Britain’s newly elected Labour Party government has pledged to calm the nation’s heated political climate and tackle the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. This commitment was outlined during the grand State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday, marking the beginning of what Prime Minister Keir Starmer described as a period of “national renewal.”

Stabilizing the U.K.’s public finances and spurring economic growth are at the heart of Starmer’s legislative agenda. These plans were announced in a speech written by government officials and delivered by King Charles III to hundreds of lawmakers and House of Lords members.

“My government will seek a new partnership with both business and working people and help the country move on from the recent cost-of-living challenges by prioritizing wealth creation for all communities,” the king stated.

Since becoming Labour leader in 2020, Starmer has steered his traditionally left-leaning party toward the center. His campaign promises focused on bold change at a modest cost to taxpayers, aiming to be both pro-worker and pro-business. He supports vast new construction projects while also emphasizing environmental protection, a balancing act that carries the risk of pleasing no one.

In a written introduction to the speech, Starmer emphasized that change would require “determined, patient work and serious solutions” rather than easy answers or “the snake oil charm of populism.”

The King’s Speech, the centerpiece of the State Opening, merges royal pomp with hard-nosed politics. The king, adorned in a diamond-studded crown and seated on a gilded throne, announced the government’s legislative priorities for the coming year.

Labour’s landslide victory on July 4 ended years of Conservative rule marked by high inflation, ethics scandals, and a series of prime ministers. Starmer has promised to modernize the country’s aging infrastructure and improve public services without raising personal taxes, insisting that change must adhere to “unbreakable fiscal rules.”

The new government’s legislative agenda includes 40 bills, compared to the Conservatives’ 21 last year. These range from housebuilding initiatives and nationalizing Britain’s railways to decarbonizing the nation’s power supply with a publicly owned green electricity firm, Great British Energy.

Among the economic measures are tighter corporate regulations and a law ensuring independent scrutiny of all government budgets. This aims to prevent a recurrence of the 2022 economic chaos caused by then-Prime Minister Liz Truss’s uncosted tax cuts.

Labour also promised stronger protections for workers, including a ban on some “zero-hours” contracts and a higher minimum wage for many employees. Renters will gain protections against substandard housing, sudden eviction, and landlords who forbid pets.

The government also aims to empower local governments and improve bus and railway services, key elements of the “levelling up” agenda that former Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson largely failed to deliver. Although Starmer opposes large-scale nationalization of industries, the government plans to bring the delay-plagued train operators into public ownership.

Economic announcements received a tentative welcome from trade unions and business groups. Gary Smith, leader of the GMB union, called the speech a “breath of fresh air.” Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive of the Confederation of British Industry, said it “sets out a program of big choices and bold moves needed to deliver a shift in gear for the economy.”

The speech acknowledged the urgency of the global climate challenge, marking a tonal shift from the previous government’s focus on oil and gas exploration. Alongside increasing renewable energy, the government pledged tougher penalties for water companies that pollute rivers, lakes, and seas.

Other measures include creating a beefed-up Border Security Command with counter-terrorism powers to combat people-smuggling gangs. This follows Starmer’s decision to scrap the Conservatives’ controversial plan to send asylum seekers arriving by sea to Rwanda.

Reforming the House of Lords was also addressed. The government plans to remove hereditary aristocrats from the unelected upper chamber, although it did not mention setting a retirement age of 80 or lowering the voting age from 18 to 16, both of which are still planned before the next election.

Starmer’s agenda, while breaking with the Conservative government of former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, revives Sunak’s plan to gradually raise the minimum age for buying tobacco to eliminate smoking among future generations.

The speech affirmed the government’s commitment to resetting relations with European partners post-Brexit and maintaining strong support for Ukraine.

King Charles III traveled from Buckingham Palace to Parliament in a horse-drawn carriage, past a small group of anti-monarchy protesters, before delivering his speech in ceremonial robes and the Imperial State Crown. Police arrested 10 environmental activists near Parliament over alleged plans to disrupt the ceremony.

Despite the royal trappings, the King’s Speech is written by the government. “The king has zero agency in this,” said Jill Rutter, senior research fellow at the Institute for Government think tank.