The major political parties contesting the elections include the Conservative Party under PM Rishi Sunak, the Labour Party led by Keir Starmer, the Liberal Democrats led by Ed Davey, Reform UK led by Nigel Farage, the Scottish National Party (SNP) under John Swinney’s leadership, and Green Party co-led by Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay.
Is it illegal for the Royals to vote?
No. The Royal family members enjoy voting rights just like any other British citizen.
“The King and active members of the royal family can legally cast a vote at general elections on the same basis as other eligible citizens, but in practice do not do so for obvious reasons, especially because it would cause a furore of media speculation and violate the constitutional requirement today that they maintain a strict party political impartiality,” Robert Blackburn, a professor at King’s College told TIME magazine.
‘Political power of British monarchs reduced over time’
Even though it is the King that appoints the prime minister of the country, political commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told TIME that political power of the British monarchs has been reduced over “the last three hundred years”.
The last time a monarch exercised veto power over a parliament-passed bill was in 1708, when Queen Anne declined to sign the Scottish Militia Bill, which aimed to equip Scottish militias with arms, he said.
The most recent known instance of a monarch openly favoring one prime ministerial candidate over another was in 1894, when Queen Victoria publicly endorsed the Whig party over the Tory party, he added.
