Chapter 1 - 3

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
CHAPTER I
Nature and Content ofthe Constitution
Nature of the British Constitution the same date. They are scattered as they were
In almost every country in the world, ex- made as and when they were needed and the
cept the United Kingdom the term 'Constitution', circumstances demanded. But the most important
means a selection ofthe legal rules which deline- part of the British Constitution is just what is kept
ate the government of that country which have out of th e written law and given over to the sole
been embodied in one or several documents, guardianship of custom. Nor is th ere any law in
Such a document may have been drawn up either th e U~ited Kingdom of which we can say that
by a Constituent Assembly, or it may be the since It I S a part of th e Constitution, it can be
handiwork of a legislature, or it may have been altered by a procedure different from the one
granted by a King hinding himself and his suc- required for altering the statutory law. Here the
cessors to govern according to the provisions of Constitutional Law and Statutory or Ordinary
the Proclamation . The Constitution thus under- Law stand at par with one another. Both emanate
stood means a written, preci~ and systematic from the same s'ource and undergo the same
document containing the general principles un- procedure in passing and amending them. Obvi-
der which govcrnment functions. It is distinct in ously then, no court or any oth er authority can
character, the supreme law of the land. which is legally refuse to enforce and set aside any enact-
hcld in special sanctity. TIle 'Constitution' is ment of Parliament.
amended and altered by a procedure differenl The British Constitut ion is, therefore, to a
from that required in amending a statutory or large extent an unwritten and flexible Constitu-
ordmary law. The statutory law must be consis- tion. It is til e product of history and the result of
tent with the lette r and the spirit of the Constitu- evolution . It has grown w ith the growth of the
tion otherwise it is held unconstitutional or ullra English nation, changed with its wants and
vires, as soon as a court has an opportunity to adapted itself to the needs of various time,'. Jen-
review it. nings has aptly rem arked," If th e Constitution
But th e British Constitution has never been consists of institutions and not of the paper th at
devised and reduced to writing.' It remains un- descnbes them, the British Constitution has not
been made but has grown--and there is no
defined , un systematized and uncodified. It lacks
precision and coherence. The Englishmen never paper.'12 The.institutions necessary for carrying
drew out their political system in the shape of a out the functIOn s of the State were established
fonnal document and, consequently, there is no from time to time as the need arose. "Fonned to
single place in which 'The Constitution' as a meet immediate requirements they (institutions)
whole is clearly and definitely written down. were then adapted to exercise more extensive and
Many books may be found which describe the sometimes different functions. From time to
British Constitution, but no one of them can be time, political and economic circumstances have
said to contain it. There are, no doubt, some called for reforms. There has been a constant
enactments of Parliament which make the British process of invention, refonn and amended distri-
Constitution, but these enactments do not bear bution of powers. The building has been con-
stantly added to, patched, and partly recon-
t. Except for.the Instrument?fGovemment of 1653. The InstrumentofGovemment which made Cromwell Lord Protect
~~n~sh~~;';.ddr~(~:e~c~~s~~U~~d1:r:n~r:~:;~~~~ilish Constitution for a few years only. Restoration put an end ~~
2. Jenn ings, W. lvor. The Law and the Corts/ilution. p. 8.
1
2 The Government 01 the United Kingdom
structed, so that it has been renewed from century mean that it is a mere hotchpotc h of he terogene-
., to century. but it has never been razed and rebuilt ous cle ments. The rul es and prin c iples whi ch
on new foundation .") In other words, the British govem the governmental mach ine ry ha ve been
Constitution is • 'the child of wisdom and deduced from British ex perience and consciously
chance, "4 it is the resu lt of a process in which adhe red to and applied .
many elements, like charters, statutes, judicial Thomas Paine and Alexi s de Tocqueville
decisions, precedents, usages and tradition s, have were the two prominent among many wri ters who
entered piling them se lves one upon the other were o f the opinion that the British Co nstituti on
from age to age and shaping the political inst itu- did not ex ist. Thomas Paine, a grea t champion of
tions of the country acco rdin g to the exigencies \\'finen constitutions, categori ca ll y declared thal
o ftirne. The British Constitution is ever growing where a Constituti on " canno t be produced in a
and always undergoing modificati ons. It is a visible fonn, there is none," In a spirited reply
dynamic Constitution with its roots in the past to Burke, who eminently defended the British
and branches in the future. Lord Morrison co- Constitut ion in his Reflections O Il the Fren ch
gently said, "But as a w hole. ours has been a Revolution, Paine asked , "Can M r. Bu rk e pro-
peaceful development , learn ing as we moved o n, duce th e English Constitution ?" I fhe canno t, we
establishing the foundation offunhe r progress.' " may fai rl y concl ude that thou g h it has been so
No man in 1688 could have foretold , with any much talked aboul. no suc h thing as a Cons ti tu-
measure o f accuracy, wha t the Constitut io n of ti on ex ists or cn r did exist." De Tocqueville,
present day Britain wou ld be, and no man of ou r the celebrated French writer on Fore ign Govern -
times can predi ct how the Consti tution w ill ments. a generation later stt id that in , . England
evolve a few decades hence. 'the Const il111io n may go on ~hang jn g co ntinually
Briefly. the British Constitution is a body o r rather it does not exist.' ·6 \Vhatever be their
of basic rules indicating the structure and fUllc- reasons for making th ese' assel1i ons, Paine and de
tions of po litical institution s and the principles Toequeville were bo th wrong. There can be no
governin g their operation. It is j ust the same in State without a constitution . It is tnIe th at th ere
nature as the constitution of any other country, is no s ingle document inrendcd to compri se the
the only difference being th at the British Const i- fun dame nlal rules of constitutional practices 10
_ tution has never been systematized, codi fied and wh ich a student of the Briti sh Cons titu ti o n may
put in an orderly fo'1" ProbahOy, no attempt will tum for reference, as one does ~ the United States
be made in future, too, to bring all these rules and or in India, but there is no const ituti o n which is
principles together to make the Constitution a either wholly written or entirely unwritten. \\Trit-
consistent and coherent whole. In fac t, it is an ten and unwritten elements are presen t in every
impossible task, for not only do th e usages and const ituti on, All written constitutions gro w and
traditions cover a wide range, bu t many of them expa nd with the passage of time either as a result
are not sufficientl y definite to be reduced to o f customs or judicial interpretation s. W ritten
writing. Moreove r, the Englishman, as a political constitutions, rem arked Bryce, become " de vel-
entity. has never favou red a system of govern - o ped by interpretation, frin ged with decisions,
ment based upo n fixed principles invol vi ng the and en larged by customs so that afler a time the
app lication of exact rules. He is practical, m atte r letter o f their texts no longer conveys the ir full
offact, and zealous for business. Expediency is effect. ,. Nor can the makers of a wri tte n consti-
the guiding princ iple of his life and he seizes tution foresee the future and shape the cOllstitu . .
opportunity by the forelock. He knows no log ic tion to fu lfil the needs of the peop le to ( o rne. Man
and the British Constitution lacks all logic. The is dynamic and so are his political institutions.
re sult, as Ogg says, .. is a constirut iona l structure The conventional element in any system o f gov-
which lacks symmetry, governmenta l system ernment is inevitable. Finally , a wri tten constitu -
which abounds in the illogical." But it does not ti on does not contai n a ll the rules rd ating to all
3. Ibid.
4. As Strachey has caUed it in his Queen Victoria and quoted by F. A. Ogg in his English Goyernment fJnd Polil in. p. 68 .
S. Lord Morrison, British Pariiamenlary Democracy. 2,
6. " En Angleterrc la constirurion pent changer sans cease : Ou plutot ellen 'existe point." It will be observed that de
Tocquevillc 's emphasis is more on the nexible character oflhe British Conslirution. He could not reconci le himself to
the fact thai the conslirutionallaw and the stalUtory law should emanale from the same source and both be amended by
ordinary legislative process. He, accordingly. concluded thaI the British Constituti on did nol exist.
I,__
-\
Nature and Content of the Constitution 3
the institutions of government. A selection is Union with Scotland (1707), the Great Refonn
made of both, For instance, the Constitution of Act (1832), tne Parllamenl Act of 1911. as
the United States of America contains only seven amended in I 949',the Government otlreland Act
Articles and occupies about ten pages, The Con- of 1920, the Public Order Act of 1936, ~
stitution oflndia, on the other hand, is the lengthi- Ministers of the wn Act of 1937, Repre-
est Constitution in the world containing 395 Ar- sentatIon of the People Act,T'PI' ,the Life Peer-
ticles and twelve Schedules, The difference be- age Act, 1958, the Peerage Act, 1963, the Stat-
tween the two Constitutions is suggestive, for ute of Westminster 1931 , the Indian Inde-
it shows that within limits a written consti- pendence Act, 1947, etc, Most of these are Acts
tulion may contain as much or as little as is passed by Parliament. But a document like
thought desirable by the father framers. And yet Magna Carta is considered to be a part of the
no constitution is complete by itself. "It is a Constitution as it makes a great landmark in
framework, a skeleton which had to be filled,out national history, and various Acts of Parliament
with detailed rules and practices, It is concerned H may, without undue violence to the facts be
with the principal institutions and their main regarded as in direct line of descent from Magna
functions, and with the rights and duties of citi- Carta,"9 Elder William Pitt called Magna Carta,
zens which are, for the time being, regarded as the Petition of Rights and the Bill of Rights as
important. It may contain more or less, according the Bible o f the British Constitution, One thing,
to the circumstances of the moment and the however, very significant about thesc Charte rs
special problems being faced by the State while and Statutes is that they were the product of
it is being drafted," All written constitutions political stress and crisis and they contain the
provide for amendments in order to cater to the tenns of settlement of that crisis, They are a part
future needs of the people, Customs andjudi cial of thc Constitution because-of what they deal
\\tccisions. too, supplement the constitutional pro· with, It is the context of the constitutional strug-
visions. The difference between a written and gle within which they originated that they bear
unwrinen constitution is, therefore, Ol\e of degree the impress of the: constitutional law. -
rather than of kind , Wherever there are rules r~ I Secon~8 there are a good number of Stat-
determining the creating and operation of go\'- '{!(.s, whi charliament has passed from time to
emmentaf instituticlns, there exists a constitution . time, dealing with suffrage, the methods of el",,-
,-
. . Britain'has such institutions and such rules ; •'a nd ti on, the powers and duties ofpubHcofficiais, etc.
certainly long before the timcs of Paine and de These Statutes, unlike the constitutional land-
Tocqueville England had such a body of rul es, marks enumerated in group one, are not the out·
with Englishmen equally conscious of its exist- come of a constitutional struggle, They were
ence and proud of its history,"7 . passed as and when the exigencies of time de-
COMPONENT PARTS OF THE manded them under the ordinary process of
CONSTITUTION things. For example, none of the laws extending
the right to vote, which were passed between
Source. of Ibe Constitution 1867 and 1948, aroused popular excitement as
The sources from which the British Con- the Refonn Act of 1832. Nonetheless, all these
stitution is drawn are many and diverse and Statutes are vitally important forthedevelopmcnt
these may be divided into seven main categories,s of political democracy and any attempt to repeal
In thelllrsl plaff?here are certam great Cnarters , them would now be regarded against the' 'con-
Petitions, Sta tes and other landmarks such' as stitutional sense" of the nation. In fact, the sys-
"Magna carta (1215), the Pehhon 01 Rights tem ofGovemment obtainable in Britain, would
, e ct 0 ett ement (170 I), as modi- becomc unworkable if ever an attempt is made
" ,hCd by fu. Abdication Act of(1936l , Ule Act of, to repeal any one of such Statutes, though Parlia-
7. Ogg, F. A" and Zink, H. Modern Foreign Governments. p. 26.
t
8. Sir Maurice Amos divides (he rules of the Constitution into three kinds: (i) Rules of Law; these include Rules of the
Common Law, Rules of Statute law, and the law or ~l1ed "privileges" of Parliament; (Ii) the conventions of the
constitution; and (iii) principles which relate to the liberty of the $ubjects, The English COMlilution. p. 24. _ .
9. Gooch, F. K., The GO'llemmenl of England p. 64. Magna Carta, writes Gooch " is technically an enactment of'fiie
") King, with the advice of his great council; parliament grew out of the great council; and even at present, an Act of
.!Parliament is technically enacted by the King with the advice and consent ofPvliamen"" Similarly. Gooch tries to
I prove that the Petition of Rights docs not differ in principle from an Act ofParliamenl: " the Bill of Rights is, in the
most literal sense, itselfan Act ofParliament."/bid., pp. 64-6S. , .
,
4 The Government of the United Kingdom
ment is a sovereign body and it has "the right to Blackstone, consists of customs "not set down
make or unmake any law what:>ver." 10 • in any written statute or ordinance, but depending
r:tJle third source. of constitutional rules is on immemorial usages for their support." The
to be found in the decisions of judges on cases judges recognised "the customs of the realm",
heard by them in the law courts. When judges applied them in individual cases, and set prece-
decide cases, they interpret, define and develop dents for decisions in later cases. As these deci·
the provisions ofthe great Charters and Statutes. sions were "broadened down from precedent to
While doing so, their judgments create prece- precedent there grew up a body of principles of
dents which succeeding judges respect. Since general application which stand as a bulwark of
many of these judgments related directly to con- British freedom and an cssential part of the Brit-
stitutional maners, thC:.legal principles and judi- ish Constitution."" The Common Law, like
cial precedents of these .iUdgments are an impor- statutory law, is, thus, "continually in the process
tant clement in the British Constitution; they o~evclopment by judicial decisions." 13
resemble and co rrespond to the decisions of the , Anal er source 0 constitutIOnal rules is to
Supreme Court of Ihe United States which have be aun 10 usages 0 enlions. The ccnven·
helped to clarify and expand the provisions of the tions of the constitution, as they are ca lled , are
American Constitution. The decision in the case the centre and sou l of the constituti onal law in
of Ihe Sheriff of Middlesex in 1840 established Britain . The fundamental convention, from
Ihe principle that Parliament has the right to which practically all oth ers now, is the conven·
punish its own members for a breach ofprivilegc, tion of the Cabinet Governme nt. Although the
no othe r legal a uth ority being necessary. The validity of the conventions of the constitution
judgment in Brae/laugh v. Gossell in 1884 estab- cannot be the subject of proceedings in courts of
lished the supremacy of Parliament over the law, yet the y cover some of the most importan t
courts in all matters concerning the internal af- parts of the British political system and are ob-
irs QJ Parl iament.
~
served with due respecl. Conventions are, says
nnthe IQuoh place, are the principles of the Hennan Finer, . 'rules of political behaviour not
ommon Law and several mat1ers of major ~on established in statutes, judici al decisions or Par-
stitutional importance covered by them. It is from liamentary customs but created outside these,
o the Common Law, for exa mple, that the King supplementing them, in order to achieve objects
derives his prerogative, II and that Parliament they have not yet em bodied . These objects, in th e
derives its supremacy. The civil liberties of the British Constitution, can be summed up thus: to
people, which in America are embodied in the make the executive and the legislature responsi-
Bill of Rights , a re ensured in Britain by the rules ble to the will of th e people. To add concreteness
oCt he Common l aw. Freedom ofspeech, of press we could use the tenTIS Crown, Government, or
and of assembly. the sanctity ora citizen's home, Cabin et in place of Executive and Parliament,
and the right ofjury trial are Common law rights meaning the House of Commons (especially) and
which today have their effective meaning in the the House of lords, in place of Legislallire. .."
long line ofdecisions judges have made. The laws Next but less reliable are the commen taries
of Parliament may redefine or modify the manner by eminent writers whose works have come to be
of exercising these rights, but such laws are in regarded as authoritati\'e expression on the Brit-
their tum subject to judicial interpretation made ish Constitutional Law. These commentators
in the light o f the many precedents of the past. have systematised the di verse conventional rules,
The principles of the Common Law are not established a definite relation o(one to another,
established by any law passed by Parliament or and, then, linked them into some degrees of unity
ordai ned by the king. They grew up entirely on by reference to central principles. In certain cases
the basis of usage. Common Law, according to such writers have provided compendious and
10. Dicey, A. V., Introduction to the Study oflhe Law of the Constitution p.1O.
II . The lenn prerogative was in origin used 10 denote the sum of the rights ascribed 10 the King as a reudal overlord. But
the expression is used today to refer to the Crown's discretionary authority, that is, to what the King or his servants can
do without the authority ofan Act of Parliament
12. Carter, M. G., and Others, Tht Govemment ofGrrat Britain. p. 43 .
13. Common Law may be regarded utbat partofthc: law of the land which is traditional andjudge.made. "The explanation
oftbe adjective "eommon" is thalinmcdieval times the law administered by the King's supenorcourts was the' 'common
cuSlom of the realm", as against the "particular customs with which local jurisdiclions were concerned." Harrison, W.,
nt Government of 8n'lain , Appendix 'B, pp. 161,,(;2.
14. Finer, Hennan, Governments o/Grtater Europeall Powers. p.46.
\ Nature and Content of the Constitution'
\
detailed accounts of the operation of particular nation. The obvious result is that the" British for
categories of rules and their works have acquired the most part think that the nature of their
the status of constitutional documents; probably, Constitution is most sensible and that a codified
the most authori tative of such works is Erskine constitution like the American is more trouble
May's Treatise on the Law, Privileges. Proceed- than it is worth ..... ,,"
ings and Usages of Parliament. It is the classic CONVENTIONS OF THE
guide to the procedure and privileges of Parlia- CONSTITUTION
ment and is constantly referred to by the Speakers
of the House of Commons on the formulation of Sanction behind Connntions
their rulings on question of privilege and proce- The Conventions of Constitution,18 the
dure. Also (although to a much lesser extent) name given by Dicey to the indefinite number of
A.V . Dicey's Law of th e Constitution has ac- customs, traditions and precedents, ronn an inte-
quired over the years an authority that makes it gral part of the British Constitution. 19 So deep-
morc than merely a commentary on constitu- rooted have these conventions been found in the
ti on~ractiCC. habi ts of 'the Englishmen, and so firmly the
fJ:'t inally, the exercise of the Royal preroga- mechanism of government is erected on their
~ fomls another aspect of constitutional prac· foundation that without them the Constitution
tice. The power to declare war, make treaties, becomes maimed if not absolutely unworkable.
pardon crirhinal s and dissolve Parliament are And yet they arc not the law of the Constitution;
imponant function s performed by Royal Pre- they are nowhere wrirten down in any formal or
rogative . They arc executed through Orders in official document.
Counci lor through proclamations and writs un- A di stinction is very often made between
der the great seal; Today, these functions are laws of the Constitution and convent~ns of the
p.rfonned by Ministers on behalf of the Mon- Constitution . But co nven ti ons arc not really very
:lrch, and. as such, th e authority for the deci sion different from laws and it is freque ntly difficult
~o mcs from the Crown rather than from Parlia- to pl ace a se t of niles in one class or the other.
Illent. Jennings has rightly said that the Conventions,
like most fundamental rules of any Constit}Jtion';
. The nature of the British Constitution Iilay
, be sunl!ned up in the words of-Anson. i't 'is, he rest essentially upon genera l acquiescence . ... A
written constitution is not law because somebody
wrol~:'a somewhat rambling structure, and like
a house which many successive owners have has made it , but it has been accepted." Conven-
ahcred just so far as suited thei r immediate wants ti ons are based on usage and acquiescence and
or fashion of th e tim e, it bears the marks of many their binding force, like laws, is derived from the
hands, and is convenient rather than symmetrical. willingness of the people to be so bound. If
Fonlls and phrases survive which have long since obedience to law is deemed a fundamental duty,
lost their meaning, and the adaptation of practice obedience to conventions is among the political
to com'cnience by a process of unconsciou s obligations, because they help the wheels ofpo-
change has brought about in many cases a diver- litical machine going in accordance with the will
gence of law and custom, of theory and prJC- of the people. Both, law and conventions, are
tice."Il Walter Bagehot in his classic work : The inevitably similar as they serYO the common pur-
English Constitution 16 asserted that such a sys- pose of regulating the structure and functions of
tem of Government as obtainable in Britain was government aiming at the good of the people and
possible because there existed certain prereq- are the result of common consent. "What is law
uisites : mutual confidence among electors, a and what is convention." Jennings maintains,
calm national mind, and the gill of rationality. • 'are primarily technical questions. The answer.;
All these qualities add up to an adult and practical are known.Dnly to those whose business it is to
IS . Anson, W. R.,LAwond ClLSlom a/the COfISt;/ll/iotl, Votl ., p. 1.
16. The book was first published in London in 1867.
17. Brogan, O. W .• and Verney. D. V., Political Pal/ems;n Today's World. p. 87.
18. Iohn Stuart Min rc:fe~.to ~m as •• the unwritten maxims"otthe cons~itution··. while Anson, referred to them as "the
customs of the conStitution. None ?fthe phrases, according to Jennmgs. exactly expresses what is meant. Dicey's
phrase ha~. however, now been sanctioned by common use. The Law of the Constitution. op. cit..p. 80.
19. "Th~ugh In !837 the t~rms 'convenlionsorthe constitution' had not attained regular currency, the thing meant 'thereby
was 1ft e(f'ccll~e O~n.tlon and had been so in essence since the revolution." Keith. A. B., The Constitution 0/ England
from Queen P,ctor,o 10 George VI. VoL I, p. 12. . •
know them. For the mass of the people it does not ciples of po liti cal governance are primarily un-
manerwhetherarule is recognised by thejudicial written and lie scanere<l..in the various Charters,
authorities or not. The technicians of Govern- Statutes judicial decisions and conventions and
ment are primarily concerned. " mark a steady transference of power from the
Technically, the difference between laws King as a person to a complicated impersonal
and conventions spreads to three aspects. In the orga nisation called the Crown. The King has
first place, laws emanate from a legally consti- beco me the C rown and that is the core of the
tuted body and carry with them greater sanctity. constitutio nal system in the Un ited Kingdom and
Conventions are extra-legal and they grow out of around it revolves the entire machinery of gov-
practice. Their existence is detennined by usage. ernment. Recognition to constitutional conven-
In the second place, law is usually expressed in tions was, again , accorded by Anicle 2 of the
mo re precise terms and it has the added dignity Agreement for a Treaty between Great Brita in
of extracting unquestioning obedience from eve- and Ireland in 1921, w hen the law, practice, and
rybody. Conventions are never fornlUlated . They constitut ional usage governing the relationship
grow out of practice, they are modified by prac- of the Crown or of its representatives, or of the
ti ce, and at any given time it may be difficult to [mperiai Parliament to the Dominion of Canada,
say whether or not a practice has become a con- wcre mado app licable to the Irish free State: In
venti on. Finally, law is enforced by the co urt s and See,io!t ~ of the Status of the Union Act, 1934 , o f
it is the duty of judges to co nsider whether Ac ts the Union Parliament, specific refcrence is made
are legally valid and to take such ste ps th at they to the constitut ional conventions regulating the
aTC obeyed. Conventions are not enforced by the use by the Governo r-General of his legal power
courts and judges cannot force their obedience a5 of slIm moning and dissolving Parliament, and of
t k~ ~ave no legal sanctio n. ap pointing min istcrs. 2 l Somc of the conventions
But even from the technical point of view regulating relationship between.the Dominions
no defin ite boundary line can be d rawn between and the United Kingdom have been inserted in
legislation, on the one hand, and conventions, 011 the Preamble to the Statute of Westminster, par-
the other hand. If a given provis io n is a part of ticul arl y those rel atin g to alterations in the law
the British 'constitution, it is either law or con- touching th e Succession to the Throne, or the
vention and the fundamental convcetions have Royal Style and Ti tles," and the legislati ve
well-n igh been recognised by many Acts of Par- authori ty of th e Bri ti sh Parl iament. nTh. impo r-
liament. The Preamble to the British North A mer- tance of the first o f th ese conventions was dem-
ica Act, 186 7, (no·w Canada Act), an enactment onstrate d in the abdic ati on of Edward VIII. The
of British Parliament, read : "the Provinccs change in the Royal Style and Titles after the
of... .. .. have expressed their desire to be federally Indi an Independ en ce Act, 1947, was brought
un ited into one Dominion underthe Crown of' he abo llt by the fu ll assen t of the Dominion Parlia-
United Kingdom .. .. ... with a constitution simi lar men ts.
in principle to that of the United Kingdom. " 20 . T he Cabi nc, system of Government pre-
The Constitution of the United Kingdom is a supposes the prc·emincnce and leadership of one
body of rules determining the structure and fun c- sin gle perso n and he is the Prime Minister. Abol-
tions of political institutions and the principles ish the institution of Prime Minister or diminish
governing their operation. These rules and prin- any pan o f hi s powe rs, the entire pol itical stru c-
20. Mackenzie King, the Prime Minsiter of Canada, said, ·· ·This 9ritish Constitu tion \\ e love. It is partly unwritten, it is
panty written; it finds its beginn ing in the core of th past, it comes into be ing in the fonn of customs and traditions, it is
found on the common law; it is made up of precedents. of Magna Carta. or Pet ition and Bill of rights; it is to be found
partly in the statutes and partly in the usages and practices of Parliament itse lf, 11 represents the highest achievement of
the: British genius at its best. No one has ever seen it; no one has ever adequately described it; yet its ~rese:n c e is felt
whenever liberty or right is endangered, for it is the creation of the struggle of centuries against oppressIOn and wrong.
and embodies the very soul o f freedom."
2 1. Refer to H. V . Evan, The King and his Dominio n Go\'crnor, Appendix, pp. 229-306.
22. "Inasmuch as the Crown is th symbol of the free association of me members of the British Commonwealth of Nations,
and as they are united by 8 common allegiance of the Crown. il will be in accord ..... ith the established constitutional
position (emphasil mine) of all members of the: Commonwealth in relation to one another that any alteration in the law
tOUChing the succession to the Throne or the Royal Style and Titles shall hereafter require the assent as well as of the
Parliaments of all the Dominions as o.fthe Parliament ofth United Kingdom ." ..
23. "It is in accord with the established cOlUtitutioMi position (emphasis mine) that no law hereafter made by Parliament
of the United Kingdom shall extend to any of the said Dominions as that o f the law of that Dominion otherwise than at
the request and with the consent of that Dominion."
Nre would be destroyed. And yet neither the Commons to decide its fate as the Conservative
institution of Cabinet nor the office.of the Prime Ministry did in 1924. "But it cannot ask another
Minister" were known to law before 1937. The dissolution, nor should the Crown com:ede it ifit
Ministers of the CroWn Act, 1937, provided for were asked.' '26 Conventions insists on the col-
the payment of a salary of £ 10,000 a year "to lective responsibility of Cabinet to Parliament for
the person who is the Prime Minister and the First all its public acts, and that its duty is to initiate
Lord of the Treasury." legislation. Convention, again, determines that
The same Act provided for the salaries of the Ministry should combat domestic crisis with
the Ministers who "are members of the Cabi- all the authority at its di sposal, but it must sum-
net", It also recognised "Patty", "Opposition" mon Parliament immediately to consult with it.
an d " the Leader of the Opposition." It may, Similarly, the Ministry shall have full regard to
however, be noted that the provisions of the the will of the Commons in the conduct of foreign
Ministers of the Crown Act do not validate or affairs and " shall not declare war, or neutrality
legalise these conventions. What it docs is to or make peace, or enter into important treaties
recognise them that they exist. But once their without securing as soon as possible endorsement
existence is recognised by legislation, conven· by the Commons, which so far as possible should
iions do not rcally remain very different from be taken into counsel before the Crown is com-
13\\'5. Jennings asserts that the "conventional mitted to any definite course of action. "27
system of the British Constitution is in fact much Secondly! there are conventions which re-
like the system of the common law."" late to legislati ve procedure and the relations
Conventions arc essentially o f three kinds. between the two Houses o f Parliament. That
First. those which ensure harmony between Par: Parliament meets annuall y and that it consists of
liament and the Executive in the light Parlia-of two HOll ses rest on cllstom. The essential princi-
mentary Sovereignty. The Glorious Revolution pic o f th e initiati ve orthe I-louse of Commons in
of 1688 settled once for all that Parliament had matters of financ e, under the authority of the
supreme power and it could control every aspect Cabi net, and the subordination o f the Lords
of national life. The powers of the King were rested solely on convention until the Parliament
limited and the const itutional development was Act o f 191 1. Thc Act ()f 1911 , as amended in
the emergence of the Cabinet. Convention, there- 1949, put definite limitations on the legislative
fore, alone provides for the essential rules of the II powers o f the HOllse of Lords which had hitherto
Cabinet Government. It demands that the Minis- been regul ated bycom'ention onl y. The principle
ters of the King must be the members of Parlia- that no peer other Ihan a Law Lord sits when the
men t, they should belong to the majority party House of Lords is acting as a Court of Appeal is
in the House of Commons, and function under also customary. Then, there arc many conven-
the party leader designated as the Prime Minister. tions regu lati ng parliamen tary procedure. It is a
It further demands that the Cabinet is responsible maner of convcmion lhat every Bill must have
[0 Parliament for its actions and it remains in three re adings bofore finally voted upon. It is,
office so long as it retains the confidence of the again, a convention which detennines that a
House of Commons. If the majority is reduced to speech from the Govem men t benches · is to be
minority and the Commons withdraw their sup- fo llowed by a speech from the Opposition. In-
port, the Cabinet either resigns or appeals to the deed, the whole idea of His or Her Majesty's
eleclorale for mandate. The Ministry must resign Opposition is a product of convention. Conven-
if the verdict of the electorate is against it, allow- tion, too, demands that the Speaker of the House
ing the Party in Opposition to fonn the govern- of Comillons should become a no-party man and
ment.lfthere are more opposing parties than one, he must resign from the membership of the party
and the result of the general election does not give to which he belonged on his election as Speaker.
clear majority to one single party, it may meet It was another convention till very recently that
Parliament and allow a vote of the House of the retiring Speaker must be returned unopposed
24. In fact, the office of the Prime Minister came 10 be rccogn ized by legislation in 1917 when the Chequers Estate Act
enabled the official "popularly known as the Prime Minister" to occupy the Chequcrs EsLate as a furnished ~ounlJy
residence.
2~. Jennings, W. I., Cabinet Government, p.S.
26. Keith, A. B., The British Cabinn SYSlem (Second Edition by N. H. Gibbs), p. 2.
27. Ibid. p. 3. r
8 The Governmenl of Ihe Uniled Kingdom
and he should be electc~d Speaker as many times inter-Commonwealth co-operation are still es-
as he pleases. sentially conventional. For example, in matters
Finally, there are conventi ons which aim relatin g to the Dom ini ons the King acts on th e
at s\:c urin g hanno ny between governm ent and ad vice o r the Ministers of the Dominion con-
It:gi .. latiyc actio n, on the one hand, and th e ve rdict cern ed and not on that of his Ministers constitut-
or the elcc\omtt!, on th e other. One conven tion of ing th e Governm ent in Britain . Then, the Briti sh
this charach:r is that government should not in· Parliament docs not pass any la \\' for a Dominion
il ialc Icgi"la!ion o f a contro\'crsia l nature unless un less it has been expressly authorised by th e
they h a\ ' ~ a man date fro m the elec to rat e. The Dominion conccmerl to do so. The rules ror
"m<1 nJJk: co nve nti on". as it has now t'omc to be maki ng o f treat ies by any part of the Dominions
known, is ,"indication of the princ iple o f popular are still be found in th e Repons of the Imperial
