What are the Queen's Speech and the State Opening of Parliament?
Fri. 13 Dec 2019The Queen's Speech is the vehicle through which the Government sets out its legislative programme for a new Session of Parliament. The Speech is the central element in the State Opening of Parliament, the key constitutional and ceremonial occasion at the start of a new Session.
Get our latest research, insights and events delivered to your inbox
Share this and support our work
Last updated: 3 May 2022
The Queen's Speech is the vehicle through which the Government sets out its legislative programme for a new Session of Parliament, at the start of that new Session.
The Queen's Speech may also be referred to as the 'Gracious Speech'.
The Speech is written by the Government; the Queen simply reads it out. However, the references which the Queen makes in the Speech to 'my Government' reaffirm the constitutional fact that, formally, the Government is the Queen's Government and is appointed by her.
The Queen's Speech usually lists the major Bills that the Government plans to introduce to Parliament or publish in draft during the new Session. The Speech also often provides a general presentation of the Government's main policy objectives and priorities, in foreign as well as domestic affairs. It may include an announcement of any forthcoming State Visits.
The Bills listed in the Queen's Speech are often the most high-profile and long-planned ones. However, the Government may at any time introduce Bills that were not listed in the Queen's Speech. There is no difference between the parliamentary procedure that applies to Queen's Speech and non-Queen's Speech Bills.
After the Queen's Speech, the Leader of the House of Commons normally makes a Written Statement to Parliament confirming the list of Bills announced in the Speech.
The Queen's Speech takes place as the central element in the State Opening of Parliament.
State Opening is the ceremony that takes place at the start of a new Session of Parliament. It is a historic ceremony which is rich in constitutional symbolism. It is the only occasion on which all three of Parliament's constituent elements – the Sovereign, the House of Lords and the House of Commons – normally physically meet together.
A new Session of Parliament starts in one or other of two possible sets of circumstances:
At the beginning of a new Parliament, after a General Election. If State Opening takes place at the beginning of a new Parliament, after a General Election, it takes place a few days after the first day of the new Session (that is, a few days after the new Parliament first meets). This is because, in a new Parliament, time is needed before State Opening for the House of Commons to elect its Speaker (which must take place before the Queen's Speech), and for the swearing-in of Members of both Houses. MPs and Peers can still swear-in after the Queen's Speech if necessary, but the vast majority do so before it.
During a Parliament, after a Prorogation. If State Opening takes place during a Parliament, after a Prorogation, it takes place on the first day of the new Session.
A parliamentary Session usually lasts for around a year, but it has no minimum or maximum length. If Sessions are lasting roughly a year, State Opening normally takes place in the period between April and June each year. However, depending on the length of the preceding Session, State Opening may take place at any time.
Guides / What happens on the day of the Queen's Speech and State Opening of Parliament?
The State Opening of Parliament, with the Queen's Speech at its centre, is the largest and most elaborate ceremonial occasion in the regular parliamentary calendar. The ceremony is rich in history and constitutional symbolism, and is also of immediate political interest and importance.
The date of State Opening is announced by the Government. The date is not governed by law or any other formal process, so if necessary it could be changed until quite late, although this would be unusual. The main practical constraints affecting the date are the Queen's availability, and the time needed to prepare and put in place all the ceremonial, logistical and security arrangements normally involved in the occasion. A lack of time, owing to an unexpected State Opening after an early General Election, is one of the circumstances that can lead to a 'dressed-down' State Opening.
In any Session of Parliament, neither House can conduct any normal public business before the Queen's Speech takes place.
More
Related
Blog / "Will they come when you do call for them?": Should select committees have real power to compel evidence?
In a recent report the House of Commons Privileges Committee recommended the creation of a new criminal offence to deal with the rare problem of recalcitrant select committee witnesses. The proposal is narrow and looks workable. However, it remains controversial, and the Committee has invited further views, with final proposals expected later in 2021.
Guides / What happens on the day of the Queen's Speech and State Opening of Parliament?
The State Opening of Parliament, with the Queen's Speech at its centre, is the largest and most elaborate ceremonial occasion in the regular parliamentary calendar. The ceremony is rich in history and constitutional symbolism, and is also of immediate political interest and importance.
