarchy where the king's power is strictly limited by law and
tradition, much of what happens here has echoes of the past. In this case, the
process harkens back to a time when the king exercised supreme power and chose
his preeminent minister - the prime minister - to run his government.
Today, the prime
minister is the leader the party that holds a majority in the House of Commons,
but technically he or she must still be offered the post by the monarch, said
Anna Whitelock, professor of history of the monarchy at London's City University.
"It reflects our
historic past and it reflects the fact that we do have a constitutional
monarchy, a parliamentary democracy, and the prime minister and the monarch
therefore work hand in glove,'' she said. "Both of them have a key role in
the Constitution. And we see that enacted, on the day where a prime minister
formally takes up his position."
What happens at the
palace?
First, Sunak will go to
Buckingham Palace to offer his resignation to the king. Then Starmer will
arrive for his first audience with Charles.
"There's a tiny
window where between the exiting prime minister, and officially the appointment
of the new one, where technically power resides for those few minutes with the
monarch,'' Whitelock said. "So there's a brief moment where there's
effectively a kind of vacuum in terms of parliamentary democracy. ... But, of
course, straight away there is that moment where the new prime minister is
appointed.''
That occurs when the
prime minister-to-be sweeps into the palace for a ceremony known as the
"Kissing of Hands,'' though no kissing actually occurs. After the king
asks Starmer to form a government, he will bow and shake Charles' hand. A photo
will be snapped to record the moment power is transferred.
Though there's no record
of what is said between monarch and prime minister, dramatic activity will be
swirling outside the palace gates. News helicopters will follow Starmer and
Sunak's cars to the palace and back. Commentators usually breathlessly record
their progress and speculate about what's being said behind closed doors.
Traditionally, the new
prime minister then leaves the palace in a prime ministerial car and returns to
Downing Street to make a statement, receiving the applause of staff members as
he enters the famous black door of No. 10 and begins the business of
government.
What about Sunak?
In Britain, the verdict
of the voters is delivered swiftly.
After suffering a brutal
defeat at the polls, Sunak will be forced to vacate the prime minister's
official residence before Starmer arrives just a few hours later.
The soon-to-be ex-prime
minister will be driven to the palace in a chauffeur-driven ministerial car.
But after tendering his resignation, he will leave in a private vehicle and
head back to his private residence.
The transition is so
rapid that the moving van for the exiting leader is usually somewhere near the
back door of Downing Street as the new leader takes his bow out front.
Why does the ceremony
matter?
The whole royal
choreography shows, if nothing else, that the monarchy remains a symbol of
stability and continuity at a time when deep divisions in society are driving
angry political debate. The king, who stands above the political fray,
nonetheless runs the show - albeit ceremonially - and will continue to do so
even after this prime minister is gone.
"Everyone will say,
'Well, this is all the ceremonial bit,' but it's a really important part of the
fact that governments can change in the U.K., and we don't do riots," said
George Gross, a royal expert at King's College London. "Maybe that didn't
need to be said before, but in the context of the current political world and
geopolitics, I think that is really healthy.''
In her 70-year reign,
Queen Elizabeth II was served by 15 prime ministers. Charles, who has been on
the throne for less than two years, is now greeting his third.
"This is the summit
of power," Gross said. "Ultimately the monarchy is the continuity and
prime ministers come and go."
What happens next?
The king holds weekly
meetings with the prime minister to discuss government matters. While the
monarch is politically neutral, he still has right to "advise and
warn" the prime minister if he believes it's necessary. These meetings are
private and the matters discussed remain confidential.
The king will return to
the public stage later this month for his next big royal event: the state
opening of Parliament.
Traditionally, the
monarch arrives in a horse-drawn carriage, sits on the Sovereign's Throne in
the House of Lords and wears the Imperial State Crown.
Then, during a joint
meeting of House of Lords and the House of Commons, he will deliver a speech
written for him by the incoming government to lay out its legislative program.
It's a moment of
pageantry, true. But it typifies the role of the monarchy in modern Britain.
END/AP/UNB/SIS