Questions and statements: There are no oral questions to Ministers during the first three sitting days of a new session because the House of Commons Standing Orders specify that there must be a minimum two-day notice period for such questions.

From 14:30, any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will be taken. Each Urgent Question lasts around 40 minutes on average, and Ministerial Statements last an average of around 50 minutes.

Debate on the Address, day 3 – backing business to create economic growth: The House will continue its debate on the ‘Loyal Address’ (on a motion that a humble Address be presented to His Majesty thanking him for his Speech). In practice, this debate provides MPs with an opportunity for a wide-ranging debate on Government policy. The debate will last until Wednesday, and each day of the debate is dedicated to one or more policy themes. Today’s debate will focus on ‘backing business to create economic growth’. Votes on the motion and any amendments selected by the Speaker will take place tomorrow and on Wednesday.

For a list of bills announced in the King’s Speech, see the Government’s background briefing notes.

Presentation of public petition: Liberal Democrat MP Olly Glover will present a petition concerning East Hagbourne Post Office.

Adjournment: Labour MP Sally Jameson will give a speech on audiology services in Doncaster. A Minister will then give a response.

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Oral questions: At 14:30, Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on falling life expectancy; new local government pension fund guidance; the proposed UK–EU sanitary and phytosanitary agreement; and miscarriage care and support.

Select committee motions: The House will be asked to formally agree the reappointment of the Retirement and Participation Committee, to consider and make recommendations on a retirement age and participation requirement for members of the House of Lords. The Chair of the Hansard Society’s Board of Trustees, Baroness Taylor of Bolton, chaired this Committee in the last session and this motion provides for her reappointment. The motion also specifies that the Committee should report to the House by 31 July 2026.

Debate on the Address, day 2 – justice, home affairs and the Union: The King’s Speech debate in the Lords, as in the Commons, takes place on a motion for a humble Address thanking the King for the Speech.

Five full days of debate have been allocated, and each has been assigned a theme. Today’s debate will focus on ‘justice, home affairs and the Union’. A running list of peers who have indicated their intention to speak can be found here.

Amendments to the Address may be moved at any time during the debate and are then disposed of either at the end of that day’s proceedings or held over until the conclusion of the wider debate on day five (Thursday).

Grand Committee

From 15:45, Peers will debate four Statutory Instruments:

• the draft Provision of Information (Contractual Control) (Registered Land) Regulations 2026;

• the draft Hampshire and the Solent Combined County Authority Regulations 2026;

• the Syria (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2026; and

• the draft Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2026.

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Highlights include:

House of Commons

15:30: Public Accounts Committee – Large business tax compliance: Senior officials from HM Revenue & Customs will give evidence.

16:15: Environmental Audit Committee – National security assessment and COP-17: Experts and academics will give evidence.

Joint

16:30: National Security Strategy Committee – Undersea cables: Armed Forces Minister Alistair Carns MP, Digital Economy Minister Baroness Lloyd of Effra, senior civil servants, and defence experts will give evidence.

A full list of select committee hearings can be found on the What’s On section of the Parliament website.

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Backbench Business Committee chair – Nominations: Previously, the Standing Orders required the House of Commons to re-elect both the chair and members of the Backbench Business Committee at the start of every parliamentary session. This differed from other select committees, whose members are elected after a general election for the duration of a parliament. However, at the end of the last session, the House amended the Standing Orders so that the Backbench Business Committee is now elected on the same basis as other select committees. As a result, the chair and members chosen at the start of this session will serve for the remainder of the parliament.

The chair is elected by the whole House through a secret ballot, while other members are chosen within their respective parties. The Speaker has announced that nominations for chair will close at 13:00 today, Tuesday 19 May. Candidates must belong to a party not represented in Government (that is, any party other than Labour). To stand, candidates must secure the support of at least 10 MPs from parties represented in Government and at least 10 MPs from parties outside Government or of no party. If more than one valid nomination is received, a ballot will be held tomorrow – Wednesday 20 May.

