UNITED KINGDOM
SUCCESSION TO THE CROWN, ELECTORAL ADMINISTRATION AND SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
The Succession to the Crown Bill
On 28 October 2011, Commonwealth Heads of Government agreed at a meeting in Perth, Western Australia, to end the primacy of males over females in the succession to the throne. The Perth Agreement also extended to ending
and its Report Stage and Third Reading on 28 January. Opening the Second Reading
debate, the Deputy Prime Minister referred to the “phenomenal
the House, he said “discrimination is discrimination wherever we find it, and just as we respect our traditions and cherish our monarchy, the House must never tolerate prejudice in our laws. Equality is, after all, a great British tradition too”. Some Members expressed
Mr Paul Flynn, MP Rt Hon. Nick Clegg, MP
co-incidence” that the final approval of the Commonwealth
disqualification of heirs who married Catholic spouses. On 13 December 2012, the
Deputy Prime Minister, Rt Hon. Nick Clegg, MP, (Lib Dem), introduced the Succession of the Crown Bill into the House of Commons. The Bill seeks to implement the two key strands of the Perth Agreement. It also limits the requirement to seek the Monarch’s permission to marry to the first six individuals in line to the throne. The Bill passed through
the House of Commons to an accelerated timescale – with its Second Reading and Committee Stage taken on 22 January 2013
concern about the technical details. Mr Ben Wallace, MP, (Con) expressed concern that by not covering the lands associated with the Duchy of Lancaster in the Bill, these lands could be separated from the line of Royal Succession. Rt Hon. Nicholas Soames, MP, (Con) referred to the Bill as from the “good wheeze” school of government, rather than being a coherent attempt at constitutional reform. Mr Paul Flynn, MP, (Lab), argued that the Bill strengthened “the prejudices of the past” by not removing the constitutional bar on a Catholic taking the throne and Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg, MP, (Con) moved an amendment that would have allowed that bar to be removed. However, the broad principle
Ms Jessica Lee, MP
Realms was received in writing “just hours before” the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announced they were expecting a child. Commending the Bill to
of the Bill was endorsed on all sides of the House. Ms Nia Griffith, MP, (Lab), described the Bill as an “important step on the long and tortuous trek to greater equality of opportunity between men and women in our society.” On the other side of the House, Ms Jessica Lee, MP, (Con) said that the change reflected “not only examples of successful female monarchs but the reality of working life across the country.” The Bill passed its Second and
Third Readings unopposed and passed to the House of Lords.
Appointment of the new Governor of the Bank of England The Governor of the Bank of
Rt Hon. Nicholas Soames, MP
England is widely regarded as one of the most powerful positions in British public life. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon. George Osborne, MP, (Con), announced his choice of the Governor of the Bank of Canada, Mr Mark Carney,
Ms Nia Griffith, MP
The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue One | 71
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