Theresa May has reportedly cancelled the 2018 State Opening of Parliament in order to opt for a two-year Parliamentary session instead of the usual one-year session.
According to The Telegraph, the 2017 speech will last the whole two years so that the amount of turbulence with the Brexit and DUP negotiations is reduced.
[commentary]
Analysis by Charlie Proctor, Royal Central’s Editor-in-Chief
Theresa May still has to get the 2017 Queen’s Speech out of the way before she needs to start worrying about the 2018 event.
But she knows by removing it from the diary at this stage; there is one less opportunity for a confidence vote to take place.
Some might say that the lack of State Opening in 2018 is to please The Queen following the news she might have to miss part of Royal Ascot this year because of the rescheduling.
Either way, it is a highly unusual move, and eyebrows will be raised in Westminster and beyond.
[/commentary]
Sources from within the government say that that the decision was planned before the election, and would ensure that Brexit would not be disrupted by new legislation.
The move to have no State Opening is not an unprecedented occurrence. It last happened in 2011 when the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition decided to have a two-year Parliamentary session.
This year’s State Opening of Parliament and Queen’s Speech will take place on Wednesday 21st June.
The Leader of the House of Commons, Andrea Leadsom, confirmed that the State Opening would be postponed by two days due to a delay in the making of The Queen’s Speech.
The State Opening of Parliament should have taken place on Monday, June 19th. However, it is now understood the government are not able to get a speech prepared in time.
The rescheduled date means that Her Majesty will miss part of the Royal Ascot meeting which runs from Tuesday 20th to Saturday 24th.
However, it is understood that the 91-year-old Monarch will rush to the racecourse straight after she has delivered the speech which is prepared by the government, missing only the first couple of races.
Shame the queen has to miss one of her favorite days of the year ,her government has really messed up !!