The incumbent chair, Bob Blackman MP, is expected to seek re-election, and no other MP has yet publicly declared an intention to contest the election. Once the chair and other members are chosen, the House will formally agree a motion to appoint the Committee. It can then begin its work deciding the topics of debates in backbench business time.

Earlier this year, we spoke to Bob Blackman MP for our Parliament Matters podcast about the Committee’s work and achievements since its creation 15 years ago. In March, Professor Cristina Leston-Bandeira and Dr Louise Thompson also reflected on how the Committee has given MPs a stronger voice in the House of Commons.

Questions and statements: At 11:30, Justice Ministers will respond to MPs’ questions. Topics include family courts, reoffending, violence against women and girls, changes to jury trials, paedophiles in open prisons, knife crime, children in care, mistaken prisoner releases, expenses for jurors, and unduly lenient sentences.

At 12:30, any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow.

Debate on the Address, day 4 – energy security: The House will continue its debate on the ‘Loyal Address’ (on a motion that a humble Address be presented to His Majesty thanking him for his Speech). Today’s debate will focus on energy security.

The motion may be amended, and under Standing Order No. 33(1), the Speaker may select up to four amendments for debate and decision. One amendment may be moved on the penultimate day of the debate, usually from the Leader of the Opposition, with up to three further amendments selected on the final day. Since today is the penultimate day of debate, the House is expected to vote on an amendment tabled by the Leader of the Opposition.

The motion in response to the King’s Speech was last successfully amended in 2016, when the Conservative government accepted an amendment from its own backbench MPs expressing regret that the Speech did not include “a bill to protect the National Health Service from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership”.

For a list of bills announced in the King’s Speech last week, see the Government’s background briefing notes.

Adjournment: Conservative MP Joy Morrissey will give a speech on the impact of HS2 on communities. A Minister will then give a response.

Delegated Legislation Committees

09:30: The draft Controlled Drugs (Drug Precursors) (Amendment and Revocation) Regulations 2026; and the draft Criminal Justice (International Co-operation) Act 1990 (Amendment) Order 2026

14:30: The draft Merchant Shipping (Port State Control) Regulations 2026

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Oral questions: At 14:30, Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on the proposed defence, security and resilience bank; climate change; VAT relief on business donations to charities involved in food redistribution; and the impact of a possible El Niño event on public services.

Debate on the Address, day 3 – education, culture, technology and energy security: Peers will continue debating the motion for a humble Address thanking the King for the Speech.

Today marks the third of the five days allocated to the King’s Speech debate and will focus on ‘education, culture, technology and energy security’. A running list of peers who have indicated their intention to speak can be found here.

Amendments to the Address may be moved at any time during the debate and are then disposed of either at the end of that day’s proceedings or held over until the conclusion of the wider debate on day five (Thursday).

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Highlights include:

House of Commons

09:45: Treasury Committee – The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) 15 years on: Members of the OBR’s governing Budget Responsibility Committee will give evidence alongside two experts.

10:30: Defence Committee – Afghan data breach and resettlement schemes: Defence Minister Luke Pollard MP will give evidence on the data breach that occurred under the previous Government. The breach led the Ministry of Defence to seek a super-injunction that prevented the matter from being reported to Parliament or disclosed publicly.

11:30: Modernisation Committee – Backbench Business Committee and Petition Committee debates: Bob Blackman MP, who chaired the Backbench Business Committee in the last session and is seeking nomination again this session, will give evidence alongside the chair of the Petitions Committee, Jamie Stone MP.

House of Lords

11:00: European Affairs Committee – Dynamic alignment: Representatives of the farming, food processing and ports sectors, and experts in trade policy, will give evidence.

14:00: International Agreements Committee – How should the UK deploy its trade instruments: The UK’s former Chief Negotiator, Crawford Falconer, will give evidence.