sO\, L" rci g ll t).~' It mak!!s necessary that any item
Con fe rences in 1923, 1926 and 1930. Similarly.
o r pu licy \\ nH:h in vo lves radi L:al ch:lIl£CS must the position o f the Dominion Governor-Gen -
h,I\L' bl\Cn a part of th e program me on whi ch eral was d ~te nnin e d by agreements at the Con -
go\"\.~rnll1cn: rought the prcviotls electi on. or, " if
fe rence; of 1926 and 19]0. The co-operative link
between the Commonwealth countries and their
it \\ as nrtf. that the Oppos ition should show by i:s
func tioning as a single orga nism are matte r of
a~'tio n or ina.:tio n tha t thi s is not a maltcrofkl.:cll
l'o rn [llon understanding and murual agreements.
COlllrll\'CrS) .. 1 he Co nservativ e majo ri ty in the
It is generall y asked why conventi ons are
Hou s..: of Lud') in the ycars im lllcdi ald y fa 110 \\ -
so sc rupulously observed in Bri tain ? Thi s has
ing I :tbl);Jf \Ic tory in 194 5. a;)prU\ctl bills l.:rn- been partly cxpl aine-d by Dicey.) 1His conclusion
bral: l llg such IlII!i.lsures as nati o nal iz;..Iliun un the
\V~I S th at violatio n of conve nti ons ultimateiy
t:.rolllid l!l:lt Labour had rcct: ivcd i! manJ.Itt: means breach or law. He takes th e example o r
(r('llli the c l~(" torate ,1'I Thi s com·enl ian do~s not
co nve n ing a session of Pc:Qiamcnt every year and
~pply \)n! y to legislat ion. but - also 10 foreign argues ir no session of Parlia men t is summoned
poIlL·Y. AII~ ' ;h~r exam ple o f th is 11:.1 lurl! is th at '1I1111[3I1 y, it is only a breac h of convention and
\\ h~1l ~II ; JPpeal to the electo rs goes again st th(' not C\ viLllation o f la w. OUl if no scs:s ion of Par-
j<. l tni ~ [r) l i H~) .In: bo und 10 re tire from o fticl.' and liame nt is called ann ua ll y, it is not possible to
h:1\ t: no righl to d issolve Parliament a second fa[Se n.' \·('n ues an d pass the Ann)' and Air Force
tllllL' . " fk' hIOJ I h es~.co nvCf1(i o n s". acco rding to (Annual) Act. In that case it bccomt:s illegal lQ.
Gre;)y~s: ' th~r~ i;; soil1ethi ng o f a po li tica l ~anl' nl3i nta in army and airforccon money raised f-rol11
(iOIl . " }!1
unaut horised laxes. An yone doing so can be
A n(llher type of conventions are those broug ht before a co un for breach of law and
\\ hi ch dC't.: rmin c th e relations Qctwet: n th e Do- pu nished accord ingly. h, therefore, becomes es-
min ions and the Un ited Kin gdom. As said bL,rorc, sential ratht:r impaative th at Parliament shou ld
the St~lUt..: or Westminster. 19.3 1. cmbodi l!5 ill a be 5UII 1I IlOIH! U at leasl ont:e a year. If it is not, it
Icca! fo rm tnt: conventions \\'h k h at one time mea ns ind irt:d coll isio n wi lh the laws o f the land.
re-guiatcod in ter-Imperi al relati ons thereby giving Sim il arly. the ~1 in i s lr)' may co m~ to grier, if it
a consti tu tion3! san cti o n to the legislati ve inde- docs not resign after it has lost th e confidence of
pl.'nd(,llcc or tht: Dtl minions. But the methods or the House o f Commons.]2
28. In 1945 Labl)ur Party's manife sto read, .. ..... we gl\'e ckar notice Ih:lI we will not tolerate obslruction of the peo ple's
will by the House of Lords:'
2'J. Viscount Cranbom e, the leader o f [he Conservati ve Part ), in [he Housc of Lords, said. " Whate ver our personal \'iews,
\\c Shlluld fr.l1I kly rc..:ogni se th.u these proposa ls wefe put before the co untry at the recent Genernl Elec tion and tha t [he
[1C'Op le of this country, with full kno wledge of these proposals, returned [he Labour Party to poWCT. The GO~'cmment
rna)' thcrefo re. Ith ink, fa irly c laim [hat [hey have a mandate tl) introduce these proposals. I think it would be eonstitulionally
wrong, ~hen the country has so recently expressed it.. views, for this House to oppose proposals which have been
ddi ni[cly pu: befo re the electorate." The idea of the elector,,1 mandate is by no means new, although the concept of the
mandate had been much mo re vag ue with the Liberals and the Consentatives. Butlhe Labour had always believed since
1918, that a party sho uld go to the elec to rate with a set ofco ncre[e proposals which, if successful, it is thereby mandated
to put it inlo prac tice. Refer to A . H. Birch' s Rl!presentali~'e and Responsible Government, An Essay onlhe British
COIutilUfion. pp. 116· 22 .
30. G reaves, H. R. G ., The British Co n.~ /itutjon. p. 18.
J 1. Dicey, A . Y .• Th e Law a/the Constitution, Cb. XY.
32 . But a Ministry can continue to remain in office for a sufficiently long time even ifit has lost the confidence of the House
o fCo mmolU. Whe:l Parliament has passed the aMuat budget, and it is usually done by the begiMing of July, the House
·" f Commons does not exercise any control over the Minist!)·. For. no session of Parliament may be summoned unlil
April ne;<;t and [he Ministry may co ntinue to remain in office witho ut brt'aking the law, though it no longer enjoy, the
con fiden ce of the Ho use of Commo ns. There are other means,loo, by which the Ministry can retain office. Cf. H. J, Laski ,
Democra(',}, in Crisis. Ch . ll .
But this does not cover the whole case. unqual ified support.
Lowell has correctly pointed out that Britain is Lowell believes that conventions are sup-
not obliged for ever to hold annual sessions of ported by something more than the realizati on
Parliament. Being iI sovereign body, Parliament that their violation might mean th e violation of
. can pass a permanent Army and Air Force some law. Unlike the laws of the C onstitut ion,
Act and grant the existing annual taxes for a conventions go to constitute a m oral code fo r the
number of years. Moreover, there are some con- guidance of public men in the field of practical
ventions the violation of which does not neces- politics. " In the main," he says ~ Uthe conven-
sarily lead to breach of law. For example, 'no tions are observed because they are a code of
breach of law would follow if the Speaker does honour. They are, as it were, the ru les of the game,
not resign from the membership of his party after and the single class in the com munity which has
his election to that office, or if the Government h itherto had the conduct of English pu blic life
does not recognise His or Her Majesty 's Oppo- almost entirely in its own hands is th e very c lass
sition, or if all the conventions relating to the that is peculiarly sensitive to obligation o f thi s
conduct of business in the House of Commons kind. Moreover, th e very fact that one class rules,
are not observed. Similarly, there is no breach of by the sufferance of the whole nati on, as trustees
law if the Prime Minister is taken from the House for the pUblic. make s that class exceed ingly c are-
of Lords. At the same time, precedents may be · ful not to violate the understan dings 0 11 which the
broken if the a ltered political conditi ons of the trust is held.")SThe addi ti ona l sanc tion fo r can·
country dem and th at. The Labour Government ventions comes fro m public opini on. The r owe r
violated conventi on of ministerial collective re- of governm ent rests in the last re snrt O il the
sponsibility when members of the . Cabinet in consen t of the electorate and the powe rs of di f·
fere nt departme nts of guvernm e nt musi. be
193 1 " agreed to difTer" . It was justified by
exerc ised in accordance wit h that pri nc:plt~ .
Baldwin and he ma inta ined that conve ntions
Any deviation therefrom w ill go 10 lIl a k ~ 1.he
were altered by c ircumstances. One ortlle merits
action of governmen t ' un consrit ut ivnal' ::j
of th e conventions is the flexibility they im pa rt
though not illega l. Legally, th e re is noth i ll~
in th e governance of the count ry. Disraeli. in
wrong if conventions are violate d. [J UI a h.'gal
1868, di sregarded the we ll-established usage by
tru th in Britain may beco me a p O li l ic~ 1 l!ntrut h.
resigning w ithout meeting Parliament o n defeat
Even a popular and dynamic persona li ty Ji ke
at th~eneral election. In 1929, Baldwin reverted
Edward VIII cou ld not go against the wishes and
to the old convention and considcred it wholiy
advice of his Ministers in marrying the w om~n
constitutional for him to meet Parliament and o f his cho ice. The convent ions arc rea lly obeyed
receive its verdict. The conventi ons, as Jen nings because of the Political d iffic ulties w h ich fo ll ow
points out, "do not exist fo r their own sake; they if th ey are violated. To raise the q uestion o fthei r
exist because there are good reasons fo r violati on is, the refore, in large m easu re, fru itlc:-.s,
them . " 33 And the good reason is th at convc.nti ons for conventions are not vi olated . If OI1 ~ is at .:11
are related to the idea ofa constitutiona l govern - violated, as it was done by the House o f Lo rds in
ment and dem ocracy with which almost a ll Bri- 1909, by rejecting the fam ous Lloyd Georg.,
tishers find th emselves in agreement. Neumann budget, there is an immcdi:ltc dem a nd to h:1\ ~
succinctly remarks: "This remarkable island th is convention cnacted into law. The ck· ~ t m;!l C
race simply pre fers to retain proven procedures gave to the Li beral Pzr1y thei r unequ i\\")'::ll C(·!·I ·
wh en there is nopart icul arly strong reason to sent in de fi ning the financi a l a nd legislnti':e !' . . w·
adopt innovati ons, and has thereby produced a ers of fhe House of Lords and the re su lt wns ~h e
system of time -honoured customs and conven- Parliam ent Act, 19 11 , wh ich made it i:n no5siblr
ti ons which are observed because th ey arc based for the Lords to delay Money Bills fi:tr m~) il~ Ibiln
not only on precedent but alsoon reasons.' ' ) 4 The one month. The S3me Act limited its Iq ;is l;1\1\ C
c,?nclusions of Dicey. therefore, do not command powers too.
33. Jennings, W. I., Cab;,;e/ GO \'f~ rnmer./. P. 7.
34. Neumann, R. G .• European Compara/n'c Gowrnment3. pp. 25-26.
35. Lowell, A. L., Government of England. Vol. I., pp. 12-13 . I
36. Robert G . ~eum ann writes : "But since there is no constitution in any fo ~ a1 sense, 'unconstitutional ' means, in effcct,
.,. only one thmg namely. that it is not proper. T his brings us to the core of the British system of government which is not
a constitutional document. nor an etaborate system o f checks and balances, but rather the generally held and clearly
understood belief thai certain things simply are not done by gentlemen." European Gild Compara /ivc GOl'em mclI/.pp
4-5.
10 The Government of the Un ited Kingdom
"Government, " according to Jennings, Civil Appeal in Brita in. They have also enabled
"i s a co-operative func tion, and rules of law inter-Commonwealth relations and the coll abo-
alone cannot provide for common acti on. " )7 It ra tion of the member nations to the common
implies integration of the acti vities of many in- advantage .
di viduals. Each individual must follow certain Conventions are not static like laws. They,
ru les if he is to play his part well , and rul es are "provide the fl esh which clothes the dry bones
generally obeyed beca use of th e habit to obey of law" and, consequently, con ventions have
them , no matter whethe r they are laws or conven- enabled a rigid legal framework of gove rn me nt
1io115.38 Conven ti ons are, th ere fo re . rul es of po- to keep an o rga nic pace with the chang in g politi-
liti cal beha viour, first establi shed to solve some ca l ideas and needs of the people. New needs
spec ific problems and subsequentl y they were demand a new emphasis and a new orientat ion
fo ll owed as they seemed just and reaso nable to even when the law remains fi xed. Men have to
follow. They establi shed inte lli gent practi ces and \. . ork the old law in order to satisfy the new needs
continue the.ir authority as slich. D icey 's view is and conventions are the moti ve power of the
that the Crown shall be con verted into the privi- British Constitution. They lubricate the machin-
lege s o f,thc people. " Our mode m code of co n- ery of government and keep the machine go ing
stitutional morality, t , he ob served. " secures more smoothl y. In their absence the structure of
throu gh in a roundabout \\'3Y w hat is called government is sure to collapse and the nature of
abroiJd the 'so\'c reignly of the people, " )9 It is in the British Co nstitut ion might well be very dif-
th is contex t that Jennings wrote that ' ·conven· ferent from what it is now. The British system is
lions are obeyed because of th e poli tica l difficul· the best exa mple of democ racy and especially o f
ties w hic h foll ow if they arc nut. " Ma rshall a nd parl iamentary democracy.
Moodie give a more matter of fac l explanation. Something more is served by conventi ons.
They say, "conventions describe the way in "No writtenconstitUtion," remarks Hennan
whi ch certain legal powers must be exercised if Finer. "any more than the ordinary law, can
the powe rs are to be to lerated by those af- ex pre ss the fu lness of li fe ' s meanings an d de-
fec ted. "40 T hi s fac t has bec n clea rl y expressed mands, because the human imagination, even at
by th e Judi cial Com mittee o f the Privy Coun cil its most talented, fa ll s far sho rt of reality." The
in British.Coal COIpGratioll v. Rex ( 1935) when real coostituti on i'i,a li ving body of general pre-
it· interpreted the Statute of \Vcstplinstet, 193 I. scriptions car:ied' tn"lo effect by liv ing persons. ~
The Committee declared : . 'The Impc·rial Parl ia- Conventions· n·re flexible and growing and they
ment could as a mailer of abstract law, repeal or can be easily adj usted io the future req uirements
di srega rd Section 4 of the Statu te. But that is without creating a polit ical stir whic h an amend-
theory and has no relation of rea lities.";! 1 The ment of the constitution creates. They harmonise
Conventions havedemocratised the Executive by relations where a purel y legal so lu tion of practi-
maki ng Parliament the centre o f g rav ity e nabling cal problems is impossible. "In converting a
thereby the democratic system operate in a uni- monarchical into a democratic consti tution, and
tary government.!?arliamentary practices emerg- in passing from the seventeenth to the twentieth
ing o ut of this process of democratizati on enable century, the Briti sh e schewed writi ng the new
the Government and the Oppos itio n to sit to- articles: they preferred to rely on th e growth and
gether, di scuss and wo rk together fo r th e devel- inheritance of customs--t.hat is, conventions.' '42
opment of national welfare. Conven tions have SALI ENT FEATURES OFTHE
a lso revoluti onised the Judic iary by making CONSTITUTION
th e Law Lords to constirute the hig hest Court of
From the nature of the Constitution fl ow
37, Jennings, I., Th e Low and the Constitution, pp. 12- 13 .
38. "A usage in consti tutional matters, it ..... ill be found on investigation, is normally based on some definite convenie.nce
or uti tity in relation to the constitutional system of the day, and wi th the passing oLthe years it is follo ..... ed under the
influence of lhe normal psychological principle of limitation and wi lli ngness to fo llO"\\rprecedcnl." Keith, A. n., The
British Ca binet System. p.5.
39 Dicey, A. V.. Th e Law o/the Constitution. p. 43 1.
40. Marshalt, GeofTery, and Mood ie, G. C, Some Problems o/Constitution, pp. 16-18 .
4 1. Settion 4 of the Statute of Westminster stipulates that no law enacted by t ~ e United Kingdom Parliament shall extend
to the Dominions without the consent of the latter. .
42. Finer, H., Go ~'ernm en lS o/Greater European Powers. pp. 49-50.
the following important features : manent, more satisfactory and less painful, than
I. {t is Mostly Unwrirten. The British Con- ifit were the result of the violent bloody revolu-
-stitution to a large extent is ofan unwritten nature. tion," and he thinks that his "country has been
It is nota pre-arrangedpattem according to which lucky in that respect.' '44
government must be carried on. Nor is it the result 3. Difference between Theory and Prac-
of conscious creation. Its sources are several and tice. The gradualness of the constitutional evolu-
the course of its development has been sometimes tion and the English habits of retaining traditional
gu ided by accident and sometimes by high de- forms, despite radical changes in the position of
sign. Beinga "child ofwisdom and ofa chance," power, have produced a marked difference in
its growth has been piecemeal and gradual ex- theory and practice. The government in the
pressing itself in different Charters and Statutes, United Kingdom in ultimate theory is an absolute
precedents, usages and traditions whatever the Monarchy, in form, a limited constitutional Mon-
exigencies of time demanded. There is, accord- archy. and in actual character, democratic repub-
ingly, no single document which can be said to lic. In theory, or, to be accurate, legally, the
contain the general principles of political govern- government of the United Kingdom is vested in
ance. In fact, no attempt has ever been made to the Monarch. All officers of the State, civil and
embody the se principles in a documentary form. military, are appointed and dismissed in Her
They remain scattered. Some of these niles and Majesty's name. The Ministers are Her Majesty's
principles have been reduced to wri ting and are Ministers and they remain in office during the
embodied in the Acts of Parliament, but a greater Royal pleasure. The Monarch is the source oflaw
part sti ll remains unwritten and is " simply ca r~ and fountain of justice. Her Majesty summons,
ried in men's minds as precedents. decisions. dissolves and prorogues Parliament. No parlia-
habits, and practices." TIle written I!~Cmenls mentary election ca n be held w ithout the Royal
taken by thell\S~lves 9o.not comprise the Consti- . writ. L.,aws made by Parliament ar5!.not valid and
tution, though they h,,·e considerably affected it. cannot be enforced withou1 the Royal assent and.
2. A Specimen of Development and COIl1i~ if the Monarch so wishes may veto any law
Iw ity. The British Conslitution has grown like J Il p3 ~sed by Parliament.
organism and developed from age to age. It fulfil s The Monarch is al so th e Commander-in-
Sir James Mcintosh's dictum th at constituti ons chief of all the British forces during peace and
grow instead of being made. It is the product of war. War is declared in Her Majesty' s name,
evolution and the result of slow and steady de- peace and treaties are negotiated and conc~ded
velopment and successive accretions spreadi ng in the name and on behalf of the Monarch . Gov-
over a thousand years. And all through this pe- ernmen t documents are published by Hcr Maj-
riod, Britain has neYer witnessed political up· esty's Stationary Office. All people in the Un ited
heavals of a revoultionay character. 1n fact , all Kingdom are the loyal subjects of the Monarch
political revolutions, if they may be described as and their national Anthem is : "God save the
revolutions, have been of conservative nature. Queen." In short, there is no act of government
Britain has all through moved along an essen- which is not attributed to the Monarch 's name
tially continuous constitutional pathway read- and person. Her Majesty's powers, in terms of
justing her institutions slowly and cautiously to law, are uncontroll ed, unrestricted and absolu te.
thechanging conditions and needs o f the country But all this is in theory. In practi ce, the
and its people. The political changes, as Ogg says, Monarch does nothing by doing everything. The
" have as a rule been so gradual, deference to Revolution of 1688 finally settled that in the las t
traditions so habitual, and the dispo sition to cling resort the King must give way to Parliament.
to accustomed names and form s even \\o'hcn the Since then, the whole development o f the British
spirit has changed, so deep-seated, that the con- Constistution has been marked by a steady tran s-
stitutional history of Britain displays a continuity fer of powers and prerogatives from the Monarch
hardly paralleled in any otherland ... 4] Lord Mor- as a person to the Crown as an institut ion. The
rison is of the opinion that such a peaceful evo- King has now long ceased to be a directing factor
lution of the British Cosnstitution is "more per- in government and he virtually performs no offi-
,
43. Ogg. F. A.• Eng/uJz GO~'f!rnment and Politics. p.68. Even Ihe war and revolution of the seventeenth century have not
,. been deemed a cawtrophic change from the past On the other hand, "closer examination reveals that what was really
happening was only the winning of full and lasting triumph fOT principles and usages that had long been growing up."
Ibid.
44. Morrison, Herbert, British Parliamentary Democracy. pp. /·2.
cial act on hi s own initiative. If the King were to laws and the most profound changes in the gov·
exercise any of the powers which he exercised ernment itself. There is no judicial revi ew and no
in the post, and thi s he can legall y do even now , authori ty ca n decla re that the la ws made by Par-
he will be s igning the warrant of hi s own abdi ca- liament arc ultra vires. Even the veto power has
ti o n. The real powe r rests with the King's duly become obso lete and the M o narch must signify
c Ol.lsti rued Ministers and His Majt!sly remain s hi s assent to all measures passed by Parliament .
o nl y a symbol of authority , o r to put it in th e \ Vheth cr Parlia ment is really sovereign or not, it
lan g ua ge of the British Constituti o n : "The Ki ng is n se para te qu es ti o n. So far as law, pu re and
cail do no wrong. " simpl e, is conce rn ed , it is.
T he Mini sters of the ivlonarch are members S. If F!e.t ible Constitution. As already
of P<lrIiament and they remain in office as long po inted out. there is no codified and basic con-
a s Pa rl iament wi shes it. But the real power o f stituti onal law hav in g superi o r sa nct ity to statu-
Par liament rests with the Hou se of Commons, a lOry la\\' . T he power to make and amend the
rep resentative House of the People. The respon- constitu ti onal law is vested in Parliament and no
s ib ility of the Minis ters is to the House or Cam- spec ial proceduic is required than that attends the
m o ns. T he Prime Minister and other principa l cnaclJnent o f an ordinary bill. Furthemlore, the
~1i n i s!ers be long to it. All thi s means the supre m- popul ar rati fi cati on o f co ns titutiona l amend-
i.!cy o f (he House of C ommons and ultimatel y thaI ments, requi red in countri es like Switzerl and and
o f the peop le, fo r the people dec ide the complex· Au strali a in the nature of referendum, is unkown
io n of the Ho use at a general elec tion. It is the in Oritain...I8 The Co nstitution o f United Kingdom
nO rd ic ! of the p<.'opl e '.vhich detenllin es th l! gm'· is nex ibl e an d resp(' lls i',·e . It carri es with it the
e nlf~ l cnL 1\'0 government can remain oblivious advan tage of cent ri ng pu blic o pini on according
of publi c opini o n, if it is to co ntinue in office, to th e Il et: d~ o f the time . Th ere is in it a fa ~!!i ty _
co ntrol and d iredl dm inislratioll, a nd to mailltain ufrcfonll, an aJap t<.l bility superio r to wri tten and
SUp p Ol t for th e futu re too. Such a g overnm ent ic; morc rigi d constitut io ns. J <1 mes Callagha n, the
fl g,)V <=m ll ~ t: nt by consent. " Govcrnment \'lith fomlcr I. arou r Prime M inis ter, expressed the
\1 <; , " sa, 's Jen nings, " is gO\'crnmc nl b y o pin io n. opinio n thJt co nsti tutions " sho uld not be li ghtly
a nd tha I is the o nl y kind of 'self· go vernm ent' tampered with , but neith er sho uld they be rigid
I. tha t is possibl e." ..J.~ Practice. thu s outnms theofY • and inn ex ib! e. Th ey must adju st to meet the real
ill i3 rit:ti n and she presents one of the most dem o· aspirati ons of a nati o n. "
tr •.Ilic s ystems of govemment in the \\'orld. The T he suprt: ma cy of Parl iament and the ordi~
\Vcbbs.! b used fo r the sys tem of govemmem as nary easy methoJ of chang in g constirutional law
o bta inab le in the United Kingdom the phrase a have been the subject of sO l11e lega l controversy.
" crowned repub li c" . While defending Briti sh Supremacy of Parliament , it ha s been asserted, is
M o na r..: hy, Lord Morri son succ incti)' observed, a legal fi ction, ror it is exe rc ised in the spiri t or
" But it tak es good countries to run monarchi es responsibil ity and respons ibil ity in actual prac-
and it ta kes good mo narch s to be the heads of tice means the maintenan ce ormajority in Parlia·
States . .I\nd may I add that it takes a good Repub· ment. As long as a Party can maintain its majority
li c to appreciate a good monarch. "..J7 in Parliament, it can get anyth ing done. But thi s
4 . Sovereignty of Parliamellt. The British is rcally not so. Ho\v easy it is to make constitu-
Constitution establishes the supremacy of Par Ii a- tional changes depends on the general nature of
me nt. It means that Parliament is supreme . h can the political system prcvailing in a country and
m ake and unmake any kind o f law and no court the attitude of the people towards constitutional
in the realm can question its validi ty. The author· amendmen ts. Democratic principles and respon-
ity of Parliament is transcendental and absolut e, sible inst itutions are the heritage of Englishmen
and it embraces both the enactments of ordinary and Parliament has never changed the law lightly
4 5. Jennings, I. , Cabillet Go~'err.merU, p. 19. The Jo int Select Committee on Indian Constitutional Reform (1934) obsef'l.'ed
tha t there "arise two familiar British conceptions, that good government is not acccplable substitute for self-go\'cmment
and that the only form ofself-govcmment worthy o f thc name is government through mini sters responsibte to an elected
legislature." Vol. I, Part I, p. S. '
46 . S idney and Bcatrice Webb.
4 7. Mo rrison, Herbert, British Parliamentary Democracy, p. 5.
4 8. Re ferenda had been rccently sought on two occasions, but in no way connected wi th laws, constitutional or statutory.
The first re ercndum wason the question of British joining the European Economic community and second over proposals
[ 0 .ocl up s >arale Assembl ies in Scotland and W ~ l e.~ .
and casually. There are profound psychological from the Central Government centred at London.
checks and voluntary restraints on the exercise The local areas, as they exist in Britain, derive
of its legal authority, whatever be the extent of their powers from the Acts of Parliament which -~
majority the Party in power may command. "Par- may be enlarged or restricted at its will. Parlia-
liament, after all," remarks Ogg, His composed ment is constitutionally su preme, and the local
of men who with few exceptions. arc respected government machine is merely an agent of the
members of a we ll-ordered society, endowed Central Government. The essence ofa federation,
with sense, and alive to their responsibility for on the other hand, is union and not unity and the
safeguarding the country's political heritage. powers and jurisdiction exercised by the units,
They live and work under the restraint ofpower- which compose a federati on, arc original~ clearly
rul traditions and will no more run riot with the demarcated, and arc derived from the constitu-
Constitution if it were weighed down with guar- tion. Nei ther the Centra l Government nor gov -
antees designed to put it beyond their control."" ernments of the federating units can encroach
The "mandate convention" is indicative orlhe upon each other's sphere. lfany change is desired
political temperament of the poeple. It enjoins to be brought about, i.t must be done by amending
that no far-reaching changes in the govemmental the constitulion and the process of amendment is
system should be made unti l the voters have had prescribed therein. Thi s establishes the suprem-
a chance to express their opinion upon the pro- acy of the const itution. It me ~m s that the distribu-
posals at a general election. Asquith's Liberal ti on of powers is maintained by a const itution-
Government went to the country with the scheme amending authori ty which is supe ri or to both
of Second Chamber refom1 . In 1923. Stanley central and lotal governments. In Britn in Parlia-
Baldwin ap pealed to the electorate on the issue ment is ~u prem c imd til(: 10l.:al :Ir~ a s arc subordi-
of tariff. In 193 1, gene ral election was held to :lale units with such powers 3~ it chooses to
elicit suppon of the people for 'he National Gov- bestow. (t call, If it so wi::; I1\..'J, abo lish the whole
emment under Ramsay MacDonald. The Labour comple x stnKturc o f local gon ..' mrnen l by a sim-
Pany in 1945 fought genera l election on 'he ple enactmen t. The cx ish.:-nct! of a unit ary form
issues of nat io nali zation and granting self·gov- o f govern men I i s one o r lh!.! L ~a:, 0 n $ \.... hy Britain
ernmcnl 10 Ind ia and other subject countries. is able to manage \1,,'i;holH a \\ J ilten constitution.
Similarly. in the election of 1964 the Lahour A written a nc1 a rigi d constit ut ion an.: the pre-rcq-
Pany put before the eleclorate its programme of uisities of a ~dera l polit y. Ir ihe dt!vol ution ref-
re-nationalization. Although the Party secured a erendum in Scotla nd :..Ind W ~des had been ac-
precarious majority, yet Harold Wilson told the cepted it would ha ve mov~J th e United Kingd om
people immediately aOe r forming the govem- away from the highly ccntri:ilized State that has
mcnt : "Ha"ing been charged with 'he duties of characterised thl' Brit ish system over the past 250
Government we intcnd to carry out th ose duties. yea rs. The proposal l.!l1visagcd to sct lip separate
Over the whole field of GOl'ernment there wi ll Asscmblic~ in those areas \ 1" itll sper jficd P OWC( s.
be many changes which we have been given a 7. A Parliamellfary GO\·elflmel11. The
mandate by you to carry out. lVe intend to fulfil British Constitut io n prov ides for a Parliamcntary
that mandate."10 Legally, therefore, the consti- fonn of gove nu nent as distinct from the Presi-
,ution of Britain is undeniably the most flexible dential type of government. The King, who is a
in the world, but actually it is considerably less legal soverei gn. has been deprived of all his
flu id than might be inferred from what the writers powers and auth ority. Till! real funct ionaries are
say. The flexibility of the Constitution does not the Mini slers who belong to Ihe majority party
depend wholly, or even largely, upon the simplic- in Parl iament and they remain in office so long
ity of its amendi ng process. as they can re tain its confidence. The Ministers
6. A Unitary Constitution. The British are both the exccuti\'c heads and members of
Constitution is unitary and not like that of the Parliament and they co -ordinal~ the Legislative
Un ited States of America or India, federal. There and Executive dC'partI11 CnIS of g':wemmcnt. The
is, of course, devolution, but all authority flows Cabi net in Britain, as Bagehut defines it, is a
49. Ogg. F. A., English Government and Politics, p. 72. Munro in this connection ma inta ins: . 'Legislators come from the
people; .lhcy think and feel as the people do; they are saturated with the sa me h o p~s and fears; they a.e creatures of the
same habits and when habits solidify into traditions or usages they are stronger than laws, stronger than the provisions
ofa wrinen constitution." Munro. W. B.• Th e Gowrnmellls a/Europe. p. 23.
- SO. The Stalesman, New Delhi, October 19, 1964.
14 The Govemment of the United Kingdom
"hyphen that joins, the buckle that binds the hundred years thereafter only two parties func-
executive and legi slati ve departments together." tioned. With the emergence of the Labour Party
There can be no di sagreement between the Ex- as a major political force in 1921 brought three
ecutive and Legisiarure. They work in agreement parties in the political fi eld. With the collapse of
and the dangers in volved in deadloc k between the Liberal Party there were aga in two parties and
the law-making, ta x-granting authori ty and th c the government alternated between the Conser-
Execut ive are absent. If ever the House of Com- vat ives and the Labour. There was a split in the
mons votes aga inst the Execut ive and defeats its Labour Party in 198 1 and a Soc ial Democrati c
policy or if ever it should pass a legislati on whi ch Party came into cx istencc. The Soc ial Democrats
has no t the favour of the Cabinet, onc of th e two in alliance with the Liberals gave an impressive
things would happen. The Cabinet must either performance in the early stages of their emer-
resign and enable the Opposit ion to form govem- gence. But they were not able to make a signi fi -
menl, or it should advise th e King to disso lve cant dent on the two major parties. The alliance
Parliament and o rder new elections and thereby was short-li ved and the Liberals are at present
give an opportunity to the electorate to approve unrepresented in the House of Commons. Many
or di sapprove the ac tion of the Cabinet. There prominent Social Democrats, too, have shifted
can be no conti nued conni ct of policy between th eir loyalty to their parent Labou r Party. In fact,
the Executi ve and the Legislature as it may hap- the British Constitution has grown and evolved
pen in the Uni ted States, where there isscparation under the two party system and its workin g
between the Executive and Legislative depart- tends to maintain and perpetuate it.
ments. The right to govern in Britain, observes 9. The RuleoJLaw and Civil Liberties . One
Greaves , .. fl ows th rough the k gislature to the of the fundamental principles of the British Con-
Cabinet; is not separately conferred on a popu- stitution is the Rule of Law. It is based on the
larly elected C h ief Exec uti \'e and in a popularly \} Common Law of the land and is the product of
elected Parliament; the right is not capable there- centuries of struggle of the people for th e recog-
fore of con fli cting interpretat ion by two bodies nition of their inherent rights and privileges. In
having an equal moral claim to speak for the Britain , unlike the United States of America, or
public . The risks of conn ict or of inanition which the Repub lic of Indi a, the Constitution docs not
• "result.fromsuch a separat ion of power arc attested confer speci fie rights on citizens. Nor is there any
.by a wice experi ence , \\e·hcthcr it be the \Veimar Pa rli amenta ry Act whi ch lays down th e Fu nda -
Constitution of Germany, the federal Constitu- me nIa l Right s of the people. Yet the re is max i-
tion of America, or [he 184 8 Consti tution of mum li berty in Britain and according to Dicey, it
France." is due to the existence of the Rul e of Law.
8. Two-Party System. Parl iamentary gov- The Rule of Law has never been enacted
ernment means part y government as it provides as a Statute. Jt is implicit in the various Acts of
the machinery to secure a stable gO\'ernmcn t Parliament, judicial decisions and in the Com-
under a unified command of the politica ll y ho- mon Law. According to Lord Hewart, the Rule
mogeneous and di sc iplined leaders. The mem- of Law means "supremacy or dominance of law,
bers of the government rise and fall in unison and as distingui shed from merearbitrari-ness, or from
they are individua ll y an d collecti\'ely re spons ible some alternative mode, which is not law, of
for the policy whic h the Cabinet initiates and they determining or dispos in g of the rights of in-
carry out. Since Parliamentary government is a dividuals" .51 It is sufficient for the present to say,
party govemment, without poli tical parties Par- that when powers of government are exerci sed
liamentary government is impossible. Sueh a according to settled and binding rul es and not
system of government, which combines respon- arbitrarily, then, the subjects of that govemmerrt
sibility with representation, function s best when are living underthe Rule of Law. Such conditions
there arc two partics, one fanning the Govern- oflife can be possible only when there is equ~lity
ment and the other forming th e Opposition. Two- of all befo re the law, its supremacy, uniformity,
party system enables the views of the electors to and universality. The citizens, the courts, the
have coherent expression and Britain provides administrative officials, are .11 subject to it. In
the classical-example of two party system. It other words, under the Rule of Law, obligations
originated in the seventeenth century and for two may not be imposed by the State, nor prop'e rty
51. Hewart. Lo r~, The Ne .... · Despotism, p. 19.

