ANTI-MONARCHY campaigners have staged a protest outside the first State Opening of Parliament under the new Labour Government.
Around 200 republicans gathered opposite Parliament on Wednesday to protest the monarchy, king Charles and his role in the ceremony.
Campaigners could be heard shouting, “Call this democracy?”, and calling on the new Labour Government to put political reform on the agenda.
Campaign group Republic, which organised the protest, has said the new Parliament is likely to include dozens more republicans.
At a time when support for the monarchy is at an all-time low, Republic said the makeup of Parliament represents “a new era for the anti-monarchy movement”.
The protest was also joined by Labour for a Republic.
Commenting, CEO of Republic Graham Smith said: “We have just witnessed a huge democratic moment, the election of hundreds of new MPs.
“Yet now we must sit back and watch a king open our parliament from the unelected Lords.
“The State Opening of Parliament should be a celebration of our democracy. Instead it is a showcase of the worst, least democratic aspects of our political system.
Anti-monarchy protesters line the streets of Westminster as King Charles is due to give a speech later today pic.twitter.com/iCgnaPxOp5
— The National (@ScotNational) July 17, 2024
“Our message today is that this campaign is about more than the monarch, it's about the place of the Crown in parliament and the ramshackle state of our constitution.
“Republic continues to enjoy unprecedented growth and our protests show no sign of stopping or slowing down.
“I'm delighted that Labour for a Republic joined us today - we know lots of Labour MPs are sympathetic, and we will be working hard to win their active support.”
It comes as MPs were sworn into Parliament, where they had to take the oath of allegiance to the Crown to take their seat as an MP.
It led several MPs, including Labour’s Clive Lewis, to take the oath under protest due to its connection with the monarchy.
