• The King's Speech: what Bills has the Government announced for this new Session?

• If Parliament passes an Act, why might some provisions not be implemented?

• What is the legislative 'wash-up' before a general election?

• HS2: does the government need new legislation to deal with the fallout from the Prime Minister's decision to scrap the next stage of the railway line?

• Lucy Powell MP: her critical role, as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, planning the legislative programme of a new Labour Government.

• What is Prorogation?

• What is a parliamentary Session?

• The State Opening of Parliament: do we need the pageantry?

• What is the Conservative 1922 Committee?

Hansard Society

• Six things to look out for in Parliament in the next Session

• What is the Finance Bill?

• HS2 fiasco: What does it mean for Parliament?

• The King’s Speech and State Opening of Parliament: a procedural and constitutional guide

• The 1922 Committee: What are its origins?

House of Commons Library

• State Opening of Parliament – history and ceremonial David Torrance

Lord Norton

• The 1922 Committee: Power Behind the Scenes Philip Norton, Manchester University Press (2023)

Please note, this transcript is automatically generated. There are consequently minor errors and the text is not formatted according to our style guide. If you wish to reference or cite the transcript copy below, please first check against the audio version above. Timestamps are provided above each paragraph.

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:34:00

You are listening to Parliament Matters, a Hansard Society Production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Learn More at hansardsociety.org.uk/pm. Hello and welcome to Parliament Matters, the new podcast from the Hansard Society about the institution at the heart of our democracy - Parliament itself. I'm Ruth Fox and I'm Mark D'Arcy. Every week we're going to be analysing what's going on behind the Gothic facade of Westminster.

00:00:34:02 - 00:00:52:00

We'll be explaining how the system works and hearing about the latest research on the workings of parliaments and politics, and looking back at key moments of parliamentary history. We're going to talk in this episode about The King's Speech, the new laws the government has proposed, the State Opening of Parliament. And indeed, why do we have a State Opening of Parliament?

00:00:52:01 - 00:01:23:22

Why do we have this slightly strange system of parliamentary cycles that start with The King's Speech and closed with the prorogation ceremony providing a sort of hard stop to the legislative agenda? And then we'll be talking to Lord Norton, political savant and Tory peer who dropped by to discuss the 1922 Committee, the mysterious institution whose inhabitants may or may not wear gray suits, but who can make or break a conservative prime minister.

00:01:23:24 - 00:01:46:05

But first, The King's Speech. The King's Speech is the beginning of a parliamentary year. It's when His Majesty sets out on behalf of the Prime Minister of the day the program of laws they're planning to pass in the coming year. But we all know that an election is due in the next 12 months or so. So how much of what's being proposed this time around is actual law that they want to get on the statute book?

00:01:46:11 - 00:02:08:13

And how much is political performance art? I suppose you might say something intended to create dividing lines with labor, something intended to set up the debates of the next general election. Ruth, you've been looking at the list. Yes. So the 21 bills that the government has has identified. Of course, the thing to remember is the government can bring bills in that are not in The King's Speech.