Keir Starmer is using the King as a human shield, writes Shelagh Fogarty

Because watching the King deliver the government’s speech in Parliament, only days after what were clearly terrible election results for Labour, I could not help thinking about the timing of it all and whether Downing Street is leaning rather heavily on the stability and symbolism of the monarchy at a moment when Keir Starmer himself looks politically vulnerable.

There were already doubts around the Prime Minister before last Thursday’s elections. Since those results, those doubts have become much more deeply embedded, both inside the party and outside it.

And then, into the middle of all that political uncertainty, comes the great constitutional spectacle of the King’s Speech.

Now, constitutionally, the King’s role is very straightforward. His job is literally to read the words put in front of him. It is the government’s speech. That is why he repeatedly says “my government” throughout it.

In fact, it always slightly jars with me when prime ministers say “my government” as often as Keir Starmer does. I understand why politicians fall into the habit, but technically speaking, it is not Keir Starmer’s government. It is the King’s government. It is Starmer’s cabinet and Starmer’s chance in office, of course, but constitutionally, the government belongs to the Crown.

Which is exactly why I think all this matters.

Because while the King himself did precisely what he is supposed to do, and did it perfectly well, I do wonder whether the government is using him as a kind of shield during a politically dangerous period.

We saw some of that with Donald Trump as well. The King carried off those moments with enormous aplomb, I thought. But domestically, this feels more sensitive somehow, because the political atmosphere in Britain right now is incredibly intense.

Labour is under pressure. Questions about Starmer’s leadership are openly being discussed. There is dissent inside the party. And against that backdrop comes the message: steady on, carry on governing, stick with the programme, here is the King reading it all out in Parliament.

You can understand why governments would want that sense of continuity and stability around them. Of course you can.

But I do think there is a greater cynicism about it here at home.

And I wonder whether there is a risk, not that the King himself becomes political, because he did not do anything remotely political today, but that the institution gets pulled too close to difficult party politics at exactly the wrong moment.

The King simply did his duty. He turned up in the robes and the Crown alongside Queen Camilla and read the speech exactly as constitutional monarchy requires him to do.

The ceremony itself remains extraordinary to watch. I have to say, the moment Black Rod knocked on the Commons door and somebody shouted, “Not now, Andy”, clearly alluding to Andy Burnham, genuinely made me laugh. Politics could do with a bit more humour at the moment.

But underneath all the theatre, there is a serious question here.

At moments of real political uncertainty, governments have to be careful about how heavily they lean on institutions that are supposed to sit above politics altogether.

And looking at today, I did find myself wondering whether Keir Starmer came rather close to crossing that line.

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Listen to Shelagh Fogarty from 1-4pm Monday to Friday on the LBC app.

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