King Charles III kicked off the new parliamentary session in Britain on Wednesday, reading out the agenda of Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the opening “king’s speech,” even as Mr. Starmer fought a rebellion in his party that could force him out of office before he has a chance to enact it.
In a ceremony filled with tradition and ritual, lawmakers gathered in the House of Lords to hear the king describe the priorities of Mr. Starmer’s government for the year ahead. The speech said an “increasingly dangerous and volatile” world would test “every element” of Britain.
“My government will respond to this world with strength and aim to create a country that is fair for all,” Charles said, reading words drafted by Mr. Starmer’s aides and advisers. “My ministers will take decisions that protect the energy, defense, and economic security of the United Kingdom.”
In a typical year, the king’s speech is an opportunity for the sitting prime minister and his cabinet to create political momentum behind their legislative proposals, giving a long list of planned agenda items.
But this year, the speech has been overshadowed by turmoil inside Mr. Starmer’s party. It took place just a day after close to 100 Labour lawmakers called for the prime minister’s resignation and a half-dozen ministers quit their posts in protest of his refusal to step down.
Hours before heading to Parliament to attend the speech, Mr. Starmer met briefly at No. 10 Downing Street with Wes Streeting, the country’s health secretary and the person believed most likely to try and challenge him for leadership of the governing Labour Party and the job of prime minister.
The health secretary spent just 20 minutes inside the building and neither Mr. Starmer nor Mr. Streeting issued a statement afterward. For months, Mr. Streeting has made no secret of his desire to challenge the prime minister when the time is right. But to kick off that process, he would have to collect support from 81 Labour members of Parliament. So far he has not done so.
David Lammy, the deputy prime minister, told reporters on Tuesday that “no one seems to have the names to stand up against Keir Starmer,” and said to his Labour colleagues: “Lets get on with the business of running this country.”
Despite the political drama swirling through Westminster, that business began on Wednesday, with the usual pageantry inside the halls of Parliament.
As is tradition, the cellars of the parliament buildings were first searched by the king’s guards — a remembrance of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot, when Guy Fawkes and Catholic collaborators tried and failed to blow up King James I as a blow against Britain’s Protestant established churches.
The king presided over the session wearing the Robe of State, an 18-foot red velvet cape, and the Imperial State Crown, which features 2,868 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 269 pearls. Lawmakers were summoned to the chamber by the House of Lords official known as the Usher of the Black Rod, who banged on the door of the House of Commons with a literal black rod.
In his speech, the king made reference to 37 specific bills that Mr. Starmer’s government intends to try and push through Parliament in the next 18 months. Most of them were pieces of legislation that the prime minister’s team had already been working to introduce.
“My ministers will continue to invest in apprenticeships,” Charles said, referring to an effort to provide more opportunities to young people. “My ministers will push forward with significant reforms to the police, the National Health Service and to the criminal justice system,” he said, referring to three legislative proposals that Mr. Starmer made months ago.
The speech could deepen the anger among disaffected Labour Party lawmakers whose frustration with Mr. Starmer is rooted in part in a belief that his agenda is not aggressive enough and is not connecting with British voters.
That was demonstrated vividly last week, when voters resoundingly rejected Labour candidates in municipal elections across England and in contests for the devolved legislatures in Wales and Scotland. Many local Labour candidates said voters blamed Mr. Starmer for their decision to back another party.
In the last several days, Mr. Starmer has said that he will pursue his agenda with more urgency in the wake of the elections.
“For the British people, tired of a status quo that has failed them, change cannot come quickly enough,” Mr. Starmer said in remarks on Monday morning. It may be days, or even longer, before it is clear whether Mr. Starmer will have a chance to make that happen.