15
Nature and Content of the Constitution
interfe;"d with, nor personal liberty curtailed ments, the British system is the best example of
except in accordance with the accepted principles democracy and especially of parliamentary de-
of law and through the action of legally compe- mocracy." ~
tent authorities. These principles are recognised Development of the Constitution
by the courts and as a result judiciary is the We note from the above description one
unfailing guardian of the liberties of the people leading ch~cteristic of the British Constitution
in Britain, though there is no Charter of rights to that it is ihe result of continuous development.
guarantee them. Freeman emphasised this feature with unques-
Sovereignty of Parliament and the Rule of tionable accuracy. He said, "The continual na-
Law are closely connected. By its sovereign tionallife ofthe people, notwithstanding foreign
power, Parliament can curtail or suspend the conquests and internal revolutions, has remained
liberties of the people and set aside the Rule of unbroken for fourteen hundred years. At no mo-
Law itself. Parliament has very often done it, but ment has the tie between the present and the past
it always did it at times of national emergency. been wholly rent asunder, at no moment have
Drastic restrictions were imposed upon com- Englishmen sat down to put together a wh~lIy
monly recognised rights of the people during new constitution in obedience to some dazzlmg
World War I. In 1934 and 193 6, Incitement to theory. Each step in our growth has been the
Disaffection Act and Public Order Act we re natural consequence of some earlier step; each
passed which imposed stringent restrictions on change in our law and constitution has been, not
the rights to speech, assembly and press. the beginning in anythi ng wholly new, but the
Throughout World War 11 , drastic restraints were development and improvement ofsomethlOg that
impos<d under Emergency Powers (Defence) was al ready old. Our progress has in some ages
Act, 1939. But traditions of the country and been faster. in others slower; at some moments
political temperament of the people do not toler- we have seemed 'to stand still, or even to go back
ate such infringement of their liberties when but the great mark of political development has
conditions of national emergency or danger arc ne\'e r wholl y stopped; it has never been perma-
not prevaiiing. There is a sense in which Parlia· nently checked since the days when the comlOg
ment itselfissubject to the Rule ofLaw.lt cannol, in of the Teutonic conquerors first began to
and in fact it docs not, make laws wh ich unnec- change Britain into England. "52 The starting
essarilyencroach upon the libertio; of the people. point of the British' Constitution and the pnncl-
La\;:; in Britain are passed to promote liberty and pies which govern their working lie scattered IOto
not to restrict liberty. "Freedom of speech is as the past and the present mechanism of govem-
trul y a part of the.. Bri'tish way of life as the !)ien't can only be uii~erSto()d if we analyse the
responsibility of ministers. Neither rests upon process ofihis 'growth; how the British Consti-
written law; neither would be observed more tution came into being and how It assumed Its
consistently if it did so." present fonn and stature.
10. Hereditary Character. Another spe- It is customary to divide this process of
cially distinctive feature of the British Constitu- growth into six distinct periods, but we di."~de
tion is the recognition gi ven to the hereditary them into three as a matter of practical utilIty.
principle, which. has been, fOT so long, discarded The first period extends from the time of the
by the great majority of other count ries. Monar- Ang les and Saxons through the Norman and
chy rests on the hereditary principle an d the Angevin dynasties to 1485. This period may be
House of Lords is primarily composed ofheredl- call ed the period in which were laid the funda-
tary peers. It is true that neither the King nor the ti ons of the Constirution, The second period ex-
House of Lords play any effective role in the tends from 1485 to 1689 and covers the estab-
political set-up of the country, yet their continu- li shment of the Tudor dynasty through the early
ance appears hardly reconcilable with the demo- and later Sruart periods and embraces the Puritan
cratic ideals which Englishmen cherish so Revolution and Commonwealth. This period is
fondly. And sti ll Englishmen had never been in called the period of reconstruction of the Cons.ti-
a mood to abolish these historic institutions, At- tution. By the end of the fifteenth century Parha-
tlee observed, "I would claim that, despite the ment had begun to show marks of its strength and
maintenance
,. ofmonarchical and oligarchical ele- the King's power had definitely eclipsed. The
52 Freeman, F. A., Growth a/the English Constitution. p.19.
16 The Government of the Un~ed Kingdom
g reat insl itutional foundation o fthe modem Eng- po int in the evolulion of the fundamentals. The
lish Constitutio n had been firml y laid. Th e years centre o f gravity had shifted from the King 10
to co m e were in the nature of furth er growth and Parliament. Dul il was many years before the
adj ustment of th ese instituti ons leading to altered change became clearly understood. It took time
balan'c es o f power and mec hanisms o f contro l. for seeds which had been sown in earlier peri ods
Th e Ihi rd period eXl end s from 1689 to the 10 ge rm inate to Ihis and to grow inlo fully matured
present and it is o f more direct interest to the instituti ons of popular go vernm ent. Follow ing
'stude n ts o f British Go vernm ent toda). In th is are the main lines of growth and development
perio d came the rounding out, or frUC lifil:(1tion of whic h compl ete ou r account in making the Bri ti sh
th e C ons titution. TIle G lori ous R::volution of Consti: ulion what it stands for today: dim inished
16 89 mev,,' to a close, the g rea t l'onstituti ono.! pC)\Ilers of the Kin g, emerg ence o f the cabinet and
s truggle of the seventee nth cen tury . Kin gs in con.';cque ntly respo nsible Ministry; ri se o f politi-
fu ture h el d the th rone by the g race o f Parli am ent. cal part ies; leadership o f th e Prime Minister, shift-
Kin gs co ul d be made and unmade b) Parli ame nt. ing of power with in Parliament.; dem oc ratisation of
Parl iament was, therefore, Supreme. Th..: Bill of the Ho use o f Com mons as a result o f enactment
Rig ht s embodied the const itu.t io'1a l ful'.!.:; ~nJ of a serios of Rdo rm Di lls begi nning from 1832 ;
pri n c iple s \~ h ich shou ld gu ide th t.: transJ..:tions uf a:ld th " great constitutional chan ges which al-
thl.! Kin g in his dea li ngs with PnrliiJme rH. It smtcd tered the character of the British Empire. The
clear ly a nd definitely th~ lim ita ti ons on the pow- la test ch ange was made by th e Labour Govern-
l'rS c ft he k in g, and in onc spec ifi c ch u'.,: d~crred ment rl'cently when it reduced th e absolute num -
th at no fut ure ruler of Eng lan Ll couiLl be a Roman be r as we ll as the hered itary e lemen t in th e com-
Cat holic o r could marry a Roman Catho lic. pos ition of the I-louse o f Lords.
TIle Bill o f Ri ght5 marke d the culmina ti ng
S t' (;(;ES T U) REA llI l'iCS \)

A IIIl."ry. I.. S. : rhoug htj ()I , th~' C(l /,jt i t :/l /O fl (1I1t'i.'11 Iit.:toriu / 0 George VI, Vol. I. pp. 12 -1 9.
Am os, M . : r ile English Constitution, C hars. I. 11. Kei th , A. B .. and Gibbs. N.M. : The British Cabinet
A nson. \\l.R. : Law and ('li S/ Dill of t ill' COII~ r ifllilOI/. ~'ysl e m,
Vo l I. pp . I-2 1.
pp. 1- 13 . ' L'I!'J.. i, I i J. ' Parliamentary G OYe rnment in Eng/and.l4
H3gc hOI, Walte r : Th e English Consti tu tion Chans. 1 & II. ..
l3 ircl1 , A . I-I. : Representative (If,d Respoll'iihll! Gm" Laski. H.1 . : Reflections on the C onstitution.
ernm l!fl t. All Essay Ofl Brita'lI ConstitUTl o l1. Chap. Low. S : The Governance oIEng/a'ld, pp. 1-14.
I . "". 11 6- 122. Lowel l. A. L. : Government oIEng /and, Vo l. I, pp. 1-
D i~ ~ y. A V. : L a w 0/ t h~ COllStilllt ion , C haps. l. II. 15.
XIV. XV. Morrison. I-krbert : British Parliamenfllry Democ-
Gooch, R .K . : The Go\wnmPIII 0/ Eng/an.l, Ch aps. rat)'.
VI . Vlt. fo. l uir, I{aZll:-rlj" : lIow Britain is Governed.
(i rl."i1\,c'i. 1I R.U . : The Urit ish ( ' ollstifINion. C h ~Jl I to. l unro. \\' H. ; The (/ ovemmenls of Europe. Chap. II .
Fina . 1-1. : (io vernmc nts of vrrata £uropt·.m POh - Ogg. r.t\. : t:ngll.\·h Government and Politics. Chap.
ers. III.
C h, p . 2. Phi lips. O. Hood : Constitutional and Administrative
knn ings. \V.1. : Cabinet G ov€:mmcnt. pp. 1 - 19. LoU'.
kn nings. \V.I. . : rile Law allJ the COI/sf itu rion. Whearc, ".c. : Modem Constitutionf.
Chaps. II. ttl. Yardley. D.C. ; Introduction to British Conslilutiunai
Keit h. A O. Th e Constitution of Elzgland from Low
--
CHAPTER n
The British Political Tradition
Liberal Political Tradition capable of explanation in terms of a single

The most important contribution to the principle. Explanations which base themselves
growth of the liberal political tradition in the upon some supposed virtue in a national char-
west has come from the people of England. The acter rarely deceive any save those who are
English political system is a product of a slow responsible for their making. Anyone who com-
and gradual evolution. Unlike France, Russia pares the impression produced by Engl ishmen
and China, no successful violent revolution ever upon Frenchmen in the seventeenth and eight-
interrupted the steady development of a unique eenth centuries respectively will recognize at
political system in Britain. Though we should once that judgments of n.. ional behaviour aro
not minimise the significance of the Republican always a dangerous enterprise. There is a pre-
revolution of 1649 under the leadership ofCrom- sumption in them both of unity and obj ecri\'ity
weil, yet the constitutional development of Eng- which rarely coincide ~\' ith the f<lcts Ihl!lI1-
land is more intimately connected with the 5elves. ' 1
events of 1688. After this, the growth of the Socia-Economic Conditions and Puli:ical
British political tradition was interrupted neither Change
by any internal catastrophic armed uprising nor The social structure and econom ic system
by a successfu l external invasion. The IndustTial of a country largely determine its form of
Revolution and colonial exploitation by building government and political institutions. The Brit-
a worldwide empire enabled her to become the ish political system and its parliamentary go\'-
richest country in the world during the nineteenth ernment are no exceptions to th is general nile.
century. As a result, economic contradictions They were the products of th e middle class
of the British society never exploded into revo - social revolution ia Europe, which d~s troy cd
lutionary political conflicts. By exploiting the the power of the leudal class. A new social
wealth of the colonies, the capitalist ruling class class, the urban bourgeoisie, emerged on the
of Britain was able to transfer a share of this historical stage to claim a share. in puiitical
wealth to the people as well. The British people, power.
therefore, did not attempt to change the political In medieval Europe, including Britain, po-
structure of their country throu!'J1 a violent litical power was widely dispersed among the
struggle di rected agai nst their ruling class. feudal barons. In a technical sense, the feudal
Some writers on the British constitution chiefs were regarded as the king 's vassals but
have attributed the success of the British con- actually the position of the monarch was no
stitutional experiment to some special traits of better than that of any his most powerful barons.
the British national character. Laski~ however, The king asked for military assistance from his
presents a dissenting note: "It is tempting to vassals at the time of foreign invasion or illll.'rnal
attribute it, as eulogists arc wont to do, to some revolt. Thus, the very survival o f a kin g depended
special British genius for the dimcult art of on the support of his feudal chiefs. The peasants.
self-government. That explanation, however, is who tilled their land, were their serfs and the
an unsatisfactory one, since obviously, it is a other people who lived on their territory w..:re
deduction from the history rather than a principle their subjects. The traders, the craftsmen ar.d
informing it. A passion for simplicity usually the peasants were, in different ways, ihe .... ic;:i ll't:~
works havoc with political philosophers; and it of feudal exploitation. However, leadershi p in
is rare indeed for a phenomenon so complex as the anti-feudal revolts, came from the rising
the success of the British government to be commercial and industrial classes in the ~ cities.
1. Laski H.J., PariitzJMntary GuverntMnI in England, p. 1

17
Some far-sighted monarchs recognised the which still exercises a preponderant power in
emerging trends of political change, and laid the working of the British political system pre-
the foundations of a new absolute monarchy by cisely because it still owns the main instrumen ts
destroy ing the power of the feudal lords with of production like land and capital.
the cooperation of the rising bourgeois class. Stages in Political Development
In England, the Tudor dynasty represented an
(a) Tribal-Communal Society-In order to
absolute monarchy of the new type where the understand the political development of England
kin g, th ough autocratic, sought the cooperat ion in modem times, it is necessary to have some
of Parliament in governing the country. To some knowledge of its historical antecedents. The
extent, the emerging social strata of the bour- Iberian and the Alpine tribes were the first
geoisi found representation in Parliament. When settlers of the British Islands, who owned their
the Stuart monarchs challenged these class in- land and cattle in comm on and normally led a
te rests, the social classes adversely affec ted by peaceful life. Celtic tribes invaded Britain in
tli is challenge put an end to their rule and the 7th century B.C. and ass imilated the original
ins tituted a Republic under Cromwell 's leader- inhab itants into their own tribal structures, while
ship. with a written consti tution to incorporate reducing some of them to slavery. They also
the new changes. introduced agriculture and carried on some trade
The Republican political system did no t with the Gauls in France.
prove stab le in England. After a short interval, (b) Roman Colonial Rule-lul ius Ceasar,
'he Stuart dynasty was restored to power. The Rom an Emperor, invaded England in 52 B.C.
Stuart monarchs made another attempt to regain and converted the country into a colony of the
their autocratic powers. But the Bloodless Revo- Roman Empire. The English people sulTered
ution of 1688 abolished the system of absolute from colonial rule for about four centuries. The
nanarchy in Britain for ever. The Parliamentary Roman s developed commerce and transport and
eaders established a limited monarchy and put granted the municipal status to live English
Vlary and William jointly on the English throne. cities. The Imperi al rul ers also introduced the
n place of James II who was ousted from power. system of agricultural estates owned by land-
rhus the first middle class political revolution lords. The British upper classes became com-
vas successfully accomplished in the history pletely Rom anised and were transformed from
lf the world. The revolution abolished the state Celtic tribal chiefs into Roman landowners and
)Ower of British aristocracy along with the officials, Thus the land which was formerly
:ystem based on monarch ica l absolutism . under collective ownerships of the tribal clans
was converted into private property of a few
However, this revo lution did not under- British and Roman aristocrats. As the Roman
nine the economic and administrative privileges economy depended on a large class of slaves,
lf the landowning aristocracy. Unlike the French the tribal democracy and equality gave way to
, evolution, their estates were not conliscated class rule and racial inequality and exploitation.
md distributed among the peasants. The mem- The British slaves were recruited in the anny,
lers of aristocracy participated in large number worked on the farm s and carried to Italy and
lOth in parliament and the government. But the other parts of the empire to be sold in the open
3 ritish society and economy was increasingly market. When the Celtic incursions put an end
lominated by the rising commercial and indus- to Roman rule in 450, tribal-communal social
rial classes of England during the eighteenth structures partially reappeared and destroyed the
oentury. After the accomplishment of the In- Roman social and political innovations to a
dustrial Revolution, the industrial magnates and great extent. This implied revival of tribal de-
' he big linanciers of the City emerged as the mocracy, coltectivism and equality to a limited
new rulers of England. Parliament and the cabi- extent.
net, though mainly aristocratic in composition, (c) The Anglo-Saxon Political System-
took orders from them. The aristocratic class The invasions of the Anglo-S<!Xon tri bes began
had no independent role to play now. After the in the later half of the lifth century and continued
mechan isation of their farms and diversion of till the end of the s ixth century. Their social
a part of their surplus capital to ind ustry, the structure was partly tribal and partly feudal.
Uritish aristocracy was assim ilated in the capi- Afterdestroying the tribal communal democracy
,alist class. According to Laski , it is this class of th e Celts, the Anglo-Saxon conquerors laid
The British Political Tradition 19
of the Celts, the Anglo-Saxon conqueror.; laid embraced Christianity and the King was con-
the foundations of territorial kingdoms in Britain verted to the new faith on the insistence of
which were half-feudal and half tribal, a cross Augustine and his queen. Gradually all other
between tribalism and feudalism . These Teu- royal households and Anglo-Saxon ruling chiefs
tonic tribes-Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Danes were converted from paganism to the Roman
had come from Germany and Denmark. The religion. This was the second victory of Rome
present English language has evolved from the over England and thus a new social elite of the
Anglo-Saxon dialects. The dialects of the de- priests played a significant role in the feudal i-
feated Celts are still represented in the spoken zation of the British society and polity. The
priests soon rose to the position of civil servants
tongues of the Irish, Welsh and Scottish peoples,
and ministers of their royal superiors. They
but have left no imprints on modem English. explained to the king the value of Roman laws
As the Anglo-Saxon tribes, like the Celts, and written chaners.
lived on agriculture, the urban and commercial The king granted land to the Church by
civilization of the Romans vanished from Brit- these charters and also used them to confirm
ain. Unlike the colon ising Romans, the Anglo- the propriotory rights of the thanes over th e
Saxons did not create large agricultu ral estates land under their possessions. Thus the land
to be worked with the help of a slave army. collectively owned by the peasants became the
Britain again became a land of small villages private property of the bishops and feudal land-
and nomadic tribes. Slowly the social organi- lords. Free peasants li ving under a tribal de-
sation of the Anglo-Saxon tribes was feudali zed. mocracy were converted into slaves, serfs or
The entry and propagation of Roman Catholi- workers attached to the land of their masters.
cism in the 7th century expedited the process The feudalizing process, which had reached an
of feudalizati on in England. advanced stage in Europe, was slowly maturing
The fir.;t important soc ial division arose in England too. Scandinavians attacked Britain
in England bern'cen the warriors and peasants. in the ninth century and late r settled in the
The bonds of kinship loosened and successful
north-eastern parts of the country. They founded
warriors put forward claims for territorial sov-
new towns and developed commerce with other
ereignty. As a result of continuous warfare, the
victorious tribal leaders emerged as territorial European peoples. But they also collected huge
feudal rulers. In this way, seven kingdoms of tributes, which further impoverished the peas-
- Kent, Sussex, Wessex, Essex , Mercia, East An- ants. "
glia and Northumbria we re establi shed. Land In 101 8, Kiqg Canute of Denmark, pro-
originally allotted to clans and families on a claimed himself as the Emperor of Norway and
England. After his death, England became a
collective basis was seized as private property
by the ambitious clan leaders. Big farmers were free country again. But in \066, William, who
named thanes and small peasants were called was the Duke of Nonnandy owing allegiance
the ceorls. Gradually, the social class of barons to the French King, invaded and conquered
arose from the thanes and all other peasan t England. The Witan proclaimed William as the
cultivators were reduced 10 serfdom . HQ\\!cver, new king of England. According to Frederick
feudal political rule in the real se nse began in Ogg, the Witan was an assembly of the most
England with the Norman conquest in the 11th important men of the kingdom, lay and eccle-
century. siastical. It had no fixed member.;hip, but con-
Wales and Ireland had accepted Christi- sisted of such persons as the king chose to
anity earlier than England but this did 110t affect summon to three or four meetings commonly
their tribal mode of living. The life of the Celtic held each year. According to some writers, the
Christian monks was simple and ascetic and Witan could be regarded as the forerunner of
the Celtic Church did not own any land or
the English Parliament.
property. The Anglo-Saxon conquerers were
polytheistic and regarded Celtic Christi anity Feudal Political System
with contempt as a religion of their defeated George B. Adams says that the history of
subjects. the English constitution upon Engl ish soil began
Therefore, the Roman Church, whose mes- with the Norman conquest. William, the founder
senger Augustine entered England in 597, rep- of the Nonnan dynasty, had consolidated his
rell~nted the rising social forces of European sovereign power upon the whole of England by
feud~li sm. The Queen of Kent had al ready 1069. He confiscated the property of the Saxon
20 The Government of the Un~ed Kingdom
the mcmbers of the royal family and Norman the Norman King as their protector from the
nobles. He adopted the same pattern of feudal oppression of their barons and sided with their
organisation as had a.lready existed in France. king in his conflict with a baron. The king
A new ari stocratic class was created in England recruited the Saxon soldiers in his army and
baseq on the French desccnt, lan g u ag~ and could rely on their perfect loyalty. England,
culture whose descendents still own large landed therefore, had a constitutional development that
estates on the dawn o f th e 21 s l ce nt ury and are was unique in European history. From the ~tart
proud of th eir noble origin . the power of the state was greater and the power
The llritish constitu tion duri ng the N0mH1O of the feudal aristocracy was less.
rule operated on ril e hasis ora ba1a!"ce of power The supremacy of the king was evident
between th e kin g ;111(1 his b :1fn l ~s . Th e king from the fact that William could hold a national
governed in consultat ion with h;s bJro!1s. All census of the families and evaluate their property
power \va s based upon ()\\"11crship o f th e land just twenty years after coming to power. The
in thi s feudal polity and the c ss~n! i ;:!1 political commissioners were sent to each to\'I"n and
feature of fcud ali::iJ1l Wit S Oi l' u,)wnward dele- village!O measure the land. lbis was not possible
gat ion of powt'r. The ~ in£ was the s()k and in Saxon England and equally impossible in
ultimate;: own er of all th e I ~ ;n d in his kin gdom any other feudal country of Europe. The survey
and granted it to his felJdal vassals in ret Unl for revealed that 91% of the English people were
military and poli tic al services ,lI1d payme nt o f agriculturist who could be divided into the
customary dues and tri bute. following social classc!s : slaves : 9% ; serfs
The feud al lords ad llli ni.."> t:! rt'd the reg ions -70%; freemen -12%; and others, living in
under their control and adj u':'irillrd th e disputes tow ns. about 9% only. This showed that about
of their subj ects in th eir private courts. They 80% of England 's total population of two million
also collected (axes and rec~i \'(" d services from consisted of slaves or serfs at the close of the
th eir tenants. 111~ main obli g::t !0n of the baroW eleventh century. 2
was to stipport their kin g in \\,l r. Some of ti le The Nomums introduced in Engla nd a
prominent barons adv ised the ki:lg ;n runn illg body of written and rigid rules, which tend ed
the administrati on. In En gland tht: conquerers to force all cultivators into a unifonn class of
had imposed feud~lli s ll1 on a d~fe~t\!d people se rfs with no legal rights against the lord of th e
from above . Therefore, th e fcudal system manor. The Pope Innocent III, a contempor.:lfY
reached a higher regularit y and completeness of King John , narratl!d the miserable condition
than in most other countries. in Europe, th e of the serfs as follows : "The serf serves; he
king's ownership of all the land was a legal is terrified with threats, wearied by corvees
fiction and the feudal lords obtained rights over (forced services), amicted with blows, despoiled
th eir land by force. William himse lf was tech- of his possessions; for if he possesses naught
nically th e feu dal vassal of th e French king in he is compelled to earn; and if he possesses
Nonnandy but Paris had no control over the anything he is compelled to have it not; the
actions of the Duke of Normany. In England, lord's fault is the serrs punishment; the serrs
he owned the land effectively and allocated it fault is the lord's excuse for preying on him ..... O
to barons on very harsh terms. No baron was extreme condition of bondage! Nature brought
allotted such amount of land as to make him a freemen to birth but fortune hath made bondmen.
contender for the king' s power. The serf must needs suffer, and no man is
The king retained a very large estate for suffered to feel for him, he is compelled to
himself so that he could successfully compete mourn, and no man is pennitted to mourn with
against the combined power of all the barons. him. He is not his own man, but no man is
Therefore, the British monarch, through depend- his. "3
ent on the barons in certain ways, could exercise Such was th e law of feudalism. It was
autocratic powers from the beginning of Norman very harsh for the peasants and some lords
rule. But despite the absolutist character of the enforced it strictly. But the serf could retain a
king's authority, the Saxon peasantry regarded certain amount of personal freedom basing it
2. Morton._..A.L., A People's History oj England, p. 64.

