Days of plotting against Britain’s lame-duck Prime Minister took a pause for a key part of Britain’s living constitution to be played out, with the pomp and ceremony of the State Opening of Parliament.
The UK Parliament has been re-opened after a two week prorogation, the house sitting again and hearing The King’s Speech, the formal means by which the elected government presents its legislative plan for the coming year. His Majesty the King arrived at the Palace of Westminster, which contains both the House of Lords and the House of Commons, by coach from Buckingham Palace, and proceeded to his throne in the House of Lords.
The speech isn’t written by the King, but is crafted by the government for him to read out. Symbolising this, he doesn’t carry the speech with him into the building but is rather handed it by the Lord Chancellor David Lammy, better known in ordinary political life as the Secretary of State for Justice. Reading Westminster’s words, the King therefore revealed the plan of the Starmer government for the coming year in politics.
The speech began with defence. Beyond the howling political drama surrounding the future of the Prime Minister himself, one of the key government scandals of today is the state of the military, its size, and state of its equipment.
LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 13: King Charles III reads during the State Opening of Parliament in the House of Lords, at the Palace of Westminster on May 13, 2026 in London, England. The State Opening of Parliament follows the prorogation of the previous session on 29 April. King Charles III will deliver the King’s Speech outlining the government’s legislative agenda for the 2026–27 session. Key priorities for the year include constitutional reforms regarding disgraced peers, a 10-year Health Plan for the NHS, and the implementation of changes to the Universal Credit two-child limit. (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
A long-promised government plan to fund improvements is grossly overdue and believed to have become stuck between the practical needs of the Ministry of Defence and the Spending limits of the treasury. Choosing to begin the King’s Speech on this area is a clear signal that the long-awaited Defence Investment Plan may at last be soon to arrive. The King was instructed to say: “an increasingly dangerous and volatile world threatens the United Kingdom with the conflict in the Middle East only the most recent example. Every element of the nation’s energy, defence, and economic security will be tested. My government will respond to this world with strength and aim to create a country that is fair for all.”
The speech next moved onto economics, the cost of living, and the need for economic growth. Yet it is widely anticipated that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, whose government the speech speaks for, may be out of power any day, and whether any of these programmes will survive to fruition is doubtful. Only hours before the State Opening of Parliament began, Health Secretary and key leadership contender Wes Streeting entered the Prime Minister’s working residence at Downing Street for a crunch meeting. Lasting just 16 minutes, it seems likely Starmer gave him a short shrift as he did others in his cabinet yesterday, preventing them from presenting their demands.
While it is unclear how long Starmer’s present strategy of supressing dissent within his government will last, he used the King’s Speech to load the governing programme with left-wing passion projects, including dragging Britain back towards the European Union. The King’s Speech stated “My ministers will seek to improve relations with European partners as a vital step in strengthening European security” and that there will be a new bill to “strengthen ties with the European Union”.
Now Parliament is sitting again, having been prorogued for a fortnight since late April for its annual break between sessions, and timed this time to coincide with the nationwide local elections last week, plotting is likely only to intensify. Parliamentarians have been in their home areas campaigning, but now they are to be gathered in the same building again. The Daily Telegraph reports this morning that one of those key plotters, Streeting, is increasingly ready to pull the pin on his candidacy and will launch a formal challenge soon.
One danger of these swirling plots and intrigue is it risks drawing the King, who under Britain’s constitutional monarchy is strictly apolitical, into events. Eyeing the uncertain times in Westminster it was reported yesterday that Buckingham Palace had reached out proactively to Downing Street to suggest postponing the King’s Speech until the dust had settled. Evidently, Starmer declined.
This story is developing