Disunited Kingdom – 2020 Exam – COVID Session

The exam paper that you are about to work on has been adapted for the
extraordinary circumstances created by the global pandemic of COVID-19. Every
5 effort has been made to present you with exercises that are broadly similar to those
you encountered throughout the term.

Given that you are working on this paper from home, you are allowed to use the
course materials and any other sources you find useful. However, all work and all
10 words must be your own and your answers, once uploaded, will be analysed by
anti-plagiarism software. Plagiarised work (that is to say sentences that are not
written by you) will not be evaluated.

In order for your work to be evaluated you will have to upload it to AMETICE in the
15 relevant space by 18 MAY 2020. The fact that you have 10 days does not mean that
we expect you to work 10 days non-stop on this exam paper. Please note that since
you have access to all your notes and have more time than initially planned, we
advise you to take particular care with the quality of your English and the structure of
your answers.
20
In addition, please note that WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO EVALUATE YOUR EXAM
IF THE UPLOADED DOCUMENT DOES NOT MEET THESE CRITERIA:

25 1.The uploaded document MUST BE a PDF file1

2.Your student number MUST appear on the first page

3.Your name MUST NOT appear anywhere on the document

4.A word count MUST appear at the end of EACH answer2

1
Converting a document into PDF format is free and simple. Most word
processors have an automatic setup for this now. If yours does not, you
can find free PDF converters online.
2
Do not count these words manually! All word processors have a built-in
5 tool to count the words in a paragraph. If you do not know how to do this
with your word processor, look for the answer online: there are many
useful videos there.
1
30 Part I: The General Election of 12 December 2019
Document 1: Post-vote poll: How did Britain vote? By gender, age and social grade
Source: https://lordashcroftpolls.com/2019/12/how-britain-voted-and-why-my-2019-
general-election-post-vote-poll/

35 Document 2: Post-vote poll: “How did Britain vote? By EU referendum vote”

Source: https://lordashcroftpolls.com/2019/12/how-britain-voted-and-why-my-2019-
general-election-post-vote-poll/

2
 Document 3: “General turnout + breakdown of vote and seat shares by party”
40 Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2019/results +
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_United_Kingdom_general_election#Summary

45

Questions on the documents

1. Use documents 1 and 2 to draw up a typical profile for Conservative and Labour
voters in the General Election of December 2019. How might you explain the
differences that you observe? (5 points – no more than 500 words)
50

2. Drawing on your knowledge of British politics, would you say that the data in
document 3 illustrates or undermines the argument that Britain is experiencing a
crisis of trust in the principal political parties? (5 points – no more than 500 words)

55

10 3
 Part II: The Future of the Monarchy

Document 4: “Let’s get off our knees and abolish the monarchy”, by Suzanne
Moore, The Guardian, 25 November 2019
60 I grew up terrified that the Queen would pop round to our house. My grandparents,
who brought me up, had lived near Sandringham 3 and knew many ordinary staff on
the estate. They thought this gave them special access to royalty, as much access as
a working person could possibly have. “When the Queen comes round,” they used to
say, “if she says she likes something, you have to give it to her.” You also had to
65 walk backwards, apparently. The fear was in me. This strange woman would come
round and take my Tressy doll, maybe even my felt tips. A horrific thought.
Needless to say, my grandparents were monarchists and talked of the sacrifices the
royals made during the Second World War. They had all the special plates and cups.
(…)
70 I grew up and became politicised, thought about democracy, and everything
changed. I assumed everyone else would think the way I did. Surely anyone with
firing synapses would feel that no advanced society could be ruled by people of no
discernible talent, intelligence or life experience? The idea that an accident of birth
determines the head of state and church – and the public then has to fund this
75 genetic lottery? Madness.
But over the years I have seen many sensible people of leftish persuasion scuttle off
to the palace for a garden party or to accept a gong. They do it not for themselves,
but for their mums. (…)
Only saddos like me, the sort of people who tell small children Santa isn’t real, moan
80 about the monarchy as well as the Lords now. (…) We all know how the argument
goes: you don’t like hereditary privilege? Well, do you think an elected head of state
would be better?
Yes, actually, although yes, it’s also great that the Queen can get on a horse at 93.
At least she isn’t a menace on the roads.
85 Even at 14, I assumed most people would not want to live in the utterly infantilised
state of being a subject (…).
If the monarchy is supposed to represent this deeply divided country, its
representatives are failing dismally, unless you count owning half of Scotland. In an
age when we no longer like billionaires, the queen’s net worth is £20bn. If the old are
90 to be blamed for Brexit, they also support the monarchy, which, according to YouGov
polls, only 41% of 18-to-24-year-olds do.
Power tends to shapeshift and if a new country is struggling to be born out of this
election and the broken political system that has produced it, then at some point dots
need to be joined. Andrew4 was not one bad apple. He comes from an orchard that
95 produces them.
The undeserving rich. When the Queen goes we could decide to grow up, become a
mature democracy and move into a world that is truly post-empire. The pretence of a
3
Sandringham is an estate in Norfolk which belongs to the royal family.
4
Prince Andrew, the Queen’s third child, was caught up in the #metoo scandal when his close links with the
American businessman Jeffrey Epstein were revealed. His attempts to distance himself from Epstein in a
television interview went so badly that he decided to “suspend” all his public appearances indefinitely.

15 4
 United Kingdom could give way to something truly great. We could, finally, get up off
our knees.
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Questions on the text

1. Why, according to Suzanne Moore, should the monarchy be abolished? (5 points
– no more than 500 words)

105 2. Using your knowledge of the issue, what would the case be for maintaining the
monarchy? (5 points – no more than 500 words)