Following the 4 July general election victory, a key task for the new Labour administration ahead of the parliamentary summer recess is to set out their programme for government in the King’s Speech.
This takes place on Wednesday, July 17, when – as is traditional – King Charles will deliver the address as part of the state opening of Parliament.
It marks the formal start of a new parliamentary five-year term and allows the Prime Minister and his cabinet to outline their priorities and plans for the coming months or years.
So, what should we be looking out for in the King’s Speech?
Office for Budget Responsibility
One key aspect of the King’s Speech is expected to be a bill making it a legal requirement for governments to get an independent assessment of major fiscal events from the economic watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
It comes after Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget, which did not come with an OBR forecast, plunged markets into turmoil, triggering a collapse in the value of the pound.
Housebuilding
Labour have put planning reform front and centre of its mission to get the UK’s economy growing, and this was reiterated in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ speech last week, which saw her announce plans to overhaul the planning system and reintroduce mandatory targets.
Expect to see a bill setting out how the government will build the 1.5m homes it pledged in its manifesto to construct before the end of this parliament get a mention on Wednesday.
Workers rights reform
Another flagship policy during the election campaign was Labour’s pledge to transform workers’ rights by introducing measures such as a crackdown on exploitative zero-hours contracts, ending fire and rehire, and promoting flexible working policies.
But the scheme has met with resistance including from key business figures and sparked a union backlash for an apparent watering down – so watch out for any fireworks following the King’s Speech.
GB Energy
Switching on GB Energy was another critical election pledge from the now-government, and its efforts to power up the clean energy transition have also seen Reeves and energy secretary Ed Miliband offer up more detail on Labour’s plans for a national wealth fund.
Could Wednesday see more information revealed about how the proposed energy company is going to operate, and how the UK can get to clean power by 2023, as Labour pledged?
Rail nationalisation
One for weary commuters to keep an eye on here in the King’s Speech. Another promise by the party during the campaign was to nationalise the railways within five years.
According to plans set out by now-transport secretary Louise Haigh, a new public body would inherit contracts when they expire and take over the running of services.