I.
3. Ibid. p. 67
-r"
cen ain amount of personal freedom basing it Law based on usages and customs followed by
on cuslom and ancient tradi tion. After doing the Saxon people of England. The Pope not
the lord 's work, he could claim a little time for only intervened in the appointment of the bish-
himself. The lo·rd could not sell his serf or a ops but also claimed .a share of the revenUes
member of his family. He could even appeal and income of the Church.
against his lord in the king's coun . The lord Henry succeeded in claiming jusisdi cti on
could not take ~i s life without proving him over the civil cases involvi ng th e priests who
guilty for an ofTence which required a death could now be tried in the King's Co uns. He
sentence. The so rf of medieval England was ·also staned the conve ntion o f the Circ uit Couns
different from the slave of the Roman empire. tryin g cast's in different manors as mobile rep-
He was a person and human being who could resentatives of the King' s authority.
claim for himself certain customary ri ghts. The This practi ce brought down th e influence
English serf enjoyed a better social status than of the couns set up by the barons. The trial by
his counterpart in contemporary feudalised jury began but members of the jury were not
Europe. The absol ute monarchy placed cenain as yet impanial adju dicators. Thei r o bj ect was
limi ts on the tyrann ical power of the English to assist the court in pun ishing th e accused and
barons. presumed from the start that he W 3S guilty and
Rc\·olt of the 8 ar ons a lld Magna Cart. acted as the King's wit nesses.
French continued as the Iu ngu3ge of the
When Queen Matilda ascended the English royal coun and N0n11an aristocracy li ll the end
throne aner the death of He nry I, a section of of the thi rl<e nth ecnrury. The !\'orman lords
the English barons raised their banner of revolt. also part icipated in the f.:ud:.t l wa rs of France
The ci" il war of th e barons continued for two on the continen t. Thus Lo nuo n (,Illc r g~ d as a
decades. They built their fo nresses and followed great centre of trade for the English "nd Fre nc h
th e examp le of the European fe ud al lords in merchants . Foreign trade rs :lrri\·ed to sp.1t lc in
~ xpl o i[ i ng and oppre ss ing the peasants. But
London from all parts of Euro pe. When the
\ 1atilda's son, Henry II , succeeded in suppress- th ird C;usadl! began, Engla nd W 2S trading wit h
og this reb.:!lion, destroyed their fortresses and comme rciJl ccn!res 35 far as It:.t l/.
pro hibi ted the barons from forti fying their man- When K ir,g Richud J emonJcd money
ors. f Ie di smissed :1 large numbe r of the sheriffs frolll ~lC rich bankers and I1Icr\..h~-i. l!t s to rais ~
an d prohibited all illegal exac ti ons frol11 th e an :l ml)' to fi gh t in Ih(' th ird (TlIsadc, th.: y asked
peasants. for the charte rs gra nting Ih('m ci\'ic autonomy
The fi efs of the Engli sh Crown never in relum for the fin ancial cont ribu ti oll . The
became ri \·al sovereignties to be absorbed one me rch:lIlts in small towns dc mand~d si mib r
by one in the process of national unification as chaners of tiv ic au tonomy from the loca l b:lron5.
in France, unti l all were gone and onl y royal Tra ders' Guilds came into ex istence in scvcrai
abso lut ism was left. The English barons were English ci ties an d tow ns. Free c ities thus
adm in istratiye subordinates of the Crown, dan- emerged in a feuda l environme nt. The brief
gero us to weak kings th rough casual combina- re ign of Ric hard has acq uired great constit u-
tions, but never able to act in op position to the tional signi fi cance due to the adoption of those
Crown s..·e by joini ng thei r forces an d appealing cha rl ers for ci vie freedom. Richa rd 's dCJlarl ure
for general suppon, a proc ess whic h involved to Europe fu rth er proved that the King' s ad-
terms and condi ti ons, the setting.fonh of which ministrati on could be successfull y carried on
produced constiru tiona l documents. by other persons in his absence exploding the
The power of th e Church increased during myth of the monarch's indi spensabil ity.
the Norman rule. Competit io n began bel\\'een
Magna Cart a o r the great (' hail er is re-
the King's Couns and the tribunals set up by
garded as the greatest event of the No m1an era.
the Churc h. The bishops claimed exclusive ju-
Some wri ters li ke Keith regard it as one of the
risdiction over the cases involving (he priests
basic documents of the Briti sh Constitu ti on. But
and awarded the m lighter punishme nts as com-
the conte mporary signi ficance of the grea t char-
pared to those awarded to other citizens in the
ter was ,"ery lim ited. It does not me ntion the
king's COU rlS. The laws enforced by the Churc h
democratic ri ghts of the people at all but merely
were based on the Roman system of jurispru-
reiterates [he customary privi leges of the baro ns
dence. The royal couns enforced the Com~on
,,
'.
or feud al lords. King John, wh o was an efficient gotte n document however, was dug ou t o f the
and st ric t ruler, viol at~d thereby some customary government arch ives and Parliament, then, used
privi leges of the En gl ish barons. I-Ie ra ised a it in support of certain new rights claimed by
rL\~' new taxes, de pri ved some b':lrons of the it. In courst! of lime, the Magna Carta \Vas
ownersh ip o f their manors and compcl kd otilL'rs convcrtt:d by bourgeois libe ral mythol ogy in to
to pay higher rents fo r the land th ey possc~sed. a sy mb ol of the st ru ggle between Roya l Abso-
The merchants, who had gro\vn accli slOnll,,'d to lutism and Democratic Freedom.
civi c milono my were asked to p:IY high-:r taxes Professo r Adams claims that then; Weft:
on their increasing profits. John refu sed to rcc - two fund ame ntal doctrines procla imed by the:
Lgn ise lht: appoint ment of Archbishop L:mgwn l\lagn::l Carta. The first doctrin e asse rted tha:
b) thl,.· Pope. Fran ce dr.::pri\'cd Joh n or h1s duke- the re are cel1ain esscntiJlla\vs formin g the ba"is
dom in No rmandy and confi scated thL land of of evc:ry pol itical sys tem which ought to be
the !'< ommn barons seni(.'d in England . adhered to by a king or his government. The
King John, thus, anta go nised the barons second doctri ne stipulated that if these basic
and bisho ps of Eng land. the Pope and the French laws are violated, the natio n will either compel
mona rch simu lta neously. Even the mercha nts the gm'emmcn t to recogni se them or overthro\\'
of Londo n and the Saxon mil itia rcfu5cJ to it an d set up a new regime in its pl ace.
cooperate with th e king. John, therefore, h3d to The C\ olutioll o f Parliame nt began in th e
accept the tenns of the Magna Carta reluctantly, thirteenth century. The Nonnan kings abolish\!d
presented to hi m by the barons on 15 June, th e Saxon \Vi til n, which was a council o f their
1215. T he histori cal value of the MJ,gna Carta tri ba l ch id''i an d crea ted in its place two ne w
is th,t the feudal lords of England un iteJ with cou nc il s of the Nonnan barons. They were
I~l.e me rchants of Londo n to place ccrt31n limi ts known as G reat and Small Counc ils. Parliament
l'ft th t.: autoc ratic powers of the 1\Onl13n mono aro'i(.: frvITI th e great Council and the Pri vy
archy. But red uction in the authority and juri s- Co un cil and Cabinet emerged from (he small
dicti on of the King ' s courts was a n:aCtiOll3ry Council at a much later stage in Bri tish consti·
step. A comm ittee of 25 barons was formed 10 tut ional history. To begin with. the Great counci l
safeguard the tenns o f the great chaner. Thl.! Wil S an assemb ly of the barons. who ov,:ncd
~bgna Carta, thus, \\ as a mutual contract COIl- l a rg~ esta tes . Small landlords, merchants and
finll ing the rival claimj and privilcges Of\'3.fioU5 priests \\ erc added to it during the thirteenth
s('('tors in the feudJI estabil shment sw.:h as the cc:nrury . Originally, the barons, kni ghts, b ur-
mon.1rl' h, the barons and the church hicnr..:h) . gl,.'sses and clergyme n sat together in the same
Ho" could it safeguard the li bell)' of the English assemb ly. Late r the king asked them to delibe rate
people? The majority of the Briti sh nati on still separawly asking them to divide into two or
consisted of the serfs oppressed by thi s fe udal three separate groups on the basis of the ir status
est3bl ish ment. and weal th.
G rowlh of Parliamentary Po wer T he ki ng summoned the Council accord ing
\Vhe n the powe rs o f Parliament increased to hi s own needs. Its most import ant act was
in Engl and during the succeeding centuries, the to approve the taxes proposed by the monarch.
importance of the Magna Carta was also ell- Parii ame nt nomlall y obeyed the king' s ord ers.
hanced. The process of the dec line of fcud3lisill Its power, th erefore, was very li mited. B ut th e
started du ring lh ~ thirt ee nth century. New soc ial fact that th e merc ha nts and small landowners
classes emerged in the British soc iety. They were rep resented in Parliament was in itself a
saw new mea ni ngs in the wo rds lIsed in the revolutionary change. It sign ified the declining
Magna Calla an d pleaded for th e recogn ition prestige and powe r of the Engl ish feuda l class.
of the ir new ri ghts disguised as ancient customs. Grad uall y Parliament was di vided into two
The evoluti on of Parli amen t began, which was cham bers on a de finite basis. The represe ntatives
used fi rst by the Brit ish aristoc racy and late r of nobility constituted the House of Lords. The
by the bourge isie to ac hi eve its own politica l traders and small landowners formed the- House
supremacy in the state. Nobody remembered of Commons. Some priests we re also includeU
thc Magna Calla dur ing the T udor rule. Shake- in the House of Lords bu t the majo rity of them
speare did not even allude to the great Chaner lost contac t with Parliament. If we compare
in his play entitled King J ohn . The 10l1g for- these ch ..mgcs with the development of the
The British Political Tradution 23
/
medieval councils in rkrope, we note two sig- t~e nobles fought on both sides either suppOrting
nificant differences . b'!tween them. '.n 'E!liope, the cailse of the House of York or that of the
the medical counc1.Twas ·dlvlded .mto three Hous~ of Lancaster. ' The victory for the House
segments i.e:, (I) th big and small landowners, o(York signified the'strengthening of the mon-
(2) the clergymen . and (3) the merchants or archy and further weakening of the baronial
burgesses. ! . power.
In England(on the other hand, Parliament (6) Although leadership of both the warring
had only two s9gments from which the priestly factions was provided by the aristocrats only,
class was all1}ost excluded and the small land- the sympathy of merchants and landowning
lords, escapillg the tutel age of their aristocratic agriculturists lay with th e House of York ex-
superiors, rUbbed th eir shoulders with their so- clusively. The supporters of the House of lan-
cially in~erior burgesses or traders. In Europe, caster came from the nobles of frontier regions
the moparchy, the aristocracy and the Church who wanted to restote rigid feudalism on English
hierarchy rema ined c losely united and created territory. Therefore, the victory of the House
a cotIlmon reactionary front against the rising of York represented the first political success
bourgeois. In England the city bourgeois and of the new ri sing soc ial classes of England.
<mall landlords combined together under the Edward IV ascended the throne who followed
leadership of their monarch to des troy the po- policies which were later carried forward by
litical sovereignty of th e feud al aristocracy and the Tudor rulers. He confiscated the land of
the allied Church hierarchy. hostile nobles and concluded new agreements
Decline of Feudal Government with the merchants of Lo ndon, thus .increasing
the income of the kings' treasury.
The feudal political system declined and (7) The monarch thu s secured financi al
disintegrated in England ow ing to the following independence as he was no longer dependent
reasons: exclusively on Parliamentary grants. His rule,
(I) In England a section of the landlords therefore, may be regarded as a preamble to
reali zed that th e productive capacity of a free the new chapter of Tudo r rule in British con-
agricultural worker was greater than the enslaved stitutional hi story. The Tudor administration,
serf. Thus arose a new social class of enterprising though still autocratic in substance, sought le-
landowners and a class of liberated peasants gitimacy by seeking and obtaining the s upport
working toge.t her to enhance agri cultural pro- of the middle class, especially the commercial
ductivity. bourgeoisie.
(2) Some serfs migrated to towns and
Middle Class Revolution in England
became industrial workers. Commercial agri-
culture and growing trade created '3 prosperous The modem age began in England with
middle class of merc hants manufacturers and the foundation of the Tudor dynas ty and th e
bankers exerting greater influence on politics. beginning of a middle class social revo lution.
(3) The Hundred years' War in France To fi x a definite date for the closure of the
weakened the· feudal system, awakened a sense middle ages may arouse controver:iY for any
of English nat ionhood, and ang licised the other country, but is now unive rsally agreed
French-speaking Norman nobility and monar- that the inauguration of the reign of Henry VII
.c hy. Joan of Arc became th e symbol of French marked the end of the medieval period in Eng-
resistance to English invasion of France. land. The military and ·political power of the
(4) Peasant uprisings grew in number and nobles was destroyed. The kin g confiscated the
intensi ty during the fourteenth and fiftee nth lands of the old aristocracy, e xpanded the roya l
centuries in England. They developed political estates and creared a new soc ial class of land-
consciousness and inspired the struggle for basic owners drawn from the upper middl e classes.
human rights. The feudal class became fright- The Tudor monarchs used Parli ament for rati-
ened of the potentialities ofa peasant revolution. fying the policies which were in essence for-
(5) Instead of look ing after their estates, mulated by them. According to A.L Morton,
the English nobl es became more interested in the Tudor monarchy "rested on th e fact that
the politics of London, partic ipating in palace the bourgeoisie were strong enough in the six-
intrigues and provoking intemal factional strug- te.enth century to keep in power any government
gles. In 1455 the Wars of Roses began in whi ch that promised them elbow room to grow rich,
}
\.
24 The Governmejllt of the Un ited Kingdom
'.
but not yet slrong enough to desire direct political pen-proletariat. Wl)ile ~pital was accumulating
power as they did in the seventeenth. "4 111 the hands of the fav0t'red few, the majority
Henry VII married a princess of the House was facln b:' starvation and unemployment. The
of York and persuaded Parliament to approve law provided that a citiken could arrest a
the Tudor dynastic succession. Henry VIII laid vagabond, force hi~ to w6rk as his slave and
the foundations of the National Church of Eng- could even whip him. .
land and liberated England from the internati onal Absolute Monarchy of tile Tudor Period
control of the Roman Catholic Church. When
the king wanted separati on from his Spanish Du ri ng the rei gn of EliZabeth, absolute
queen Catherine, the Pope di sallowed it. As a monarch y was modified partially\ md socio-eco-
result, Henry VIIl himself led the Protestant nomic condi tions also improved ta-some extent.
movement in England . He confi scated the es tates However, the rapid increase in the\ circulation
of the Church and resold them to small land- of bulli on and the Tudor policy of debasing the
. owners. Thus a new socia l class of the Ian· cOlllage brought about a galloping j nOation in
do wning squires was c reated . The squires the country whi ch enabled the landloJ.<is, i:, rmers
worked as Justices of th e Peace and consti tuted and traders to earn huge profits. EliZabeth and
honorary omcials of the new regi me. Parliament her merchant subjects showed great interest in
approved Henry 's reforms abou t the Church buildi ng ships and establ is hing chartered com-
supporting them en thu siast ically. All th ose, who panies fo r trade and piracy. The Queen had
got a share in the confi scated lands of Ihe rcgular shares in the booty looted by the English
monasteri es, became arden t ad mirers the or pirates ,\ ho regularly attacked Spanish ships on
Tudor monarchy and loy al fo ll o\vers of the the high seas.
Auglican Church . It wJ.s the age of commercialism, Spain
The King \\'3 5 recognised not on ly as thl! lI'as th e chief ri val of England. The victory of
Chi ef o f the Engl ish State but also as the Head the Engli sh sa ilors over the Spanis h arm ada
of th e An glican Chu rch. When Queen ~ I ary during Elizabeth's reign signified the beginning
ascended the throne, she tri ed to revive Cathol i- of a new era. It was the triumph of a bourgeois
cism in England but fa iled to restore the con- mercant ile England over the reac tionary pro-
fi scated estates of the monasteries. During the reudal elemen ts in Europe. The Spani sh mon-
long reign orQucen El iz'C e th I, Engla nd bec'am" archy was Ihe patron of Roman Catholicism
a Protes tant nation irre vcrsibl y. L ike her prede- and fe udal forces of the EUropean society. After
cessors, Eli zabeth was an absolute ruler but she destroying the Maya and Aztek civilizations of
was very efficient and talented as a Queen. Cen tra l an d South Ameri ca, a corrupt, oppressive
With minor exceptions, she too received, like a nd luxury-lov ing Spanish aristocracy, in alli-
other Tudors, the support o f Parliame nt fo r her ance with the church hierarchy, was ruling over
policies. Spain and her trans-A tlantic colonies, reducing
The sixteenth century is rega rded as a the Spani sh and colonial peasantry to a position
period of transition in European history. In of near serfdom. As compared to Spain, Eliza-
England also important changcs took place in bcth !s England was a progressive, national mon-
agriculture, industry and commerce, The land-
lords enclosed the public lands and claimed
archy where commerce and industry flourished
and the peasantry had been liberated from its
medieval bondage.
,"
them as their pri vate pro pc rry. Some landlords
took possession of the lands belo ngi ng to free Quee n Elizabet h was a popular rul er. She
peasants. The medieval trade gui lds were re- neither needed a standing army for her security
placed by a new type o f capitalist traders. The nor a salaried bureaucracy to carry on her
craftsmen's guilds also came to an end. The administration unlike contemporary Eurol?ean
owners of small workshops reorgani sed produc- monarchs and the future Stuart kings of England.
tion by employing wage workers. A large num- She neither claimed divine sanction for her rule
ber . of peasants, craftsmen and unemployed nor showed any disrespect to Parliament. She
relamers of the old nobility became beggars, followed the Tudor In\dition in supporting the
thieves and vagabonds belonging to the lum- progressive elements of the slate and also in
using state power in accordance with laws as
4. Morton, A.t . A People's Hislory of England. p. 169.

\
The British Political Tradition
;well as in seeking and obtaining Parliament's the king protecting against he tyranny of the
'approval for her policies and actions. For this martial law, illegal detention of citizens and
reason, the rising social classes as "represented forcible collection of new taxes and loans.
I
in Parliament also gave their consistent support Forcibly keeping the Speaker in his chair, the
to all Tudor monarchs. Like her foresighted House of Commons also adopted three resolu"
.l predecessors, she knew that the unruly horse, tions. It was resolved that anyone trying to
she was riding, could not be controlled by the restore property in England, or advising the
crack of a whip but only by loving persuasion. king to impese taxes without the consent of
This alone unravels the mystery of Parliament's Parliament, or paying these illegal taxes to the
obedience to the sovereign and success of ab- Government will be deemed an enemy of the
solute monarchy during the Tudor period. state, nation and England's freedom. Charles
Parliament's Struggle Against Monarchy dissolved Parliament and refused to SUOlmon it
for eleven years.
With the start of the Stuart reign in Eng- In the absence of Parliament, Charles sold
land, the conflict between the king and Parlia- monopoly rights in trade and production, in-
ment began for a division of state power between creased duties on, imports. and exports and im-
them. Such tendencies had manifested even posed a new tax on ships. Though these pelicies
during the last stage of Elizabethian reign. It were opposed by a few courageous individuals,
was obvious that the rising English middle class yet no political crisis or popular discontent
was not prepared to suffer indefinitely the mo- devel oped for another decade. However, the
nopoly of political powers in the hands of an policies of Charles and Laud as leader of the
autocratic monarch governing in the interest of Anglican Church displeased the Presbyterians
nobility. The Queen often granted exclusive of Scotland, who characterized one Anglican
rights in trade or production of a particular Church under Laud as a disguised form of the
commodity to her own favourites . When Par- Catholic Church.
liament opposed this in 1601, the Government
The Presbyterians felt that the king, bishops
adopted a policy of accommodation.
and ritual ceremonies had no place in true
James I ascended the throne in 1603. He
religion . Their religion was based on austerity,
did not possess Elizabeth's cleverness or toler-
ance. Earlier he had ruled Scotland where Par- pious life, private prayer and thrift. They called
themselves as Puritans and condemned music,
liament did not exist. He claimed a divive basis
'for his autocratic rule. He displeased the mer- drinking and luxuries. Such ideas were graduall y
affecting the English middle class as well. When
chants of London by his financial policies.
Eli zabeth's annual budget amounted to £ C;harles wanted to bring Scotland under the
400,000 only. James thought this amount was Anglican Church, the people of Scotland re-
volted against him.
too small for his needs. Parliament always op-
Charles asked the London merchants for
posed the raising of new taxes and invariably
a loan to conduct war against the rebels. This
reduced the demands made by the king. It was
also dissatisfied with the king's foreign policy was refused. Seeing no other way out, he sum-
and opposed the alliance proposed by him with moned a meeting of the Commons in 1640. The
Catholic Spain or equally Catholic France. Commons led by Pym sent a petition oppesing
When Charles I became the king of Eng- the war against Scotland. Charles had no further
land in 1625, Parliament's conflict with mon- hope of his demands being approved by the
Commons. Parliament was dissolved again giv-
archy grew more intense. When it decided to
impeach the king's favourite minister, the Duke ing rise to direct confrontation between the king
of Birmingham, Charles dissolved the House and the Commons.
of Commons. He impesed new taxes without When it was summoned again, an organ-
the approval of Parliament. The merchants and ised opposition party had come into existence
landlords, who loved their property, did not in Parliament. Pym and Hampden toured the
want to pay these taxes raised by the king country to organise a powerful Presbyterian
without the consent of their representatives. party and London emerged as their stronghold.
Liberty for the bourgeoisie meant safe- The Commons impeached the king's favourite
guards for their private property. In 1628 the minister Strafford for treason but the Lords did
Commons presented the Petition of Rights to not agree. The next step on the part of the
Commons was to demand his death sentence feudalism, was abolished by a new revolutionary
through a bill of attainder. Frightened by the constitution. The House of Commons was to
revolutionary atmosphere in london, Charles be ro-elected on the basis of a revised, and
aceeeded to this demand'- About two hundrcd broader- based franchise. Cromwell and the
thousand residents of london watched the hang- revolutionary leaders failed to secure the nec-
ing with obvious glee. essary support from the Commons for their
Republican Interlude .and Monarchical progressive policies as the House was stil l e~
RestoratIon trenched with feudalist elements. Cromwell,
therefore, was obliged to transform his govern-
This led to new political developments in ment into a military dictatorship. He squandered
England culminating in the downfall of mon- public funds in the repression of the Irish people
a
archy and establishment of Republic. But this and in a war with Holland. As a result, even
Repubfic was short-lived and lasted just for the forces which had supported him earlier
twelve years. Republican rule in a way broke turned against his dictatori al rule. Cromwell's
the chain of constitutional growth in England death jeopardized the surviva l of the Republic.
for some years. Although this experiment in Republican gov-
When Charles asked for monetary grants emment proved short-lived but the names of
for crushing the Irish revolt, a group of members rcvolution succeeded in destroying the evil of
defected to the monarch's camp. Differences monarchical absolutism in England for ever.
arose in Parliament on the issue of rcforrning Frederick Ogg says, "Like revolution ists eve-
the Anglican Church. The civil war alone could l)'Where, seven teenth century Englishmen found
now resolve the di sputes between the Roya lists it easier to destroy than to bui ld. "5
and the Republicans. The king was su pported If this revolution had faile d in 1649 leading
by a reactionary coalition of big landowners, to the victory of coumer-revolutionary monar-
Anglican blshops and Cathohc nobles He was chist forces in the civil war, England would
opposed by the bankers and merchants of lon- have been saddled with an absolute monarchy,
don, the urban middle class, -sn~all landown~rs on the patlem of continental states like Spain
and free peasants of East Angha. The Enghsh or France, based on military power and governed
sailors were on the side of Parli l1m~n t. The by a centralized bureaucracy drawn from an
~vork.ers_ an~ poor tfea sa n~ werc not InVOIvcdV aristocratic class. lLwould ha~e changed the
on either side. For them It was a war of hila direction constitutional growth 111 England. The
ruling classes. On the whole, the cause of Bloodless Revolution of 1688 would have been
Parliament was progressive, i~ a relative sen~e impossible without the violent overthrow of
and its victory proved be.nefie,,1 to the Engh i h absolute monarchy in a Republican Revolc ti on
people on a long-temn Vlew. ~ in 1649.
Gradually, Cromwell seized the leader ip In 166 1 the heir of the StUaJ1 I,ne was
of the revolution. As a leader of the I de- restored to the English throne. The loyalists
pen dents, he represented the interests of the won the election to the next Parliament. The
peasants and the lower middle class. The Lev- squires and merchants, who had supported the
ellers constituted a branch of the Indepe ndents Repub lic earlier, switched thei r allegiance to-
who advocated a radleal verSlOn of Rcpubhcan- wards the new monarchy and formed the bad__
ism. The Diggers formed the extreme left-win g bone of the Tory Party in future . Afte r some
of the Independent Party demanding equa l dis- time, the Whig Party wa5 crganised to functi on
tribution of land among the peasants. Cromwell as an opposition faction in the Comm ons. The
disapproved the programme of the levellers as Tory Party consisted mainly of the rural land-
well as the Diggers as impractical. Charles was owners and the Anglican priests who were bot h
defeated in the civil war and sentenced to death. devout royalists now. Catholic nobles were not
England was proclaimed a Republic in 1649. allowed to participate in politics but in a crisis
This happened one hundred forty years before their sympathies lay with the monarch. The
the French Revolution of 1789 whe n. France Whig Party was led by the aristocrats and
was declared a Repubhe for the first hme. supported by the city merchants and Intellectuals
The House of lords, the citadel of British
5. Misra, K.K., Quoted in Contemporary Political Theory, p. 343