15:00: Economic Affairs Committee – Fiscal devolution in England: Former director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, now Provost at the Queen’s College, University of Oxford, Paul Johnson will give evidence.

A full list of select committee hearings can be found on the What’s On section of the Parliament website.

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Details of Wednesday’s business can be found below.

Backbench Business Committee chair – Ballot: If more than one candidate has submitted a valid nomination (see Tuesday’s House of Commons section), an election for chair will take place today between 10:00 and 13:00. The election will take place via secret ballot according to the Alternative Vote system. If only one valid nomination is received, that candidate will become the chair for the remainder of the Parliament. (Hansard Society guide)

Questions and statements: At 11:30, Science, Innovation and Technology Ministers will respond to MPs’ questions. Topics include children’s online safety and access to social media, regulatory alignment with the EU, the agri-food sector, digital inclusion, artificial intelligence, funding for astronomy and space science, animal testing, advanced mathematics, and women in tech.

At 12:00, Sir Keir Starmer is set to face the Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch, at Prime Minister’s Questions.

At 12:30, any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow.

Debate on the Address, day 5 – defence readiness: The House will conclude the debate on the ‘Loyal Address’ (a motion that a humble Address be presented to His Majesty thanking him for his Speech). Today’s debate will focus on ‘defence readiness’.

The motion for the Address can be amended, and under Standing Order No. 33(1), the Speaker may select up to four amendments for debate and decision. One amendment will likely be moved on Tuesday from the Leader of the Opposition, and up to three more may be moved at today’s debate. The amendments moved on the final day typically include one each from the Leader of the Opposition and from the leader of the third largest party (the Liberal Democrats).

Amendments from the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have not yet appeared on the Order Paper. In addition to the three amendments from the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, the Speaker may also choose to select a fourth amendment, to be moved on the final day, although there is no requirement for him to do so. At the time of writing six amendments have been tabled so far:

• Amendment (a), proposed by the Green Party, expresses regret that the King’s Speech did not include various measures on wealth redistribution, nature and climate change, housing costs, poverty, and public transport.

• Amendment (b), proposed by the Green Party, expresses regret that the King’s Speech fails to include measures to introduce proportional representation for national and local elections.

• Amendment (c), proposed by the SNP and Plaid Cymru, expresses regret that the Prime Minister does not have the confidence of the House.

• Amendment (d), proposed by various Labour backbenchers, expresses regret about the Government’s proposals for SEND reform.

• Amendment (e), proposed by the Independence Alliance, expresses regret that the King’s Speech fails to include sufficient measures on the cost of living, offshore profits, housing, social care, Islamophobia, AI and big tech, public ownership, preservation of jury trials, the right to protest, migration and asylum, and Palestine.

• Amendment (f), proposed by the Independent Alliance, expresses regret about the Government’s proposals for reform of jury trials and digital ID.

After voting on any amendments, the House will vote on the main motion to present the humble Address (either amended or unamended). There is a strong constitutional convention that the vote on the humble Address is a matter of confidence in the Government. A defeat would be expected to trigger the Government’s resignation or a request for an early dissolution of Parliament for a general election.

Adjournment: SNP MP Graham Leadbitter will give a speech on criteria for establishing banking hubs. A Minister will then give a response.

Delegated Legislation Committee

14:30: The draft Hampshire and the Solent Combined County Authority Regulations 2026

↖ Contents · Skip to Thursday’s Commons ↘

Oral questions: At 15:00, Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on paternity leave for the self-employed; the attainment gap in music for disadvantaged pupils; and pricing practices for replica football kits for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The topic of a fourth question will be decided by a ballot drawn at lunchtime on Monday 18 May.

Conduct motion – Lord Stone of Blackheath: Lord Kakkar, Chair of the Conduct Committee, will move a motion asking the House to agree to the Committee’s report regarding the conduct of Lord Stone of Blackheath.

