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by scott_w 477 days ago
You’re correct, however I gave GP the benefit of the doubt and assumed they meant Secretary of State ;-)

And, to be fair, while I’m generally a small r republican, I’m seeing benefits of having a non politically aligned head of state after J6. While the monarch has limited power, booting out a PM that can’t command the confidence of Parliament is one of them. The question of whether Johnson would accept being dethroned a la Trump was always silly given his consent was never needed.
2 comments
worik 477 days ago
> And, to be fair, while I’m generally a small r republican, I’m seeing benefits of having a non politically aligned head of state

One of the benefits of a constitutional monarchy is the head of state did not campaign for the position.

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c0ndu17 476 days ago
I’ve become a bit of fan of it over the last few years. That said, I don’t think the UK can be replicated.

It wraps ultimate power up in a contradiction, you have it but you can’t use it. Sure, technically you could but it would be your last act.

Another important aspect, the for and against is currently split between parties, so there’s somewhat of unification factor between parties on that divide as well.

It gets a lot of hate, because it is imperfect, but I don’t think it gets its fair shake. My views more of, if it ain’t broke is it really worth the risk changing it.

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worik 476 days ago
> Sure, technically you could but it would be your last act.

It was used in Australia in the 1970s

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onei 477 days ago
The UK monarch's power is largely based on convention more than active decision making. For example, a government is formed at the invitation of the monarch, but that's long reflected the results of an election. Getting rid of a PM generally happens when they run out of luck. That sometimes coincides with the ruling party/coalition imploding. The next PM is then shortlisted by MPs and selected by a minority of the electorate.

I guess the US equivalent is the leader of the house being unable to hold their majority together. In some ways the presidential election feels more democratic if a relative outsider (like Trump was) can win. But a 2 year lead up is crazy.

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