Keir Starmer planning new king’s speech after May elections
Keir Starmer is planning for a new king’s speech after crunch elections in May next year as a reset moment for the government amid speculation over the prime minister’s future.Senior sources in parliament said planning was under way to end the parliamentary session the week after local elections in England and parliamentary elections in Wales and Scotland in May, making it a significantly longer session than normal, and nearly two years since Labour first set out its legislative agenda.Starmer will hope the timing of the speech will allow Labour to swiftly change the narrative to its new legislation straight after the difficult elections and try to maintain discipline among MPs.But it is a high-stakes move because votes on the king’s speech are usually considered confidence votes in the government.Starmer suspended several Labour MPs for voting for a Scottish National party (SNP) amendment on the two-child benefits limit after the last king’s speech.
The party could be facing a devastating set of results, with the possible loss of hundreds of council seats to Reform and the Greens in England as well as defeat for the first time in Wales, where Plaid Cymru and Reform are leading in the polls,In Scotland, the SNP is polling on course to maintain power despite pre-election hopes that Labour’s Anas Sarwar could become first minister,Critics of Starmer’s leadership have repeatedly named May as the moment when would-be leadership challengers could call for him to stand aside,The last king’s speech was in July 2024, weeks after Labour won the general election, but a combination of parliamentary rebellions, international and economic turmoil and defeats in the House of Lords has meant the government needs more time to complete the legislation,The relatively late end to the session will raise some hopes among supporters of assisted dying that it may be possible to complete the bill, which will fall if it does not pass by the end of the session.
They expect many opponents will try to use procedure to talk out the private member’s bill and bar it from progressing.Further changes to the House of Lords are among a number of measures expected in the king’s speech, including introducing a mandatory retirement age of 80.A cross-party committee of peers was formed in early December to consult on the changes, which are likely to face stiff opposition from some in the Lords after a major row over the abolition of hereditary peerages.Other bills expected to be in the next king’s speech include an AI and copyright bill, an immigration bill based on the changes to refugee and asylum rights set out by the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, and potentially further bills on change to leaseholds, welfare, Send and anti-corruption measures.An electoral reform bill, including changes to donation rules and introducing votes at 16, is also expected.
One key dispute in government is over whether another planning or nature bill is required to change rules over protected species and measures to make it easier to build large infrastructure projects, but the changes may be made via secondary legislation.Starmer is likely to face pressure on all fronts after the local elections – including from London MPs who may see councils fall to the Greens or significant inroads made by independent candidates, which could hand councils back to the Conservatives or push them into no overall control.In Wales, a poll on Wednesday put Plaid Cymru ahead of Reform for the first time, a sign that anti-Reform voters are coalescing around the Welsh nationalist party as the best challenger to Reform rather than Labour.The poll put Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats all on just 10%.Labour strategists believe their best hope for a positive story on the night remains the possibility of a narrow win for Sarwar in Scotland, but the most recent polling suggests he is trailing the SNP’s John Swinney, despite a shock win for Labour in the recent Hamilton byelection.
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Thanks for following along as England’s fading Ashes hopes survive another day – just – at Adelaide Oval. We’ll have all the analysis shortly, and be back with the over-by-over tomorrow, but for now … here is Ali Martin’s report on day two.Nathan Lyon has returned to the side in style in Adelaide, as he picked up two wickets with his first over to help turn the game back in Australia’s favour early in England’s innings. The off-spinner dismissed Ollie Pope (3) and Ben Duckett (29) in the same over to move past Glenn McGrath and into second-place on the list of Australia Test wicket-takers, while the cartel of quicks did their thing even with Mitchell Starc less threatening than he has been in these Ashes.Pat Cummins was another to send a reminder of his importance to the side after spending time on the sidelines as the captain claimed wickets at crucial times and finished the day with 3 for 54
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England lodge complaint with match referee after Snicko error costs Carey’s wicket
Brendon McCullum lodged a complaint with the ICC match referee Jeff Crowe overnight following the Snicko malfunction that saw Alex Carey handed a lifeline during day one century in the third Ashes Test.Carey, who made 106 in Australia’s 326 for eight by stumps, was on 72 when Josh Tongue believed the left-hander had edged behind. He was given not out on the field and the third umpire, Chris Gaffaney, felt he did not have enough evidence to overturn the decision despite a spike showing up on the review.The issue in this instance was that the spike came before any possible contact on the replay, whereas similar occurrences earlier in the series have seen it come afterwards and are factored into the umpiring protocols.With Carey later admitting he thought he had hit the ball – he said he would have reviewed in hope had it been given out on the field – BBG, the company that owns Snicko, owned up to the mistake, which came with Australia on 245 for six
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