A new Tory Party leader: democracy as it was before the 1832 Reform Act. Old Corruption
A timetable has been announced for the election of the Tory leader to replace Theresa May, and hence a new Prime Minister and it is set to take place with the process starting next week.
A new unelected PM will be in place by July 22nd.
The selection of the leader, and PM, relies on a ballot of Tory MPs who will in a series of votes reduce the number of candidates to two. These will then go to a ballot of the Tory membership which is reported to be 160,000.
It is democracy but not as we know it.
Of course Gordon Brown replaced Tony Blair but was never elected at a General Election. That said the succession plan was public knowledge when Blair was elected in 2005. That was perhaps a bit less true of Jim Callaghan when he replaced Harold Wilson in 1976 and again he was never elected at a General Election. Theresa May by contrast while becoming leader and PM by proclamation did hold and win, just about, an Election.
The current Tory contest does seem a bit like pre-1832 politics however.
The English Civil War was fought over the right of Parliament to decide affairs not the King. Charles 1st lost his head in 1649 and there was a period of Parliamentary rule under Cromwell. The monarchy was restored in 1660 but in 1688 came the revolution (a mostly peaceful one but that was not pre-ordained) which saw the Bill of Rights passed.
Henceforth the Monarch while retaining absolute power operated within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, the same one that exists today.
The monarch had to agree all legislation passed by Parliament and appointed the Prime Minister. On the other hand the monarch relied on funds from Parliament- the Civil List.
In practice until 1832 therefore Prime Ministers were certainly not elected by voters, nor really were they party men in the modern sense of political parties (the Tory Party started to organise after 1832, the Liberals were formed in 1859). Rather they were the figures who could command most support in Parliament and who most particularly had the confidence of the monarch.
Or as William Cobbett called it, Old Corruption. The Tories latest leadership election looks like a reprise.
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