Some harsh realities on the Monarchy from Prof John Curtice
The leading political scientist and polling expert, Prof John Curtice, has a great piece behind a PayWall in the New Statesman on how the public now views the monarchy.
The numbers are not good for the new King who has waited so long. Curtice notes:
….public support for the monarchy has slipped to a new low. According to the most recent BSA, just 55 per cent now say it is important to have a monarchy, an all-time low, while a quarter (25 per cent) either say that it is “not at all important” or should be abolished. An Ipsos poll last November found a record low of 60 per cent now preferring a monarchy, while 21 per cent supported a republic, though in May the former figure edged back up to 68 per cent. Meanwhile, YouGov polls over the past decade have seen support for a monarchy rather than an elected head of state fall from 73 per cent in 2012 and 2013 to 59 per cent in March this year – with a slight uptick (to 62 per cent) just before the Platinum Jubilee.
A monarchy is still much preferred to a Republic but clearly, Charles has a challenge.
For what it is worth I have been quite impressed by what I’ve seen of Charles in the past week since the Queen passed away.