Mother of parliaments

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The Parliament of England was established in 1236 as a council of bishops and peers to advise King Henry III. It evolved into the House of Lords and House of Commons in 1341.  There have been many changes over the centuries, but the Palace of Westminster has been its home since the beginning. 

History books are full of dramas, comedies, successes and failures connected to these chambers, from the Gunpowder Plot of Guy Fawkes in 1605, the Civil War of 1642. Then declarations of foreign wars and subsequent declarations of peace, to the abolition of slavery in 1834. There have been all sorts of scandals involving those high and mighty who slither along those corridors of power. Traditions have been kept for centuries, one of which is the King’s Speech when the monarch arrives in the royal carriage for the State Opening of Parliament.

That ceremony took place in London a few days ago, with King Charles III in ermine gown and crown seated on his throne next to Queen Camilla on hers. She was bedecked in virginal white –  quite the stretch of imagination, recalling her background. That is typical of the spectacle, where a parliamentary officer known as the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod dresses in garb dating back to 1341 to knock on doors of the hallowed chamber.  

This pantomime took place while the Prime Minister Keith Starmer is in peril of losing his job, less than two years after gaining a huge majority in national elections. His Labour Party gained victory over Conservatives who had no less than five PMs in just 14 years, each one being forced out of power by their own MPs.  

Labour promised stability, to be different and more decisive, but that was not to be. The British electorate witnessed Labour’s constant vacillation and gross inefficiency and, when municipal elections came earlier this month, they voted in huge numbers to remove their candidates from local councils in England, and from national parliaments in Scotland and Wales. 

PM Starmer is most unpopular and constantly ridiculed, but clings on while two party members are already vying for his job. Stay tuned for more hopefuls throwing their hats into the ring, as constitutional chaos continues in what is known around the world as the mother of parliaments.

BERNIE SMITH

Parksville, BC

Canada