Even in the post-colonial era, the Westminster system is still the defacto system of governance in most of the 54 countries that form the Commonwealth of Nations spread around the world.
Yet, in the year 2022, the term “British Democracy” is slowly proving to be oxymoronic in nature. As each week passes by it becomes increasingly clear that those who sit in positions of power in the United Kingdom are on the verge of political civil war.
For the entirety of 2022, the world has witnessed the ruling Conservative party proving to be bereft of discipline, direction and democracy. When someone like Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson could seemlessly move form scandal to scandal, without sanction, it was clearly a red flag of what was to come.
In July when the excuses could no longer be tolerated, there was a mass exodus of ministers from the Johnson administration. This then prompted a leadership race between Rishi Sunak and Mary Elizabeth Truss aka Liz.
A series of debates around the UK showed that Liz Truss was seriously out of her depth. Despite her obvious political shortcomings, she was portrayed in the media as the second coming of Margaret Thatcher, and sixty per cent of conservative members voted for her. On September 6, 2022, she became the very last British PM to be received by Queen Elizabeth II.
Within one month, it was crystal clear that the experiment of Liz Truss equated to; rising mortgage rates, an increased deficit of 50 Billion pounds, and the devaluation of the UK currency. On October 20, 2022, after only 45 days as PM, she was forced from office.
Yet another example when right wing media hype goes wrong.
Within hours, a campaign for the return of Boris Johnson, yes the same gent that ignited this disaster, began in earnest. At the same time, Rishi Sunak gathered scores of endorsements from his fellow MPs.
On Monday, October 24, 2022, it was announced by Sir Graham Brady of the 1922 Committee that Sunak was the only candidate who met the required 100 letters of support. Therefore, he became the unelected PM of the UK and its Territories. The third PM in 4 months, and the very first British Asian leader.
Rightly or wrongly, within hours of this announcement, it became evident that a large proportion of the country did not accept this as a legitimate appointment, and began demanding a General Election.
In the other three nations of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, it has become evident that the facade of a unified kingdom is slowly unraveling.
Scottish First Minister Nicola F. Sturgeon, of the Scottish National Party (SNP), has recently made two major declarations. The first that there must be a General Election called for the UK. The second and most significant, that Scotland will hold a referendum for independence on Thursday, October 19, 2023.
In Northern Ireland, the frail political truce between the Tory-backed Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the pro-republican Sinn Fein fell apart on Friday, October 28, 2022, when the DUP willfully failed to form part of an executive. By law, there now has to be yet another election for the Parliament of Stormont held within 12 weeks.
This will be their second election in 2022 alone.
Viewing this constant ongoing political chaos in the UK, one can see that the independent nations and Overseas Territories are much better examples of political stability.