Labour for a Republic

Labour for a Republic is the Labour Party's campaign for an elected head of state in the United Kingdom, acting as a pressure group made up of party members and supporters. It advocates abolition of the monarchy in favour of a democratic republic.[1]

Labour for a Republic
Organisation logo
MottoThe Labour Campaign for an Elected Head of State
Formation2012 (2012)
FounderKen Ritchie
PurposeCampaigns for Britain to become a democratic republic
WebsiteOfficial website

Labour has never had a policy of republicanism; however, at least four party leaders have been republicans: party founder Keir Hardie, George Lansbury, Michael Foot, and Jeremy Corbyn, leader from 2015 to 2020.

Republicanism in the Labour Party

At the Labour Party's annual conference in 1923, two republican motions were put forward, supported by Ernest Thurtle and Emrys Hughes (who were both later to become Labour MPs). The first stated "that the Royal Family is no longer a necessary party of the British constitution", and the second "that the hereditary principle in the British Constitution be abolished". Party leader George Lansbury responded that, although he was also a republican, he considered the issue of the monarchy as a "distraction" from more important issues. Lansbury added that he thought the "social revolution" would eventually remove the monarchy peacefully in the future. The motions were both overwhelmingly defeated.[2][3][4]

After the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936, Independent Labour Party MP James Maxton (formerly a Labour MP) proposed a "republican amendment" to the Abdication Bill, which would have established a Republic in Britain. He said that while the monarchy had benefited Britain in the past, it had now "outlived its usefulness". Five MPs voted in favour of the bill, including Labour's Alfred Salter. However, it was defeated by 403 votes.[5][6]

Willie Hamilton, a republican Scottish Labour MP who served from 1950 to 1987, was known for his outspoken anti-royal views. He discussed these at length in his 1975 book My Queen and I.[7]

In 1991, former cabinet minister Tony Benn introduced the Commonwealth of Britain Bill in Parliament, which called for the United Kingdom to become a "democratic, federal and secular Commonwealth of Britain" with an elected President.[8] It proposed that the monarchy would be abolished and replaced by a republic with a written constitution. The bill was seconded by future party leader Jeremy Corbyn. It was read in Parliament a number of times before Benn's retirement at the 2001 election, but did not achieve a second reading.[9] He wrote an account of his proposal in his book Common Sense: A New Constitution for Britain.[10]

At the annual State Opening of Parliament, MPs are summoned to the House of Lords for the Queen's Speech. From the 1990s until the 2010s, republican MP Dennis Skinner regularly made a retort to Black Rod, the official who commands the House of Commons to attend the speech.[11] Skinner had previously remained in the Commons for the speech,[12] and continues to do so.

In September 2015, Corbyn, a Labour MP with republican views, won the party's leadership election, becoming both Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party. However, Corbyn stated during his 2015 leadership campaign that republicanism was "not a battle that I am fighting".[13]

Parliamentary oath

Following the 2017 general election, a number of Labour MPs prefaced their parliamentary oath of allegiance with a statement referring to their constituents, rather than the Queen. If an MP does not take the oath or the affirmation to the Queen, they will not be able to take part in parliamentary proceedings or paid any salary and allowances until they have done so. Such MPs included:

Roger Godsiff and Alex Sobel also expressed sympathy for an oath to their constituents.[14]

Formation and activities

The group Labour for a Republic was founded by Ken Ritchie in May 2011, with activity taking place during the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II the following year.[15][16][17]

In September 2014, the group hosted a meeting at the Labour conference in Manchester. It was not listed in the fringe guide, but a debate was led by London Assembly member Tom Copley, former Downing Street press officer Lance Price and MP Nia Griffith. It was reported that an audience of around a dozen attended.[17]

However, a fringe meeting hosted by LfaR at the party's Brighton conference in September 2017, entitled "Reigning in the Monarchy", was reported to be "packed out". It attracted controversy when MP Emma Dent Coad claimed that Prince Harry – who lives in her Kensington constituency – could not fly a helicopter, and said that "he just sits there going 'vroom vroom'." At the event, she also made derogatory remarks about other members of the Royal family, which were picked up on by the media.[18] Dent Coad later defended her comments in a BBC interview, and said that taxpayers should not fund the monarchy.[19]

Despite republicanism receiving little attention from the party leadership, as of February 2019, LfaR has over 3,000 followers on both Facebook and Twitter.[20][16] The group continues to campaign and organise events.

See also

References
  1. "About". Labour for a Republic. 2017-06-18. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  2. Kingsley Martin, The Crown and the Establishment. London, Hutchinson. 1962 (pp. 53–54)
  3. Martin Pugh, Speak for Britain!: A New History of the Labour Party. London : Vintage, 2011. ISBN 978-0-09-952078-8 (p. 170).
  4. Jeremy Paxman, On Royalty : A Very Polite Inquiry Into Some Strangely Related Families ISBN 978-1-58648-491-0 (pp. 206–07)
  5. Denis Judd, George VI. London, IB Tauris, 2012. ISBN 9781780760711 (p. 157).
  6. Fenner Brockway, Bermondsey Story: the Life of Alfred Salter. London, Allen and Unwin, 1949 (p. 201).
  7. Willie Hamilton, My Queen and I. London, Quartet Books, 1975.
  8. "Early day motion 1075". UK Parliament.
  9. "Commonwealth of Britain Bill". Hansard. House of Commons. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  10. Benn, Tony; Hood, Andrew (17 June 1993). Hood, Andrew (ed.). Common Sense: New Constitution for Britain. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0-09-177308-3.
  11. "Queen's Speech: Dennis Skinner's top heckles". New Statesman. 21 June 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  12. Adams, Tim (30 July 2017). "Dennis Skinner: 'I've never done any cross-party stuff. I can't even contemplate it'". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  13. "Who is Jeremy Corbyn? Labour leadership contender guide". BBC News. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  14. "Republic — MPs break convention to swear allegiance to the people". Republic. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  15. "Building support within the Labour Party". Labour for a Republic. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  16. "Labour for a Republic (@Labour4Republic)". Twitter. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  17. Wheeler, Brian (24 September 2014). "The secret life of Labour's republicans". BBC News. Retrieved 20 February 2019. Ken Ritchie is misspelt as Ken Richey but is the same person.
  18. Tominey, Camilla (1 October 2017). "Prince George becomes latest target of Labour MP in royal family rant". Express. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  19. "Labour MP defends Prince Harry helicopter comments". BBC News. 27 September 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  20. "Labour for a Republic - Community". Facebook. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
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