belonging to the dissenting sects. Charles II estates1 so far as th ese had not been lost again
ruled with the support of a loyal Tory Parliament. du'ring the republican revolution, form the basis
However, James II had to confront the opposition of the todays' princely domains of the English
from a powerful Whig Party. oligarchy. The bourgeois capitalists favoured
James put an end to the disabilities imposed the operation with the view, among others, to
upon them earlier and gave them equal political promoting free trade in land, to extending the
rights. This displeased the Tory supporters of domain of modem agriculture on the large farm
the king. James tried to become independent of system, and to increasing their supply of agri-
Parliament by obtaining tinancial aid from cultural proletarians ready to hand. Besides,
France. He raised an army led by Catholic new landed aristocracy was the natura l ally of
officers. The majority of the Tory statesmen the bafikocracy, the new-hatched haute financ e
then realized that the king was determined to and of the large manufacture, then depend ing
revive his autocratic rule. on protective duties."6
Establishment of Constitutional Monarchy The Glorious Revolution of 1688 demon-
strated lhe supremacy of Parliament over the
The Tory and Whig statesmen of England king but the actual responsibility of governm ent
jointly invi ted King William of Holland to still remained with the monarch. A big assembl y
invade England in order to put an end to the like Parliament was not su itable to function as
autocratic rule of James and establish a consti- a governing agency. During the succeeding
tutional monarchy in its placc . The supporters centuries, the responsibil ities of governance
of James deserted him and so he ned from we re gradually transferred from the king to the
England to save his life. Parliament offerred cabinet which was in its origin and status a
the British Crown j ointl y to Mary and William Committee of Parliament
and procl aimed a Bill of Rights depriving the
Another signiticant change took place in
monarch of his/her control over the armed forces
the position of the House of Lords. Its powers
and the courts.
gradually declined in relation to those of the
The monarch, afterthe Revolution of 1688,
could neither veto any particular law passed by House of Commons. The change took place on
the basis of conventions, which were later rati·
Parliament nor delay its enforcement. He could
not raise any tax without the approval of Par- tied by an act of Parliament. Another change,
whic h ought to be mentioned, related tQ franchi se
liament. It was made Obligatory to summon at
which was gradually broadened to give repre-
least one session of Parliament in three years.
sentation to new social classes of the British
The term of the Commons was lhree yea rs. On
society. Lastly, an important change occurred
these condi ti ons, the Whigs also turned royalists
in the character and role of Briti sh political
like the Tories. The Revolution brought the
parties in the working of the parliamentary
Central Government and the Local Administra-
sys tem of government in England.
tion of London and other cit ies under the control
of the Whigs for about a century. During the ,eign of Mary and William,
However, the Tory squires and landlords the Whig Mini sters formed the government.
continued to rule over the rural counties and However, Queen Anne appointed Tory or coa-
districts. Karl Marx observes: "The Glorious lition ministries which were not responsible to
Revolution brought into power, along wi th Wil- Parliament. William also could appoint his min-
liam of Orange, lhe landlord and capitalist isters in his di scretion and was not bound by
appropriators of surplus va lue. They inaugurated their advice but he treated them with some
the new era by practisi ng on a colossal scale considerati on as they had the support of th e
thefts of state lands that had hitherto been majority facti on in Parliament. Queen Anne
managed estates, were given away, sold at a regarded the ministers as her servan ts and
ridiculous tigure or even more modestly. These claimed lhe right to hire and tire th em at her
annexed to private estates by direct seizure. All sweet will. She was not prepared to change her
this happened wi thout th e slightest observation ministers merely because a certain party lost or
ofl egal et iquette. The Crown Lands thus fraudu- won a particular Pari iamentary election. The
lently appropriated, together with the Church ministers were mere subodinate administrators
6. Morton, A.L. A People's History of Eng/alld, pp, 277-278.
(
28 The Governme~t of the United Kingdom
of their particular departments under the Queen 's acquired French Canada (Quebec) as war booty.
leadership and control. She presided o\'er the The defeat of the French in this war paved the
meetings of her Council of Mini stcrs".rnd took way for the British conquest of India. Scotlan'd
a lead in decision-making. was now part of Britain and the colonial hoid
In 1714 George I o f the Hanover dynasty over Ireland was being consolidated. .
was crowned as the kin g o f Eng land. He was The necessary conditions for the coming
the ruler of a small Ge nnan principality and Industrial Revolution were maturing in England.
was ignorant of political co nd iti ons prevailing The British emigrants were colonising North
in England. He could no t speok English. He, America. The Whig leaders of the British gov-
therefore, took no interest in the affairs of the ernment and the Directors of the East India
~tate. The ministers were consequently depri ved Company were mutual friend s. Accumul at ion
of monarchi cal leadership in go vernment. They of capital from trade and coloni al tribute was
devel oped the conventi on of appo inting the most laying the found ati on of England 's rapid indus-
senior mini ster as their chairman to preside oyer trialisation . All soc ial classes, which werc po·
the meetings of the Co un cil o f Mini sters. This liticall y consc ious and possessed economic
Chainnan was laler kl1o\...·11 as the Prime Mini ster power, were quite happy wi th the policies pu r-
of England. sued by the Wh ig Party. It was inevitable under
Du ri ng the cightcc11I h ce ntury. the Wh igs these circum stances tha t the dictatorship of th e
\Verc abl e to 1113inlai n their majority in Parl ia- Whig oligarc hy co nti nued \\'ithout interruption
me nt. Rabe n \VJJpoJ\!. who was an effi cient for half a cent ury.
admi nistr;lI or and :.I s ~ llio r iC;1dc r of (he Whig Whe n George III was crowned, he tri ed
Part )' for a lo ng ( i ll1~ . lTlay be rt!ga rded as (he to ovenhrow the \Vh ig ru le. He was an ambitious
fi rst \\ ork ing Pri llle \ Iin i:-;(cr o f Englan d without mona rch. The cabine t system had not ye t flill y
any "fomlal rCl'ognitio n o f hi s status. Ac tually, - de\'el oped. Fac ti onali sm bro ught dissensions in
hi s contem po raries Jill no t \ isualizc: him in this the Whig rank s. The characle r of the Tory Party
role. Wal polc's c o ll ~agw,: s did no t fU llction as was also changi ng. A section of the city mcr-
a collcC li,"c body and di d no t r~' ga rd tht'l1lsc h'es chants ent ered the Tory Party. With the hel p
as responsi ble to P;J rliallh.'Il t. r his implicd that of th e Tories 3nd by using his perso nal intl ue nce,
the c:!bi ll ~1 sy~l(' m h ~l d !lut dC\ 'clo ped as yet in the monarch suc ceeded in winni ng the suppo rt
tit) tru e Sense. of a majority in th e Comm ons. Th us he fomled
Oligarchical Nalure of Guvcrnmc nt a new ca binet entirely consis ting of his friends
and support ers, wh o allowed him to intervene
The fo rm of gO\'cnllllcnt in the eighteenth directl y in the affai rs o f gO\ emmcnt. )
cemury England was o l i g ~l r(h ic a1. Not wen 10% Howeve r, the positions taken by George
of the adu lt popul ati on cou ld \·ote. The can· 1lI and the fomler Stuart monarchs were not
stitucilcics were irrati ona l an d con tained grossly identical. While the Stua rt kings believed in
unequa l num ber of \·ot('rs. The n.li illg party autocrat ic governnient. George III played the
empl oyed co rrupt methods to secure its majo rity same political ga me to which the Whig ari sto-
in Parl iament. The \Vhi gs retained power by crats had grow n acc ustomed during the last fifty
pract ising corrupt ion frol11 17 1-1- to 176 1. This yea rs, The me th od was to give jobs, licenses
was the age of grcat ad va nces in commerce and and co ntracts to th e voters and ensure the election
agri culture. The military technol ogy was under· of the favouri te ca nd ida tcs 10 Parli ament throu gh
going rapid change and to satis fy the growi ng th ese acts of patro nage. The members of Par-
deman ds of the 3nlled forces beca me a profita ble liament could also be suitabl y bribed and bene-
business. A new socia l group o f co nt ractors fined so that they vo ted in suppo rt ofm inisterial
fl ourished. London emerged 3S the centre of policies out o f a sense of perso nal gratitude .
international trade and finance. The Tory squires George III leamtthi s art fro m the Whig leaders
and succeeded in appointing hi s cabinets drawn
had no share in runnin g the central government
from his loyal servants.
but they continued to administer counti es and
districts and li ved afnuently on the incomes To begin with, he appointed Lord Bute,
derived from their fam1s. his former teacher, as a minister. He obeyed
The foreign policy of England was also the king as his loyal servant and formed a
meeting with success. England won the Seven pro-monarchical faction in Parliament. This en-
Years'. War (1756-1763) against France and abled Georged III to instal cabinets of his choice
The British Politicai Tradition 29
fo'r a decade. On an adverse vote of the House justifiably impose any tax on the American
"of Lords, he dismissed all ministers wh() had taxpayers without first giving them repre-
lieen opposing him. He appointed the younger sentation in Parliament. As this representation
Pin, a young man of twenty fi ve, as the new was denied them, the American people were
Prime Minister. The House of Commons ex- justified in waging their struggle for inde-
pressed lack .of confidence in the new Council pendence.
of Ministers on several occasions. The king, in However, the British dominant classes with
a mood of indignation, dissolved the House of one voice opposed the French Revolution. Only
Commons and ordered a general election. He a small liberal group among the remnant Whigs
used his patronage and influence openly. The expressed sympathy towards this democratic
new House of Commons endorsed the king's revolution. Burke condemned it outright in the
choice of the younger Pin as the Prime Minister. his Reflections on th e French Revolution - a
The Torty Party was strengthened by the treatise that proved popular among the Tory
king's patronage. The merchan ts, manufacturers rulers of England. The French Revolution was
and landowne rs, who had supported the Whigs led by the bourgeoise in France and so the
in the past, turned their allegiance towards the rourgeois classes of the European Continent
Tory Party. The independence of the American were sympathet ic towards it. Consequently, the
colonies and the success of the French Revo- bourgeois parties and the people in general in
lution made England a morc conservative and South Germany as well as in Italy welcomed
reactionary state. By establishing colonial rule the revol utionary armies of France as in stru~
in Ireland, Canada and India, Great Britain ments of their liberation from feudal oppression.
became an Impcnial Power, par excellence. The Wh y did, then, the English bourgeois rulers
Industrial Revolution created a new net-work oppose this Revolution? The reason was obvi~
of industrial workshops and factories in England. ous. The European bourgeois class was still
In them arose a new social class of factory denied a share in political power, Its class
workers destined to playa new role in world interests, therefore, coinc ided wi th those of the
history. peasants and the common people. The European
In capitalist Britain at thi s time, the mem- bourgeoisie wanted to put an end to the oppres-
bers of this growing labour force were not sive rule of the monarch and the nobility, allied
granted any political rights. How could the to him, by leading a democratic revolutiona ry
Whig and Tory elites agree to grant them suf- upsurge against them. The English bourgeoi sie,
frage? They viewed the working class as a slave on the other hand, had already become a ruling
amlY which should toil in the coal-mines, steel class and had formed on alliance both with the
mills, textile factories or agricultural fann s so aristocracy and monarchy. Any democra tic revo-
that their affluent Whig and Tory masters could lution could endanger their rested interests and
maintain their monopoly rights over the nation's therefore, the oligarchical constitution of Eng-
wealth, politics and culture. In fact, Tories and land satisfied them fully. In Parliament franchise
Whigs did not constitute two different political was limited to the members of the bourgeoise
parties in terms of their basic ideology and and the aristocracy. This led Burke to sing
fundamental policies. They were just two dif- pancgyrics of the British constitution.
ferent designati ons adopted by an identical,
The slogan of the French Revol ution was
dominant class clique ruling the United King-
Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. How could
dom of Great Britain in the eighteenth century.
Tory England accePJ equality and fratern ity
Burke and the British Condition between the capitalist and the worker or the
A section of the British ruling class sup- landlord and his tenant? The French revolution-
ported the cause of American independe nce. aries confiscated the estates of the nobles and
Burke said that the Americans were fighting distributed them among the peasants.liow could
for tile achievement of these aims which are the Tory landowners approve this act of sacri-
recognised as the basic principles of the English lege? The Constituent Assembly of France pro-
Constitution. It was commonly agreed that no claimed manhood suffrage with no property
tax should be imposed without the consent of restrictions. The English ruling class was puz-
the tax payers or their elected representatives. zled. Even revoluti onary Cromwell did not com -
The British Parliament, therefore, could not mit ·this outrage. This was, according to the
dominant class perception, no liberty but a the Peterlco massacre even today. This was t\li:
licc:nse to anarchy and chaos. naked dance of capitalist dictatorship prevailing
Violation of Human Rights - , at that time in England. In Tory England then
the rule of law had given way to the rule of
. In order to crush the Revolution ary France, the sword.
the Tory England imposed repressive practices Parliament passed laws to suppress civil
on the progressive popular movement, which liberties. The magistrates were empowered to
was demanding human rights for the English prohibit any assembly of fi fly people and could
people, and simultaneously entered into a mili- order the search of any house on the suspicion
tary alliance with reactionary monarchist powers that the arms were concealed there. Flags and
like Austria, Prussia and Spain. The revolution bands could not be used in a procession. Mass
in France-was not only a political menace to physical exercise an d drills were declared un-
British social structure, a bourgeois France ruled lawful. Additional tax was imposed on political
by the capitalists could develop into a serious ne'Nspapers and publications to make them cost-
colonial and commercial rival of an imperialistic lier for the common peopl e. Several publishers
England. The war aga inst the French Republic of radical literature were arrested and prosecuted
and later against Napoleon contin ued till 1815 for spreading disaffection. Some of them were
and ended in the restoration of the reactionary exiled. Popular movemen t was thus crushed by
Bou rbon regime in Paris. This inaugurated a the British ruling class.
period of political repression and large scale Extension of Representative Government
viola tion of civil liberties in England.
In 1794 Pitt began the persecution of The Industrial Revo lution in England cre-
persons professing radical republican views by ated a new soc ial class o f industrial capitalists,
suspending the Habells CorplIS rule. Thomas who demanded th at all social classes should be
Paine's popul ar treatise Rights of Mall was represented in Parliament, which ought to instal
banned. The author sought political asylum in a government of people's representatives. The
France and lived there or in the United States Tory Party was under the influence of big
o f America for the rest of his life. Democratic landowners, big bankers an d bi g me rchan ts. The
assoc iations were ·also banned. The strikes, industrial class was di sconte nted with the Tory
bread-riots and sabotnge occurred in factories administration and, therefore, the members of
on a large scale. When so ldiers expressed sym- that class started a refomlist li bera l mo vement
pathy for the agitators, a mounted police corps under the leadership of a sma ll group of liberal
was organised wh ich was recmited from mem- Whig leaders. The new Liberal Party was very
bers of the upper class. The police and the anny cri tical of the electoral system for the House
were instructed to guard the factories. Every of Commons. Industrialisa tion brought about
radical citi zen was regarded as a Jacobin or a significant changes in the distribution of popu-
French agent. lation. The population of cities like London,
Even ofter the end of the war in 18 IS, the Manchester, Bimlingham, Sheffield, Leeds el!:.
civil liberties remained suspended. When six multiplied rapidly.
thousand citizens of Manchester started on hun- However. there was no corresponding in-
ge r- march to London, the police resorted to crease in the representation of cities in Parlia-
violence and dispersed the marchers. In August ment. Several cities did not send, even one
18 19, eighty thousand people assembled in Man- member to Parl iament. Many constituencies
chester at Peterloo to listen to the speech of known as the pocket boroughs, con trolled by
a Radical leader Hunt. As soon as Hunt stood the Tory landlords, consi sted of depopulated
up to begin his speech, the mounted police rural areas. The emerging class of industrial
arrested him and attacked the peaceful assembly capitalists scarcely had any representation in
with pointed spears killing eleven people on Parliament. As the industrial workshops were
the spot and injuring four hundred people in- small, the employers maintained personal con-
cluding one hundred women. It was probably tact with the workers under their employment.
a rehearsal of the Arnritsar massacre perpetrated The Trade Unions were still unlawful. The
on British territory itself by the forefathers of workers at that moment looked upon their em-
Brigadier-general Dyer. The British working- ployers as their well- wisheres and leaders.
class still commemorates the grim tragedy of Thus the united front of the British indus-
The British Political TradHion 31
trialists and the worlcers challenged the oligar- petty-bourgeois sections as he wanted to project
chical rule of the Tory reactionaries. In 1831 a new image for his Tory Party of which he
the Liberal PartY; supported by a powerful mass was the leader. The agriCUltural workers and
movement, succeeded in reforming the electoral industrial labourers living outside municipal
system for the House of Commons despite the limits got the right to vote by the Act of 1885.
obstruction of the Tory Party aided by the House . The Dissenters, Catholics and Jews were
of Lords. The pOcket boroughs were abolished, also granted civil ·and political rights on an
forty two new constituencies were created for equal basis. Thus the privileges of the Anglican
London and other cities and sixty five counties church were discontinued. The capitalist oligar-
with new urban settlements. chy that existed in the eighteenth century was
The franchise was extended from 220,000 gradually transformed into a bourgeois democ-
voters before the reform to 670,000 citizens racy, Although workers voted in elections to
entitled to vote after the reform. Even this the House of Commons, yet no member of the
number was quite small in view of the fact that working class or any trade union activist haJ
England's' population at that time was estimated a chance of being elected to Parliament at that
as 14,000,000. However, the political signifi- historical juncture. The Labour Party was not
cance of the change should not be underesti- yet in existence. Politically the working class
mated. The industrial bourgeoisie of England, was still a subject class.
riding on the shoulders of a loyal working. Imperialism and British Democracy
Class, had by this measure successfully chal- Laski has rightly pointed out that there
lenged the aristocratic Tory patrons of fmance was a symbiotic relationship between the growth
capital. This was the secret of the rise and of imperialism abroad and British democracy
success of the Liberal Party in the later half of at home. Along with constitutional reforms in
the nineteenth century. The franchise was not England, the nineteenth century also witnessed
extended to the English working-class by the complete colonisation of India the cruel opium
Reform Act of 1832. However, by actively wars in China, brutal colonial wars all over the
participating in a mass movement led by the globe, violent suppression of freedom struggle
Liberal Party, the working-class established it- in Ireland etc. France, Germany and Russia
self as a force to be reckoned with in the emerged as commercial and colonial rivals of
subsequent political history ofth' United King- great Britain in different parts of the world.
dom. In 1880 a new era commenced in world
Constitutional and Political Reforms history. This was the age of global imperialist
The nineteenth century was an era of expansion and domination of fmance capital.
reforms in England. These included central ad- Great Britain and other capitalist powers
ministration, local government, the electoral joined hands in the colonial partition of Africa,
system, civil liberties, free trade, rapid indus- in dividing China into spheres of influence, in
trialisation, reduction in the monarch's powers, consolidating the chain of Colonial exploitation
growth of cabinet system, decline in the privi- in western and southern Asia, in the construction
leges of the House of Lords etc. The century of the Suez Canal and in extending economic
also witnessed the Liberal-Tory political dia- imperialism to Latin America in conjunction
logue and competition, failure of the Chartist with the United States. Imperialist rivalry led
Movement, progressive development of the la- the British and German capitalists to fight the
bour movement and organisation of the trade first world war. British democracy like the
unions. Athenian democracy of ancient Greece was
In 1867, the Tories passed a new Reform founded on a restrictive concept of democracy
Bill about elections to the House of Commons. which denied freedom and equal rights to the
The Radical Associations led by Bright and slaves in one case and colonial subjects in the
Cobden and the British workers now organised other. Race and or class fixed the boundaries
in trade unions struggled for voting rights and of democratic rights in both the cases.
held large suffrage rallies. 1110Ugh both parties Party System and Responsible Government -
opposed their demands in the beginning, Disreli During the phase of the rise of/mperialism,
finally agreed to enfranchise the workers and the two-party system in England was consoli-
I
dated. The British ru ling class, first di vided not implement their programme. Thus the Coni
between the Whi gs and Tories, later adopted servati ves were able to maintain their status as
the Liberal and Conservative designations. The the chief rul ing party o f the U'nited Kingdoni
ex istence of two major .part ies facili tated the as we ll as the Bri tish Empi re for a long time.
growth ofpa rli all1entary government in Eng land. After th e second world war, the Labour
To begi n with , Parli ament did not represent the Party got an opportunity to form its governme pt
British peo ple. While the upper house was by securing a majority in the House of Commons
consti tu ted on a hereditary basis, th e lower for the fi rs' time. Th is time th e Party did get a
house was elected on seve rely restricted fran- chance to carry out its programme. However,
chise an d unde r a thoroughl y corrupt e lectoral the Conservatives we re vo ted to power again
system. The British poli tical system was o ligar- in 1952, continued to rule till 1964 and undid
chica l in its essence. With the extension of some of the measures of the prev ious Labour
suffrage , new soc ia l cl asses fo und representatio n adm ini strat ion. The Labour Party got another
in th e House of Commons but the government chance to govem in 1964 but was replaced by
remain ed under the effec tive control o f the Iv..'O the Conse rvati ves in 1970, who rul ed till 1974.
bourgeois par1 ies. Between 1974 and 1979, l abour Party exercised
The Conservat ive and Liberal Part ies could power aga in. Then Tha tchc r a nd Major ruled
la te r be regarded as Iwo w in gs o f th e sam e Engla nd on behalf of the Conserva ti ves for
ideologica l party, in fac t just two fac ti ons of eighteen lInin telTU pted years. In 1998, Labour
the quarrellin g bourgeoisi e. Industr ial cap ital has been reelected to power under Tony Blair.
eventually join ed hands with the fina nce cnpital. I, turns out that while the Tory or Tory-led
C onsequently , the industriali sts supportin g the governments ruled Britain for 66 years after the
Li bera l Pany nlnlcd Conserva ti ve. Radical in- fi rst world war, Labour Party was in power for
tellectuals and manua l workers thought in temlS about ei ghteen years only. That shows that the
of creati ng a separate polit ica l assoc iat ion. Thus Britis h two -part y system is heav il y loaded in
the organ ised Trade Unio ns and rad ica l petty - fa\·our of the COllsc:rvati ves and against the
bourgeo is individ uals join tly laid the foundation Labourilcs.
o f the Briti sh l oboll r Pan y at the beginning o f Theory and Pracril'c of British Democracy
the twentiet h cen tu ry. Wi th the rise o f large-
scale mechani zed production, the size of facto- In theory. it can be claimed that despite
ries and trade unions went on gro\\/ing bigger th e preselll'c of the monarchy and a predomi-
and thus giant trade union organisati-ons -canle nantl y hereditary House of Lords. Britain has
into ex istence. established polit ical democ racy. The people
When the work ing-class got vo te, th e La- elect Ihe House of Commons directly 'and the
bour Pany based on the orga nised power of leade r of the maj ori ty party the re is automatically
trade unions was bound to emerge sooner or chosen as the Prime Minister by the monarch
later as a third political grouping. Man hood _ The el ec ted popula r leade r fo rms his own
suffrage was first demanded by th e C ha rt ists cabinet, which is co llectivel y responsib le to th e...
but 'he ruling class dela yed its grant for anoth er House of Commons.
fifty years. Capitali sm not only denied franchi se In practice, the class which owns the means
to the workers, it also refu sed to gran t it to o f producti on in the United Kingdom governs
women for a century. Ad ult fra nchise was ul- the co unt ry th rough its direc t agents in the.
timate ly won in th e United Kin gdom as a result Conservati ve Party or its indirect spokesmen in
of the wo rking class agi tatio n and the suffragi st the rightwi ng leade rship of th e Labour Party_
movement of the Bri tish women. However, Great Britain, unlike a fascist regime,
cann ot be desc ribed as a naked and vulgar
The Liberal Pa rty was gradually absorbed
dictatorship of the bourgeoisie . The existen,e
by the new Conservati ve Party. The Labour
of the Labour Party, rec ognition of civilliQet'fies
Party finally emerged as the main rival of the
in normal times, highly organised trade unions,
Conservatives in the British parliamentary po li-
tics. Between the two world wars, the sta te
the right to criticise the government in Parlia-
ment, relatively independent judiciary, Labour
I
power mostly remained with the Conservative
Party. The minority Labour Governments of
control over some municipal governments, the i
formation of Labour ministries occasionally at
1924 and 1929 were short-lived, which could
the Centre etc. demonstrate the fact that Great
The British Political Tradijion 33
Britain has developed a political system which capitalistic econom ic system, unequal distribu~
ought to be described as essenti~lIy bourgeois- tion of wealth in society, the aristocratic tracli~
democratic. tion, class orientation in education, racial
The twentieth century, like the sixteenth chauvinism of the ruling class based on its
is an age of transition in world history, During colonial heritage, colour prejudices of the elites
the sixteenth century, the bourgeois revolution and masses, feudal pomp of the royal household
commenced in feudalist' Europe, During the last eulogies by the mass media and films of the
five centuries, the capitalist Powers of Europe, am uent style of living practised by the upper
the U,S,A, and Japan brought the whole world classes, support that the Church gives to the
under capitalist influence and domination, sentiments of class hierarchy and propaganda
Political systems based on Socialism and by the media and other fora contro lled by the
led by Communist and Worke rs' Parties uppe r strata of society that all radical and so ~
emerged in the Soviet Un ion, Eastern Europe, cialist associations are either atheist ic or anti~
China, North Korea, Viet Narn and Cuba during national etc, In sp ite of these limits, the
the twentieth century. It is true th at counter- democ ratic fonn of government in Britain has
re volutionary regimes have now replaced the proved relatively more successful than in some
formerly soc ialist governments in Europe. that other countries.
do¢s no t m ean that the age nda for socialism Not only Harold Lask i but II.R,G. Greaves,
has disappeared from the world fQr ever, The James Harvey and Katherine Hood have argued
wvrking- class conti nues its allegiance to La- [hat an economic oligarchy is still ~nrrench <! d
bour, Socialist or even Communist Parties in in the Conservative Party, which mostly occu-
many countries. Soc ialist and Labour Panies pies the seats of government, and operates as
are ruling at present in eleven \Vest European an agent of this oligarchy. Democrncy, according
countries including the United Kingdom , In to laski, has been married to capita li sm in the
Russia also, the Communists and their allies United Kingdom and its state inst itutio ns, th ere·
have obtained a majority in the Duma i. e. fo re t have to funct ion \\ ithin a narrow capitalistic
Russian Parl iament and their candidate lost framework. Th e industri al workers h:l\'e con·
narrowly in the Presidential election against stihlted a majori ty of the British clectora[e and
Yeltsin, the nation for more than a century and the
The national liberation movements in Asia, Labour Party has also been ac tive in Brit ish
Africa and Latin America were increasingly politics for about a hu ndred years, Yet this party
attrac ted by soc ialist ideals, Decolonization of secured abso lute majodty on ly in four general
the British Empire had put socialist-inclined elections and its rightwing leaders occupied [he
regimes in power in several of lhe nl;!w nation· seats of authOiity for less than twe nty years.
states, emerging in the fonner British colonies. Leaving aside a few exceptions [he To ry estab-
Britain is also passing through this transitional lishment has been conti nuous ly ruling Great
phase in her history, while the Conservative Britain afte r World War I. La;ki has rightly
and Right-wing Labour leaders have joined in observed that political power is the han dmaiden
an unholy all iance to defend capitalism, the of econom ic power. Tnose who own the wealth
organised power of the working class is chal· and capital of the country, also rhaeby gove rn
li!ngmg the status quo in various ways. the British people th rough the instrumentality
Laski's Int i:!Tp retation of British Democ racy of the Conservative Pi.1rty. T'1ose, who direct
uii.d manage its bfln~( S d~d industries, c r ~a [e
According to Laski, th! r;!al rulers of p1.:b!ic opin ion by cC'ntml! ; ~ g the mass media
Britlin ar:! those ,who O'.VTI th! t:1ovJ.o;e and ar:.d finar:c-: the F opag::!1di;;: :1nd org:m isational
i~:::J'i~ {"': ~ ·.'II!:!!th of th~ cou:-. :!;. , Tr.'! Brit:.5h act; \' ide3 of the COn3~:-·~ ::. : i \'e P;1rt:. .
C J ::ls:l~..i ti0!1, fiom n politic<!l F')!i; t o( v>!'''/, i5
CI)n5ervn t ive and C l)l o ~bl H criuge
I n expies3:on 0: a dem ccr::Hk: fom o r g'Jv..:rn ·
men: b u ~ it dces not re tlect nn ~gal:t:l.rian or 11,e maj ority 0f tte 8 :i tish ;:eople be longs
c!~ ;n 'JCi:!.~ i\: social ord;!i. Tn~ r.!?5'J r!:; fc' r {his to Ci" lj,cr.. \'.":1 ; ?;1 i ~ '; ariably sup-
: I: ~ .A. :1 ~ 1ic ~ n
C ;):1~::! ·r-::tiO!l l;<!["\\o' ~en L"_ ~ ;:' J:i ':: '; _~: ;::'::: ' ... ;.).:-:::. P0r:3 ~ he C o n 5~r", :'!. : : \·e .?1~i:: . E d;J ': 1 tioo~1 i:15ti·
cf ,:h e CO!l j tiU c ::o n U!:.:!. '. r~ ';: ;1.1:;'.: : :\' )f the t'.: :1;::::i 2r:! mJ r.:!l ~'': b:; d-:..: m~ ~1 l JerS o r the
s ';';; !':'- ~': 'J;,'J.T.i.;: s;:.:;t"!1:l 0:' ::-.'! L . '~..!~ :"\ · ·. .:...:': ,1~ ·.I~; ~r ;:! ~ j5 n r.~ sp ~ ·:: .! · ': ·; ~ Jol-i -::. :: mt1 :~ r~ i n ed
~.:'":.': : ;!~ ')s~i t i c:~ or ih.e ri s..-.: C "~· .' i'. ::: r.: ' '; ~r::" f(:,' ::! "! 3;.! :enc; :' ..: ~");~; ' :' ~ : .J hi;:-: ·: r SGcbl stram.
The Government of the Un~ed Kingdom
of the anned forces,. the majority of the judges, like Athens because the majority was denied
the highly placed bureaucrats, the bishops and equal rights of citizenship in both political sys;
archbishops, the citizens of aristocratic origin, terns. .
big industrialists and bankers, the editors of the After the loss of colonies, Great Britain
large national newspapers, the university pro- has become . worried about her political and
fessors, the eminent doctors and lawyers, retired economic prospects as a small nation. It has
civil servants etc. remain stable supporters of fInally decided to join the European Community
the Conservative Party. and is represented in the European Parliament,
It is not very easy for any political party though it has opted out, for the time being, of
to confront these vested interests. It has been the common European currency called euro,
estimated that about ten per cent people of preserving the pound as its national currency.
Britain, who constitute the upper strata of the Britain is also a member of the U.S- led military
British social hierarchy. consistently vote for alliance, N.A.T.O and unlike France, continues
the Conservative Party in all general elections. as a staunch American ally. Margaret Thatcher
This explains the relative ly weaker position of demonstrated her imperial concerns in the Falk-
the Labour Party in the British po litica l syste m. lands' war gains Argentina. Tony Blair shows
When the British people use thei r votes to defeat his so lidarity with Bill Clinton by participating
the party of the ve sted interests an d enab le the in aerial bombardments oflraqi people. Colonial
Labour Party to form its Ministry, the Labour herit age has been lost but colonial temperament
Government soon di scovers that it cannot gove rn surv ives in post-Imperialist British democracy.
without entering into a humiliating compromise Tony Blair's Reform Projects
with these powerful forces of the British social-
economic system. The ri ght wing leadership of The present Labour Prime Minister of
the Labour Party then tri es to bring so me rcfonns Great Britain has introduced so me significant
in the living conditions of the working c lass constitutional changes in the fITst half of his
within the bounds o f the capi tali stic system. In term in office. Tony Blair's plan of granting
order to attract the- labour votes, the Party has devolution to Scotland and Wales and the
occasionally rai sed socialist slogans and some planned abolition of the rights of hereditary
ordinary members and ir.!t tl-ectuals of this Party peers have probably produced the greatest shake
have genuin e ly believed in s0cialist id ea ls. but up in the British political system in centuries.
~ policy of its mai ns tream leadership has A change in the voting syste~for the House
always been that o f a compromise and 'con- of Commons, which seeks to introd uce propor-
structive' cri tici sm of the vested interests. Ac- tional representation, is al so und er active con-
tually the Lobour Party is the ,,"entieth century sideration. Great Britain has so far followed the
version of a Liberal Party. relati ve majority rule in single-member constitu-
encies. If Tony Blair's plan of changing the
During the hey-d ay of the British Empi re, electoral system bears fruit, it would alter the
there was no place for political equali ty between nature of British politics beyond recognition .
the British people, who formed the ruling na- At the heart of all these reforms, There has been
tionality, and the peo ple of the colonies, who a desi re to bring the goverrunent in close con-
were treated as subject, therefore inferior, na- formity with public opinion and achieve mod-
tionalities. The right of national self-determina- ernisation and democratisation of the political
tion was denied to Asian and African nations process.
for a long time. England's Parliament, whose In fact, Tony Blair inten ds to severe the
sovereignty extended to millions o f subjects trend of the centralisation of power that had
living in several continents, did not include a occurred during the years of Margaret Thatcher,
si ngle representative of the colonised areas, and The Labour Party has a majority of over 400
therefo re, they could not regard it as a demo- members in Parliament and most party MPs are
cratic assembly. It was rather an Imperi alist loya l to their leader. William Hague, Conser-
Parliament used by the British capitalists for vative Party leader at present, has failed to make
exploiting the people of India, Afri ca and other much of an impact so far and so the Tories are
colonies. As pointed out earlier, democracy in languishing in the opinion polls. Tony Blair has
the United Kingdom had a narrow social base successfu lly cO-<lpted the Libral Democrats,
just like its predecessor in classical Greek cities Britain's third Party, on his side. In fact, he is
The British Political Trad~ion 35
trying to build up a grand left-centre coalition opposition members have been invited to join
that may present the·Conservatives from coming a Cabinet committee. The Blair governmental
to power for several generations. For this pur- has a challenging task ahead. Apart from for-
pose, he is attempting to create an informal mulating and implementing constitutional
alliance with the Liberal Democrats. changes, there are a series of elections to be
As the initial step, Tony Blair has asked fought to the European Parliament, to the Scot-
Paddy Ashdown, leader of the Liberal Demo- tish and Welsh Assemblies and to various mu-
crats, and his senior colleagues to join a Cabinet nicipal bodies. His electoral success will
committee dealing willi constitutional reforms. determine the fate of his reforms.
This is the first instance in recent history when
SUGGESTED READINGS
Adams, W.B : Constitutionol HiJlcwy of England. Moore Jr., B. : SaciQl Origim of Dictatorship and Democ-
Greaves, H.R.G . . 'ThL. ErUish COI1S!lIution racy. Chapter I
Harvey, J. k H"..Qd, K. : .". 1H,tUJ, SOl. Morton, A.t . ; A People's History oj England
Laski. H J : Democracy in Crl!ls Ogg. F.A. : English GovernmenJ and Politics
La.o;lci, RI. Parliamentary Government j" England
CHAPTER III
The King and the Crown
The King and the Crown powers o f the King/Queen. Legally ihis is st ill in
In early days all powers of the government general the case. B ut Parliamen t has now en-
were centred in the man who wore the crown- chained the King/Queen and the Constitution
the state cap of royalty. In the course o f hi story requires these powe rs an d rights to be exe rcised,
those powers have been almost ent ire ly trans- in substance, not b y the King/Queen perso nally.
ferred from the King' as a person to a complicated They are exercised in the King 's/Queen's name,
impersonal organisation called the "Crown." It as the personal bearer of th e powers and ri ghts
does not mean the exi t of the m onarc h from the comprised in the Crown, by Ministers who derive
body pol itic of the country. The Kin g is still there their authority from Parliament and are so lel y
as head o f the State and he wears, as befo re, the responsible to Parliament. This somewhat in tan-
diadem or the crown. Now, as then, the King is gible synthesis of autho ritY is what we ca ll the
the Chief Exec uti ve and the supreme leg is lative Crown. The Crow n is, thus, a "subt le assoc ia-
power rests with the King-ill-Parli ame nt. His tion" ofKing o r Quee n. Ministers and Partiamenl
Majesty is, as ever, the ' fou ntain of ho no ur.' He and all three combined make an abstract concept
is the commander of the military forces of the of su preme authority. The King/Queen is its
realm by land. sea and air. Even postme n deliver physical embod iment whereas Min istry, a crea-
HisIHcr Majesty's mai ls. The Kin g. in short , is ture of Parliament, is its most concrete \'isiblc
still the,source of all authority, th e ' Grea t Le via- embodiment .
than ' embodyi ng in his own person the sover- There are two main stages \\!hic h stan d
eignty, the dignity and the unity o f the Sta te. conspicuous in the trans fer of powers from the
Such are the lega l powers o f the monarch. King/Queen as a perso n to the Crown as an
But a legal tr ·tfi is very one n a pol itica l un truth institu tion. The first is what we may call the "in-
in Britain. Down to 1688 , the Ki ng was an effi- stitutionalising" o f the King. Ki~s h i p in Anglo-
cien-! factor in the Constituti on. He rul ed as we ll Saxon days was elective. Succession tothe throne
as rei g ned. Thencefo rn'ard it beca me o th ef\vi se. was no t determi ned by hered itary principle.
The Kin g/Queen s till rei gns, bu t helshe has Every monarch reigned personally and inde-
gradually ceased to rule. And the fac t o f the pendently of hi s p redecesso rs and , consequent ly,
Constituti on today is that the Kin g/Queen pe r- when a King died th ere was an' 'interregnum"or
sonally has nothing to do with any affairs of break in government till another wa s established
Government. The actua l exercise o f powe rs and as a new King . Aner William, the Duke o r Nor-
rights connected with the o ffi ce of the mandy came to the Eng lish throne in 1066, but
King/Queen belong to the Crown . essentially in the twe lfth and thirteent h centuries
The Crown is not a li ving tangible person. title to the throne became hereditary and the next
It.is ~ artificial contri vance; an abstrac t co ncept. in line succeeded to the rights and privileges
SIr Sidney Low ca lls it "a convenient work ing connected with royalty4 The result was the
hypothesis. "2 Sir Maurice Amos says, " T he emergence of the ins titu tio n of the kingship o r
crown is a bundle o f soverei gn powers, preroga- the monarchy; a con tin uous political system
tives and rights-a legal idea. "3 Historically the which remained uninterrupted by the com ing and
nghts and powers o f the Crown are the rights and goi ng o f indiv idu a l monarchs.
1. J?:e word "King" is here used as a lenn common toeithc:r sex. The Head of the Stale is now a Queen, Queen Elizabeth
2. Sidney Low, Governmelll of England, p. 25 5.

3. M.auricc Amos, The English Constitution, p. 88.
4. Kmg John ':Vas the ~ngli sh King, who styled himself Rex "ngliae (King of England) and not, Rex A, ngiol1lnt (King
of the .Enghsh) and II so happened that he was the firsl English King 10 be: succeeded by his eldest son ..... hen thai son
was stili a boy.
36
The King and th.e Crown 37
A vital distinction 'was, in this way, made Ponsonby, speaking in the House of Commons
between the person and the office of the monarch. (June II, 1812), said that it is an essential prin-
The distinction is now reflected in the maxim of ciple oflhe Constitution "that the servants of the
the British Constitution: "The King is' dead; hlng Crown shall be alone responsible ." When a King
live the King." This announcement, made at the speaks on political questions, he always speaks
time of the Royal demise, means in the words of as the mouthpiece of his Ministry. The Duke of
Blackstone, "Henry, Edward or George may die, Windsor, the former King Edward VlII, began
but the King survives them all", that is, the King the radio address on the day after his abdication
as a natural person may die, but long live the with these words: "At long last I am able to say
office (the Crown) which one monarch passes on a few words of my own . I have never wanted to
to another. The Crown. as an institution, never withhold anything, but until no w it has not con-
dies; it is pennanent. There is no interregnum stitutionally been possible for me to speak.' 'J
between the death of one Sovereign and the To sum up, the King is a natural person and
accession of another. Immediately on the death he wears the crown, the sta te-cap of royalty. But
of his or her predecesso r the new Sovereign is when we use a capitalleuer in writing the word
proclaimed at an Accession Council. Crown, it stands forthe Kingship as an institution.
The distinction between the monarch as an The distinction between the King and the Crown,
individual and the King/Queen as an institution thus, becomes obvious. Broadly speaking, it is
paved the way for the transfer of pOlitical func- two- fold . First, th e King is a person, the Crown
tions from a personality to an institution and as is an institution . The King as a perso n dies or
the chance would have it, it began with King may abdicate or may even be dethroned whe reas
John. The pace was slow and the process was not the Crown as an institution is permanent; it is
fully complete till the middle of the nineteenth neither subject to death nor abdi cation nor de-
century. But the constitutional st ruggles of the thronement. This has been succinctly explained
seventeenth century transferred fir,al authority by Kerr. He says, "Nobody toasts the Crown or
from the King to Parliament and th ereafter led by prays God to save it,'" people pray to God to
logical evolution to government by Ministers save the King. Second ly, the King does not
responsi ble to Parliamen t. The whole of this proc- exercise th e powe rs which belong to the Crown
ess has been beautifully explained in a fairy tale on his own in itiatiye and authority. They are
and it runs: "once upon a time there was a king who exercised by the King at the behest of those who
was very important and who did very big and very exercise the will of th e people, that is, Mi ni sters
important things. He owned a nice shiny Crown, and Parliament make a synth esis of supreme
wh ich he wou ld wear on specially grand occa- ~uthority and it is called the Crown . The Crown
sion, but most of the time he kept it ona red velvet is the key-stone of the country's constitu tional
cushion. Then somebody made a Magic. The strucrure.
C rown was carefully stored in the Tower; the Title and Succession. The events of 1688-
King moved over to the cushion and was trans- 89 finally established th e supremacy of Parlia-
formed into a special kind of Crown with a capital ment and determined that the Sovereign's right
letter.. .. The name given to the Magic is the Con- to rule rested ilpon the consent of the gove rned
stitutional Development." And the course of the as expressed through Parliament. The basic Act
Constitutional development, during the past nine in the matter of titl e t6 the Crown is the Act of
centuries, had been th at most of the functions Settlement passed by Parliament in 170 I. It pro-
which were at one time performed by the mon- vided that the Crown shall be hereditary in the.
arch are now exercised on the advice of Minis- line of the Princess Sophia of Hanover, J so long
ters, though still in the King's name. George as it remained Protestants. The succession is now
5. The Duke of Windsor, A King's Slory (1951), p. 411 .

