A Historic Week In Government And Monarchy
Monday 5 September 2022 to Sunday 11 September 2022 saw some of the biggest changes in the United Kingdom’s state. For the first time ever, there was a changing of the guard of government and monarchy. See below for all the events of the week that dramatically changed British history forever.
Monday 5 September 2022
Liz Truss (left) and Rishi Sunak (right) during the Conservative leadership election campaign.
Against her former Cabinet colleague, Rishi Sunak (ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer), Liz Truss (then Foreign Secretary) is announced as the Conservative Party Leader after roughly eight weeks since Boris Johnson vowed to step down as Prime Minister - therefore relinquishing his title as Tory Leader.
Tuesday 6 September 2022
Boris Johnson giving his last speech as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at 10 Downing Street.
Boris Johnson makes his final speech as Prime Minister and makes a 1000 mile journey to meet Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle in Scotland to tender his formal resignation to the monarch.
The ‘kissing of the hands’ at Balmoral Castle in Scotland with sovereign Queen Elizabeth II (left) and Tory Party leader Liz Truss (right).
Liz Truss also made the 1000 mile journey to Balmoral Castle in Scotland for the ‘kissing of the hands’ ceremonial tradition of being asked to lead the nation as Prime Minister by the ruling sovereign at the time.
Liz Truss makes her first speech as Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street.
Liz Truss, now officially the Prime Minister, makes her way back to 10 Downing Street where she makes her inaugural speech after a brief bout of heavy rainfall which caused politicians, journalists and even the lectern to retreat.
Tuesday 6 September 2022 was a massive day in politics and more can be read about it in our full coverage of the day which witnessed the change in Prime Minister here.
Wednesday 7 September 2022
Liz Truss (left) as the new Prime Minister and Keir Starmer (right) at PMQs in the House of Commons.
Liz Truss has her first Prime Minister’s Questions, also know as PMQs, at lunchtime. She went up against party leaders such as Keir Starmer (Leader of the Labour Party), Ian Blackford (Leader of the SNP) and Ed Davey (Leader of The Liberal Democrats Party). Here, Liz Truss was questioned on many of the nation’s growing issues, the most prominent being the energy crisis.
Here we see the first few issues regarding the environment. Oil has become a resource that is not only unsustainable, but also rare and finite. Thus, this allows the UK to be forced to pay extortionate prices for oil. Nuclear energy seems to be the most popular option amongst the government’s initiative for home-grown energy. However this sort of energy can also be of great harm to the environment as it produces radioactive waste.
Thursday 8 September 2022
Liz Truss delivering her energy policy for the nation at the House of Commons.
Liz Truss delivers an opening speech for the ‘Energy Policy Debate’ in the House of Commons at 11 in the morning. Liz Truss announces a price cap on energy at £2,500 - which energy regulator Ofgem predicted to soar to £3,549 by next year. This will extend to all households despite their circumstance, unlike the £400 discount on electricity bills which was announced earlier in the year under Boris Johnson’s leadership. Liz Truss was criticised for protecting oil companies by not extending the windfall tax, however she defended this decision in the belief of promoting higher UK investment from the global oil and gas industry.
Here is where we start seeing the environmental issues on how oil as a resource is not only sustainable for the natural environment but also the political environment. Due to growing European tensions politics have been used as the biggest reason as to why the United Kingdom is facing such an energy crisis, as well as other crisis such as the rising cost of living and inflation at a 40 year high of 10%. The Bank of England is also reporting the bleak possibility of a recession in the coming months,
Speaker of the House of Commons pauses the debate in the chamber to acknowledge the concern for the Queen’s health after Buckingham Palace’s announcement.
House of Commons Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, disrupts the Energy Policy Debate to announce well-wishes and thoughts towards the Queen, regarding her ‘concerning’ health condition, as stated by her royal doctors. Buckingham Palace had made this announcement just after noon. News outlets across the United Kingdom and across the world begin showing constant coverage of the Queen’s situation.
Queen Elizabeth II coronation on 2 June 1953.
At 6:30pm the flag at Buckingham Palace is lowered to half-mast and it is announced that Queen Elizabeth II had died earlier that afternoon at Balmoral Castle with Prince Charles and Princess Anne by her side as they were already in Scotland at the time for public duties. King Charles immediately becomes the reigning monarch as soon as the Queen dies as the Crown is ever constant.
The nation and the world enters into a period of widespread mourning.
Friday 9 September 2022
King Charles III delivers his first speech from Buckingham Palace.
King Charles III makes his first speech as the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom at 6pm. He sends condolences to his mother as he mourns with the nation. He also makes Prince William, Prince of Wales and Kate Middleton the Princess of Wales - the princess title is the first time it has been used since the death of Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales in 1997. He gives Prince Harry and Meghan Markle his love as their children become Prince Archie and Princess Lillibet - due to King Charles’ accession to the throne as their grandfather.
Saturday 10 September 2022
King Charles giving his proclamation as reigning monarch of the UK in St James’ Palace.
The Proclamation Of Accession Of King Charles III takes place at 10am at St James’ Palace in London. This was the formal proclamation of King Charles III as king, thus thereafter if anyone questioned his right to rule it can be seen as treason from that point. The Accession Council at the palace consisted of the senior 200 members of the Privy Council who were summoned, however all 700+ members were eligible to attend. This was due to space and the building restrictions.
The Accession Council included the Leader of the Opposition (Keir Starmer) and former Prime Ministers such as (from left to right) Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Boris Johnson, David Cameron and Theresa May.
Many senior politicians and statesmen/women were present including a string of former prime ministers.
The Accession Council watched, whilst on the platform (from left to right) Prince William, Queen consort Camilla, King Charles III and Lord President Penny Mordaunt stood.
This was the first proclamation of a reigning monarch to be broadcast on television, where for the first time those on the outside were able to see what was going on. Lord President of the Council, the newly elected Penny Mordaunt under Liz Truss’ leadership, led the proclamation where King Charles III, Queen consort Camilla, Prince William and Liz Truss was present. This was concluded in gun salutes at 11am n various parts of the nation and shouts of ‘God Save The King’, where the now homonymous national anthem was first sang in the courtyard of St James’ Palace.
Sunday 11 September 2022
The Queen’s coffin is transported to the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
Queen Elizabeth II’s body left Balmoral Castle for the first time since her death as it journeyed to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland.
The then Prince Charles, giving his speech at COP26 in 2021.
Now with Charles as King, what does this mean for the environment? King Charles III has long been a champion for climate change action and caring for the planet during his tenure as Prince of Wales. He recently gave a speech at the opening ceremony of the COP26 World Leaders Summit in Glasgow 2021 where he stated that the world need to have a ‘war-like footing’ to tackle the “existential threat” of climate change and biodiversity. As the now reigning monarch, this may strain relations with the new Prime Minister Liz Truss who has expressed doubt about the UK’s renewable energy policies and pledged to ramp up fossil fuel investment.
So with a new Head of Government and a new Head of Monarchy in the United Kingdom spanning the space of just a few days, we question, what lies in store for the environment?
By Saffron-Lucia Gilbert-Kaluba