Why would you protest?

A strong local campaign ought to receive media coverage and make its demands very clear – something that a protest or action can help with! Over the last two years, Republic has shown the power of protest and activism in generating media interest and momentum. With a few simple steps and tips, you too can harness the power of protest independently in your local group!

Check out Republic's Activism Roundup, for some great examples of local group protests 📸

How should I go about planning my protest?

Planning a protest is so much better when you do it together! Put out your initial idea to the local group and then propose to either discuss it at your next local group meeting and/or set up a different meeting with those interested to plan your protest.

If you want to involve the Republic Protest and Activism Team, then get in touch with [email protected].

What do I need to consider when planning my protest? 

To begin with, your protest needs to have a clear and obvious target– in our case 90% of the time this is a member of the royal family. However, as part of a Republic campaign (or your own local initiative!), you may have an indirect target related to the Monarchy, which may be an individual or organisation such as a
politician or government department.

Secondly, you have to establish your message and/or demand. What is it you want the individual or organisation to do? When thinking about your message it is not only important to think about how your opponent sees the message but also the audience. Most importantly we want the public to see two things: that the monarchy harms the progress of the UK and that the alternative (a parliamentary republic) would change the country for good!

So, you have your target and your message. Now you have to plan who will support you in your protest. Firstly, you will most likely want to have support from your local group and nearby areas. But you should also consider other allies and organisations you may want to inform about your protest. These may be explicitly anti-monarchy groups (such as Cymru Republic in Wales) or other local organisations who may support our cause indirectly.

Make sure to consider Republic’s organisational values and how these will resonate in your protest. You can check these out here: Values and Principles Republic.

Another important consideration is how your protest will be covered by the media and press. Luckily, we have lots of information about this topic, on our Local Group Protest Comms Guide.

It’s also worth considering that your protest is not only trying to generate interest from the media and the press, but also that you want to provide a fun and engaging activity for Republic local activists and those who may want to get involved.

Lastly, when you have thought through all the above, make sure your protest or action follows Republic’s Local Activist Principles and Values.

What do I need for my protest?

Your protest may be as simple as one person with a homemade cardboard placard, or it could be a crowd of 100 people with various resources. Contrary to popular belief, a smaller under-resourced protest can be just as powerful as a better-attended, well-resourced protest in the right circumstances. Remember, local groups can receive financial assistance so you may want to put funds towards creating protest resources if a protest is something your group want to work towards. Republic has lots of protest resources which you can also use where geographically and financially possible to get these to you.

Protest Tips: 

  • 🪧 A banner or placard with your messaging is important as a visual aid to demonstrate your message. If there aren't many of you to raise your voices or make this message audible then this is even more important! Check out our resources on banner making for extra info.
  • 👥 People are your best protest tool! There is nothing more powerful than a group of people standing together in opposition to an injustice.
  • 📢 A megaphone can amplify the voice of your protest group significantly, not only assisting you with getting your message heard loud and clear, but also for using it as a communication tool for your protestors.

Communicating Before, During and After the Protest

Communication is vital to pull off a successful protest. As there are lots of moving parts at a protest it is imperative that all protest attendees and organisers have some way of staying in touch both before, during and after the protest. A very common way to maintain communication is by setting up some form of communal group on a platform such as a WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram group.

This allows you to announce updates to a group of people, which is necessary when location or timings may change. Many of you reading this will already be in a Local Group chat so hopefully, this concept is familiar to you!

Support from Republic

Once you have come to a rough plan considering all of the above, make sure to get in touch with [email protected] to let us know you are planning a protest/action or demonstration!

The Protest and Activism Coordinator can then assist you in getting your protest on the ground, whether through helping with logistics, messaging or promotion. The final thing to remember - no protest is perfect! Protests are inherently dynamic spaces with lots of variables that are out of your control. Make sure to hold a space after the protest to debrief and share your thoughts with those who took part so you can improve your next one, while also praising the successes of the one you just did.

Access a PDF version of this guide here.