6. Kerr. W.G. European Governments and their Backgrounds.
7. Sophia, the gand·daughter of James I, was the widow of the ruler of one of the sm aller German States, the Electorate
of Hanover.
8. The Act was passed in the reign o(Wiliiam III after the dealh of his wife, Queen Mary. II an~ ici pated th at neither William
nor his cousin and sister·in-Iaw, who became Queen Anne, might have children. The Act, accordingly. provided that in
the event of such default of isue. " the Crown and regal government ,.... , with the royal stale and dignity ...... and all
honours, styles, royalties, prerogatives, powers, jurisdiction and authorities 10 the same belonging and appertain ing.
shall be, remain and continue "to the .... most excellent princess Sophia and the heirs of her body, being Protestants ... "
On the death of Queen Anne in 1714, Sophia's son, the King of Hanover, become King ofGre:1t Bri tain with the name
of George I.
f
vested in the House in Windsor, a name adopted absence abroad, provision is made for the ap-
during World War! to relieve the Hou se ofHano- pointment of Counsellors of State (generally
ver of any suggestion of German connections. speaking, the wife or husband of the Sovereign,
The p'rincipl e of hereditary is determined by the and the four adult persons next in succession to
rule of primogeniture at Common Law. The basic the Sovereign)tO to whom the Sovereign may
rules are that an elder line is preferred to a delegate by Leners Patent certain royal function.
younger and that, in the same line, a male is But Counsellors of State may not, for instance.
preferred to a female . If there are no so ns, the dissolve Parliament, except on the express in-
daughters in order of their se niority succeed to structions of the Sovereign, nor create peers.
the Throne. In any event the heirs must be Prot- The title of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
estants. lf a ll Protestant heirs arc extinct or if there II depends on the Abdication Act, 1936. King
be no heir within the prescribed degrees of rela- Edwa rd Vlll abdicated in 1936 o n the issue of
tion s hip to succeed. Parliament is competent to His Majesty's marriage with Mrs. S impson. I I
bestow the Crcnvn o n anothe r r'lmily and thereby The Duke of York, then, next in succession to the
start a new dynasty. But 5ucccssion cannot now throne, succeeded thereto as Geo rge YII2.
be altered ) LInde r il provision of the Statute of George VI had no son and his e ld er daughter,
Westminster, 1931. ex-:-cpt by common conse nt Princess Elizabeth, became Queen in 1952 upon
of th e membc.'T nations of the Commonwealth th e death of her father.
whi ch owe J.I Icgiarl( e to the Cruwn.9 Royal privileges and immunities. The sov-
The ROY;ll rv13rn iJgf:s :\l' t of 1872 proV ides ereign enjoys numerous personal privileges and
that until thl! :igc vI' t·.,.l'lHy-ti\·e, the consen t of immu nit ies. He may acquire, hold and dispose of
the King is m'ceSS,t;-:' iO a !ll'HT1JbC tha t might property of all kind 13 precisely in the same man-
a ffect the slIccessir.n tu [he Thrr,nc. A flcr tw~nty- ner as any private citizen. But the King is above
five no consent is requ ired, except a year's notice law. He <:annot be called to account for his private
of Privy CotlnC'ii. 8t.:t Parliam ent may d isapprove conduc t in any court of law or by any lega l
such a marr iage. The issue arose wil h respect to process, no t even, as Dicey humo rously ob-
the possi bility of a marriage betwee n Princess served, if he were to shoot his own Prime-Min-
Margaret, sIster of QU(,,(,11 Eli labeth. a nd a ('om- isteT. He is exempt from arres t. He cannot be
moner, Pr te r TO\1,·r:scnd. who had diw)rc ed hi s made a defendant in a law-suit, hi s goods cannot
wife. The »r ifl{:t! ss jjn:.d ly ga ve up the idc J of be se ized byofliccrs oflG-" in defaulL o f any kind
marriage . V.illen tht: h eIr to thl? throne :5 a minor o f payment, and no judicial processes can be
(under 1S ye:3rs of age) l)r whenever Il-j~ reigni ng served against him so lon g as a palace remains a
sove rei gn occomf'S ph ysically or mentally inca- royal residence.
pacitated a regen cy is sct up in confonnity with The monarch receives a large annual grant
the terms of Regency Acts passed by Parliament. from the State treasury. This grant is made avail-
The latest of these Acts, the Regency Act, 1953, able by Parliament in the fomlOfan appropriation
laid down that the first potential regent should be for the Civil List. The Civi l List is granted by an
the Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and Act of Parliament to the Sove reign for the dura-
thereafter the Printess Margaret and then those ti on of his or her reign and for a period of six
in succession to the Throne who are of age. In the months afterwards, On March 9 , 1982 the Chan-
eve nt of tht: Sovereign's par1 iJI inrapJcity or ce llor of the Exchequer announced an increase
9. T)le Preamble 10 the S l:l.l u ;~ ~ r\}..'I::;.!r:l ! :Ulc r . 103 \ , provides that "it would be in accord wrlh the established constitutiona l
position o f all the mem ben. of the Commo"wc: :l!th in rdation 10 one another I~al j!;ny allcration in the law touching the
succession to the throne of lhe Royal SI)' le and Titles sha ll hereafler require thl' ass,':\! as well of the Pariiamcnls of all
the Domini ons <I S of P il r Ji~ mcn l of the United Kingdom."
10. The Regency Act, 1953 . prO\·ided that Queen Elizabeth. the Queen Mother, shou ld he added to the persons to whom
royal func tions may be delegated as Counsellors of State.
II. Mrs. Simpson, a lady of United Stales origi n, became a British subject by a second marriage aOer she had obtained a
divorce from her Amercian husband, Edward VlII, who was a bachelor till then, desired to marry Mrs. Simpson and the
lady lodged a petition for divorce from her second husband. The Cabinet took exception to this marriage and eventually
on December 10, 1936 the King executed an instrument of abdication renouncing the throne for himself and his
descendants.
12. The Abdicati(JnAct .... ..sdi.llyassenled 10 by Parliaments oftbe Commonwealth countries, thus, fulfilling the requirements
of the Statute c fWe ; .minster 1931.
13. Queen Victoria hanued down more than £ 2,000,000 and the personal fortune of the Royal Family is not diminished by
death dut ies. In ildditi,," there arc valuable Royal collections of jewellery, stamps and pictures. E~timates as to the total
value o fthc Royal Flo..!ily'~ personal wealth vary from £ 10,000,000 to £ 600,000,000. Anthony SImpson, The Anatomy
of Britain Today. p. 22 .... 1$0 re ferto Martin, K. The Crown and the Establishment p. 134. . __
The King and the Crown 39
of 8.1 per cent pay rise of the Royal family. Crown. Lowell, writing in the first decade of the
Queen Elizabeth's income from public funds to present century, observed, "All told the execu-
cover her expenses as monarch. thus, rose from tive authority of the Crown is in the eye of law,
£3.26 million to £ 5.54 million. The first rise of very wide, far wider than that of a Chief Magis-
£ -3.26 million was made by the Conservative trate in many countries, and well-nigh as exten-
Government In 1980. 011 both the occasions the sive as that now possessed by the monarch in any
rise angered some members of the Opposition government, not an absolute despotism; and al-
Labour Party in the House of Commons. though the Crown lJas no inherent legislative
In 1971 the Queen asked Parliament for an power except in conjunction with Parliament, it
increase in her annual grant. It evoked public has been given by statute, very large powers of
criticism and Richard Crossman, an influential subordinate legislation."" The powers of the
Minister in the last Labour Government, de· Executive, under any system ofgovemmcnt, can-
scribed the Queen's request for more money as not be rigidly divided into watertight compart-
impertinent He voiced his opinion, as Editor of ments. Under the Parliamentary system of gov-
The New Statesman weekly in an article, de- ernment Ministers of the Crown are the real
nouncing tbe Queen as a "tax dodger." Cross- functionaries. There is no divorce between the
man's principal target of attack were the Queen ' s Executive and the Legislature. The Crown has as
private wealth and tax exemptions. He observed mUCU to do with legislation as with the executive
that the Queen inherited assets conse rvatively and administrative matters. It has, also, to do
val ued at more than £ 50 millio n. .. But on lhe something with justice. The Crown, thus, fomlS
top of all this and unlike any other multi-mill ion- a part of the Executive, Legislative and Judi cial
airess, the expansion of her private fortune has mechanism . It is the keystone of the country's
been accelerated by public tax-privileges granted co nstitutional structure. It mayapparen tlyseem
to her precisely because she is not a private paradoxical, although it is logical to the nature of
person, yet she still asks for more."" The Daily the British Constitution " that the powers of the
Mirror reported in its issue of June I, 1971 that Crown have expanded as democrac y has
its readers had voted ove rw helmingly against grown ." 16
giving Queen Elizabeth a pay increase. The powers possessed by the Crow n are
POWERS OF THE CROWN deri ved from two sources: prerogative anu stat-
"---The powers of the Crown are those wh ich utes. Statutory powers of the Crown ~fer to those
duties which have been assigned to the Executive
belong totheomce of the King orlo the Kingshi p
authorities by Acts of Parliament. They include
as an impersonal institution. These powers are
not only the greater part of powers under whi ch
never exercised by the Monarch himself. They
the different departments of the Government
are exercised in the King's name by Ministers
function, but also the powers by which Whitehall
who derive their authority from Parliament and
exercises control over the local government
are responsible to Parliament for the use th ey
authorities and other bodies distinct from the
make of these powers. As the Crown powers are
Crown. The powers of the Crown under this
not the King's personal powers, they may be
category are various, wide, and growing. Acts of
described as nominal powers of the King as
Parliament have, really, become a prolific source
distinct from his actual pow,ers . So ex tensive is
of Crown power, particularly with the develop-
the authority of the Crown that it embraces all
ment of the practice of delegating legislative
fields and functions of Government and yet it is
powers to the Executive.
still growing. The province of the State, during
The powers and privileges which the
recent years, has increased considerably and
Crown derives from the Common Law constitute
keeping pace with these political developments,
the prerogative. Dicey defines it as " the residue
the activities and functions of Government, too,
of discretionary or arbitrary authority which at
have enormously expanded. This means fresh
any time, is legally left in the hands of the
duties ofdirection and control by the Government
Crown."17 The prerogative was, in origin, the
and consequently augmentation of powers of the
sum of the rights ascribed to the King as a feudal
14. As reported in 71Ie Times o/Indio, Bombay, 29, 1971 .
15. L.owell, AlL., 1M Govemmenl o/England, Vol. I., p. 26.
16. Oa: and Zink, Modern Foreign Governments, p. 51.
17. Dicey, A.V., Lawolthe Constitution , p. 424 .
overlord and it continued to be th e bas is of so numerous that only some of the most important
authority till parliamentary control of public a f- can be menti oned here . They have increased in '
fairs became an established fac t. The seventeent h the past, are increas ing in o ur own tim e and must
century was one continuous struggle between th e continue to increase so long as the functi ons of
use of prerogative power by the pe rson of th e the mode m governments continue to expand. T he
King and the determined attempt of Parliament C rown is the suprem e Executive head and it must,
t.o control such powers either by statut e o r by as suc h, see that all nationa l laws· are duly ob-
Ministers respons ible to Parliament. Parl ia ment served and enforced. It direct s th e work o f the
eme rged vic torious out of thi s strugg le and the administrati ve branch and national serv ice; col-
King, to the most part, was deprived of th e pre- lects and expends. acco rding to law, nati onal
roga tive powers which inhered in hi s person. revenues; appoints all hi gher executive and ad -
Some were"abrogated by statutes,lS some have min ist rative office rs, judges, bi shops and the of-
been los t by di s use. and the res idu e whi ch remain fi ce rs o f th e :mny, navy and a ir fo rc e, regu lates
have been inherited by the Crown . lt.is imposs ible the conditions of serv ices; and suspends and
to draw a li st o f the prerogat ives o f the C rown. removes th ese o fficers, except judges 21 and other
The ex is tence and limits of so me ra ise diffi culties employes o f gove rnme nt from serv ice. Th e
o f constitutio na l law. But the undoub ted preroga· Crown hold s the sup reme command over the
lives include th e summoning of Parliament, dec- anned establishmen ts The C rown supervises, and
laration of war or neu trality, ratification of trea- in some instances direct s, th e work o f local gov-
lies. appointmen t to offices, to dismiss the ser- ernment, especially that of boroughs and coun-
vants orthe Crown, and (0 regulate the conditions ties . The officers of local government and other
of th e ir serv ice, and the power to pardon offend- bodies, like the British Broadcasting Corpora-
ers. tion, are no t the office rs of th e Crown. No doubt ,
-The expression prerogative is, then , used these bod ies are c rea ted by the Acts of Parlia-
to refer to Crown's discreti onary authori ty. th at ment, but they do not rep rese nt the Crown. The
is, what th e Ki ng or hi s serva nt s can do without Crown simply exe rcises supervisory func tions
the aut hor ity of an Act of Parliament . It prov ide s over them . Its righ t to con trol and directi on is
a convenient mechanism of vario us important li mited to certa in specified maners.
ac ti vi ti es of Governme nt. Alth ough th e pre- The modem tendency is to assign powers
rogative has no sta tutory au tho rity yet it is ac to Ministers, or to civil servan ts, "without any
knowledged by courts. Mo st of the preroga tive necessity of ro) al intervent ion.' ' 22 The exerc ise
powers d er ive authori ty from the Common Law of the prerogati \'e ofrne rcy, for example, is now
and the rul es of Common Law foml part of the primarily a matter for the Home Secretary, and
law of the Co nstitution in Brita in. It may, a lso, the Royal sha re is mainly formal. In the same
be added that some prerogative pow- way, the practice of delegated legislatio n vests
ers have been confe rred upon th e Crow n by stat- powe rs in the Ministers, rather than in the King-
ute 19 and it is within the competence of th e in-Counci l as originally the practice was, to make
co urts to d etemline whether an Act of Pa rli ament rules, regu lati ons, and o rders. '
is within the prerogative or to what ex tent royal Conduct of for eig n Relations
power h as been abridged or abo li shed by Stat- The Crown conducts the foreign relation s
ute. 20 In bri ef, the Cro wn possesses the p reroga- of Britain with othe r coun tries; sen ds and re-
ti ve powers th at still inhere in the Mona rch, and ce ives ambassadors or o th er diplomati c age nts,
th ose powers conferred by parli amentary legis- and all fore ig n negoti at ions are carried on in th e
lation in to tal consti tute a vn st re servo ir of author- name of th e C rown. The declarati o n of war and
ity. making of peace are prerogative of the Crown.
Executh:c Powers The Crown is al so th e treaty- making authority
The Executive powers of the C rown are and all internationa l agreement.s are made in its
18. Refer to the clauses of the Bill or Rights forbidding, suspending or dispensing with laws; the Act of Senlement and
various other Acts of Parliament of the like nature.
19. For example , in 1876, the Appellate Jurisdiction Act gave the Crown the power to create four judicial li fe peel'3ges, the
number has since been increased.
20. Refe r, for example, to the case of Wills United Dairies ( 192 1).
21 . Judges can be removed only on joint address by the two Houses of Parliament. See In/ra.
22 . Keith. A.B., The Constitution o/England/rom Queen Vic/orio to George VI. Vol. I, pp. 49-50.
name, Treaties concluded by the Crown are not advice a~d consent of Lords Spirirual and Tem-
..... 1' subject to ratific~tion by Parliament unless it is poral and Commons in Parliament assembled and
specifically conditioned upon parliamentary ap- by the authority of the same, " _and here, as eve-
proval, or anything else is in volved in it, like the rywhere else, the King has yielded his power to
cession of territory, payment of money. changes the Crow·n. The Crown is, therefore, an integral
in the laws of the land, that require the assent of part of the national Legislature and its assent is
Parliament in order to make it valid. But "any to
essential the enactment of laws.
treaty of high moral import," as the Locamo The Ministers of the Crown, who constitute
Treaty of 1925, is essentially laid before the two the country's real Executive, are members of
Houses of Parliament. Parliament. They control and guide the work of
When theTreaty ofYersailies was submit- Parliament and detennine how conveniently it
ted to Parliament in 1919, for its approval, a can be transacted. The Crown, accordingly, sum-
section of the people, who were strongly wedded mons, prorogues, and dissolves Parliament.
to the principle of democratic control over for- When a new Parliament meets it is usually
eign relations, had hoped that in furure no treaty greeted by the Monarch in a Speech from the
would be made without parliamentary assent. Throne, which is usually delivered by the King
Labour leaders, too, had long pleaded for it. But or Queen in person from the Throne in the House
the LabourGovemments of Ramsay MacDonald of Lords with the Commons present. The Speech
and C.R. Attlee never attempted it. Perhaps, they from the Throne outlines the iegislative pro-
did not find such a policy fea sible and treaties gramme of the Crown and expresses the views
co ntinued to be negotiated and ratified by act ion and opinions of Government on various matters
of the Crown alone. of national and international importance. But the
It is tcue that no government can ve nture to Speech from the Throne is not the King's or
declare a war unless there is assurance that Par- Queen's speech. It is the Govemment"s speech.
li ament will supply the funds to carry it to a I! is put in the hand of the Monarch to be read.
successful end. But Parliament itself has no " The Monarch can, however, talk to the Prime
<1uthority to declare a war. Th is power belo ngs Minister about it and sometimes minor amend-
exclusively to the Crown . Both in 1914 and 1939, ments are sggested because it may be fel! that the
the Ministers made the decisions an<,1 in the name rev ised language suits the Monarch bettertthan
of the crow"they led the co untry to wa r. And the omciallanguage which is set out. But ali'era-
both , the times the declarati on of war too k the tions about policy are not maoe. That is for the
form of a Royal Proclamation authorised by Or- Government responsible to Parliament, and eve-
der-ill-Council. The question of Parliament 's ex- rybody knows it. "23
pressingdisapprovalofthe Government 's policy, As has just been said, the Royal assent is
or its refusal to grant supplies does not at all arise. essential to the validity of laws passed by Parlia-
So long as the Ministry can command a stable ment. I! means that the King may refuse assent
majority in Parliament, its support is ipso fac Io to, or veto, any law passed by Parliament. But the
there. veto power has never been exercised since 1707.
legislative Powers I! has become obsolete. Disraeli in 1852, how-
The powers .of the Crown are mai nl y, ever, considered that the King's right to refuse
th ough not exclusively, Executi ve. In the Unit ed assent to legislation still existed and was not an
States of America, the Executive, Legislative and "empty form." But no Monarch exercised this
ludicial functions are clearly defined among power, The passing ofthe Parliament Act, 1911,
three separate departments, although the framers revived the issue and suggestions were made in
of the Constirution could not maintain the purity 1913 that the King could refuse his assent to the
of the doctrine of the Separation of Powers when Irish Home Rule Bill . Bonar Law asserted that
they came to details. In the United Kingdom little the King's veto was "dead" only so long as the
or no distinction is given to this doctrine of House of Lords was not liable to be overridden
Separation of Powers. The law-making function by the House of Commons, and as the Home Rule
is vested in the King-in- Parliament. Every Stat- Bill was being put through Parliament under the
ute declares itself to have been enacted "by the Parliament Act of 1911, the King could exercise
King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the his "right of refusing assent to matters not suffi-
23. Lord Morrison, BrW,sh Parliamentary Democracy, pp. 60-61.

