Historians call for 30th January to be a national holiday to mark the end of the ‘Divine Rule of Kings’

London Socialist Historians Group

Media Release

Contact Dr Keith Flett @kmflett

29th January

Historians call for 30th January to be a national holiday to mark first ever Parliamentary Democracy

The London Socialist Historians Group, which organises the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research in central London, has renewed its call for January 30th to be made a national holiday.

January 30th in 2024 marks the 375th anniversary of the Regicide that saw King Charles executed in Whitehall for treason.

This ushered in the Commonwealth and the idea that Parliament not the Divine Right of Kings and Queens should decide what happens. The despatch of King Charles was the beginning of a modern Parliamentary Democracy (in fact since 1660 a Constitutional Monarchy)

The historians say that the event rather cuts against the idea that nothing particularly exciting or dramatic ever happens in British history.

Oliver Cromwell who headed the post-1649 Government died in 1658 and was succeeded by his son Richard.

However in 1660 the monarchy was restored and King Charles 11 dated the start of his reign from 30th January 1649 in the first attempt to write the Commonwealth period out of history. That is probably a key reason why the day is not a national holiday (as it certainly would be in France for example).

LSHG Convenor Dr Keith Flett said, you don’t need to be a republican to grasp that the moment when Parliamentary Democracy laid down its first roots is worth marking and a day off at the end of the bleak month of January would surely be no bad thing.

He continued, of course history is complex and while England and Wales can rightfully celebrate the events of 30th January 1649 as a democratic advance, in Ireland where Cromwell’s armies waged a bloody war things look rather different.