Does the UK Really Want a King?

After the sad passing of Queen Elizabeth II the United Kingdom now has a new head of state. Charles III became King immediately upon the death of his mother, however the official coronation isn't likely to take place for a number of months.

Obviously there is no election for King Charles III. However it is also probably true that the continued existence of an unelected head of state is dependent to a certain extent on the continued will of the people. Unherd Britain has mapped out support for the Royal Family across the UK. In What each constituency really believes about the Roayl Family you can see the level of support for the Royal Family in every political constituency in England, Scotland and Wales. Overall the map paints a happy picture for Britain's most powerful family with only 10% of the country strongly disagreeing with the continued reign of the Royal Family and only 10% mildly disagreeing.  On the other hand 24% 'strongly agree' to the continuing reign of the Royal Family and 29% mildly agree.

However things are not quite as rosy for the Royal Family as it might appear. As you can see from the image of the Unherd Britain map above support for the Royal Family is least strong in Scotland and parts of Wales. This obviously does not bode well for the future of the United Kingdom. The Scottish National Party continues to call for a referendum on Scotland's independence from the United Kingdom. I suspect that support for independence might be particularly strong among those who believe that an unelected head of state is an undemocratic anachronism. 

The other mild note of warning for the new King is that the Unherd Britain poll of support for the Royal Family was held in 2019. At that time Elizabeth II was Queen. It would be interesting to see a more recent poll, to see if the new King has as much support as his much loved mother.