Can The Queen Vote?

Former Member

Can She?

Former Member

Not as far as I am aware, no.

Former Member

she can choose her own prime minister on a hung parliament, like deciding vote

Former Member

I wonder what party would Phillip vote for... :rolleyes:

Former Member

Originally posted by Aladdin
I wonder what party would Phillip vote for... :rolleyes:

his mother in law was quite taken aback by hitler i believe.

Former Member

Originally posted by Aladdin
I wonder what party would Phillip vote for... :rolleyes:

The extremely nice, tolerant and not xenophobic party surely.

Former Member

Originally posted by lukesh
100% sure on this one.... no she can't vote, non of the royal family can.

They all can but don't.

Although the law relating to elections does not specifically prohibit the Sovereign from voting in a General Election or local election, it is considered unconstitutional for the Sovereign and his or her heir to do so. As Head of State, The Queen must remain politically neutral, since her Government will be formed from whichever party can command a majority in the House of Commons. The Queen herself is part of the legislature (as 'The Queen in Parliament' she approves legislation), and technically she cannot therefore vote for members of another part of the legislature.

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, although legally entitled to vote, never did so because of her closeness to The Queen. With the removal of hereditary peers from the House of Lords in 1999, the Royal Dukes (The Dukes of Edinburgh, York, Gloucester and Kent) ceased to be members of the House of Lords and therefore became eligible to vote in elections.

The Queen and her family never stand for election to any position - political or otherwise. The Queen's role is to provide continuity and the focus for national unity, and the Royal Family's public role is based on identifying with every section of society, including minorities and special interest groups. To hold elected positions would not be in accordance with those neutral and unifying roles.

For the same reason, members of the Royal Family, although allowed to vote in local government elections and stand for election to the House of Commons and local authorities, do not in practice exercise these rights.

Under the Maastricht Treaty, The Queen and other members of the Royal Family would be entitled to vote for the European Parliament, or to stand for election to that Parliament. But The Queen would only exercise these rights on the advice of her Ministers, and their advice would invariably be that she should neither vote nor stand for an elected position so as not to compromise her neutrality. Other members of the Royal Family do not act on ministerial advice, but they also are required to preserve their political neutrality so as not to embarrass The Queen. Therefore, they too would not vote nor stand for election for the European Parliament.

From here.

Former Member

Originally posted by wheresmyplacebo
she can choose her own prime minister on a hung parliament, like deciding vote

Sigh… rosy dreams

Former Member

I might be cynical here, but I think the Queen would vote for whichever candidate wouldn't bore her to death on a Thursday afternoon.

Former Member

Originally posted by mrheathcliff
I might be cynical here, but I think the Queen would vote for whichever candidate wouldn't bore her to death on a Thursday afternoon.

i think thats why the queen doesn't vote, she can't find one

Former Member

Originally posted by lukesh
if the royal family would vote they would choose common sense of course


i.e tories

'common sense' is not the Tories. They would probably vote them though because they are a bunch of tax avoiding rich morons.

Former Member

An interesting question is does th Queen have human rights?

Former Member

Technically the Queen doesn't need to vote. At any point if she believes the current parliament is destroying the country she can dissolve it.
The Prime Minister still has to ask permission to run the country when he is elected, and she can tell him to go bollocks.
If they don't like it, she retains control of the police and armed forces

Former Member

I doubt the Queen votes. I can just see it now. Tony spending his Thursday afternoons trying to convince her to vote Labour.