c ienllyconside red by the people which the Lords accepts and acts upon the advice of his ministers
had been supposed to exercise. "24 . . .. . " 28 Thi s point was abundantly clarified by
'George V, as Jennings points out, was the Duke of Windsor, the former King Edward
" hi mse lf inc lined to accept th e same idea," and V III. He sa id, "whenever the Prime Minister ' ad-
insisted upon an appe al to th e country." Lord vises' the King he is usi ng a respec tful fonn of
Esher, who was ad vi sing the Ki ng, did not agree w ord s to express the will and decisi o n of the
w ith thi s viewpoint and insisted that it woul d be Government. The King is virtuall y bo und to ac -
dangero us fo r the Mo narc h to re fuse to accept th e cept stich 'ad vice.' Furthcnnore, he cannot seck
adv ice of Mi nisters. Sir Wi ll ia m Harcourt, 100, 'advice' elsewhere. However, if, in the exercise
was of th ~ same opinion and in a personJI inter· o f his undoubted powers, he chooses not to accept
vie\v w ith the King insisted that if there were to th e ' adv ice' thus fo nnall y tendered, the n hi s
be general 'e lec ti on, an appeal to the electorate Ministers resign, and he must try to form a new
wou ld not be made on th e issue of Home Rule. Go vernm ent from the Opposition. " 29 Asqu ith
The sole q uesti o n wo uld be-" Is th e country a lso po in ted out to the Ki ng in 19 13 that " the
gove rn ed by the King o r by thc peop le? and that veto co uld be exe rcised only by the dismi ssal of
would mean an attack 011 the person of the the Ministry, for no Government would accept a
King. " 26 refusal to assent to a Bill without resigning." J!!
Ifsom e headstrong K ing re fuses assent to The Kin g has now ceased to give assent to
a Bill passed by Parliament ignoring the ad vice Bi lls persona lly. The asse nt is gi ven by a Roya l
tendered by hi s Ministe rs, the n, wh at would hap - Commiss ion appointed by the Crown under the
pen? There is no rea son to bclic\'c that suc h a Roya l Sign Manual. The Lo rd Chancell or or
situat ion is ever likely to ari se, but if it does, the Senior Commiss ioner simpl y says that His Maj-
Minist ry wou ld fo rthwith res ign. In that case, esty not havin g seen tit to be personally present
the re would be two altcmat ives before the King. upon th is occas io n, has appo inted a Roy al Com-
One, to summon the Lead er o f the Oppos itio n mi ss ion and tha t they shall indica te the Royal
and commiss ion him to fo rm the Mi ni stry. The Assent has bee n given to th e Bills as good and
House ofeommo ns wo uld re fu se to su pport such proper Acts o f Parlia ment. The assent to B ills, is,
a Mi nistry , because it wo uld be tantamount to the refo re, only a picturesque forma li ty.
app ro ving the acti o n o f the Kin g as th e Gove rn - The Crown, acti ng alone, has the power to
ment o usted fa nned the majority in the House. issue measures authoris ing certain executi ve ac-
So th ere woul d be no othe r o ption fo r the King, tions. The Orders-i n-Council ,as they are known ,
but to di ssolve Parl iament and order new elec- arc iss ued by the King and Privy Co uncil. There
ti ons. "That would be a dangerous step," as are two varieties of Orders-in-Counc il. First,
Munro says, " for any King to take , because an those wh ich are mere ly adm inistrati ve rules and
"ad verse dec isio n at the polls wo uld inevitably govern the various branches of go vernment in
suggest hi s abdica tion. "27 T his is th e ve rdic t of thei r ro utine business. O thers are pro mul gated
British his tory. As lo ng a s th e Ministry has a o nl y by virtue of autho rity express ly g ra nted by
majority in Parliament , and so long as Parliamen t Parl iame nt an d are freque ntl y call ed statutory
remai ns representative of the people, it carries orde rs. Such orders have actually the forceo fl aw ,
wi th it the verdic t of the peo ple. The re is, und er because they are based upon the au tho rity of
the circumstances, no need fo r the exercise of th e Pa rli ament. Th is ki nd of " subordin ate legisla-
veto. T his is exac tly wh at Asquith subm itted to tion" is now of steadil y increasing importance
George V in a Memorand um on the contro- vcrs), and the subject is dea lt \vith more fu ll y at its
o f 19 13. The Prime Minister asserted, . '\Ve have appropria te place.J1
now a we ll establ ished tradition of 200 years, Judicial PO\'t'crs
thaI, in the last resort, the occupant o f the Throne The Ki ng is still desc ribed as the 'fountain
24. Keith, A.B., The GOl 'er/ JIIU! 1If of Englulld/rom Queen Victoria to George VI, Vo l. I , p. 358 .
25 . k nnings, W .I.. Ca bill.!t GOI'erl/ltJl:-lIf . p. 369.
26, Eshcr Pap.:r:i I II, p. I ) 2. A s qu oted in Jenning' s CabiIIL" Govemmenl. p. 370.
27. M unro, W .B., Th e G o \·emllJelJls a/Europe. p. 6) .
28. ·Sp<:nder, J.i\ ., LIfe o/ Lord O:cjord and A.rq uith, Vol. II , pp, 29-) I
29 . A K ing 's St ory, op. cir . p. 34)
) 0 . Spender. l A.. Lift· of Lord Oiford uml Asquiln. V ol II. pp. 19-3 1 A squith's memorandum.
J I. See Ch3p V II infr a.
The King and the Crown
of justice' and this historic expression reflects can do no wrong." That is to say, the King can
that the King's conscience spoke the last word in do nothing right or wrong, of a discretionary
~~he administration ofjustice..This is not the case natune and having legal etTect. Whatever may be
now. The principle of the independence of Judi- the perional views of the Monarch, he must, as a
ciary has freed for all practical purposes, the constitutional Monarch, give way to bis Minis-
judges and courts from control at the hands of the ters, feeling that they have behind them a majority
Executive. And yet the courts are not entirely of the people's representatives and they can be
outside the Crown's widesweeping orbit. Judges, called upon to account for their acts, singly or
including the Justices of Peace in the counties collectively, by Parliament. 32 This is now a well
and boroughs, are appointed by the Crown. The established tradition of nearly three hundred
Lord Chancellor, a member of the Cabinet, exer· year.;. Conventions are an integral part of the
cises general judicial supervision. All · issues Constitution and every King of Britain at the time
which come before tlie Judicial Cominittee of the of coronation swearS to maintain the Constitution
Privy Council are decided by the Crown. Finally, and uphold constitutional Monarchy.
the Crown exercises the prerogative ofmercy and Nor can any Minister plead the orders of
may grant pardon to per.;ons convicted of crimi· the King in defence of the wrongful act or for an
nal offences. This is done by the Home Secretary. error of omission and commission. Thomas Os-
'King Can Do No Wrong' borne, Earl of Danby,33 was impeached in 1679
Such, in brief, are the powers of the Crown. of "high treason, and diverse high crimes and
The Crown, no doubt, is closely associated with misdemeanours." Danby's plea was that what-
the person of the King, but the King in per.;on is ever he had done was by order of the King, and
for the most pan the principal formal element of the King could do no wrong. He even produced,
the State and its Executive. The actual or potential at the time of his impeachment, the Royal pardon.
element is the Crown . The position of the King Parliament held Danby's plea illegal and void."
has been cogently summed up by Lowell . He It was definitely laid down that the Ministers can
says: "According to the early theory of the Con· not plead the command of the King to justify an
stitution the minister.; were the counsellors of the illegal and unconstituiional act, and thereby
King. It was for them to advise and for him to shield themselves behind the legal immunities
decide. Now the pans are almost revcrsed. The of the occupant of the Throne.
King is consulted,-but the ministers decide." In _ 0
many cases the Monarch may personally know
JUSTIFICATION OF MONARCHY ·
little what they decide or even if he knows, he Can Royalty Survive?
may have little liking for them, although the
Crown powers are exercised in his name. His The almost wholly formal position of the
Majesty's servants have become His Majesty's Monarch in the British system ofgovernment and
masters. the fact that conventions prevent him from exer-
There are two important principles on cising the powers that he legally possessed, raises
which the constitutional structure rests in Britain. the question why kingship in Britain should not
Fir.;!, the Monarch may not perform any public be abOlished? To some people Monarchy does
act involving the exercise of discretionary pow- not appear to be worth it costs the nation. To a
ers, except on advice of the Ministers. Second, few more it appears a political anachronism. But
for every act performed in the name of the Mon- the real fact is that the great mass of the British
arch the Ministers are responsible to Parliament, people are not willing to see Kingship disappear.
and hence the meaning of the phrase: "The King The seventies of the last century witnessed a
32. Back in the days of Charles II one of the courtiers wrote on the door of the Royal bedchamber :
"Here lies a Great and Mighty King.
Whose Promise none relies on:;
He never says a foolish thing,
Nor ever does a wise one",
"Very true," retorted the King, "because while my words are my own, my acts are my minister's".
33. Danby succeeded Clifford as Lord High Treasurer and consequently he had become virtually lbe first minister of the
Crown. I
34. Resolution conceming the Royal Pardon in Bar of Danby's Impeachment. Admas, O.B., and Stephens, H.M., Select
Documents of English Constitutional History, p. 439.
strong republican moveme nt.35 It even caused reason and cold utility is to thin k wrongly.
sensation, when persons like Sir Charles Dilke "There is a world of un bought and un calculated
joined its rank s.l 6 and Chamberlain could predict sentiments which matters vitally in politics. Emo ~
that the "Republic must come and at the rate at tions, loyalt ies, feeling s, ch ival ries-these are
which \ve are now mO\'ing it will come in our thin gs that cOLlnt, and count profoundl),. The man
generation, "37 Yet a few years later the move- who releases, the man who attrac ts, the man who
men t collapsed, "and Queen Victoria was ab le exp resses, this world of unboLlght and uncalcu-
(0 impose a public recantati on upon Di lke before lated sentimen ts is do ing an incalculable service
accepting him as a Cabinet minister." [0 the community. Reason has her sphere and
Since then, Monarchy in Britain had been victories, Sentiment has also her triumphs; an d
more popularly acclaimed and it \Vas generally they are not the lea3! notable of triumphs. " ..\) The
accepted by all po li"(ica! views without discus ~ i\:fonarch is the symbol of unity, a magnet of
s ion. J~ "l'vlona rchy, to put it blunt ly ," wrote loyalty, and an apparatus of ceremuny and the
Laski , " has been sold to democrac), as the symbol Kin g or Queen sef\'es to attract every Britisher' s
of itself. and so nearl), universal has been the feelings Jnd senti me nts into th e service of the
chorus of eulogy which has accompan ied rhe community, The Ki ngship, in the words of "Vin~
process of the sale that the rare voices of dissent ston Ch urch ill, "is most deeply founded and
have ha rdly been heo. rd. It is not \vithour signifi· dearly cherished by the whole associa ti on of our
C:lOce that the Ot1iCi.l! daily nevv'spaper of the p~opl::."":": Clement Attlee, who had ban active
Trade Union CO:1gre.:.s de\'otes more space, of in {he soci31ist moveme nt in Britain for more than
news and picmres , to the royal family than does haifa cenrul) , claimed th at during the period he
any of its ri\' ~lIs. " J9 Alt hoti£h the cost o f the had taken part in bringin g about a number of
Crown in Britain and else\. . . her::: ren.:'als a glaring changes in British society by helpi ng to abo lish
disparity."!) yet Lllittle suggestion is made that the some old things, such as Poo r Laws, . ' th ere is one
people fail to get "!heir money's won h." Cere~ feanl re of it w'hi ch I have neve r fe lt any urge to
mon y, pom p, and rinlJI connected with royalty abolish and that is the monarchy. I have never
involve, no doubt, a catain amount of"la\'ishness been a rep ublican even in theo ry, and certainly
and m~my people COnirast this disp lay with the not in practice.' '45
poverty and di stress ofa great mass of th e people. This patriotic adm iration of the mass of the
But to raise sllch a question, says Gooch, is not SO\'ereign' s subjects for MonLlrchy is due to
necessarily to resol\'e it aga inst Kingship:! I somewhat complex considerations of history, of
"DcmccrJ.tic Govcmmer.t", according to Jen~ human motives and sen timents, and of utility.
flings. ,. is not me rd y a ma tter of colJ rt:ason and Event Lord Alrrincham, th e Conservative Peer
prosaic policies. T here must be som e di ::iplay of who criti cised the Queen and the Coun in an
colour, ar.J there is nothing more vivid th an royal article pu bl ished in The National alld English
purple an d imperial scarlet. ' ' ''1 Er.1est Barker Re'l:iew, the magazine he edited, said on televi·
says that t:> thi nk of poii tics in terms of pure sion on August 6, 1957, that he regrcacd any
JS. A Republic:,m demon stnl.iion WlS held in Trlf!llgar Square In Septem!:;er 1870 and \!' arJy in 18i 1 and a Republican Club
was formed in Lor.don v.. ith Charles Brldlaug h as its tirst President. Wh il ~ speaking at its inaugu::l1ion , Bradlaugh said
th:H "the h(.'i r·appa:enl 10 the t hron ~ hl'> neil;~er ,he in telligence, no r Ihe virt ue, nor Ihe sobrie ty. nor the high sense of
honour, \.,.hich might e::tit le him to Ilk.:.! fron l rlr.k in Ihis Gr~at :-':alioo,"
36. At J. cro\\d::,d mCl!1ir:g 3: :-:e',\ C'\stk. Dil:<e alt3cx :=d on the e.'t'':! i$:\ e CO.)1 of the Crown. He 3.)sert.:d. "If you can sho,)'N
r:11.! a fllr ; nJm: .: ,;'l:.l r:;:-ublic her: ,.\ia be f:~'! from In.: politic.!1 corrupt ion that h:mgs about the rr:onllfchy, I say, fOf
my p.u-:, lr.d I he!le~: th.H ihc mlJdl ~ r.::!~SS ~.i in ~er.<! :al \1.111 sly-let i. come."
37. A:r.\1rj ..:::;;h(.'r ;':.-:lp·hi.i'::-.i of 1:~! rr.;,I'. ~r.lI!':H th.: r.o'lbJ: w ~:! B:i shl, Oeger In : Trade Unionist, Mund¢il3, :'vLP. for
S h·::·~; .:1J. :!r.d J,;hn ~! ·~::' i .
3J. T1.:r-: J:~ .:'.. :n ;:J'.• ;.:':7! ::! i..1;::1! ,,,,~ ,, .. .; ~ . .:!~: :r'::r !.1 p:l:'!cip!.: (!"!:H ,a,' \uin 'N;;,':.l r'!? I~biic . A fe w me:r.bei:i of ?arlian:enl
c.::;i:!..! it') J'~·-~.j'·ric~ ::.:-:.:: ti; : lC '.!. ~J::-:n 0:' E,j·. u .rJ VB !. ·'~!Jd EC '.n:d \,llf nc; aodicated i!"l 1936," ,,,,,-rites R.~ l.
P~r.n:; i. ·'t.~.':i -: :;-,'J1:: ; ...:i'-! h: : l l:'! =\" :: ~::-::: t)(I\I·:-r'l;C~j i:':.!:) l (:.rm )'<1;: !~ Ir..: 5.::;.ndina~· i:ln mcd ~ l but Georg: VI
l::U c.!i!.lb:th iI .~\'. .' ;(.'-1~! 10 Fr.: :;!r.; i:":'.."::' ot"ti"l! ,\lcr:3n; h;( ; r-: r::ct!r'CiJ lr.d my~ljq u e . " Britisn Go'. . ~mmen! and
POIi:i ~"S . p. 25.1 .-\ .':C;·, ?,..:Ji.:.::.:r: Ii ::~l: (\: : :'.!r:\. li the :'1<..'5: :.l.il :il. ;"I;'. <! :'~ r ins the life·tim e of Elizlbe:h [I.
L.1 ~\i. H 1.. Pl.<j~.,!,·:~· . :': ':'~'.. !,-'::' :~ : :'! Er ~dl;:J, p 3~~
::;-.:.':';J ~:. I' : . . ! ..... C . .,....:> . _~ . •;.;, ;,::0; '!,;P 3::··~.!. ~'!~ J:N ? .::r. -::~, R. \! .. BrilUh Gfj~·,:r ..!:.'l:!"!: =1::1 Poli"rics.
H'. :':·· 5 ~
T·.' ':
.. " . ~
.13. :~ . : ~:' .;
. .. : ,5':
The !(ing and the Crown 45
impression that he "was hostile to the Queen or power of the King shall be used in accordance
tiying to attack her in a personal way or be beastly with the will of the people. "They stood above
about it." Lord Altrincham's criticism of Queen party; they watched the nation; and they joined
Elizabeth aroused nation-wide controv ersy. He with theirsubjects in bringing ab.out change when
had described the Queen's speaking as a "pain the will of the nation was set for change-and
in the neck" and her utterances as those of " prig- only when it was so set"" They changed their
gish schoolgirl," and called for a "truly classless position with the gr.owth of a cabinet system and
Commonwealth Court" to replace her present the rise .of the office of Prime Minister. In the
entourage of "people of the tweedy sort." The nineteenth and twentieth centuries they helped in
Reynold News. a Left-wing Sunday newspaper, the passage of the Ref.orm Bill of 1882 and the
supported the criticism of the young Peer because Parliament Act of 1911; the former made the
he "has said aloud what many people are think- House of Commons more democratic and the
ing: Buckingham Palace is not in tu'ne with the laner made the House .of Lords less able to thwart
Britain of 1957." '6 The general mass of the or check the purposes of the House of Commons.
people were angry with Lord Altrincham and The Parliament Act of 1911 was amended in 1949
many suggestcd that he should be shot. Lord to reduce the delaying action of the Lords on
Altrincham was actually slapped as he left the ordinary Bills to one year .only. Attlee's Labour
television studio. The man, who struck him, said, Government carried through substantial nation-
"That's for insulting the Queen. "47 Herbert alisation of industry in its period of office. 1945
Morrison said, " You get funny people breaking to 1951, and fiscal reforms of an equalitarian
out now and again like Lord Altrincham, but nature. The Life Peerage Act, 1958 and the Peer-
nobody would know him ifhe was not a Lord; he age Act, 1963, aimed to change the complexion
is a Lord only because he is the son of hi s father. of the House of L.ords and both these Acts came
But he says funny things. They got him headlines from the Conservative Governmen ts. The Mon-
in newspapers and even get him on television, archs joined with their subjects in effecting all
which no doubt pleases him no end. But don't these changes.
worry about these jokers. "'8The general body of 1977 Britain saw the year long celebrations
the British people support the British Monarchy of Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee of her acces-
and Morrison cited an instance which he said he sion to the throne in 1952. It was a year of
could never forget. "I shall never fo rget, " wrote crowd~d pageantry and of cultural, sporting. dra-
~rrison. "seeing. at the time of the Coronation matic and musical events. The Queen and her
of King George VI, a banner going right across husband Prince Philip visited every region of
the street of an East End slum in London which Britain, including the terrorist-ridden Ulster and
said: . Lousy but loyal.' And I think that was one the Commonwealth countries in the Pacific, in-
of the greatest compliments that has ever been cluding Australia and New Zealand. The Gov-
paid to the British Royal Family. "'9 As long as ernment spared no expenditure, in a year of se-
the Monarch "behaves constitutionally," con~ vere economy cuts. and it became a festival of
cludes Morrison, the Labour Peer, "as I have nostalgia and an em.oti.onal hinge for things past
every expectation, I think it will remain a popular for the British people. But there were many poli-
institution in my country,"SO ticians, who looked at the Jubilee as a sort of
It is more than true. The British Monarchs Royal farewell since they claimed to see portents
for the last more than three hundred years-ever of the end of monarchical system in Britain. One
since the Revolution of 1688-have been wise of the British astr.ologers actually put the disap,
enough to forget past pretensions, to learn new pearance of British royalty within just fifteen
lessons, to change their position with the chang- yearn.
ing time, and to j ~ in with their subject~g
ing about changes in other institutions. They What is the necessary background of this
acted in obedience to the unwritten rule of the political or astrological speculation? Queen
British nati.onal life which prescribes that the Elizabeth was croWned as an Empress on June 2,
46. As reported in The Tribune, Ambala Cann., August 6,1951.
47. As reported in the H indwlarl Times, New Delhi, August 9,1957.
48. Herbert Morrison, Sri/ish Parliamentary Democracy. p. S.
49. Ibid.
50. Ibid.
S1. Barker, E., Essays on Gowrnmenl. p. 2.
1953 when the British Empire, even after the responsibilities for the domestic affairs within the
freedom of Indian sub-continent, still straddled economic and political framework of the United
much of the world and was a world power eco- Kingdom." The Bill introduced in Parliament
nomically and politically. In her nearly five dec- was so complex that it tied down Wales and
ades long reign Britain has lost her world status Scotland with thousands of threads and hun-
and is economically near the bottom of European dreds of straps that the Welsh and Scottish na-
Economic Community table. The British Sover- tionalists, especially the latter, gave it a hostile
eign was an essential props and focu s of loya lty reception. The Bill was certainly provocative.
in the Imperial era and a symbolic tie of Com- The Bill provided for referenda, both in
monwealth. With the Empire gone and the Com- Wales and Scotland, to seek the approval of botI!
monwealth fading, the international need or jus- nationalities to set up separate assemblies in their
tification of Britain to have a sovereign has areas. In Wales, the proposal was rejected by a
eroded, it is claimed. majority of four to one and possibly the main
The portents are even more evident in Brit· cause was fear of Welsh linguistic nationalism
ain itself There is no doubt, however, that Queen comparable to the French linguistic nationalism in
Elizabeth is held in high esteem if not affection Quebec. In Wales there are fairly well-deftned
by a majority of the British people today . She has English and Welsh-speaking areas. with a ten-
during h er long reign perfonned her duties con- dency anlOng local authorities of the latter to
scien tious ly and with grace. Talking about the impose their language on the former. In a sub-
popularity of the monarchy Sir Harold Wilson sequent referendum the people of Wales have
suggested that it is partly because of the remark- accepted the creation of an Assembly for their
abl e character of the Queen and her close interest region. The Scottish Nationalist Party and their
in ord inary people. " I think th e monarchy allies supporting devoluti on gained a majoriry of
and she herself personally and her family are little more than 2 per cent over their opponents.
mu ch more popular now than 25 years ago." In But as the total turnout at the referendum was 64
a survey conducted by the Mirror, London, it was per cent of voters eligible, this was short of 40
reported th at 89 per cent, of those questioned per cent electorate required under the Bill to
expressed support for monarchy. Those queried endorse the devoluti on. The Scottish National
were asked to rank members of th e royal family Party resented the fact th at a bare ",ajoriry was
according to "best impression." The Queen led not permitted to prevail and they avenged their
by 78 per cent, followed by 83 year- old Queen defeat by withdrawing their support to th e Cal-
Mother Elizabeth, with 73 per cent, and Prince laghan's minority Government resulting into the
Charles, 66 per cent. Princesses Anne and Mar- exit from office of the Labour on a vote of no
garet were at the bottom of the list. Strangely confidence. In a subsequent referendum, Scot-
enough the two sections of th e population that land won the people's approval for a Scottish
regard the Royal family most warmly are th e
Parliament and regional autonomy.
aristocracy and the less privileged class, the for- The Scottish Nationalist Party is commit-
m er whose future is inevitably tied with the roy-
ted to winning eventual independence, including
alty and the . latter "to whom the glamour and
control of the rich North Sea oil fi eld lying off
romance of royalty is a fonn of escapism ." In
the east coast of Scotland . It supported devolution
between th e middle classes, skilled workers and only as stepping stone to complete separation
trade unionists, are either indifferent or they from the "auld (old) enemy England." One of
seriously question the need of maintaining the
the Scottish Members of Parliament provoked by
royal house and th e pageantry surrounding it at the devolution Bill declared, " very soon we shall
such high nationa l expense. have our own independence day in Edinburgh ."
Perhaps, the biggest cloud in the royal
Earlier, Queen Elizabeth's personal anxiety
horizon was the Home Rul e Plan for Scotland and about the danger of the break up of the United
Wales . In December, 1976 the Labour Govern- Kingdom through sepamtist movements had up-
ment published its proposals to give Home Rul e se t leaders of the Scottish Party and they called
to Scotland and Wales. Earlier, the Q ueen in her her comments U ill advised" and "unfortunate."
traditional address to Parliament had announced In an address on May 4 to Parliament on the start
that a Bill w ou ld be introduced immediately "for of the Jubilee celebrations, Quee n Elizabeth said:
th e establishment of Assemblies to give the Scot- "I number Kings and Queens of England and
ti sh and Welsh people direct and wide ran ging
) (! .
Scotland, and Princes of Wales among my ances- and Prince Andrew's mysterious "affair" for a
tor,; and so I can readily understand these aspira- week with an American actress have tarnished
tions." But, "I cannot forget", ihe Queen added this tradition,just as they have made royalty look
with some emo.tion, "that I was crowned Queen more human and common.
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and FUNCTIONS OF THE MONARCHY
Northern lteland. Perhaps this Jubilee is a time
According to Jennings the functions of the
to remind ourselves of the benefits which union
Monarchy may be said to be four. First, appearing
has conferred at home and in our international
in an impersonal fashion as the Crown, the Mon-
dealings, on the habitants ofall parts ofthe United
arch's name is the cement that binds the Consti-
Kingdom." Donald Stewart, leader of the II
tution. Secondly, the Monarch similarly binds the
Scottish Nationalist Party MPs, declared the
units of Commonwealth. Thirdly, there are po-
same day the Queen addressed Parliament, "ifit
litical functions of the highest importance which
comes to a choice between independence and the
the Monarch performs personally. Fourthly, the
monarchy, we would choose independence."
Monarch is a social figure exercising important
This potential danger to the British union
functions outside the political sphere. We begin
and the Sovereign at its head was demonstrated
the elaboration of these functions first taking the
by the most royalist of Briti sh parties, the Con-
personal functions of the Monarch, though it
servatives opposing the Home Rule Bill. Even if
upsets the order in which Jennings enumerates
the plan for independence is eschewed, the devo-
them.
lution plan, which is in line with the policy of the
Labour Party, is sure to ultimately change the Personal Authority of the King
geographical and political structure of the United In the actual conduct of the work of gov-
Kingdom and to have an impact on royalty too. ernment the Monarch still personally performs
The emotions and loyalties engendered by tbe certain specific acts and the most important of
Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977 and Prince Char- these is that the King must make certain that
les' wedding celebrated in July, 1981, in full helshe has a Government in the United King-
blaze of pomp and publicity, may stop the trend dom. The Governmenr is headed by the Prime
against royalty and towards breaking the union Minister and the Prime Minister selects hi s own
of Britain for sometime, probably during the life team to make a Government. The King. thus,
ofQ4eeAlElizabeth, but the Throne cannot be said chooses- a Prime Minister and the latter then
to be secure for her successors. The economic prepares a list of Ministers and submits it to the
cost to the nation for the upkeep of royalty would King for his approval. But when choosing th e
have been justifiable in an era of Empire and Prime Minister, the King must remember that a
world status, but now these expenditures palpa- . Ministry must have the support of a majority of
bly intrude on a weaker and poorer Britain with the House of Commons otherwise it will be un-
more than two million unemployed, falling stand- ahle to govern.
ards of living and a stupendous expenditure, Now-a-days, the choice of such a person
averaging 5 million pounds a day, incurred for who is to be the Prime Minister and can lead the
regaining Falkland islands and that, too, when the majority in the House of Commons is obvious.
country was battling its way out of recession.'2 The leader of the majority party in the House of
The March 1982, pay ri se of the Queen by more Commons is summoned and commissioned to
than 8 per cent was widely resented and the fonn government. "The essential point", writes
people questioned the need to continue with roy- Herbert Morrison, "is that the new Prime Min-
alty. Not less importantl y, there is an exemplary ister should be able to command a majority in the
moral rectitude that the British people tradition- House of Commons, and not merely be able to
all~ expect from the Royal family and that expec- fonn a government, for the government cannot
tatIon has been fulfilled in the case of the Queen. live. without a parliamentary majority." If the
But prevailing social commotion cannot be kept Government is defeated on a hostile vote in the
out of palaces and the recent affairs of Princess House of Commons, the Sovereign summons the
Margaret with a youngman and her separation Leader oflbe Opposition and commissions' him
fro.m her husband as also the much publicised, to form a new government. Even if the Prime
gomgs on of Prince Charles before his marriage Minister dies in office tlie choice of his successor
52. Bhane, v.~. "CDn Royalty Survive in U.K.? The Hindusla~ nlftD. New Delhi Janu~ 18, 1977.
can be reasonably obvious, though careful con- 1923 King George V passed over the claims to
sideration would be given to the likelihood of the succession of Sir Austen Chamberlai n and Lord
person appointed being acceptable to a majority Curzon and sen t for Stanley Baldwin to form the
in the House of Commons. Since Churchill's govemment. s• In 1924, no parry had a clear
War Governmenl has emerged the office of th e majority in the House of Commons. George V
Deputy Prime Minister, though it has not been sent for Ramsay MacDonald, and not Asquith, to
constitutionally recognized "When the Prime Min- form the Government, although the Labour Parry
ister dies in office"says Morrison, "the Deputy had behind it only about one-third of the members
Prime Minister mighl be specially considered by of the House. A minority Labour Government
the Sovereign, though there would be no obliga- under MacDonald, dependent on Liberal votes,
tion to do so especially as I gather, that the took office again in 1929. The events of 1931 or
Sovereign does not recognise such an office. "53 "the crisis of 1931"as Herbert Morrison de-
[n 1951, when Winston Churchill again returned scribed, "were more compl icated " and the act of
to o ffice, he submiued to George Vllhe name of George V in comm issioning Ramsay MacDonald
Anthony Eden as Secrelary of Slale for Foreign to head the National Government was charac-
AfTairs and Deputy Prime Minister. The King teri sed by Professo r Laski "as mu ch the personal
"pointed out that the latter office was unknown choice of George V as Lord Bute was the per-
to the Constitution, and on his instructions it was sonal choice of George III. "s; King George V
deleted from the new Foreign Secrelary's ap- "was, I feel sure," wrote Herbert Morrison ,
pointment.· -54 "'actuated by sincere motives. And certainly the
But ifno parry commands a real majority, financial and economic situation of the country
or when a Prime Minister retires and when the was serious. Nevertheless J think his judgment
majority p arty has nol yel designated its leader, was at fault. "S8The King would "have been
th e choice oflhe Prime Minisler is nol easy. The wise", he adds, "to have ascerta ined what was
Sovereign makes, in such a case, a personal like ly 10 happen by inquiry of one or more Labour
decision to whom to send for, although he is Privy co uncillors likely to know. He might have
always careful to follow Ihal coUrse which is leasl asked the Prime Minister to ascertain the view of
likely to arouse criticism. "The Sovereign's the Labour Cabinet; but no action was taken to
choice in these conditions, " writes Morrison. ascenain the general Labour view. "59 Morrison
"'has much constitutional significance. The even questioned the need of the National Gov-
choice may be a very delicate one and involve ernment and was of the opinion "that a Conser-
embarrassing complicalions. The Sovereign vative-Libera l coalition cou ld have done all th at
would, of course, take all relevant considerations the so-called National Government did. ".0
into account, and be at great pains not on ly to be \Vhenever the Labour Party secured a ma-
constitutionally correct, but make every effort to jority il insisted on the right of the Labour mem-
see that the correc tness is likely to be generall y bers of Parliament to choose thei r own leader and
recognised . "" It is the Sovereign's undoubted the Sovereign's choice of the Prime Ministerw3s,
ri ght to seek or not to seek the advice of th e accordingly, obvious. But the Conservative Party
outgoing Prime Mini ster and is also free to re- did not follo w thi s practice and the Sovereign
ceive counsel and advice from such Privy Coun- had, thus, a choice when the Conservative Parry
cillors whom the Monarch may wish to consult. had a maj ori ty but no leader. Baldwin became
\Vhen the Conservative Prime Minister, Bonar leader in 1923 and Chamberlain in 1937, because
Law, resigned because of ill-health on May 20, they were Prime Ministers. This practice of the
53 . A major reconstruction by Harold Macm ill an was announced on 13th. 16th and 18 th July 1962 . The new post of firs!
Secretary of State was spec ially created for Mr. R.A. Bull er, who wou ld, according to the announcement, "act as Deputy
Prime I\liniter. ". But Butler did not step into omce of th t: Prime Mini ster when Macm illan resigned.
5ol. Petrie, c., Th e Modern British Monarchy. p. 193.
55. Herber1 Morrison, Government and Parliament. p. 77
56. lord Cunon 's peerage: was advanced as a disqua lifi cation in his case . But according to L.S. Amery, a Minister or the
time, "the final decision was, to the best ormy belief. made mainly on the issue of .. ..... personal acceptability ........ If
a consti tutional precedent was created, it was largely as the ex-post facto cove r for a dec ision taken on other grounds."
L.S. Amery, Thought on the Constitution, p. 22.
57. laski , H.. Parliamentary Go,emment in England. p. 403 .
58. H~r~rt Morrison, Government and Porliamenl. p. 79.
59. Ibid.
60. Ibid., p. 78. Also rerer to H.J. Laski. Parliamentary Go ~' ernment in England. pp. 402 -408.
The ~ing and the.Crown " . 49
Conservative Pany evoked a severe criticism Mrs Margaret Thatcher could not, a second ballot
froin me' Labour Party when Sir Anthony Eden J,~ 1>e.I<).. t,wo_o.r three days later, for which the
resigned on January 9, 1957 and the Queen ap- contestants have to be renominated and for which
pointed Harold Macmillan as the .new Prime new candidates can also be nominated. To be
Minister.Until the moment Macmillan went to successful in the second ballot a candidate merely
the Palace the nation was left guessing whether has to secure an overall majority of votes. If this
he or R.A. Butler. the Lord Privy Seal, would is not still acliieved, a third ballot is held. The
become. Sir Anthony Eden's successor. The third ballot is restricted to the three leading can-
Queen sought the advice of Sir Winston Churchi II didates of the second ballot and the voters indi-
and the Marquess of Salisbury and itwas believed cate their first and second preferences on the
that the advice of Churchill was a powerful factor ballot paper. After the votes have been counted,
in deciding the issue. The Times in an editorial the third candidate is eliminated, and the votes
said that ultimate responsibility for the choice of secured by him are ~edistributed, according to the
Harold Macmillan was the Queen's alone and second preferences, between the two remaining
that time and events would show how wisely she candidates. The successful candidate is then pre-
had judged. Labour Party chiefs at a specially sented to a party meeting consisting of Conser-
called meeting of their ' shadow cabinet' Parlia- vative MPs, Peers, prospective candidates, and
mentary committee, expressed the fe ar that the memberS of the National Union Executive Com-
Crown had been brought into party politics in a mittee.'t This process was first used in July 1965,
most undesi rable way. James Griffiths, Labour when Sir Alec Douglas- Home resigned as party
Deputy Leader, in the absence of the leader Hugh leader. The new democratic method, thus, ended
Gaitskell, said in a radio interview, on January the hoary tradition of evolving a sortofconsensus
11,1957 : "We do not question that the Crown aflerprivate soundings of Conservati ve members
acted with due constitu tional propriety," but, he of Parliament, prospective MPs., Peers and the
added, "we do believe it is important that parties party executive. In past when the Conserva-
themselves should decide on their leaders and tives would be in power the retiring Prime Min-
that the Crown should not be put in the embar- ister had always a hig say about his successor.
rassing position of having to make a choice be- All this led to intrigue and wire-pu lling in the
tween rival cI~mants for the Premiership from party. Thus ended the monarc h's conventional
the same party. 'Griffiths further a"erted that if privilege orsilecting a conservative Prime Min-
this position was to recur often there would be a iSler through informal consultations.
full case for examining the procedure, because The new method of se lec ting the Conse r-
" this is bringing the Crown into internecine party vative party leader was in line wilh the method
warfare wh ich is very bad for the Constitution. " . followed by the Labour Party till 1980, and it
The historical method of choosing a leader mitigated the possibility of the monarch's inter-
by the Conservative Party underwent a consider- vention in active politics. Till 1980, for the selec-
able strain when Sir Alec Douglas-Home was tion of a Labour Party leader, a ballot of the
asked to take ove r from Haro ld Macmillan in Parliamentary party was held in which a candi-
1963 and eventually led to the retirement from date for the post was required to receive an
politics ofR.A. Butler. In 1965, the party changed absolute majority. If no candidate received th e
its method of selecting a leader. Today, a ballot requisite majority, a second ballot was held, drop-
is held of all Conservative MPs, and to be elected ping out the candidates at the bottom in the first
a leader on the first ballot a candidate has to ballot, a week later and this process was repeated
receive an overall majority of votes, and also he u ntil a candidate secured a majority<>2. Since
has to receive 15 per cen t more voles than his 1980, the party leader elected by the Parliamen-
nearest rival. If helshe does not ach ieve this, as tary party is to be approved by an electoral college
61. When Sir Alec Douglas-Home resigned in July 1965. as party leader, Edward Heath, Reginald Maudling. and Enoch
Powell were nominated toconlest to succeed him. In the first ballot Heath got 150 votes. Maudling 133 votes and Powell
15 votes Heath. thus, did nOI have the required 15 per cent more votes than Maudling. Before: the second ballot was
held Maudling and Powell withdrew from the contest and Heath was left the only choice to be duly approv.:d by the
party meeting.
62. In February 1963, in the election to choose a successor to Hugh Gail skell, fu the first ballot Harold Wilson received
liS votes, George Brown 888 Voles, and James Callaghan 41 votcs. As Wilson could not secure an absolute majority.
CaUaahan dropped out, and in the second ballot, a week later, Wilson was elected with 104 votes to George Brown's
103. ' . _; . . ,....
consisting of members of Parliament, constitu- ofthe State is not the essence ofthe P~r\i am entaty
ency delegates and trade union representatives. system of Government and no King would ven-
\-Vhen the monarch exercises a choice in ture it, whatever be the legal opinion, unless he
selecting the Prime Minister he or she is no mere is determi ned to ga mble in the most dangerous
figurehead. The monarch, as Jennings says, manner.
"does no t steer the ship, but she (Queen) has to The duration of Parliament in ordinary ci r-
make certain tha t th ere is a ma n a t the wheel. Nor cumstances is for five years, but conditions may
is it always easy to know whe n the problem will arise in which a dissolution of Parliame nt may be
arise. Nev ille Chamberlain in 1937 had a large desi red before the e xpiry of its full term of life.
maj ority, but by 1940 George VI was looking There might, for example, be an important dif-
forward for a Conservative Prime Minis ter who fe ren ce of opinion within the Cabinet which
could secure Labour as we ll as Conservative would make it impossib le for the Gove rnment to
support and found him in Mr. Ch urchill. " 63 It is, carty on, or a Govern ment may desire to take th e
however true, Jennings, admits, that these cases verdict of the electorate on an important matter
are exceptional. Normall y the m achine runs effi- of policy on which it had no manda te, or the re
ciently, because the Governmen t has a majo ri ty might be revolt w ithin the ranks o f the Govern-
and if it loses at an election, the Opposition steps ment Party whi ch caused the Gove rn ment to be
in to fonn th e Govrnment. The existence today, defea ted in the House o f Commons on some
o f the Labou r and Conservat ive Part ies ' proce- matter of importance. In circumstances such as
dures fo r e lecting thei r leade rs does not in itself these the Prime Minister might requ es t the Sov-
effect the constitutional prerogati ve of the Mon- ereign to exerc ise his Royal prerogative of dis-
arch. in tha t the Monarch remains free to choose solving Parliament and direct new elect ions to be
whoever may be regarded as sui tab le. Neverthe- held.
less, iri practice it seems inconceivable that the The Sovereign's ri ght to dissolve Parli a-
Monarch would choose as Prime Ministeranyone ment has been a subject of deep controversy. It
who had not fi rst bee n elected party leader, has been ma intained th at the Sovereign is not
provided th at in a crisis ti me was a llowed for the bound to accept ministeria l adv ice on this matter.
election to take p lace. It is possi ble, howeve r, that This, indeed, seems to have been the view of
the Monarch co ul d still play an effective role in Queen Victoria and some of her contemporaries.
selec ting a Prime Minister if it was not clear Even Keith held simi lar opi nion. " The preroga-
which party could form a government. tive of the Crown to di ssolve Parl iament," he
It is sometimes asserted that the dismissal wrote ,"is undoubted. The manner of disso lution
of Ministers and the disso lution of Parl iament does not, as onen said, strictly speaking, involve
may be undertaken by the Kin g without the con- the aid of m inisters, fo r the King could still
sent o f Government. No Govern ment has been present himse lf in the House of Lords, and by
dismissed by th e Sovereign since 1783, although word of mouth, dissolve the Parliament. "66 But
it is still maintained by many constitutional ex- in practice d issolution takes place by a proclama-
perts tha t the Ki ng has the righ t to di smiss Mi n- ti on unde r the Great Seal, which is based on the
isters, if he has reason to believe th at their po licy adv ice of the P ri vy Council for whose su mmons
though approved by th e House of C ommons has the Lord President accepts responsibility. Conse-
not the approval of the people .... But, as Jennings que~tly, the King cannot secure a dissolution
correctly points out, such an argument "is an without advice. If the Ministers refuse to give
argument for dissolution and not a dismissal of such advice, he can do no morc than dismiss them
Ministers. "65 Min isterial dismissal by the Head and we know how hazardous it is fo r the Sover-
63. Jennings, lvor, The Queen 's Government. p. 43 .
Also re fer to N.H. Brasher's Studies in British Government, p. 12
64. Gladstone appears to have thought in 1878 that the right to dismiss still eK isted. Disraeli also held the same view. In
1886, Queen Victoria had made efforts to overthrow the Li beral Govemme nt because to her mind the Govemment was
not goveming with integrity for the welfare of the country. Decey, too, was of the op inion that the King could di smiss
Ministers in order to ascl!rtain the will of the nation. Asquith , on the othe r hand. rebutted Dicey's arguments and
maintained that "a practice so long established, and so well justified by e;'{ perience should remain unimpaired."
65 . Jennings, W.I. Cabinet Government, p. 380.
Also refer to N .H. Brasher'S Studies in british Government, p. 12.
66. "There was no doubt of the power and prerogative of the Sovereign to refuse a Dissolution-It WlS one oflhe very few
ac ts which the Queen of England could do without responsible advice." Letters o/fJ'.Jeen Victoria. Edited by Densor
and Esher Vol. VIII, pp. 314-465.
eign to dismiss Ministers who command the con- such independent action on the part of the King
fidence of the House of Commons. A forced " would almost .i.~eviiably. be equivalerit to dis-
dissolution, therefore, is impossible" "though missal of his ministers," and that ifonce a di!?so-
one induced by' royal pressure is perfectly in lution was effected by the King's choice, "no
order.' ' 67 There have been two definite occasions dissolution would be free from ambiguity, and
during the last eighty years when dissolution took speculation as to the degree of responsibility of
place at the express desire of the King. The first the Sovereign would be a feature of every elec-
was over the budget in 1910 at the desire of tion." Commenting on this issue Jennings
Edward VII and, the second. over the power of comes to the conclusion that "there cannot be the
the Lords in the same year, at the desire of George least doubt that Professor Morgan was wholly in
V. In each case, maintained Laski, "the minis- the ri ght. Eit\ler the King 'per.suades' the minis-
ters, however, reluctantly, acquiesced in the ters to 'advise a dissolution or ministers resign.
1 11
King's desire and the dissolution was, accord- In othe r words, the King cannot exercise his
ingly amply surroUnded by the cloak of minisle- prerogati ve of dissolution without advice.
rial responsibility; though the King took the in- During the last more than a hundred years
itiative in pressing a dissolution upon the gov- there is no instance of Ii refusal of a dissolution
ernment. In each case, also. the government ac- when advised . Nevertheless, opinion has always
cepted the advice."68 But there are many in- prevailed, and there exists a persistent tradition
stances as well, for example, in 1866,1 873, 1885 , th at it could be re fu sed, if the necessary circum-
1895, and 1905 when the Cabinet did not wish to stances arose. Summing up the discussion of the
dissolve, in spite of the royal sanc tion ." right of the King to refuse dissolution, Keith says,
The rightoflhe King to dissolve Parliame nt " It appears that there is some divergence of view
without advice became a matter of practical dis- among the authorities on the question whether
cussion in 1913 over the Home Rule Bill. The the King' can refuse a disso lution to a Prime
Home Rule Bill had been passed by the House of Minister who asks for it, the better opinion is that
Commons in two successive sessions but rejected the power still ex ists, but that it could be properly
by the House of Lords in each of these sessions. exe rcised on ly in excep tional circumstances.' · 70
The Unionists claimed that the Government had What those exceptional circumstances can be
received n,o mandale rrom the cwc ~o ra tc at Gen- Stannard gives one specific instance. The contin-
eral ElectIOn for such a measu», In' 1910, and, ge ncy for refusal was there, He says; if Neville
thus, demanded a dissolution be fore the Bill was Chamberlain had advised a dissolution in May,
submitted to the House of Commons the third 1940 when the Germans were crossing the Albert
time ane passed under the Parliame nt Act, 1911 . Canal. At such critical moments, he says, "the
The Unionists realised that Asqui th was unlikel y limits of the convention that keeps the Crown ou t
to adv ise disso lution and they di scussed the of politics are reached, and the reigning Sover-
power of the King to dissolve wi th ou t advice. eign mu st himselfdecide, in the lasteesort, where
George Cave argued that the King had an un- his duty lies."71 Simi larly, the right to a dis solu-
doubted right to dissolve Parliament and that he tion, as Keith says, "is not a right to a series of
should exercise the right on this occasion to dissolution." The King would not give the Min-
s. tisfy hims.lfthat the House "docs indeed rep- istry, which had obtained di ssolution and lost an
lesent the democracy of today." Sir William election, another dissolutions" . The circum-
Anson admitted that the advice of the Ministers stances are which should enforce the retirement
was constilutionally necessary, and that if the of the Ministry, although it is also true that a
Government was not willing to give such an defeated Ministry would not ask for a second
advice, the King would have to ascertain, pre· dissolution.
sumably from the Opposition, whether the alter- The conclusion is that dissolution is nor-
native Ministry could take office and to accept mally ordered by the Sovereign on the advice of
the responsibility for a dissolution. Dicey agreed the Prime Minister, but it is quite wrong to infer
with Anson, but Professor Morgan insisted that that the personal opinion of the Monarch is never
,
67. Kcilh, A.B., T1ze British Cabinet System, p. 297.
68. Laski, H.J., Par(itJmentary Gowrnmenl i1l England, p. 412.
69. Keith, A.B., '17te British. Cabinet Sy~tem. p. 297
70. Keith, A.B., T1ze British Cabinet System, p. 302 ,.
71. Sl&nnard, H" 771e Two Constitutions, p. 17.
52 The Government ot t.he United Kingdom
of any account in mattersafTecting the dissolution reads the Speech from the Throne." But the
of Parliament. In his biography of George VI, Sir Speech which the Sovereign reads is not his own
John Wheeler Bennett has vividly desc ribed the work and may be read for the King by the Lord
attitude of the King during the 1950-5 1 Labour Chancellor. The King assents to the election of
Government when the stability of the Govern- the Speaker of the House of Commons and here
ment was severely hampered by the precarious too, he may act by proxy. Orders-in-Council
majority of eight votes it held in the House of cannot be passed except for the presence of the
Commons." The Opposition, failing to bring King. Similarly, the appointment of the Lord
down the administration by a series of adverse Ch.ncellor and the Secretaries of State are the
morions adopted a system of guerrilla warfare.
y personal acts of the King. consisting in actual
"It was not pleasan ~ · ·. wrote the Prime Minister, handing of the seals of offtce to the designated
"to have M.cmbers coming from hospital at the ministers. The Monarch receives ambassadors in
risk of their lives to prevent a defeat in the person, though this too is a sheer formalitynThe
House."73 This instable equi Iibrium was a source King may convoke a conference of party leaders,
of anxiety to the King and on June 24, 1951, he as did George V in 19 14 , with a view to avoid a
raised question of di ssolution with th e Prime constituti ona l crisis, though such a step the King
Minister, who replied that he would ask for one can take only upon advice rece ived from his
in autumn. Parliament was dissolved on October ministers. 78
24. Aulee denied that he was pushed into asking The Sovereign is the 'fountain of honours' .
for a dissolution by some pressure from the King. " It is th e essence of honours of any kind" says
"There is no substance in this, but, the position Kei th, "that they should appear to be the personal
of the King was one which I personally had to gift of the Sovereign, and for this reason all
take into account.' ". Aulee, speak ing on B.B.C. honours are submined to and formall y approved
television in Febn.ary 1963, stated that the strain by the Sovere ign,and whenever possible th e in-
on the health of Labour Members of the House vcstinlre with the insignia or other ac t in connec-
of Commons to maintain th e Government's slen- tion with its bestowal is performed by King in
der majority was his predominant motive in seek- person or at least the roya l signature is attached
ing a dissolution. He was no doubt also influ- to the instrument conferring it '." But the princi-
enced by the desire to secure the most poli tically ple in the great majority of cases of th e con fer-
opportune moment for the election. Commenting ment of honours is that the recommendation to
upon this issue Brasher says, "Yet ifroyal wishes the Sovereign goes from a Mini ster, and normall y
were not decisive in 1951 neither we re they the Prime Minister. The grant, however, is not
negligible. Implicit in Lord Attlee.'s att itude is an entirely on advice. The Sovereign is able to resist
acceptance of the fact that the monarc h still the grant of honours of which he does not ap-
retains a measure of responsibi li ty for the main- prove. In 1859, Queen Victoria refused to consent
tenance of political stability. "75. II cannot be to a Privy Councillorship for John Bright. In
merely accidental that the King's pressures to 1869, she refused to sanction a peerage for Sir
dissolve Parliamen t in 1924, 1931 and 195 1 have L.de Rothsc hild; and in 188 1, she firmly resisted
come only to dislodge Labour governments. Gladstone's advice to make Sir Ga rnet-Wolseley
The King summons and prorogues Parlia- a Peer. In 1906, Edward VII objected to several
ment. On the opening of Parliament, the King peerages and Privy Councillorships, although on
72. Wheeler Bennet. J. W.. King George VI : His Life and Reign. pp. 791·96.
7J . Altlee, c., A.1' Ii Happened, p. 206.
74. Observer, Augusl 23, 1959.
75 . Brasher, N.H ., Studies in British GOl'fmment. p. 13.
76. It has been accepted since 1841 , thal lhe S~ech from Ihe Throne is a statement of ministerial policy for which the
Sovereign accepts no responsibility. In 188 1, Queen Victoria objecled to a paragraph in the Queen's Speec h on the
proposal of withdra\"'al of troops from Kandhar. Lord Spencer and Sir William Harcoun, who were Ministers·in·At·
h:ndance. "impressed upon S.ir H. Ponson by th at Speech from the Throne was in no sense an cl(pression of Her Majesty's
individual sent iments bUI a decla ration of policy made on Ihe responsibility of her Ministers". As cited in Jennings.
\V. l. Cabinet Goyernmenf. p. 373 . Also refer 10 Herbert Morri son's Government and Parliament. p.75
77. [n 1929, George V ra ised objections to rece iving an ambassador from the So ...·iet Union . The Foreign Secretary, politely
but firml y. told the King that there was a Cabinet decision to Ihat efTect. The King Ihen received the arobassadar.
78. The King summo ned Ihe Home Rule Conference of July 1914. on the advice o f Asquith, the Prime Minister. The speech
which George V delivered to the Conference was sent to and approved by the Prime Minister, Jennings, \V.I. , Cabinet
Government. pp. J61 ·62.
1l18.King and the Crown . ,. 53
pressure he ultimately gave way. A few honours, . Jennings, "notably on foreign affairs and on
that is, the Order of Merit, the OrderofCompan- matters dealing with tne Commonwealth, he may
ions of Honour, the Royal Victorian Order, the be better informed than the Prime Minister."
Most Noble Order of the Garter, and the Most The. King would, thus,. acquire some
Noble and Most Ancient Order of the Thistle, are knowledge and experience which no other states-
in the Sovereign's personal gift. man in control of gov~mmental machine can
The King as Adviser . claim. Bagehot rightly showed that the King has
Far more important is the MO." arch's role two advantages over the Prime Minister. One,
as a critic, adviser and mend ofibe Ministers. In while Prime Ministers and Ministers change, the
the oft-quoted phrase of Bagehot,'" the Sover- King, goes on until he dies. Cabinet business,
eign has "three rights-the ri&ttl to be consulted, therefore, is continuous for him and a change of
the right to encounige, the right to warn." And government "is merely a change·ofpersonneL"
"a King of great sense and sagacity," he funher All this makes the King a mentor whom a wise
added, "would want no otl\l:rs. He would find Min ister is not only obliged, but positively de-
that his having no others wouiil enable him to use sires, to consult. l 'ln a word, the King knows the
these with singular effect. ? Or, as stated by mistakes made by a Premier's predecessors, and
Winston Churchill, "under the British constitu- probably why they made them." Writing about
tional system the Sovereign has a right to be made the advantages of Monarchy,just after the death
acquainted with everything for which his Minis- of George VI, Clement Attlee said, "Yet another
ters are responsible, and has an unlimited ri ght of advantage is that the Monarchy continuously in
giving counsel to his government. "80 Since the touch with public affairs, acquires great experi-
time of George I, the Sovereign has not attended ence," whereas the Prime Minister might have
a Cabinet meeting, but the King is better informed been out of office for some years. "He (Prime
than the average Cabinet Minister on all matters Minister) has no doubt kept himself as fully
which are brought before the Cabinet. He sees all infonned as possible and, on coming into office,
Cabinet papers, whether they are circulated by can ava il himself of the experience of the civil
the Cabinet office or by the Depanments. He serv ice , but this is not the same thing as having
receives the Cabinet agenda in advance and can access, year after year, to all the secret papers ..... .
discuss mem_orand3_wi!h the MinislelS responsi- King George VI was a very hard worker and read
ble for them. If he req!lires information from a with great care all the siatepapers that came
Department he can ask for it. He also receives a before him ....... A Prime Minister discussing af-
copy of the Cabinet minutes, repons of Cabinet fairs of state with him was talking to one who had
Committees, including the Defence Committee a wider and more continuous knowledge than any
and the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the "daily onc else. "82 Since the Prime Minister must dis-
print" of dispatches circulated by the Foreign cuss his policies with the Monarch, SP."ak of new
Office." He follows debates in Parliament by developments, and listen to what he has to say;
means of the "Official Report". If other infor- and what the Monarch says is the result of his
mation would be helpful, he can ask his Private perennial knowledge and experience, he is in an
Secretary to obtain it. Moreover, he has a staff to excellent position to influence the man who has
keep him informed of the development of politi- the power to decide on policy. "To express a
cal events. In short, the Prime Minister must keep doubt," as Jennings says, "is often more helpful
the King abreast of what happens ' within and than to formulate a criticism; to throw in a casual
without the country, always tell him of Cabinet rem ark is often more helpful than to write a
decision and he must be ready to explain the memorandum. The easy personal relationship
reasons for any policy. "In some respects,·t says that George VI maintained with his Ministers
79. ~gehot, W., The Sri/ish Constitution (The World Classics ed.), p. 69.
80. Churchill. Winston, S., Tire Finest Hour, p. 379.
81. Hcrry Hopkins wrote after lunching with Their Majesties on 30th January 1941 : "The King discussed the Navy and
the Fleet at some length an~ showed an intimate knowledge of !ill the high·ranking officers of the Navy. and for that
~atter. of the anny and the au force. It was perfectly clear from hiS remarks that he reads very carefully all the important
dlspak:hes and among other things, was quite familiar with a dispatch which I had sent Sunday night throug the Foreign
Office." Sherwood, Robert E., Roostwlt and Hopkins, p. 25 I.
82. Life, February 18, 1952:
probably had more influence than the letters to talk about which have happened over the past
which Queen Victoria wrote in profusion u John week, and she will put a lot of questions, always
Wheeler-Bennet, in hi s biography of George VI friendly and helpful. It is a very pleasant oasis in
points o ut that the King believed, as did hi s fathe r, a Prime Minister's life and constructive one."
that the Crown"must of necessity represent all Then, there is the tradition al reverence for the
that was most straightforward in the national Monarch 's office which must add weight to hi s
character, that the Sovereign must set an example opinions. Asquith, wrote in hi s Memo randum on
to his people of devo'ion to duty and service to the Rights and Obligations of the King, that " He
the State, and that, in relation to his Ministers, he is ent itled and bound to give hi s ministers all
mu st closely adhere to-and ne ver abandon-the rel eva nt information which comes to him; to
three inalienable rights of the King in a constitu- po int out objections whi ch seem to him valid
tional monarc hy; th e ri ght to be consulled, the against the course which they advi se ; to suggest
ri ght to encourage, and the right to wam. " 84 (if he thinks fit) an alternative policy. Such inti-
The vi e ws of the King are particularly mati o ns are always rec eived with the utmost
valuabl e, because they are not c louded by politi- respect and considered with mo re respec t and
cal con troversy. He ha s no party objective at ali, defe rcnce than if, th ey proceeded from any other
nor is he concerned with intra-party intrigues. He quarter. >'86
is in th e word s o f Lord Alllee, "the gene ral Je nn ings gives a matter of fact summing
represen ta ti ve o f a ll the people and stands aloof up. He says, "Thus, the King may be said to be
from the p arty political ballie. ''is The fo,,·ner almost a member of the Cabinet, and the o nl y
Conservative Prime Minister Sir A lec Douglas- non·party membe r. He is, too, the best informed
Home was of the opinion th at th e' 'Queen has a member and the only one who cannot be forced
consti tut ion a l role of great importance , beca use to keep silent. His status gives him power to press
afte r. all everything is don e in the name of th e his view upon the Minister making a proposal
Queen and Parliament so they arc one ......... ..So and (what is so metimes even more important) to
I think her po wer li es in her influence, and the press them on the minister who is not making
aut hority wh ic h she naturall y carries after 25 proposals. He can do more, he can press [hose
years of the most intimate experience of national vi ews o n the Prime Minister the weight of
and internat io nal affairs. I think she is influen- whose authori ty may in the end produc e the
ti a l. No r that she would take a political part, not Cabinet decision. He can, ifhe likes to press hi s
at a ll but obvious ly th e Prime Mini ster di scusses point, insist that hi s views be laid before th e
wit h her p ol itical issues of the first importance Cabine t and considered by them. In o the r words,
both to o ur country and ove rseas. And o n all of he can be as helpful or as obst reperous as he
those the Queen will ha ve a point of view wh ich pleases ...... in the end, of course, he is bound by
is her ow n, bo rn c fvery considerable experience. a Cabinet dec ision, but he may playa consider-
Her influence is impo rtani and accepted. I think , able part in the process by which it is reac hed.' '87
because people realise, in this country , that she The King' s functi on is advisory only. He
puts public service above everything, and far can press hi s opinions as forcefully as he likes.
above, o f c o urse po litics in which she does not He may res ist the advice given to him by hi s
herself intervene. " On th e sa me point Sir Harold Mini sters, but he mu st not persist and in the last
\Vil so n. another former Prime Ministe r, said , re so rt give way if Ministers refuse to accept his
,. Her role is important, not in term s o f power but opi nion . He canno t carry hi s point so far as to
in tem1S o f, fo r exa mple. th e weekl y audience the threaten the stab ility of his Government. There
Prime Mini ster has w ith her. These are very are two reasons fo r it. In the first place, the Kin g
use ful for th e Prime Minister. because, for in· cannot act unco nstitutio nally so long as he act s
stance. he is ta lki ng in absolute confidence to o n the advice of a Minister supported by a ma~
some one w ith lo t of experience and a lo t of jority in th e House of Commons. Mini steri al
und erstandi ng, somet imes a lo t of sympathy. He respo nsibility is th e safeguard of th e Monarchy.
has to collect in his mind a ll the things he wa nt s The sayi ng that the 'Ki ng can do no w ro" g '
83 . kn nings . I.. Th,· QUl'!'n's G 01'l!nIll/ t'IIl, p. 46.

