The speech ran twelve minutes. That is how long King Charles III needed on 17 July 2024 to read 39 bills into the record for Keir Starmer’s new Labour government. At 1,421 words, it was the longest monarch’s speech to Parliament since 2003.
The King and Queen Camilla rode to Westminster in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach with the Household Cavalry alongside. Inside the Palace of Westminster he changed into the Robes of State and walked to the House of Lords to read from the throne. It was his second State Opening since taking the throne in September 2022, and his first since he returned to public duties after cancer treatment. He had been diagnosed in February 2024 and had kept up private meetings and paperwork while stepping back.
The government wrote the words. Charles read them in a neutral tone so he would not appear to back any party. MPs, summoned by Black Rod Sarah Clarke after the Commons doors were shut in her face and she knocked three times, listened in silence. A debate began in the Commons about two hours later.
What Labour put on the list
Economic growth sat at the top. Chief among the bills were changes to planning rules to make it easier to build homes and infrastructure. The programme also promised to renationalise the railways, strengthen workers’ rights, hand powers to regional mayors, tackle illegal immigration and reform the House of Lords. A Renters’ Rights Bill would ban no-fault evictions, and an Employment Rights Bill would outlaw “exploitative” zero hours contracts.
Some of it came from the Conservatives. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, shelved when the election was called, returned.
The catch is what was missing. Labour’s manifesto pledge to lower the voting age from 18 to 16 did not appear. Lucy Powell, Leader of the House of Commons, told the BBC it remained a government commitment and that she hoped the change would arrive before the next general election. Pressure from some Labour MPs and the Scottish National Party to scrap the two-child benefit cap also went unanswered.
Reaction
Rail unions welcomed nationalisation. Mick Whelan of ASLEF called it “the right decision, at the right time.” The 14 train operators were cooler. Andy Bagnall, chief executive of their umbrella body Rail Partners, called Great British Railways “an important milestone” but said “Full nationalisation is a political not a practical solution, which will increase costs over time.”
On growth, BBC economics editor Faisal Islam said it would “take well into next year before we see any impact on economic growth from these plans.” The BBC’s Ben Chu pointed to public sector pay, which had to be settled by the end of July. Leaving it open, he argued, could make plans to recruit more nurses and teachers harder and risk more strikes.
Outside, the Metropolitan Police arrested 10 members of the protest group Youth Demand that morning on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance. The group had said it intended to disrupt proceedings over Starmer’s handling of the Gaza war.
Skills England, one of the bodies announced in the speech, launched on 22 July.
