King’s Speech may have set out legislative agenda, but did not change Labour’s conversation

The King’s Speech is how the government sets out its agenda for the year to come. It is how Labour lays out its ambitions for the future and what the priorities are that will achieve them.

The speech contained much that Labour members will be happy with. The nationalisation of the railways and British Steel, more investment in Northern Powerhouse Rail, closer links with the EU, and significant moves to keep social housing stock with providers for much longer are all good Labour moves. LabourList’s excellent King’s Speech tracker is the best way for us all to follow the progress of the government’s agenda in real time, so bookmark that page.

Today, we have heard that growth between January and March was higher than had been expected, at 0.6%, which would normally be a moment of pure celebration – not embattlement – for the government.

Equally, the announcement of a government’s legislative agenda is always important, but this time it bore more weight than usual, given that it is – in essence – the policy platform that Keir Starmer will run on as he is challenged for the leadership (technically this email is going to you before anything formal has happened, but I will not insult my readers’ intelligence by pretending that this is still up in the air. If I am wrong, I will come back tomorrow and apologise).

At the start of the week, Starmer told us that “incremental change won’t cut it.” So is this a set of bills that feels as radical as that level of expectation-setting might have seemed to promise?

It is hard to answer that question with “yes”.

That is not to say there aren’t policies that all Labour members can – and should – cheer to the rafters. There is plenty in there that warms my heart, especially the measures mentioned above.

But they aren’t all that a Labour government should be doing in a Britain that feels so broken and where nothing feels like it works as it should. All these measures feel like “a good start”, not a dramatic change. It all just feels a bit too, well, incremental.

If there is a change in leadership, I do not expect to see much of this legislation junked (though watch for what happens with some of the more controversial measures, such as the Courts Modernisation Bill). But if Labour members are as frustrated with the pace of change as the British public, then anyone challenging for the leadership will be making a case that they will go further and faster.

So who are those challengers?

The worst-kept secret in Westminster – Wes Streeting’s leadership ambitions – is about to burst into the public conversation, as the Health Secretary is expected to resign today to challenge Keir Starmer for the leadership of the Labour Party and to – therefore – become Prime Minister.

That Streeting has long wanted the job is well known. And perhaps too often, everything the Health Secretary has done or said has not been taken on its own merits but seen instead through this lens. That explains the constant briefing against the senior Cabinet member from Number 10, which came to a head in an extraordinary stand-off late last year.

That conversation will change subtly today. It will no longer be held in hints, whispers, and allusions. By putting himself forward, Streeting is inviting the kind of scrutiny that is essential for the person Labour members will be choosing to run not just the party but the country.

And what of the other runners and riders? While Streeting will be the first out of the blocks, other names are very much in the frame.

With timing that could have been scripted in Hollywood, former deputy PM Angela Rayner has been cleared of all wrongdoing by HMRC. That leaves her way clear to be the standard-bearer of the left and soft left of the party. While some have had their doubts about whether she was the right candidate – mostly those still holding on for a potential return to Parliament for Andy Burnham – this dramatically timed exoneration significantly raises her odds.

And what of the “King of the North”? Rumours and names of Greater Manchester MPs who might step down have been flying around over the days since the election. However, there has also been a chorus of Labour MPs from the North West who have denied that they are going anywhere.

If there is to be a by-election, the timing of that would be up to the government. The convention is that this must happen within three months. But three weeks between an MP stepping down and the by-election being triggered might be too long for Burnham to take part in any contest. Could the government stymie Burnham’s chances through setting out a long by-election timetable?

The barriers Burnham faces – for there to be a by-election, for him to be selected to fight it, for him to win it – may all be ones that are too hard to scale in the time frame we are now looking at for a contest.

If an MP does resign and the government indicates it will set a quick timetable, all eyes will then be on Labour’s NEC, which will set the timetable for any leadership contest and have the power to once again block Burnham if he puts himself forward again. Will they change their mind from the decision made by the officers’ group (a 10-person subsection of the NEC) in February?

Things are moving fast. We will continue to move with them as we report not just on what is happening but analyse, in the way only LabourList can, why it is all happening and what it all means.

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