King's Speech Motion for an Address: amendment (p)
104Ayes
316Noes
Defeated · majority 212 · Government won230 did not vote
650 Members · Aye 104 · No 316 · DNV 230 · grey dots in centre are abstentions
Analysis
Commons
Commons
Parliament voted on 20 May 2026 on amendment (p) to the motion for an Address in reply to the King's Speech, the formal Commons response to the government's statement of its legislative programme. The amendment was defeated by 316 votes to 104. No Hansard debate extracts are available for this division, so the specific wording and content of amendment (p) cannot be determined from the available record. The King's Speech sets out the laws the government intends to pass during the parliamentary session, and amendments to the Address are the opposition's main formal opportunity to register dissent with that programme as a whole or with particular omissions and priorities. Because no debate text is available, the precise policy concern the amendment raised cannot be confirmed. What is clear is that the government opposed it and that it was defeated by a substantial margin. The vote divided sharply along party lines. All 271 Labour MPs and 34 Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted backed the government by opposing the amendment, as did all five Green MPs and two MPs listed under Your Party. The 89 Conservative MPs who voted all supported the amendment, as did five Reform UK MPs, five Independents, one MP from Restore Britain, and one from the Democratic Unionist Party. No Conservative or Reform MP voted no, and no Labour or Labour and Co-operative MP voted aye. The result broadly mirrored amendment (o) on the same day, which was also defeated 317 to 104, and amendment (i) the previous day, lost 323 to 108, suggesting a series of opposition amendments to the Address were each repelled by a similar government majority.
Voting Aye meant
Support amendment (p) to the King's Speech address, signalling dissatisfaction with a specific aspect of the government's legislative programme as set out in the King's Speech
Voting No meant
Reject amendment (p), backing the government's King's Speech programme as presented and opposing the challenge raised by the amendment
Each row is one party. The stacked bar gives the within-party split of Aye / No / Absent; the columns on the right give the raw counts. The whip column shows the published party position — “Free vote” means the whip was formally removed for this division.
Party
Whip
Aye / No / Abs
Aye
No
Abs
Labour Party
Whipped No
0
271
89
Conservative and Unionist Party
Whipped Aye
89
0
27
Liberal Democrats
—
0
0
71
Labour and Co-operative Party
Whipped No
0
34
8
Independent
—
5
1
7
Reform UK
Whipped Aye
5
0
3
Scottish National Party
—
0
0
7
Sinn Féin
—
0
0
7
Democratic Unionist Party
—
1
0
4
Green Party of England and Wales
Whipped No
0
5
0
Plaid Cymru
—
0
0
4
Social Democratic and Labour Party
—
0
1
1
Your Party
—
0
2
0
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
—
0
0
1
Restore Britain
—
1
0
0
Speaker
—
0
0
1
Traditional Unionist Voice
—
1
0
0
Ulster Unionist Party
—
1
0
0
Source · Hansard · UK Parliament Votes API · whip status from announced positions; “free vote” indicates the whip was formally removed
The Government must urgently publish the Defence Readiness Bill and Defence Investment Plan, commit to 3% GDP defence spending, and scrap the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill to protect veteran morale and recruitment.Conservative · Voted aye · Read full speech (3,304 words) →
The Government is investing record sums in defence (£270bn this Parliament), has signed over 1,200 defence contracts, and will deliver both the Defence Investment Plan and Defence Readiness Bill later in the Parliament as part of an ambitious reform agenda.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (2,799 words) →
The Government is moving too slowly on defence; it must publish the Defence Investment Plan and Bill urgently, commit to 3% GDP spending by 2030, and launch defence bonds to mobilise investment at the scale required.Liberal Democrat · Voted no_vote_recorded · Read full speech (1,900 words) →
The Defence Investment Plan delay is damaging domestic industry and UK credibility with NATO allies; the Government must publish it before summer recess and provide a timeline for reaching 3.5% NATO target to allow industry to plan capacity expansion.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (1,512 words) →
Defence spending has been allowed to fall under successive governments; Britain now faces its greatest threat since the 1930s from totalitarian states (China, Russia, Iran), requiring commitment to 5% GDP spending and urgent publication of the Defence Investment Plan and Defence Readiness Bill.Conservative · Voted aye · Read full speech (2,009 words) →
The Government must invest rapidly in defence, but national strength also depends on rebuilding the social contract for young people through jobs, housing, and opportunity; without addressing economic insecurity and inequality, recruitment and patriotism will suffer.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (3,386 words) →
The absence of the Defence Investment Plan and Defence Readiness Bill from the King's Speech represents a concerning vacuum in defence planning and industrial strategy at a time of acute threat.Conservative · Voted aye · Read full speech (2,112 words) →
Sources
Division dataUK Parliament Votes API
DebateHansard · Commons
Stance analysisAI analysis · Claude 4.x
LicenceOpen Parliament Licence v3.0