Political interest in London was supposed to be at the Westminster Palace today, where the British Parliament is located. That was everyone's forecast and the hope of the Prime Minister, the Labour leader Keir Starmer. Because there, in Parliament, the King of England, Charles III, was going to read the speech that opens the legislative year listing the government's proposed bills. It was part of the 'reset' of his government that, with more sorrow than glory, Starmer has been trying to launch since the Labour Party was humiliatingly relegated to third place in the local elections on Thursday.
However, the one-hour speech by Her Majesty in front of hundreds of parliamentarians at Westminster was partially overshadowed by a meeting of two people in an official building a six-minute walk - or eight by car, as traffic in the city center is always something special - away. There, at 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the Prime Minister, Starmer met with his Health Minister, Wes Streeting, for 17 minutes.
That was the significant event. Streeting is the leading candidate to capitalize on the internal Labour revolt against Starmer caused by the elections. According to the conservative newspaper The Times, the Health Minister plans to resign from his position tomorrow, Thursday, and announce his candidacy for the Labour Party leadership and Prime Minister, thus opening the doors to a succession process of uncertain duration and results. For now, if Streeting goes through with this decision, it will be an unusual act, as the first to challenge an incumbent Prime Minister usually pays for their audacity with the failure of their aspirations and, in return, paves the way for those who come after.
But Streeting is an experienced politician and holds a significant position, not a parliamentarian tucked away in a corner of the parliament. So, he should know what he is doing. Moreover, he is the best-placed man to replace Starmer within the party's centrist wing, to which the Prime Minister belongs. The Labour left detests Starmer. Their problem is that, at this moment, they do not have a clear leader with the potential to move into Downing Street. Meanwhile, the unions, which carry significant weight in the party, declared today that Starmer should not be the candidate in the upcoming general elections, scheduled for 2029. Perhaps it is not an imminent decapitation. But it is announced.
In this context, what the King said was very much in the background. Dressed in an imperial State crown with an impressive collection of gemstones - including St. Edward's sapphire, the Black Prince's ruby, and the Cullinan II diamond - wearing the obligatory ermine cape and his military uniform with gala, the Monarch outlined a series of legislative initiatives that Starmer seems likely to launch but will not be able to see through. Among them is strengthening control over illegal immigration, an attempt to wrest the flag from Reform UK, the ultranationalist populist party that has won this year's local elections and also those of the past, opening the possibility of nationalizing the UK's last remaining blast furnace steelworks, reducing waiting lists in public hospitals - competing with those in Spain - and containing price hikes.
All of that was very relevant. But what matters most today in London is not what Charles III says, but Starmer and Streeting. Neither wanted to make statements after the 17 minutes. Streeting's spokespersons told the Financial Times that they also would not speak out of respect for the king.