Dozens of First Nations leaders from across the country gathered in front of Parliament Hill Monday with a message for the King as he arrived in the city — respect your treaty partners.
I believe in England they have a (incredibly rarely used) veto power over parliament but that’s it.
The monarch has more power in the UK then you’d think, but a lot of it is not exercised because recent monarchs know it wouldn’t sit right in a democracy.
I won’t list all of the King’s powers as others have already gone into more detail, but one I find interesting is the King’s ability to call (or not call) an election. There is theoretically a precedent where the King is suppose to reject a prime minister’s request for an election if there is still a functioning parliament. So in the present context, if Keir Starmer were to ask for an election today, the King is supposed to reject it on the basis that Keir Starmer has a strong majority, and still comfortably retains parliament’s confidence. But if the King ever felt like he had to exercise this power, it would put him in a very uncomfortable position, and people would be willing to criticise him for whichever move he made, and then perhaps wonder why an unelected hereditary monarch is the one making this decision…
The monarch has more power in the UK then you’d think, but a lot of it is not exercised because recent monarchs know it wouldn’t sit right in a democracy.
I won’t list all of the King’s powers as others have already gone into more detail, but one I find interesting is the King’s ability to call (or not call) an election. There is theoretically a precedent where the King is suppose to reject a prime minister’s request for an election if there is still a functioning parliament. So in the present context, if Keir Starmer were to ask for an election today, the King is supposed to reject it on the basis that Keir Starmer has a strong majority, and still comfortably retains parliament’s confidence. But if the King ever felt like he had to exercise this power, it would put him in a very uncomfortable position, and people would be willing to criticise him for whichever move he made, and then perhaps wonder why an unelected hereditary monarch is the one making this decision…
For more detail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascelles_Principles