All the key pieces of legislation the government announced in the King’s Speech

Keir Starmer’s government has announced its new legislative agenda today (May 13) through a King’s Speech. This year, the King’s Speech featured more than 30 pieces of legislation. Here’s the run down of some of the big ones.

Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill

This bill is intended to ‘take all action necessary to safeguard the domestic production of steel’, and will enable the government to take steel manufacturers – such as British Steel – into public ownership.

Clean Water Bill

This bill would aim to address water pollution and high bills by introducing new regulation on the water industry. That includes the establishment of a new Water Ombudsman to handle consumer complaints and a new regulator to tackle issues in the industry. The bill will not take the privatised water firms into public ownership.

Overnight Visitor Levy Bill

This bill would give powers to introduce an overnight visitor levy (otherwise known as a tourist tax) to mayors and potentially other local authority leaders. A tourist tax is designed to ensure that areas that have high levels of tourism are able to provide good services and mitigate against the impact of tourism on local communities.

Social Housing Renewal Bill

This bill would make significant changes to the rules around the Right to Buy on council housing. Most significantly, it would exempt all newly built social housing from the Right to Buy for 35 years.

Representation of the People Bill

This bill would introduce votes at 16, introduce tough rules on political donations from outside the UK, and look to automate voter registration.

Draft Conversion Practices Bill

This bill would seek to outlaw ‘conversion therapy’ for LGBT people.

Ticket Tout Ban Bill

This bill is designed to address ticket touting – a practice where tickets to events are purchased by people who go on to resell them at a much higher price. The bill would make it illegal to resell a ticket for a live event at more than its original cost.

Railways and Passengers Benefits Bill

This bill would be the next stage of the government’s nationalisation of the railways. It would see the establishment of Great British Railways which will see track and train managed by a single body. The bill would also simplify fares and tickets and set up a new rail ombudsman to resolve disputes between passengers and rail operators.

Chris Jarvis head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward