© Richard Randall

Caribbean

Sundries

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the basis on which a person is asked to form a government. That is, whether a government should be formed capable of surviving in the House of Commons — the standard requirement — or capable of commanding majority support in the House of Commons — i.e., a requirement to form a coalition if no one party has a majority. This requirement was last set in 1940, when King George VI asked Winston Churchill to form a government capable of commanding a majority in parliament. This necessitated a coalition. The requirement is normally only made in emergencies or in wartime, and happened only three times in the 20th century: with Andrew Bonar Law and David Lloyd George in 1916 (Bonar Law declined and recommended King George V ask Lloyd George to form a government) and Churchill in 1940. To date Elizabeth has never set it. All her prime ministers have had to meet the lower requirement of simply surviving in the House of Commons. The Queen also appoints ministers of the United Kingdom and all government is carried out legally in her name.

Theoretically she stills holds a large proportion of power in international affairs. The Queen, as Head of State, has the power to declare war and make peace, to recognise foreign states, to conclude treaties and to take over or give up territory on behalf of the United Kingdom. In her other realms she leaves the exercise of these powers to her representatives, who likewise exercise it at the behest of elected governments.

UK Orders-in-Council are issued only when approved by her at Privy Council meetings, Canadian Orders issued only when approved by her Governor General-in-council. She has access to all government minutes and documentation from all her Realms, and has a weekly meeting with the British Prime Minister when the British parliament is in session. In the UK she also signs executive orders, financial and treasury papers, with her signature required on all major financial transactions of state (countersigned by the relevant minister). The role of Commander-in-Chief is held in each realm either by the Queen or by her Governor-General as her representative.

On three occasions during her reign the Queen has had to deal with constitutional problems over the formation of UK governments. In 1957 and again in 1963 the absence of a formal open mechanism within the Conservative Party for choosing a leader meant that following the sudden resignations of Sir Anthony Eden and Harold Macmillan respectively it fell on the Queen to decide whom to commission to form a government. In both these cases Rab Butler was passed over, in controversial circumstances. In 1957 Eden did not proffer advice and so the Queen consulted Lords Salisbury and Kilmuir for the opinion of the Cabinet and Winston Churchill, as the only living former Conservative Prime Minister (following the precedent of George V consulting Salisbury's father and Arthur Balfour upon Andrew Bonar Law's resignation in 1923). In October 1963 the outgoing Prime Minister Harold Macmillan advised the Queen to appoint the Earl of Home.

On the third occasion, in February 1974, an inconclusive general election result meant that in theory outgoing Prime Minister Edward Heath, who had won more of the popular vote, could stay in power if he formed a coalition government with the Liberals. Rather than immediately resign as prime minister he explored the option and only resigned when the discussions floundered. (Had he chosen to, he could have stayed on until defeated in the debate on the Queen's Speech.) Only when he resigned was the Queen able to ask the Leader of the Opposition, the Labour Party's Harold Wilson, to form a government. His minority government lasted for 8 months before a new general election was held.

In all three cases, she appears to have acted in accordance with constitutional tradition, following the advice of her senior ministers and Privy Councillors.

Relations with ministers

British Prime Ministers take their weekly meetings with the Queen very seriously. One Prime Minister said he took them more seriously than Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, because she would be better briefed and more constructive than anything he would face at the dispatch box. Elizabeth also has regular meetings with her individual British ministers, and occasional meetings with ministers from her other Realms. Even ministers known to have republican views speak highly of her and value these meetings.

As with her British Prime Ministers, some Canadian Prime Ministers have commented on the Queen's knowledge of Canadian and international affairs. Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau stated: "I was always impressed not only by the grace she displayed in public at all times, but by the wisdom she showed in private conversation." (Memoirs, Pierre E. Trudeau)

The Queen also meets the Scottish First Minister. The royal palace in Edinburgh, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, once home to Scottish kings and queens like Mary, Queen of Scots, is now regularly used again, with at least one member of the Royal Family (often the Prince of Wales or Princess Royal) in residence. She also receives reports from the new Welsh Assembly, and is continually kept abreast of goings on with her other governments.

Though bound by convention not to intervene directly in politics, her length of service, the fact that she has seen a great many prime ministers come and go in all of her realms, combined with her knowledge of world leaders, means that when she does express an opinion, however cautiously, her words are taken seriously. In her memoirs, Margaret Thatcher offered this description of her weekly meetings with Elizabeth:

"Anyone who imagines that they are a mere formality or confined to social niceties is quite wrong; they are quietly businesslike and Her Majesty brings to bear a formidable grasp of current issues and breadth of experience."

During an argument within the Commonwealth over sanctions on South Africa, Elizabeth made a pointed reference to her role as Head of the Commonwealth which was interpreted at the time as a disagreement with Thatcher's policy of opposing sanctions.

Constitutional controversies

The Queen has been involved in some political controversies during her reign, in some of which her actions appear to have stated her political views.

Rhodesia

On 18 November 1965, the Governor of Rhodesia (Sir Humphrey Vicary Gibbs) was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, an honour in the personal gift of the Queen, a week after Ian Smith had made his Unilateral Declaration of Independence. Gibbs was intensely loyal to Rhodesia and although he had refused to accept UDI, the award was criticised by some as badly timed. Others praised it as indicating support for her Rhodesian representative in the face of an illegal action by her Rhodesian prime minister.

The United Kingdom

In her speech to Parliament at the Silver Jubilee in 1977, Elizabeth stated "I cannot forget that I was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". This reference came at a time when the Labour government was attempting to introduce a controversial devolution scheme to Scotland and Wales, and was interpreted as opposition to devolution. However, in the late 1990s after referendums approved a devolution scheme, Elizabeth sent her best wishes to the new Scottish Parliament, the first session of which she opened in person. Her reference in the Silver Jubilee speech is also believed by some to refer to the disturbances in Northern Ireland at that time.

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