Date set for King’s Speech for new government to reveal programme

Details have emerged of the first major events of the new government, whatever the result of the General Election on Thursday.

Probably within the first 48 hours after the results of the election are clear on Friday morning - the new government will be formed and Cabinet ministers appointed.

On Tuesday July 9 the new Parliament will meet for the first time, with the election of a House of Commons Speaker followed by the swearing in of all MPs, beginning with the MP with the longest continuous service, then the Prime Minister, members of the Cabinet and shadow cabinet, any MPs who are privy counsellors, and then other MPs based on when they were first elected. 

If there are large volumes of new MPs - as expected - the swearing in process will take some days, and until an MP has taken her or his oath they cannot participate in any substantive business in the Commons.

The State Opening of Parliament and the King’s Speech will be on the morning of Wednesday July 17, where the incoming government will outline its plans for its first year.

The Institute for Government says that before the election was called, Parliament’s summer recess was scheduled to start on July 23. 

The Institute now says: “However this is less than six days from the King’s Speech and so would not leave enough time for the usual six sitting days taken to debate and vote on it, so it is likely that new recess dates will be set. This decision rests with the new government, and will be determined in part by what the government wants to get done before recess and whether it need MPs in attendance for this.”

A key decision to be formalised early in the life of the new government is when it will hold its first fiscal event - be that a formal Budget or a smaller so-called Autumn Statement. 

The Conservatives indicated before the election was called that it would hold an Autumn fiscal event if re-elected; Labour has pledged no emergency Budget over the summer and there is speculation that if elected it may delay any significant fiscal event until early 2025.