I do agree that this country operates under "a ... broken political system" but I cannot agree that it is broken totally. Our system tries to reconcile two principles, the elective and the hereditary. Most "radical" thought is no more sophisticated than a crude demand to get rid of the hereditary elements completely. In fact, the House of Lords is no longer based on any principle of heredity and is little more than a chamber of ageing MPs and government placemen. It is not a chamber which can compel the Commons to reconsider because it lacks legitimacy. Yet we need desperately a second chamber which can compel the executive to reflect maturely before acting. This is essential because the elective element in the constitution no longer works at all. We have an electoral system which rewards 30 odd % of the votes with a working, even a crushing, majority of MPs, in which no government has ever won 50% of the votes cast, which is dominated by parties dominated by one faction, which produce prime ministers who think increasingly in slogans and soundbites ("hug a hoody", "Brexit means Brexit", "get Brexit done") while they get on with fiddling expenses, lying and breaking their own laws.
This brings us to the one part of the constitution which has worked - the hereditary, constitutional monarchy, and the credit for this goes to Queen Elizabeth 11. I am sure that many of us would find that she led a privileged existence, that the dead hand of the protocol of court life would be insufferable but as a constitutional monarch she has always shown the sensitive touch that only the highest sense of duty and the most genuine concern for her people could produce. Being that kind of constitutional monarch is by no means easy but for Queen Elizabeth it was an instinct, not a calculation and in that lies her greatness. Now Charles is king. He must realise that he can no longer be "the dissident prince" and that his role as king brings far more responsibilities that rights and privileges. We need him to succeed.
