Growth, Railways And Energy Focus Of Labour Government's First King's Speech
King Charles delivered the first King's Speech of the new Labour government. (Alamy)
6 min read
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has set out 40 pieces of legislation the Labour Government will aim to deliver in his first King's Speech.
Announcing the agenda to Parliament on Wednesday, King Charles said the new government — formed after Labour won a general election for the first time since 2005 earlier this month — would be "one of service".
"My Government's legislative programme will be mission led and based upon the principles of security, fairness and opportunity for all," he said.
The Government's first King's Speech, as expected, is centred on Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves' core mission to deliver growth, with key areas including housing, planning and energy.
Labour has confirmed it will go ahead with nationalising the railways and reforming the unelected House of Lords. It has also decided to retain former prime minister Rishi Sunak's plan to phase out smoking.
Here's what you need to know about Starmer's first King's Speech:
Economy
The government announced fifteen bills in the area of what it views as "economic stability and growth" in its King's Speech.
Central to this is planning, with Starmer and his Cabinet determined to boost the building of houses and infrastructure. The Government hopes the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will help it build 1.5m new homes by the end of this parliament.
The Government has also pledged to improve workplace rights through its Employment Rights Bill. This will be centred on a "new deal for working people to ban exploitative practices and enhance employment rights" — including banning zero hour contracts, and ending fire and rehire.
A key plank of Labour's successful election campaign was promising responsible management of the economy, and in the King's Speech the Government has included a Budget Responsibility Bill.
This piece of legislation introduces a "fiscal lock", requiring any government planning significant tax or spending changes to secure an independent assessment by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility.
This, says Labour, would help avoid a repeat of Liz Truss 2022 mini-budget, which triggered chaos in the markets and caused interest rates to rise.
It is thought that this is likely to be one of the first pieces of legislation introduced, potentially ahead of the summer recess which begins at the end of July.
Energy
A pledge to deliver 'Great British Energy' was a cornerstone of the Labour manifesto.
The King's Speech included the Great British Energy Bill, which will establish a publicly-owned energy production company.
The Government say the new company will own, manage and operate clean power projects across the UK and develop state assets in energy. This, it says, will help drive down household bills, and also reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help contribute to the transition to clean energy, and more detail is expected in the coming weeks.
Ministers also announced a Water (Special Measures) Bill to strengthen regulation, and ensure criminal liability for water company bosses for lawbreaking. It also contained new powers for the regulator to ban the payment of bonuses to water bosses if their companies fail to meet environmental standards.
Water companies dumping sewage into rivers and lakes was a big issue during the election campaign, with the Tories facing accusations of being too weak in its response.
Security
The Government today announced a Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill.
A major part of this legislation is focused on tackling small boats crossings, which was one of the most salient issues during the election campaign. Labour plans to combat illegal smuggling gangs by establishing what it calls a new Border Security Command.
Further action will also be taken on terrorism with the announcement of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill which seeks to "improve the safety and security of public venues".
The Crime and Policing Bill and the Victims, Court and Public Protection Bill were also announced in the King's Speech, which the Government say seeks to "strengthen community policing, give the police greater powers to deal with anti social behaviour and strengthen support for victims".
Measures included in the latter include strengthening the powers of the Victim's Commissioner and requiring offenders to attend their sentencing hearings.
Health
The Government announced it will be sticking with the Sunak policy of gradually increasing the age at which people can purchase cigarettes in order to eventually end smoking int he UK, through the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
Labour also said it woud prioritise mental health care reform to make sure it is "given the same attention and focus as physical health", with the Mental Health Bill. The bill will reform the Mental Health Act to make it "fit for the twenty first century".
Renting
Reform for renters and homeowners were included in the King's Speech with both the Renters’ Rights Bill and Draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is leading Labour plans to improve the rights and protections of renters including a ban on no-fault evictions, reforming criteria for repossession, giving tenants the right to a pet, and applying a 'Decent Homes Standard' to the private rented sector.
The Government is also seeking to reform leasehold and commonhold rights. The previous Tory government expressed a desire do but failed to see it through due to pushback from Conservative backbenchers.
Equality
The Labour Government has announced it will introduce a Draft Conversion Practices Bill which would seek to ban conversion practices that are not captured by existing legislation.
Like leasehold reform, the previous government failed to get legislation through the House of Commons to implement a full ban on conversion therapy due to push back from Tory backbenchers.
It also plans to enshrine full legal rights to equal pay in a Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill.
The King's Speech did not, however, include the Labour manifesto policy of reducing the voting age to 16. But it is understood that it is still the government's intention for the plans to become a reality ahead of the next general election, as in this King's Speech there have been more immediate government priorities.
Lords reform
The King's Speech set out the first steps the Labour Government will take to reform the House of Lords.
The Starmer administration plans to modernise the unelected chamber by abolishing hereditary peers, for whom there currently around 100 places reserved, using the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill.
The Government says "in the 21st century, there should not be almost 100 places reserved for individuals who were born into certain families, nor should there be seats effectively reserved only for men".
The agenda, however, does not include Labour's manifesto commitment to introduce a maximum age limit for peers, which would have essentially forced House of Lords members to retire when they reach 80.
These changes to the Lords are thought to be part of a staged plan
Like expanding voting rights to 16 and 17 year olds, it is thought a maximum age limit for peers still remained part of Starmer's plans.
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