16 times our MPs and First Ministers said monarchy should be scrapped – including ex-PM
This weekend, for the first time in 70 years, a new monarch will be crowned at Westminster Abbey.
King Charles will take the oath as dozens of MPs look on following a contentious ballot for a sought-after spot.
But although Charles will become head of state, he will be painfully aware that support for the royals isn’t universal – and Parliament has been a hotbed for dissent over the years.
One MP has branded it a “lie” that royals live a life of sacrifice, while another branded the institution “ridiculous”.
And a clip that resurfaced last year shows flash-in-the-pan PM Liz Truss voicing her opposition to the monarchy when she was a student Lib Dem member.
On top of that, two First Ministers are republicans – meaning they would like to see an elected head of state.
According to latest YouGov polling, just 53% believe the monarchy is good for Britain – down from 73% in 2012.
Here we look at some of the comments made by serving MPs and heads of devolved Governments over the years.
Liz Truss, Tory MP
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BBC Newsnight)
Long before she became Britain’s shortest-ever serving Prime Minister, Liz Truss was pretty active in the Lib Dems.
Ms Truss was a 19-year-old leader of Oxford University’s Lib Dem group when she gave the rousing speech in Brighton back in 1994, calling for the monarchy to be scrapped.
The 28-year-old clip came back to haunt her last summer in her leadership race against Rishi Sunak, and she said she now regretted it.
Two years after giving the speech she turned her back on the party and joined the Tories, becoming chair of the Lewisham Deptford Conservative Association in South London in 1998.
In her speech to Lib Dem members, Ms Truss said she agreed with Paddy Ashdown, the former Lib Dem leader who said the Monarchy should be scrapped.
Ms Truss said: “I agree with Paddy Ashdown when he said: ‘Everybody in Britain should have the chance to be a somebody’.
‘But only one family can provide the head of the state. We Liberal Democrats believe in opportunity for all.
“We do not believe people are born to rule.'”
Humza Yousaf, Scottish First Minister
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Getty Images)
The Scottish First Minister believes there’s unlikely to be a place for King Charles in an independent Scotland.
During the leadership contest. Mr Yousaf said Scotland could replace King Charles III with an elected head of state.
And he told The National newspaper: “Let’s also talk about things like monarchy. I don’t know why we should be shy about that, I don’t think we should be. I’ve been very clear, I’m a republican. That’s never been anything I’ve hidden.
“But let’s absolutely within the first five years consider whether or not we should move away from having a monarchy into an elected head of state.”
Jeremy Corbyn, Independent MP
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TIM ANDERSON)
The banished former Labour leader is one of the best-known advocates for scrapping the monarchy currently in the House.
Back in 2001 he suggested that the institution should come to an end when the Queen’s reign ended.
He told GMTV: “When the Queen completes her reign, wouldn’t that be an appropriate time to call it a day and have an elected Head of State?
“A large majority of Labour MPs would like to see a change in the attitude of the monarchy and the way the Royal Family operates.”
He famously handed Tony Blair a petition when he was PM demanding that the Royals were booted out of Buckingham Palace and moved to more basic accommodation.
However it wasn’t a battle he fought while leader of the opposition, stating in 2017: “It’s not on anybody’s agenda, it’s certainly not on my agenda.”
Lisa Nandy, Labour MP
The Labour frontbencher said she would vote to scrap the monarchy if the opportunity came along.
She made the remark during her 2020 leadership bid after Jeremy Corbyn’s resignation.
Ms Nandy gave the answer to a quickfire question at a Channel 4 debate alongside Keir Starmer and Rebecca Long-Bailey.
She said: “I’m a democrat, so I would vote to scrap it, but actually this is not the priority as a country.”
Mr Starmer said he would “downsize” the institution, while Ms Long-Bailey said she would keep it.
Mark Drakeford, Welsh First Minister
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Getty Images)
The Welsh First Minister has been a republican for decades.
In a 2018 interview with ITV, he was asked if he supported the monarchy, and responded: “No.”
Mr Drakeford continued: “That’s my view, it has been since I think I was 14.”
Nevertheless he said he would conduct his duties “in the way a First Minister is required”, and following the Queen’s death said: “Well, there is a legitimate debate here in Wales around that whole issue.
“My own view is that this is not the week for that debate to surface. This is a week when we are saying farewell to somebody who has been part of our lives for as long as most of us can ever remember.”
Clive Lewis, Labour MP
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Getty Images)
Following the death of the Queen, Labour MP Mr Lewis broke ranks and described the monarchy as “the very embodiment of the inequalities of wealth and power that permeate our country”.
Writing in The Guardian, he said it was a “lie” that the Royal Family represents duty and sacrifice, saying: “It may provide a symbolic way for us to recognise other people’s sacrifice and commitment to society – but the monarchy itself risks nothing and does not suffer, save for having the lives of the royal family become the stuff of celebrity gossip.
“Through it all, it remains the backbone of a power structure that traces its roots back to feudalism.”
In the build-up to the Coronation, he has launched a petition calling on Charles to stop exempting himself from laws, particularly around tax.
It reads: “Our monarchy has exempted itself from 160 laws since 1967. Laws ranging from animal welfare to workers rights.
