King Charles III lays out UK government agenda as Keir Starmer’s job hangs in the balance

The irony was not lost on anyone.

The traditional pomp and ceremony that accompanied the state opening of parliament was overshadowed by the political intrigue, particularly growing speculation that Health Secretary Wes Streeting was planning to quit Starmer’s government and launch a leadership bid as early as Thursday.

More than a fifth of Labor Party lawmakers in the House of Commons have urged the embattled prime minister to set a timetable for his departure. Some junior ministers have left the government in protest, but no one has yet directly challenged Starmer.

“It is absolutely ridiculous that the government is drawing up a program here while its ministers are resigning and a large part of the party is saying the prime minister must go,” Kemi Badenoch, leader of the main opposition Conservative Party, told lawmakers as they began a debate on the government’s agenda.

Starmer’s premiership has been jeopardized by Labor’s huge losses in last week’s local and regional elections. If these results were repeated in the national elections due to be held in 2029, the party would be removed from power by an overwhelming majority.

Labor faced pressure from right and left, losing votes to the anti-immigrant Reform UK and the Green Party, as well as to nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales.

Labor won a landslide election victory in 2024, ousting the Conservatives from power after 14 years, but the party’s popularity has since fallen and Starmer has received much of the blame.

According to some media reports, Streeting is expected to launch a leadership bid as early as Thursday. Streeting, who has long been known to harbor ambitions to become prime minister, met with Starmer on Wednesday for less than 20 minutes. Neither discussed what was said, but Starmer’s office stressed that the Health Secretary retains the Prime Minister’s full support.

Starmer, who says he has no intention of resigning, has his supporters within the party. More than a hundred lawmakers have signed a letter saying it is “not time” for a leadership contest.

“We have to let him do his job because he is a serious politician and these are very, very serious times,” Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn told Sky News.

King offers Starmer some reprieve

In a speech to lawmakers setting out the government’s legislative program for the coming year and written by the government itself, the king said Britain’s economy, energy and national security would be tested as the country deals with the fallout from the wars in Iran and Ukraine.

Planned measures include controlling the cost of living, strengthening ties with the European Union and making it easier to build new energy infrastructure.

And Charles pledged action against anti-Semitism after a series of attacks on the Jewish community in recent months, saying the government would “defend British values” of decency and tolerance.

The monarch, who made the short journey from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament in a horse-drawn carriage, also said the government would “defend the British values ​​of decency, tolerance and respect for differences under our common flag”, and said urgent action would be taken to tackle anti-Semitism.

The real question is whether Starmer will be there to implement the measures in the speech and, even if he remains in office, whether he will have the authority to push through his proposals.

In his speech advocating his policy agenda, Starmer gave no indication that he would not be around to push through the planned bills.

“This King’s Speech sets a different course, a more hopeful course, a course that sees the conflict in Iran, a war on two fronts, not as something to wring our hands over, but as an opportunity we must seize to shape the future of our country, to end the status quo that has failed working people, to build a stronger, fairer Britain,” he said.

Historical power clashes with modern reality

The King’s Speech combines the historic power and greatness of Britain with the reality of the modern United Kingdom, a mid-sized country with an underfunded military, rising debt and declining international influence.

The speech is the centerpiece of a day of ceremony and tradition that has been followed since 1852, with elements of the program dating back to the 16th century.

The official opening of Parliament uses carefully choreographed pageantry to showcase Britain’s evolution from an absolute monarchy to a parliamentary democracy, where real power rests with the elected House of Commons.

During his speech, which he delivered next to Queen Camilla, the king wore the imperial state crown and state robes.

Once they were seated, a Lords official called Black Rod, named after the ebony rod he or she carries, went to the House of Commons to summon the members of the chamber.

The doors of the Commons chamber were slammed in Black Rod’s face to symbolize the chamber’s independence from the monarchy, and they are only opened when Black Rod strikes the doors three times.

As the members of the House of Commons filed into the Lords’ chamber, the King delivered the speech.

After the speech was read, the royal couple left and the two houses of parliament began debating its contents for several days.

NEVER MISS A STORY: Be the first to receive your latest news and exclusive stories by following us on all platforms.