King's Speech (Motion for an Address): Amendment (d)

What happened: On 23 July 2024, the House of Commons voted on Amendment (d) to the Loyal Address (the formal parliamentary motion responding to the King's Speech, which sets out the new government's legislative programme). The amendment, tabled to register opposition to or seek changes to the government's agenda, was defeated by 363 votes to 103.

Why it matters: The King's Speech debate is the first major parliamentary test for any new government, and amendments to the Loyal Address allow opposition parties to put alternative policy priorities on record. Defeating this amendment cleared the path for the Labour government's legislative programme, covering areas including constitutional and democratic reform, to proceed without formal parliamentary challenge at this early stage. While the defeat of an opposition amendment in these circumstances was expected given Labour's large majority, the vote established the initial shape of parliamentary arithmetic in the new Parliament.

The politics: The vote produced an unusual cross-party configuration. Rather than the Conservatives leading opposition, the Liberal Democrats provided the largest bloc of Aye votes with 64, joined by the SNP (9), Greens (4), Plaid Cymru (4), the DUP (4), the SDLP (2), and a handful of independents and Labour rebels (6). Strikingly, the Conservative Party recorded zero Aye votes and only one No vote, with 115 MPs absent, suggesting the party abstained en masse. This early vote illustrated that in the new Parliament, opposition to Labour would come from multiple directions simultaneously, with smaller parties willing to combine against the government even on motions that might otherwise be associated with Conservative priorities.