Just another weird tradition to add to the pile
A Labour MP was “held hostage” in Buckingham Palace during the King’s Speech today in what is quite frankly a rather bizarre tradition.
Brits are a rather self-deprecating nation, but, when it comes to the weird, wonderful and downright whacky, we truly excel.
While the King’s Speech in itself is a rather odd tradition in the sense that a person, who is the head of state without any real governing power, reads out a script given to him by the actual people in power which details the changes they are making.
While a constitutional monarchy is one thing, taking MPs hostage is another, slightly more extreme, hangover of the past.
A strange tradition
The tradition sees one MP, usually a government whip, “taken hostage” at Buckingham Palace while the King attends Westminster as a bargaining chip for the monarch’s safe return.
The custom dates back to 1649 and is an echo of an era when the relationship between the monarch and Parliament was a lot more volatile.
This date is important as it was in that same year that Charles I was executed during the English Civil War and saw the only period where England had no monarch – so yeah, the bargaining chip was pretty crucial, although some might say not very effective in the long run.
Well, this tradition returned with the reestablishment of the monarchy and has taken place annually since.
This year, the lucky MP to be selected was Nic Dakin, Labour MP for Scunthorpe and Vice Chamberlain of HM Household.
Upon hearing the quirky story, much of the internet reacted in its usual, humorous fashion.
Many people compared the tradition to that of the United States’ ‘designated survivor’ role which sees one person in the line of presential succession kept far away from the travelling president and their entourage.
Other people made the rather obvious joke about sending Keir Starmer and “leaving him there”.
While another said: “Only in Britain can an MP get ‘held hostage’ in Buckingham Palace and it’s just a 300-year-old tradition to make sure the King comes back safely Peak UK symbolism.”
Indeed, peak Britishness.
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