Blog / "... as if the Commissioners had walked into Parliament with a blank sheet of paper": Parliament's procedural handling of the Supreme Court's nullification of prorogation
The Supreme Court's 24 September nullification of the prorogation that had at that point been underway presented Parliament with a procedural and record-keeping problem. Here, the Clerks of the Journals in the two Houses explain how it was resolved.
Blog / The 2019 Liaison Committee report on the Commons select committee system: broadening the church, integrating with the Chamber
In its recent landmark report, the House of Commons Liaison Committee recommended a widening of the circle of those that select committees should hold to account, and a turn towards the public in all committee activity, but also tighter links between select committees and the House of Commons Chamber.
Blog / The Independent Group of MPs: will they have disproportionate influence in the House of Commons?
The roles occupied by members of The Independent Group - particularly on select committees, where they retain a number of important posts and command two and a half times as many seats as the Liberal Democrats – could give them more influence than their small, non-party status might normally be expected to accord them.
Blog / The DCMS Committee, Facebook and parliamentary powers and privilege
For its 'fake news' inquiry the House of Commons DCMS Committee has reportedly acquired papers related to a US court case involving Facebook. Andrew Kennon, former Commons Clerk of Committees, says the incident shows how the House's powers to obtain evidence do work, but that it might also weaken the case for Parliament's necessary powers in the long term.
Publications / Opening up the Usual Channels: next steps for reform of the House of Commons
In a speech to the Hansard Society on 11 October 2017, of which the full text and audio recording are below, the House of Commons Speaker, the Rt Hon John Bercow MP, proposed three key reforms for the House: a House Business Committee; reforms to procedures for Private Members' Bills; and a loosening of the government's exclusive control over recalling the House.
Blog / Corbyn's 'Save Our Steel' e-petition shows why the rules governing the recall of Parliament need to change
In a time of crisis Parliament is hamstrung if it is in recess. MPs are not masters of their own House because, in accordance with House of Commons Standing Order 13, only government ministers - in reality the Prime Minister - can request a recall of Parliament.
Reports / Measured or Makeshift? Parliamentary Scrutiny of the European Union
In this 2013 pamphlet, leading politicians, commentators and academics set out growing concerns that parliamentary scrutiny of EU business at Westminster was inadequate, questioned whether there was a democratic deficit at the heart of the UK's relationship with the EU, and canvassed ideas for reform of Parliament's EU engagement.
Reports / Opening Up The Usual Channels
This 2002 report lays bare the operation of one of the most distinctive, mysterious and critical features of the Westminster Parliament: the 'usual channels' - that is, the relationships between the government and opposition parties through which Parliament's business is organised.
Latest
Guides / Financial Scrutiny: the Budget
In order to raise income, the government needs to obtain approval from Parliament for its taxation plans. The Budget process is the means by which the House of Commons considers the government’s plans to impose 'charges on the people' and its assessment of the wider state of the economy.
Guides / Financial Scrutiny: the Estimates Cycle
In order to incur expenditure the government needs to obtain approval from Parliament for its departmental spending plans. The annual Estimates cycle is the means by which the House of Commons controls the government’s plans for the spending of money raised through taxation.
Data / Coronavirus Statutory Instruments Dashboard
The national effort to tackle the Coronavirus health emergency has resulted in UK ministers being granted some of the broadest legislative powers ever seen in peacetime. This Dashboard highlights key facts and figures about the Statutory Instruments (SIs) being produced using these powers in the Coronavirus Act 2020 and other Acts of Parliament.
Briefings / The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill: four delegated powers that should be amended to improve future accountability to Parliament
The Bill seeks to crack down on ‘dirty money’ and corrupt elites in the UK and is being expedited through Parliament following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This briefing identifies four delegated powers in the Bill that should be amended to ensure future accountability to Parliament.
Articles / Brexit and Beyond: Delegated Legislation
The end of the transition period is likely to expose even more fully the scope of the policy-making that the government can carry out via Statutory Instruments, as it uses its new powers to develop post-Brexit law. However, there are few signs yet of a wish to reform delegated legislation scrutiny, on the part of government or the necessary coalition of MPs.