84. Wh~clcr·B c nncl . J.\\' .. A'ing George VI: f/l s Life and Reign. p. 132.
H5. Attlee on ~ t o narch >. Obserwr, op. cit.
86. Spem.:cr. J. A .. LUl' a/ Lord o.~fonl and Asqllilh, Vol. II. pp . 29·31.
1:\7. knnings. I.. CabinC:1 Go vemment. pp. 327·28.
I. The King and the Crown 55
precisely illustrates that the Monarch cannot brought together justify my action." There is also
make decisions of a political or controversial some evidence available that in 1916, Lord
character. The price of his popularity and posi- Stamfordham, as the King's Private Secretary,
tion is in the abstention from politics. In the endeavoured :to "settIe the dispute between
second place, ifthe King forces his opinion which Asquith and Lloyd George which led to the res-
the Ministers are not willing to accept theCabinet ignation of Asquith. George V had much con-
must resign. The King's action, then, immedi- spicuous part to play'in 192 I overthe Irish Home
ately enters into political controvcrsy. ~ut the Rule tangle. "A King is," as Attlee says, "a kind
real power of the King depends upon' 'his will- of referee, although the occasions when he has to
ingness to keep respectable and to keep offpoli- blow the whistle are now-a-days very few." But
tics." The Throne cannot stand for long amid the even then, they do happen. The Fillancial Times
gusts of political conflict and the stonn of politi- reported that Queen Elizabeth II, as Head of the
cal opinion. "The road of least criti'cism is the Commonwealth, intervened to end the Common-
road for the King." Lord Esher, who was advis- wealth crisis over the question of imposing sanc-
ing George V on the dispute over the Home Rule tions against South Africa, to ward ofT a clash
Bill controversy, most correctly summed up the between Prime Min ister Margaret Thatcher and
position of the King. He wrote in a memorandum other heads of the Commonwealth. The occasion
: .. Every constituti onal monarch possesses a dual was necessitated by Mrs. Thatcher's reiteration
personali ty. He may hold and express opi nions of outright opposition to sancti ons in th e House
upon the conduct of his ministers and their meas- of Commons. The Queen's anxiety was to pr<-
ures. He may endeavour to influence their ac- vent a break-up of the Commonwra!th and her
tions. He may delay decisions in order to give medi at ion had a li ttle cooling effect on the rigid
more time for reneerion. He may refuse assent to anitude adopted by the Prime Minister,
their advi ce up to thc point where he is obliged A Symbol of Unity
to choose between accepti ng it and losing their The King of Britain is at once Ihe King of
services.' '.88 Canada and other Dominions. In his welcome
The King .s Mediator speech on the visit o f George VI to Canada in
The King very often acts as a mediator and 1939, Prime Minister Mackenzie King 5aici :
uses his prestige to senle political ce nflict or " Hcre you will be in the heart of the famil y that
" diminish the vi nl lcnce of Opposition. " As he is your own. We wo uld have your Majeslie; ieel
wields no political power and makes no political Ihat in co ming from the old land to Ihe new, you
enemies his advice is deemed valuable and is left one home for another." The constitutional
generally accepted. In 1872, Quee n Victoria developments of 1911 to 1931 , ending with th e
wrote to Lord Russel, without Gladstone's Statute of Westminster, have given the Domin-
knowledge, and urged upon him not to move for ions complete independence both in maners of
papers on the Al abama question so that the legislation and '" matters of policy. But th~ King
Governme nt should not be embarrassed. In 188 I, is still, in the language of the Preamble to Statute
the Queen asked General Ponsonby to see Sir of Westminstcr, a symbol of the free association
Stafford Northcote and Lord Beaconsfield to secure of the members of the British Commonwealth of
agreement about the Government's proposals to Nations. Subordination to the Government at
meet Irish obstruction. The Queen's mediation Westminster is inconsistent with Dominion
was again very useful in resolving difTerences Status, but common "allegiance to the King" is
between the two Houses of Parliament. In 1913 not. The King, therefore, provides an indispen,
a nd 1914 George V made efforts to sec ure agree- sable symbol of unity of the far-flung Common-
ment on the Home Rule Bill. The leaders of th e wealth countries. S9 It is "the last link of the
Parties did not reac h agreement, but he did bring Empire that is left," as Baldwin reminded Ed-
them together. In his address at the Buckingham ward VIII. Break this link which is furnished by
Palace Conference on July 21 , 1914, the King Royalty and nothing remains in common among
said, "My intervention at th is m omen t may be the autonomous partners in the Commonwealth.
rega rded as a new departure, but the excep- With a view to stabilize the bonds of unity the
tional circum stances under which you are Statute ofWestrninster provides that any change
88. Ibid., p. 329.

89. Aulcc on Monarchy, Observer. op. cit.
made in the order of succession to the throne must tions ....... he brings it into prominence. He is not
have the consent of the members of the Common- the leader of a party nor the representative of a
wealth. "Queen Elizabeth is the Queen of all class; he is the chief of the nation ...... He is - :-
territories that admit allegiance to her. She is one everybody's King. "92 He is really everybody's
Queen and not a score of Queens. The Queen is Kingand that is precisely the fcelingofall British
a person and not an institution, and so she is onc people. The accession of the King, his corona-
Queen." The essential factor in this scheme of tion, his jubilee, are the occasions for unparal-
governance was, and still is, the Monarchy. The leled demonstration of popular and patriotic de-
person of the King moves as a single an imating votion. Enthusiastic and loyal subjects throng the
force through the whole of that Commonwealth. route to watch and cheer the King when he drives
Then, the Sovereign is the symbol of the in State to open a new session of Parl iament. In
free associa ti on of the members of the Common- fact, every item of royal activity is newsworthy
wealth including the Repub lic ofIndia and some and it is nashed Ihrough by every device Ihat
fifty other Sovereign and independent States. The modern publicity can utili ze. "Some o f the trib-
position of the Sovereign as head of the Com- utes," said Laski, "devoted to the person of the
monwealth countries, who do not owe allegiance Monarch since the war would certainly have been
to the King, was best explained by Prime Ministe r more suited to the description ofa dcmi ·god Ihan
JawaharJaJ Nehru. In a broadcast speech on Ma y to the aChlal occupants of the throne in the last
10, 1949, Nehru said, "I t must be remembered sixty years. "9)
thai the Commonwealth is nOl super-state in any Monarchy, therefore, provides a use ful fo-
sense of the term. \Ve have agreed to consider the cus for patriotism particularly where it has a long
King as a symbolic hrad of Ihe free associalion. and glorious history. "\Ve ('an damn the Govern·
But the King has 110 function atta ched to that ment ," says Jenn ings, "and cheer the Kin g. ,,1) .\
statu s in the Commonwealth . So far as [he Con- A person can be loyal to his Ki ng and ye t oppose
sti tut io n o f I ndia is con(cmed the King has no the Government. The Co n s~ rvati vc s "served the
place and \ve shall owe no illlegiance to him." King" in 19 14, al'hough they o pposed some
This is th e correct position, yet the King provides aspects of the Liberal Govcnlment's policy. The
the link which brings abou t the free association patriotic fervour of the people is more casily
',~ f s0v~ r L'i gJ1 1l3 ti o ll s \\'hich meet and think over stimul ated when the "King" declarL's war and
problems o f common interests and deri\'e means asks for rcc~ts for the '~ royal forces." The
of mu ltl il l 3mity. The Ki ng is, in the words of national appeal: "Your Kin g and cGuntry need
\Vinston Churchill90 "a mysterious link, indeed, you" is sufficient to remind them that they are
I may say, the magic link , which united our one nation. The King is the most concrete symbol
loosely bound but strongly inter-woven Com- of this oneness and un ity. According 10 U yod
monwea lth of nations, states and races." The Gcorge,"the King in 1917 c nomlOusly ass is led
King may be a symbol for India and other coun- in allaying industrial unrest by his visits to mll·
tries like her, but he is also in that capacity " the nit ion works and other places when suspicion of
Head-the one and single Head-the Head of the war motives was be,ing aroused. "95 The visit of
body which is all the more united because it now George V I to various the,tres of War and the
has, and hence forth acknowledges, a Head. 91 bombed areas in England imbued 'he soldiers and
The King as Ch ief of the :"ation the civilian population alike with a new spirit of
British Kingship, wrote Earl of Balfour, patriotism. They made a heroic bid to win the war
. 'like most other parts of our Constitution, has a and the loya l subjects of the Kin g ultimately won
very modem side to it. Our King, in virtue of his it. "God save the Queen" is their Nationa l An-
de sce nt and of his office, is the living repre- them, and they do and die for the Sovereign who
sentative of our national history. So far from for them personifies the State. Or to put it in the
concealing the popular character of our institu- words of Amery, "Human nature not only
90. Broadcast Speech on lhe death of George VI.

9 1. Barker, E .. , Essays on Government. p. 19.
92. Jntroducation to Bagehot's English Constitution p. XXV.
93. laski, H., Parliamenfary Go\'ernment in England, p. 389
94. Jennings. W.I.. The Englis h Co nstitution, p. 111.
95. A5 cited in Jennings, W.I., Cabinet Governmenl, p. 364.
'vj
'The King and the Crown 57
craves for symbols but prefers them to be per- lar appeal. The Jubilee and Diamond Jubilee
sonal and human. "96 The Monarch is, thus, a celebrations of 1887 and 1897 strengthened
more personalised and attractive symbol of na- popular support for the imperialistic ide", of the
tional unity "th.an a vague concept of the state, Conservative Governments then in office. It is
the flag, or even a President, and the hereditary certain, too, that the Silver Jubilee of 1935
system · at least solves the problem of succes- strengthened the "National Government, whose
sion, "97 popular support had until then been rapidly di-
Queen Elizabeth's plea for unity in an ad- minishing." The Silver Jubilee celebrations of
dress to Parliament, on May 4, 1977 at the start Queen Elizabeth II in 1977 were intended to
of Jubilee celebrations, stirred up unprecedented regenerate emotions and loyalties of the nation
political controversy as it was a departure from to stop the trend gainst Royalty which several
the tradition that the Monarch did not intervene forces combined to demonstrate recently.
in political affairs. But it did indicate her personal Thus, these "dignified" functions, as
anxiety about the dangerofbreak up of the United Bagehot called them, are far more important than
Kingdom through separatist movements in Scot- the King's Government functions . Ifdemocracy
land an d Wales. It was reported tha t the speech means the government by the people as well as
was written in Buckingham Palace and that the for the people, the presence of the King helps to
Queen wanted to speak her mind about separa- make it so. When the people cheer the Queen and
tion. Prime Minister James Callaghan had seen a sing her praises, .. wrote Herbert Morrison,
copy of the speech earlier but had not offered "they are also cheering our free democracy99
,. advice and had not been asked about this passage. The proper part of the Monarch, as Laski empha-
King as a Social Figure sised, "has been that of a dignified emollient
The King is not merely a part of the political rather than of an active umpire between conflict-
machine, he is also an important part of the social ing interests." 100
structure and wields a great social influence_ He The King and Parliamentary System
is the leader of society by general precedence The Cabinet system of government has
dating back from the fourteenth century and sus- nowhere proved a workable plan without the
tained until the present day by Royal Ordinances, presence of some titular Head of the State,
ancient usage, established custom and the public whether he be a King, as in Britain, or a President,
will. The Royal family sets morality, fashion'S as in India. But from the political point of view
and aptitude even in art and literature. The Royal a person who is free of party ties and stands
patronage is an enormous asset to any cause and above party considerations is the most desirable
ensures for it popular support. Such a national . adjunct of the Parliamentary system of govern-
appeal no other person, however eminent, could ment. An elected Head of the State is a promoted
give. His presence at ceremonies such as the politician and howsoever sincerely he may en-
laying of the foundation stones, the launching of deavour to forget his past party associations, he
ships, and the opening of new works, enables cannot do it. Even if he can, ' others cannot. But
people of opposing views to associate without the Sovereign, unlike an elected President, has
suppressing their mutual opposition. Govern- no party associations or partisan leanings. His
ment is a collective concern and it requires the august position, as the occupant of the throne,
willing co-operation of all sections of people. puts him in an altogether different atmosphere.
The presence of the King adds personal touch to He is everybody's King a~d he does not form
the individuals feeling a personal responsibility party loyalties. As a result, not only is he in a
for the collective action, No government is averse position to act more impartially, but also, what is
to use the personal popularity and social influ- of more importance, he is believed by others to
ence of the Sovereign to strengthen its own popu- be impartial. If Parliamentary government in
96, Amery, l.S., Thoughts on the Constitution, p. 139.

97. Punnc,,- R.M ., British Government and Politics, p. 257.
98. Princess Rose, now Queen Elizabeth 11, and her sister Princess Margaret, began going out for their evening wal ks, in
the spring of 1939, without hats, and this sel a fashion for children in London causing a considerable diminished sale
in children hats, A deputation of children-hat dealers waited upon the Queen and explained to Her Majesty how hard
they had been hit. The Queen asked her daughters to use hats for their evening walks and it set a fashion for children
to follow.
99. Morrison Herben, Government and Parliament, p. 92.
100. Laski, H. J., Parliamentary Government in Eng/and, p. 395.
Britain is to be retained in the classic form in and as such it is not only a usefu l but an essential
whi ch it has been deve loped, then, the best rep- part ofthevessel." So despite its anachronism in
resentation of such 3 "dignified and detached-' a democracy. the Kingshi p is impregnably't:h-
figure is the King. "Thlls far, beyond doubt, the trenched in the British constitutional system. Er-
sys tem oflimited Monarchy has been an unques- nest Barker has aplly said, "When a nation has
tionable success in Great Britain. It has, so far, preserved continuity with its past, and continues
trodden its way with rema rkable skill amid the to feel some piety toward s its past, it \\lill naturally
('hanging habits of the time. Its success has been fly Ihe flag of monarchy which it has inherited
Ihe oul come of Ihe fact that it has exchanged from its past. But the monarchy wh ich it pre-
power for influc nce~ the blame forelTors in policy serves will be a changing and moving monar-
has been laid at the door of ministers who have chy--changing and moving with the limes and
paid penalty by loss o f the o ffice. t. Monarchy has actively helping the tim es to change and move.
been no bar to the progressive democratization That, for Ihe laS! 300 yea rs, has been nalure o f
of the Govt:mment otherwise it \\'ould have been the British monarchy. That is the secret of its
throw n overboard long ere this. " The security survival , and that is the so urce o r its stren gth."
and popularilY o f Ihe Brilish Monarchy today," Even the prese nt strains on Monarch y, with the
wrote Herbert Morrison, "are largely the result liquidation o f th e Empire, the economic cost
of the fact that it docs not govern and that gov- to the nali on on Ihe up keep o f royalty, "nd
cmmC nI is th..: task o f ministers Tt!Spons ible 10 a Scotland 's det ermination to win independence,
House of Commons elecled by Ihe pcople. The are not likely to liqu idate this \'cnerablc insti -
Monarchy 3 S it exists now facilitaies the process Ilnio n. It wil1 conti nue to com mand respect.
of parl iJmentary democracy and !'uncliuns as an loya lty and affcction for no othcr rcaso n than
l:!1holder of freedo m and rcpr'!sen:ali\'c govern- tha t it works. And for :J Ilation wit h a lo ng
men l. ' · !O I hi story, it gi\'(:'s a sense: ofconli nuity, o f stab il-
The popul"rity of lhe Rri" ' " Kin g and Ihe ity. So the crowds hopi ng fo r a dew of the
role which he pbys in the Brili:th poli!ics is now Queen . will continUe" to stand ou tside the Buck-
~n undisputed f3 tl . In Brita in. the re had been ingham Palace. \\ herc the gu:uJs \\ il1 also COI1 -
ffim'l!S to end or me nd the I { O ll S ~ of Lords; e\'cn tinue th eir time-honoured ritua l. ,\ nd the Mon-
:0 refxIT! the !Iollse o f COllllllons ~n d the Cabi· arch pcrhaps Iypifled by Eli7abclh II and her
no;l , hu t MOI1~rc hy has withslOC'd the test oftirne. so n Pri«l.:e Charles, will survive.
PCt1p!c fea !isc and appreciate its "unifying. and The Ruling Elite
st~!bilis ing influence ." If it wcre to be abolished The ruling class of the Un ite d Kingdo m
the substi tute \VQuld be eit he r like the type of today uses the monarchy in three WdYS : firstly,
Indian Presidency or the America n Presidency. as an ideologica l weapon for maintaining th e
The fo rmer is not :1 good subst itute, because the eq uilibrium of the political system ; secondly, as
President of India neither rul es nor reigns; and if a direct or indirect meJns of intervention in po-
he rules it is the negatiun o f Parl iamentary gov- lit ical events at critica l junctures; and thirdly~
ernm ent. The limiled period of offi ce ofa Presi- because of its constituti onal rights, the monarchy
dent has di sadvantages as compared with the is potentially a reserve weapon to be used in
conti nu ing re ign o f a hereditary Monarch. The crisis. ThaI is why 8 agehol had felt Ihat "wilhoul
rypc of American Presidency would entail revo- the queen in England, Ihe prese nt Engli sh gov-
lutio nary changes in the existing political set-up ernment would fail and pass awa y." Baldwin
of the counlry. An Englishman will never agree regarded it as " The guarantee in this coun-
10 it. The institution o f Monarchy is something try ... againS! many evils Ihal have affected and
with which all Britons have grown up; it is a part afflicled ol her countries. " The great value of the
of their heritage and their political culture. They monarchy to the ruling class-has been, as we have
have shaped it so that it does not interfere with seen, its facade of neutrality, its pretence of
Iheir social and political development and they representing the nation as a whole. Once the
see no reaso n to substi tute some other institution monarch showed partisanship openly on a con-
for this venerable institution. Lowell has aptly troversial question. the pretences of impartiality
said, "'fthe Ki ng is no longer the motive power would be undennined and the gr~at merit of a
of the state, it is the spar on which the sail is bent,
101. Morrison, Herbert, Go\'Crnmen.t and Parliament, P. 92.
(
The .King and the Crown 59
troversial question. the pretences of impartiality dalous conduct of some members of the royal
.' would be undermined and the great merit of a household,including Prince Charles. Some cri tics
monarchy would vanish from· the point of view have argued that monarchy has outlined its utility
of the ruling elites. The crown would then become and should be abolished after the reign of the
"the football of conten<!ing factions." present reigning Queen. However. this still re-
Recently. the institution of monarchy has mains a minority opinion.
been subjected to adverse criticision due to scan-
SUGGESTED READINGS
Amery. L : Thoughts 011 COlls /i /ll/ioll. Chap. VIII.
Anthony Sampson : Th ~ Anatomy of Br;ra;" Today. Lowell, A. L. : Th e GOI't'rnmem of England (1908" Vo l. I.
Bagehot. E. : Eng/ish COl/.rfilll l ;oll. Chap. I.
Barker. E. : E.t.tay.f on Covenlmenl, Chap. I. M arriol, J. A. R. : /tIecl'alli.lm uf Ole M 'J(/em SIt/ /(' ( 1927),
Vol. II , Chap'i. XX III , XXIV .
Benem),. F. W. G. : Th e Queen Rt!igm: She cloes not Rult'.
Bl ake. R. : The UnkrlOlI"Il Pr imC' Minister. Martin. Kingsley: Th e Magic of Mmwrd:y.
Brasher. N. H. : Studies ;11 British GOllernmml. Chap. I. Martin. Kingsley: Tile Crown and the E.ftabilishment.
Campion. Lo rd and others: British GOI'emmt1ll Sina 1918 Morrison. Herbert : GOI'emmetzl alld Pa r liamcm. Chap. V.
Morrah. Dcrmot : Th e Work ofth" Quun.
Cathcart. He len: Ha Majesty .
Munro. W. B. : Tile GO\'f:mments of El/rope, Chap. IV.
Dorothy Laird : H o II' the Quet'll ReigllJ.
Nicolson. Si r H. : Gl!orge V.
Fi ner. H. : GOI'emmenfJ 0/ C r ea/a European POWl'rS,
Ch'p.9. Ogg, F. A. : Engli.rh GCH't'l7Iment (tnd Po/irin ( 19.16).
Chaps. IV. V.
Grr<lves. H. ,R. G. : Th e Brithih Cons/jlll/jutl . Chap. IV.
Ogg. and Zink.. II . : M ()(lcm Foreigrl Go\ 'emm~ ml'. Ch.1p
Grigg , Jo hn : Is the Monarchy Perfect ?
Ill.
Hardie. F. : The Pulitico/lnfluence of British Monarchy.
Pterie, S ir Charles: The MlxJl;!nI British MorWN•.'ily.
Jennings. W . I. : Th e British Constitution, Chap. V,
Stannard. H. : The Two Constitutiuns, Ch::Jp I.
Jennings, W . I. : The Queen's Government.
Ch 3p.2. Whec ler Bennett. Sir J. W. C enrf.:e \'1 : His LIfe ami
Reign.
Keith. A. B. Th e Constitution oj England from QUt'en
Vic /oria /o G('Ofgt VI . Vol. I, C h :lp~ . II , Ill. \Villia m. E. N.; The .' 8th Cent!u'!' Comt;lU/iull. 1 6~8· 1 8 1 5
Kei1 h. A. B. : The King alld tlu' Imperial CroIH!.. Windsur. Duke of: Cro wn and Public, 1920-53 .
L1Ski. H . J. : PCl l'lia memary GVI·emmem in Englal/d,

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THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

Nature and Content ofthe Constitution

51. Hewart. Lo r~, The Ne .... · Despotism, p. 19.

S t' (;(;ES T U) REA llI l'iCS \)

Liberal Political Tradition capable of explanation in terms of a single

1. Laski H.J., PariitzJMntary GuverntMnI in England, p. 1

2. Morton._..A.L., A People's History oj England, p. 64.

4. Morton, A.t . A People's Hislory of England. p. 169.

5. Misra, K.K., Quoted in Contemporary Political Theory, p. 343

6. Morton, A.L. A People's History of Eng/alld, pp, 277-278.

The King and the Crown

2. Sidney Low, Governmelll of England, p. 25 5.

5. The Duke of Windsor, A King's Slory (1951), p. 411 .

23. Lord Morrison, BrW,sh Parliamentary Democracy, pp. 60-61.

83 . kn nings . I.. Th,· QUl'!'n's G 01'l!nIll/ t'IIl, p. 46.

88. Ibid., p. 329.

90. Broadcast Speech on lhe death of George VI.

96, Amery, l.S., Thoughts on the Constitution, p. 139.

101. Morrison, Herbert, Go\'Crnmen.t and Parliament, P. 92.

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