“The exemptions include most of the taxes we all have to pay. Taxes on a family worth billions while three million children, their subjects, live in poverty.”
Stephen Flynn, SNP Westminster leader
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PA)
Mr Flynn, the SNP’s leader in Westminster, has said he is “sympathetic” to Scotland becoming a republic.
Earlier this year he was quizzed about remarks made by Australian actor Hugh Jackman, who had said ditching the monarchy would be “natural”.
In response Mr Flynn said: “I would probably be quite sympathetic to a similar evolution in Scotland in time.”
Mhairi Black, SNP MP
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Getty)
SNP MP Ms Black has branded the idea of a monarchy “ridiculous”.
In an article penned following the Queen’s death, she voiced her sympathy for the sovereign’s loved ones, but continued: “None of the above changes the fact I personally think the entire concept of monarchy is ridiculous.
“The idea that there is a holy bloodline chosen by God to rule over others is a fanciful notion to an atheist like me.”
The article continued: “If a democracy is defined by its ability to elect its leaders and the ability of those leaders to affect change, then the UK is by no means the global bastion of democracy with our unelected Head of State, unelected House of Lords, and the need for our elected MPs to swear an oath of allegiance to the Crown.”
Richard Burgon, Labour MP
When Mr Burgon first arrived in Parliament in 2015, he added his own twist to the oath MPs are required to take.
He said: “As someone that believes that the head of state should be elected I make this oath in order to serve my constituents,” he said.
Last year he told a fringe event at the Labour Party Conference: “It’s a really important discussion because when we’re talking about the House of Lords, when we’re talking about a constitution, written or otherwise, when we’re talking about votes for 16 year olds, when we’re talking about devolution, then how can we not talk about whether or not the head of state should be elected?”
He continued: “I think it’s really welcome. I do think the oath is Runitarian and ridiculous.
“When I was first elected I prefaced it by saying ‘as someone who believes that the head of state should be elected I make the following oath in order to serve my constituents’.”
Dame Nia Griffith, Labour MP
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Western Mail)
Back in 2014, Labour MP Ms Griffith said she once believed Charles was a “maverick” who might bring about the end of the monarchy.
She told the BBC that she favours a low-key, elected head of state.
Dame Nia led the debate at the first Labour for a Republic fringe event at the party conference in Manchester that year.
She was last year named a Dame in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP
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GETTY)
The Green Party’s sole MP has long called for the monarchy to be axed.
She told campaign group Republic: “In the 21st century we should have a proper democratic system with a written constitution, where people are citizens not subjects, and the monarchy has no constitutional role whatsoever.”
In a Twitter post following the Queen’s death last year she wrote: “Yes, thanking Queen’s 70 yrs isn’t incompatible with challenging this model of inherited privilege & debating alternatives.”
John McDonnell, Labour MP
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Getty Images)
Labour’s former shadow Chancellor has had plenty to say over the years about the Royal Family.
In 2019, when asked at Labour Party Conference what he thought, he replied: “I have great respect for Her Majesty and the role that she’s played has demonstrated great commitment to her people and her country.
“But I am a republican, I don’t believe in a monarchy and I don’t believe in positions being inherited.
“Tony Benn always used to say ‘Look I’m going in for an operation. The bloke who is going to operate on me isn’t qualified, but his dad was a surgeon, so don’t worry about it’.
“I’m a republican and I believe people in positions should be elected.”
Anne McLaughlin, SNP MP
SNP MP was among the politicians who signed the Declaration of Calton Hill in October 2004 – coinciding with a visit by the Queen to the Scottish Parliament.
The document, singed by cross-party politicians and public figures, called for an independent Scottish republic, saying the country was “subordinate to the hierarchical and anti-democratic institutions of the British State”.
It said: “We believe that the right to self determination is an inherent right, and not a boon or a favour to be granted to us whether by the Crown or the British State.
“We believe that sovereignty rests in the people and vow to fight for the right to govern ourselves for the benefit of all those living in Scotland today, tomorrow and in future times. The Government of a country is servant to the people, not master of the people.”
Tommy Sheppard, Labour MP
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AFP/Getty Images)
SNP MP Mr Sheppard, who has represented Edinburgh since 2015, will be speaking at a republican protest in the Scottish capital on Coronation Day.
A longstanding critic of the monarchy, he posted on Twitter this week: “There is something unseemly about the pomp and pageantry of a royal coronation while millions of children go to bed hungry.
“Join us next Saturday on Calton Hill from 3pm for a republican alternative.”
Andy Slaughter, Labour MP
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Daily Mirror)
Labour MP Mr Slaughter is another longstanding republican in the Commons.
In a debate back in March 2009 he told the Commons that he supported abolishing the monarchy – but conceded that the Queen’s popularity made that unlikely.
He said: “As a republican, I have to say in all candid honesty that the Queen is a popular monarch and that the monarchy as an institution remains popular in this country.
“It is perhaps not as popular as is often reported in the popular press.”
Cat Smith
Former Labour frontbencher Cat Smith has also said she favours scrapping the royal family.
Writing in LabourList in 2013 she said she was a republican, writing: “I’m a socialist.
“And in no particular order I’m also a feminist, Christian, environmentalist, trade unionist, republican and proud Northerner who calls a spade and spade and a socialist a socialist.”
