General Election 2015: No Queen’s Speech if no party wins majority
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Version 0 of 1. The Monarch could absent herself from giving the traditional Queen’s Speech after the election if no party looks able to command a majority in the House of Commons, it emerged today. The head of the Whitehall think-tank the Institute for Government said it was his “strong view” that the Queen could not take part in the State Opening of Parliament unless it was clear that the Queen’s Speech could pass in a parliamentary vote. If that was in doubt, Peter Riddell said, the speech would be read out, not by the Queen, but by the Leader of the House of Lords in a “low key” ceremony. The last time the Queen failed to take part in the event was in 1963 when she was pregnant with Prince Edward. The prospect of a Queen’s Speech without the Queen results from the constitutional ambiguity surrounding a hung Parliament. Labour has already ruled out the prospect of entering into a formal coalition with the SNP, so it is possible neither Ed Miliband nor David Cameron could be in a position to form a government after the election. Under Cabinet Office guidelines, if this was the case, the current government would remain in power and Mr Cameron would get the first chance to present his legislative agenda to the Commons. This would have to happen before there was any vote of confidence in his administration – and would not take place until up to four weeks after polling day – and following the Queen’s Speech. “My strong view, and this is shared by other people, is that if there is any doubt about the future government – if David Cameron is in a minority and goes to the Commons – it will not be a State Opening,” said Mr Riddell. “We will not see either the Queen or the guards outside. It will be a Royal Commission, which is rather low key. “It would be lower key to avoid the Queen being dragged into a highly contested situation and it would be after three or four weeks.” Mr Riddell added that he thought that “lawyers and judges were not overly keen to be involved” in the dispute over forming a government. The only parts of the process that are actually enshrined in law are in the Fixed-term Parliaments Act. This is potentially ambiguous in parts and could potentially be challenged in the courts. The Independent has got together with May2015.com to produce a poll of polls that produces the most up-to-date data in as close to real time as possible. Click the buttons below to explore how the main parties' fortunes have changed: All data, polls and graphics are courtesy of May2015.com. Click through for daily analysis, in-depth features and all the data you need. (All historical data used is provided by UK Polling Report) |