In all the hoo-ha about a possible leadership challenge to Keir Starmer, the government’s proposed legislation, announced in the King’s Speech on 13 March 2026, has been overlooked. We ignore it at our peril.
The King’s Speech is relic from Tudor times, yet is much more than a performance of men in tights. It is a really important marker in parliamentary business, and deserves closer scrutiny because it gives an indication not only of the bills that MPs will be considering but also of the issues on which Senedd Members will be asked to give their consent.
In total, it includes 37 different bills that touch on key aspects of every day life in Wales as well as other parts of the UK. They include legislation on vital infrastructure and services in Wales – water, energy, rail, and land ownership; justice and democracy; trading and our relationship with the EU; and even sporting events. They have the potential to bring about real change under our noses.
Of the 37 bills set out in the King’s Speech, the vast majority will apply in some way to Wales – 23 are UK wide and 6 apply to England and Wales. Some of the UK-wide proposed bills address wholly non-devolved issues such as national security, the armed forces and cyber security. Others cover non-devolved economic issues such as payments to small businesses, financial services, competition policy. But many others will have a significant and direct impact on people and organisations in Wales.
Big ticket bills are:
- European Partnership Bill: Will align standards of goods in Wales with those in the EU, easing trading.
- Police Reform Bill: Will create amongst other changes a new national police force, abolish police and crime commissioners, and allow the Home Office to establish priorities for policing.
- Courts Reform Bill: Introduce changes including trail by judge alone, removal of the right to opt for Crown Court trial, and extension of magistrates sentencing powers.
- Railways and Passenger Benefits Bill: establish Great British Railways with powers over ticketing, fares, freight and other services. An agreement between Welsh and UK government sets out how it is anticipated GBR will operate here – it remains to be seen if the agreement will survive the change in Welsh government.
- Clean Water Bill: stronger regulation of the industry to protect supplies and reduce pollution.
- Immigration and asylum bill: change the routes to settlement, speed up removal of people whose claim for asylum has not been successful and reform application of human rights considerations.
There’s a lot of detail in other bills and several devils lurking in there. The Sporting Events Bill, for example, is likely to enable Ministers – UK or devolved is unclear – to coordinate transport arrangements. The Public Office (Accountability) Bill will apply a duty of candour to public officials across the UK – potentially including those in devolved institutions.
Individually and collectively the bills set out in the King’s Speech have big implications for the Welsh Government’s activities, either by affecting devolved laws or changing the contnxt in which the Welsh Government operates. The Sewel Convention means that devolved governments should consider whether they consent to UK legislation that affect it, by considering Legislative Consent Memorandums. Not only are decisions on LCM’s not binding on the UK government, they often go under the radar of Senedd business and appear to have limited scrutiny despite their importance.
The previous Senedd has already given consent to quite a few of the bills set out in the King’s Speech because they were carried over from the previous Parliamentary session, including the Railways Bill and Public Office (Accountability) Bill, tying the new administration’s hands.
Nevertheless, as the new Welsh Government and new MSs settle in and doubtless want to bring forward their own Welsh legislation, it is important that they scrutinise and carefully consider the non-devolved legislation coming forward. The leadership dramas should not distract them from the important job of improving the lives and prospects of people in Wales,
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