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17 July 2024updated 11 Jun 2025 7:37am

The King’s speech reveals Keir Starmer’s uncommon ambition

Parliament is about to get “incredibly busy”.


“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a government with this level of ambition,” says George Eaton.

Black Rod has been summoned and the weighty wooden doors swung open on a new parliamentary year. At the State Opening of Parliament, Keir Starmer’s government unveiled their ambitious legislative agenda through the King’s speech, which introduced a bumper 39 bills.

George Eaton and Rachel Cunliffe join Hannah Barnes on the New Statesman podcast to unpick the policy announcements and explore the opportunities and potential pitfalls Labour may face over the coming months.

Read more: The King’s Speech is our first chance to inspect the moral code behind “Starmerism”

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