The Waugh Room

Tuesday 3rd January 2012 | 08:21

May Day for the Queen

It's been a long time coming, but I hear that the date for the Queen's Speech is now close to being signed off by ministers.

Pencil in your diaries Wednesday, May 9th, the date described to me by one source as '99% certain'. (The Government are going to allow themselves a week's wriggle room, with May 16th the fallback option should ping-pong take longer than expected.)

Given that the last Queen's Speech was on May 25 2010, the new date would mean a gap of nearly two years since the Monarch last sat on the Throne in the House of Lords.

As a result, we will have the longest Parliamentary session for more than 150 years*.

The tradition of an annual Queen's (and King's) Speech, setting out legislation for the year ahead, survived through both World Wars, various Coalitions and Governments of national unity.

But this particular Coalition decided last year that it needed a longer session to get through its first programme of mammoth bills.

Just as importantly, it has needed even more time to amend its NHS plans and cope with repeated redrafting and Government amendments to other major pieces of legislation.

I hear that the Welfare and Legal Aid bills will take up most of January business in the Lords. The Health Bill report stage won't start until the week of around February 6 and needs around 5 weeks.

With peers off for a break at half-term, that gets the Government very close to the March 27 break for Easter. Ministers don't want to infringe the Purdah period for the local and mayoral elections and so with some Parliamentary ping-pong expected, they seem to have decided that the session has to run on into May.

This will not amuse peers who feel that they have done all the heavy lifting in recent months, but it seems inevitable if the Government is to get its legislation through. It also suggests that the Commons will remain under-employed for a few more weeks yet.

The May 9th date is unlikely to be made public for a while yet though. Rebel Lib Dem peers and Labour peers who have been staging guerilla operations on various bills may be kept guessing.

There is some relief in sight for the Upper House, however. Ministers want to return to annual Queen's Speeches from 2012 onwards. In her Jubilee year, maybe the Queen will be pleased that the old tradition is to be restored.

 

 

*FOOTNOTE: For the anoraks among us, the May 9th date (including a leap year day) would mean a gap of 715 days between speeches. At least, according to my rough maths.

 

UPDATE: The Queen could be in for a busy week. On May 10, 11 and 13 she hosts the Diamond Jubilee Pageant at Windsor.

Of course, the weekend after May 3 local elections could be quite interesting as that's seen by some as the most likely time for any Cabinet reshuffle.