Following three complaints against Lord Stone – two by visitors who entered the parliamentary estate as his guests, and one by a parliamentary staff member – the Commissioner for Standards opened an investigation into his conduct. The Commissioner concluded that Lord Stone had harassed all three complainants, and that his behaviour towards two of them amounted to sexual misconduct, in breach of the House of Lords Code of Conduct. The Conduct Committee’s report notes that this is the fourth investigation involving Lord Stone to have found that he engaged in bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct.

Lord Stone voluntarily resigned from the House on 5 December 2025. The Commissioner’s report states that, had Lord Stone still been a member of the House, the Commissioner would have recommended his expulsion. Instead, the Commissioner recommended that Lord Stone be permanently barred from the House of Lords estate, depriving him of the access rights normally granted to former members. The Conduct Committee endorsed both conclusions.

If the House agrees to the Conduct Committee’s report, a further motion will be moved to give formal effect to Lord Stone’s permanent exclusion from the parliamentary estate. The Standing Orders of the House of Lords require that any motion relating to a Conduct Committee report and any subsequent motion imposing sanctions be taken without debate.

Debate on the Address, day 4 – health, housing and transport: Peers will continue debating the motion for a humble Address thanking the King for the Speech.

Today is the fourth of five full days of debate on the King’s Speech and has been assigned the themes of ‘health, housing and transport’. A running list of peers who have indicated their intention to speak can be found here.

Amendments to the Address may be moved at any time during the debate and are then disposed of either at the end of that day’s proceedings or held over until the conclusion of the wider debate on day five (Thursday).

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Highlights include:

House of Commons

09:10: Health and Social Care Committee – The work of NHS England: Former Health Secretary Sir Jeremy Hunt MP and experts in health service policy will give evidence.

09:15: Energy Security and Net Zero Committee – International climate policy: Climate Minister Katie White MP and experts in climate policy will give evidence.

09:15: Transport Committee – HS2 progress update: Rail Minister Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill will give evidence.

09:30: Work and Pensions Committee – Youth employment, education and training: Alan Milburn, author of the forthcoming Young People and Work report, will give evidence.

09:30: Science, Innovation and Technology Committee – Pre-appointment hearing for the Chair of Ofcom: Sir Ian Cheshire, the Government’s preferred candidate for the role, will give evidence.

14:15: Treasury Committee – Bank of England Monetary Policy Reports: Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and other members of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee will give evidence.

14:30: Business and Trade Sub-Committee on Economic Security, Arms and Export Controls – Critical minerals: Industry Minister Chris McDonald MP, experts, and representatives of the critical minerals sector will give evidence.

14:45: Procedure Committee – Written Parliamentary Questions: Experts in transparency and freedom of information and senior Cabinet Office officials will give evidence.

House of Lords

09:00: International Relations and Defence Committee – Multilateralism: Evidence will be given by experts in global governance and international relations: Professor Ngaire Woods, Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University; Dr Anne-Marie Slaughter, former Director of Policy Planning at the US State Department and incoming Dean of the London School of Economics; and Professor Indrajit Roy of the University of York.

A full list of select committee hearings can be found on the What’s On section of the Parliament website.

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Private Members’ Bill (PMB) ballot: The Standing Orders require the ballot be drawn on the second sitting Thursday of each session, which falls today. At 09:00, the Senior Deputy Speaker and Chair of Ways and Means, Nusrat Ghani MP, will draw 20 balls at random from a bowl, with each ball representing an MP who entered the ballot. The draw takes place in reverse order: the first ball drawn determines the MP in 20th place, while the final ball in the drawn secures the top place.

The 20 MPs drawn in the ballot gain the right to introduce the first Private Members’ Bills of the session. This gives their bills priority over all other PMBs in securing a date for Second Reading, and therefore the strongest chance of becoming law.

Once selected, the 20 MPs must each decide on the subject of their bill, before formally presenting it to Parliament on Wednesday 17 June. On that day, they will also choose a date for the bill’s Second Reading from among the first seven of the 13 sitting Fridays allocated by the House for PMBs.

