British Elections, Can the Royal Family Vote?

(Adnkronos) – The United Kingdom will vote in the 2024 general election, the first consultations since King Charles III ascended to the throne. Can the monarch and other royals vote? Could Prince William win a seat? The short answer is: The royals can vote, but they don’t. The Washington Post’s “royal commentator,” Richard Fitzwilliams, explains that the monarch—as Queen Elizabeth has done in the past—and the royals “choose to abstain.” “Anything else would violate the requirement in our unwritten constitution that the monarchy be above party politics,” the expert says. Words shared by Robert Hazell, professor of government and the constitution at University College London: “By convention,” key members of the royal family, including the monarch, “don’t vote to maintain the political neutrality of the royal family.” Geoff King, professor of law at University College London, highlights that “the rules regarding the voting power of the royals are governed by constitutional convention, not statutory law.” In British law, “covenants are considered ‘binding’ in the relevant sense, even if they are political rather than legal in nature. Some covenants have come under pressure in recent years, but the tradition that the monarch does not vote is a clear rule.” —internazionale/[email protected] (Web information)