Queen Elizabeth II will miss Tuesday’s (May 10, 2022) ceremonial opening of Britain’s Parliament, as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, will try to revive his faltering government by unveiling its plans for the coming year.
The 96-year-old Monarch, who usually presided over the pomp-filled event and reads out her government’s legislative programme from a golden throne in the House of Lords, will skip the annual showpiece following doctors’ advice. Buckingham Palace announced on late Monday (May 9, 2022) that the Queen made the decision “reluctantly” as she continued to experience “episodic mobility problems”.
This new development is the latest in a string of cancelled public appearances caused by health problems and old age. Based on this, the Queen’s son and heir to the throne, Prince Charles, will fulfil the Head of State role instead. The Queen has rarely been seen in public after she spent an unscheduled night in the hospital last October (2021), and has complained of difficulties standing and working. Additionally, in February 2022, she contracted the Covid-19 virus.
History showed that the Queen has missed two state openings during her record-breaking 70-year reign; in 1959 and 1963, when she was pregnant with Prince Andrew and then Prince Edward. News of her absence immediately overshadowed the unveiling of the new parliamentary session.
Plans for a Getting Back on Track
Winding from a series of scandals and dire results for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ruling Conservatives in local elections last week, the Tory leader is promising 38 bills to get his agenda “back on track”.
Johnson’s Downing Street office noted that the bills will focus on boosting economic growth and paving the way for more “high-wage, high-skill jobs”, as well as tackling the spiralling cost of living.
The upcoming Parliamentary Session, which is the current government’s third, is one of Johnson’s last opportunities to deliver on his key policy promises before the next general election is due by May 2024. Johnson won an 80-seat majority in December 2019, vowing to reap rewards from Brexit and tackle decades of growing regional inequality.
Despite securing Britain’s withdrawal from the EU with a comprehensive trade deal, the coronavirus pandemic upended the delivery of his domestic agenda. His government was soon consumed by the pandemic and then sidetracked in recent months by various controversies, including the so-called “Partygate” scandal. That made Johnson become the first UK Prime Minister found to have broken the law while in office, after Metropolitan Police ruled that he and staff breached Covid-19 lockdown rules.
He is now hoping his legislative programme can help draw a line under his recent woes, as he has already lost nearly 500 councillors across England, Wales and Scotland last week during their local elections. But he is faced with a daunting challenge as the growing cost-of-living crisis begins to bite, with bleak economic forecasts.
In a speech to MPs, Johnson said “This Queen’s Speech will get our country back on track, and I will strive… night and day to deliver it. We are going to ensure that over the two years we have left in this parliament, we spend every second uniting and levelling up this country”.
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