In an annual ritual dating back hundreds of years, Britain’s monarch King Charles III on Wednesday (May 13, 2026) opened the current session of the U.K. Parliament by setting out the government’s agenda for the year ahead.

The affair involves an MP being taken hostage, ceremonially, and kept at Buckingham Palace to guarantee the monarch’s safety while he is in Westminster. However, it was British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s political safety that was in question – with more than a quarter of his MPs asking for his resignation on Tuesday (May 12, 2026), days after Labour sustained heavy losses in the local and regional elections across the U.K.

Prior to his arrival in Parliament, the Prime Minister held a meeting with his Health Secretary and possible replacement, Wes Streeting, that lasted under 20 minutes. Mr. Streeting represents the part of Labour Party that is closer to the centre, with Energy minister Ed and former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner on the “soft left” of the party.

Mr. Streeting’s allies believed he would launch a leadership challenge as early as Thursday (May 14, 2026), according to reports in the British press.

Mr. Starmer has argued that given the challenging domestic and global environment, he needed time to deliver the “change” Britons voted for in 2024, when he led Labour in a landslide election victory.

“An increasingly volatile world threatens the United Kingdom - the conflict in the Middle East, only the most recent example,” the King said, as Mr. Starmer stood in the central hall of the British Parliament, a troubled look on his face.

Starmer vows to stay on, promises ‘bigger’ changes

“Every element of the nation’s energy, defense and economic security will be tested,” the King said.

The government would take steps to bolster energy and economic security as well as the defence of the U.K., the King announced. There was also a reference to “decency, tolerance and respect for difference under our common flag”.

Mr. Starmer has argued that he is the man to keep the nativist Reform U.K. in check, as it made significant electoral gains last week across England, Scotland and Wales. Labour lost votes to Reform on the right and the Greens on the left in England, and Plaid Cymru a centre-left nationalist party in Wales.

Among the plans announced in the speech were legislation to strengthen ties with the European Union (EU) and infrastructure spending within the U.K.

The U.K. government would be an advocate for tackling climate change and poverty globally, the King said.

The U.K.’s commitment to the West’s military alliance — NATO — was “unbreakable”, the King said. The alliance’s future has been on shaky ground after U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to pull America out of the group.