A former Foreign Secretary has questioned whether the King’s Speech can go ahead as the Prime Minister’s position is debated.
James Cleverly, Conservative MP for Braintree, asked ”If there is a new PM before Wednesday what is the status of the King’s Speech?”
He went on to say ”it’s the King’s Speech about the agenda of His Government, not the specific person who is PM. But if a new PM wants to have a new agenda, and they bloody well should, how can they do that at this late stage?”
The post, on X, came as pressure mounted on the Prime Minister following heavy election defeats in polls across the UK last week.
Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party lost heavily in local council elections and was voted out of control of the Senedd in Wales for the first time. Since then, calls have mounted for him to step aside.
However, on May 13, a new session of Parliament is set to start, beginning with The King’s Speech in which Charles III will set out the plans of his government.
King Charles, dressed in his Robe of Estate and wearing the Imperial Crown, will deliver the speech from the Throne in the House of Lords. MPs will be called from the Commons to hear it.
The address, written by the government, sets out its agenda for the coming parliamentary year.
However, questions have been asked about whether that could happen if Sir Keir does announce he’s stepping down as Prime Minister.
The answer is yes as it is the government’s plans, rather than his own personal agenda. Even if Sir Keir quits ahead of the speech, the rules of the Labour Party mean there is no way that a successor could be chosen within the short window ahead of The King’s Speech.
There is also debate about whether attempting to trigger a leadership contest so close to the start of the new parliamentary session are destabilising. However, as calls mount from within Labour for Sir Keir to consider his position, the focus now falls on what will happen to The King’s Speech.
It is, without doubt, likely to go ahead. Final rehearsals for the carriage procession and military guard that will take King Charles and Queen Camilla to the Palace of Westminster were going on even as the PM faced Cabinet and further questions about his leadership on the eve of the new parliamentary session.
However, it could mean The King is delivering the agenda of a government that already knows it will change imminently and that the plans being laid out are probably going to alter within months, if not weeks.
King Charles will remain out of all political debate. Technically, the Monarch appoints the Prime Minister but it is never a personal decision. Following a General Election, the Monarch calls on the leader of the party or coalition that is able to form a government. Labour had a majority of 165 in the House of Commons, a number that remains the same until another General Election, unless some of its MPs defect.
It looks as if King Charles will travel to Parliament on May 13 to deliver the plans of a government under intense pressure and with questions over how long it will remain the same.
And if Sir Keir does signal his intention to stand down, it would be a unique situation. In those circumstances, he would stand at the front of the group of MPs listening in the Lords, knowing that his Premiership was at an end.
