Debate: Replace Monarchy with Elected Head of State - w/free drink

Welcome to London's new and exclusive debate society where the style is formal but the passion unbridled, as we delve into the current and philosophical issues of our age.

The motion for the next meeting is: This House Would Replace the Monarchy with an Elected Head of State

Dress code: smart attire

Join CEO of Republic, Graham Smith, the historian and monarchist Count Nicolai Tolstoy, co-founder of Agora, William Hagerup, and conservative activist Alex Smith, in a debate about the Monarchy. Is it time to replace the UK Monarchy with an elected Head of State?

Should Britain sweep away centuries of royal tradition and replace the Crown with an elected head of state?

Expect great arguments on either side and plenty of room for YOU to put your opinion across as we ask: is the Crown the glue that holds Britain together — or an outdated relic ready for retirement?

We invite you to test the motion, challenge assumptions, and share your views during the Q&A.

Tickets include a free drink at The Tea House Theatre – hot, cold, soft, or alcoholic.

DRESS CODE: Smart attire (shirt and tie expected)

OUR SPEAKERS:

Proposition:

Graham Smith

Graham Smith has been the CEO and lead campaigner for the anti-monarchy group Republic since May 2005. He's been involved in the campaign since late 2003. For more than 20 years Graham has worked to realise what he sees as a fairer, more democratic Britain, through the abolition of the monarchy and the opportunities that creates. In June 2023 Penguin published his first book, Abolish The Monarchy. Why We Should and How We Will.

Mr Smith is a frequent media commentator on constitutional issues and has appeared on national broadcasters including the BBC, as well as on political programmes and podcasts such as The Owen Jones Podcast and the New Statesman Podcast, as well as the Objectivist podcast, The Daily Objective, where he has argued for the abolition of the monarchy.

He also hosts and co-hosts Republic’s own podcasts, including Abolish the Monarchy and From Below the Balcony, in which he interviews politicians, journalists and campaigners about the future of the British constitution and the case for an elected head of state.

Alex Smith

Alex Smith (no relation to Graham) studied Law at the University of Warwick. He is a leasehold law adviser, community campaigner, volunteer, and a former civil servant, where he co-ordinated legislation for two government departments. He has undertaken research and drafted a number of research papers for the Independent Business Network, representing small businesses. Alex is a strong advocate for free speech and open debate and regularly participates in debates and forums discussing politics, topical and cultural issues. He supports the dialectic and Socratic methods to advance critical thinking.

Count Nicolai Tolstoy is a Russian–British historian, writer and monarchist, and the current nominal head of the House of Tolstoy. He was educated at Wellington College, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and Trinity College Dublin. Tolstoy is Chancellor of the International Monarchist League and has long supported constitutional monarchy and European royal traditions. He has also been involved with the UK Independence Party. His works include Victims of Yalta and The Minister and the Massacres, alongside studies of Russian émigrés and imperial Russia, reflecting his enduring engagement with dynastic history, legitimacy and the moral responsibilities of states.

William Hagerup began his journey as a political campaigner and debater at the age of 16 in his native Norway, where he studied at the University of Trondheim in Norway and later at King’s College London. Mr Hagerup is a libertarian conservative who believes the Constitutional Monarchy is the best way to combine individual liberty with a shared national story and traditions that unites us. He is the author of two books, his autobiographical novel In Good Faith, and The Really Practical Guide to Debating: How to Win Every Argument You Don’t Lose, the latter published in December 2025.

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Agora Debate Club is a unique debate club in London that allows you to debate on the side you feel most strongly in favour of. Unlike other debate clubs, we do not assign you a side, instead you choose the side and you argue your own case without the need to coordinate your argument with the other debaters on your side.

Votes will be taken before and after debates, and the side with the greatest swing in its favour, is declared the winner.

We adhere to the Chatham House rules, which means that it is strictly forbidden to name any speaker, whether a debater or anyone else, if you share any statements made during the debates outside of the meeting.

Formality and ceremony are central to our debates to engender respect for opponents and audience as well as to provide a framework for true passion.

We aim to meet six times a year for debates on current or philosophical issues.

The name "Agora" comes from the ancient Greek word for the marketplace and town square where debates were held. A debate is an expression of the marketplace of ideas, and as we believe in the free trade of ideas, the name Agora Debate Club perfectly expresses what we are all about.

Our logo has three pillars, each representing one of the basic values the club is based on: Reason, Logic and Free Speech.

Each pillar has two ends, six in all, representing the six gatherings we aim to have per year.

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