The Hansard Society’s guide to Private Members’ Bills explains in greater detail how the PMB ballot is conducted and how PMBs progress through their legislative stages in both Houses.

Questions and statements: At 09:30, Business and Trade Ministers will face questions from MPs. Topics include digital ID, resale of tickets, Royal Mail, industrial strategy, job losses in retail and hospitality, support for pubs, the Employment Rights Act 2025, businesses in rural areas, the opt-out collective actions regime, and the Steel Strategy.

Any Urgent Questions will follow.

The Leader of the House of Commons, Sir Alan Campbell MP, will present the weekly Business Statement, setting out the business in the House for the next couple of weeks and answering questions about anything that Members might want debated. Any Ministerial Statements will follow.

Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill (Second Reading): MPs will debate the first new bill of this session, which was introduced last Thursday. The bill would give the Secretary of State powers to transfer the shares or property of a steel undertaking into public ownership where doing so is considered necessary in the public interest.

The bill does not itself provide for the nationalisation of British Steel. Instead, it gives the Government a general power to take ownership of shares and property assets in steel undertakings through regulations. Had the Bill directly targeted the acquisition of British Steel, rather than providing a general power applicable to all steel undertakings, it would likely have been classified as a hybrid bill – one which affects private as well as public interests – to which special parliamentary scrutiny procedures apply.

The powers to transfer ownership of shares and property by regulations would be subject to the ‘made negative’ scrutiny procedure. This means that the regulations would be made into law by ministerial signature before being laid before Parliament and would remain in law so long as neither House chose to annul them. Under this negative procedure, there is no requirement for any debate or vote to take place, so scrutiny may be limited.

The Government argues that the negative procedure “allows regulations to be made and to take effect immediately, ensuring legal and commercial certainty at the point of transfer”. However, given the likely significance of any regulations transferring ownership, a stronger level of parliamentary scrutiny providing for active debate and approval of the regulations would be more appropriate. While the need for urgency is understandable, use instead of the ‘made affirmative’ procedure would still allow the Government to make regulations that take effect immediately but would require subsequent parliamentary approval within a specified period, ensuring that the regulations are debated and voted on by Parliament soon after being made.

Adjournment: Labour MP Tony Vaughan will give a speech on the imprisonment of Craig and Lindsay Foreman in Iran. A Minister will then give a response.

Westminster Hall

13:30: Censorship of women’s health and wellbeing content online

15:00: Domestic abuse and safeguarding within the family justice system

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Oral questions: At 11:00, Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on high-earning individuals leaving the UK; reducing emissions via venting and flaring on offshore infrastructure; and youth offending. The topic of a fourth question will be decided by a ballot drawn at lunchtime on Tuesday 19 May.

Debate on the Address, day 5 – foreign affairs, international relations, and defence: Peers will continue the debate on the motion for a humble Address thanking the King for the Speech. Today is the fifth and final of day of debate on the King’s Speech and it will focus on the themes of ‘foreign affairs, international relations, and defence’. A running list of peers who have indicated their intention to speak can be found here.

Amendments to the Address may be moved at any time during the debate and are then disposed of at the end of today’s proceedings, along with any other amendments held over from previous days of the King’s Speech debate.

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Highlights include:

House of Commons

10:00: Public Accounts Committee – Unlocking land for housing: The Permanent Secretary and other senior officials from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will give evidence.

House of Lords

10:35: Domestic Abuse Act 2021 Committee – Academics and campaigners will give evidence to this post-legislative inquiry into the impact and effectiveness of the Act.

A full list of select committee hearings can be found on the What’s On section of the Parliament website.

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Parliament will adjourn for a week for the Whitsun Recess, with both Houses scheduled to rise on Thursday 21 May 2026 and return at 14:30 on Monday 1 June. Our next Bulletin will therefore be published on Sunday 31 May.

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