King's Speech 2026: The 35 bills, the royal embarrassment and one humiliated PM

Wednesday's King's Speech is Sir Keir Starmer's bid to reassert his authority, with 35 bills lined up for the coming parliamentary year - even as the pressure from his own MPs to quit shows no sign of easing.

The legislative programme spans housing, immigration, energy, health and a closer relationship with the EU - a broad canvas intended to project momentum, during his moment of most acute political vulnerability to date.

On Tuesday night, Starmer said: "The British people expect the government to get on with the job of changing our country for the better.

"Cutting the cost of living, bringing down hospital waiting lists and keeping our country safe in an increasingly dangerous world. Britain stands at a pivotal moment: to press ahead with a plan to build a stronger, fairer country or turn back to the chaos and instability of the past. My government will deliver on the promise of change for the British people."

The remarks, however, were largely a repeat what he told cabinet on Tuesday: "I take responsibility for the change we promised", as he sought to project calm authority amid the internal storm.

Has the King's Speech embarrassed King Charles?

The ceremony has already proved awkward for the Palace. Royal sources told Politico that King Charles found the situation deeply uncomfortable. "It is very embarrassing for the king that his government is such a shambles that he has to read out something that may or may not still be the government's programme by the end of the week," one said.

According to sources familiar with the discussions reported on by the Guardian, a senior Palace aide raised the question directly with government officials including Cabinet Secretary Antonia Romeo - asking whether the monarch should proceed at all. The Palace was told it was constitutionally correct for the King to open Parliament as planned. Buckingham Palace reportedly declined to comment.

Government aides are hoping the pomp of the state opening will help dissuade potential rebels from using their return to Westminster to immediately organise against the Prime Minister.

What bills are included in the King's Speech?

The EU alignment bill — allowing British regulations to mirror those across the Channel - is one of the most politically charged measures, representing the centrepiece of Sir Keir's European reset agenda despite it being described as going down like a "bucket of cold vomit" to voters living in Labour's former-heartlands in the northern Red Wall, which largely fell to Reform UK in the May 7th local elections.

An energy independence bill will chart the course to clean power, drawing on recommendations from infrastructure specialist John Fingleton to streamline the construction of nuclear plants.

Will British Steel be nationalised?

British Steel, already in state hands, will be formally nationalised through primary legislation. The government will also introduce long-delayed leasehold reforms banning new leasehold flat sales - though ministers concede the changes will not come into force before the next general election.

Streeting, whose leadership ambitions have been widely reported, will bring forward his plan to abolish NHS England - a proposal he trailed last year. Phillipson takes charge of legislating for her overhaul of special educational needs.

Perhaps the most politically sensitive measure is the immigration bill, which will tighten the route to settled status and impose a ten-year qualifying period on some claimants - twice the existing threshold. It will further curtail the ability of asylum seekers to invoke Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to family life, to challenge removal decisions.

For many Labour MPs, Wednesday will mark their first gathering since the local elections and the first chance to take stock of a leadership crisis that has consumed the party since polling day.