There were 19 bills in this Queen’s speech, including ones carried over and draft Bills – compare that with the 44 in the Speech from Tony Blair’s 2005 Government. The coalition’s first Queen’s Speech was heavy with complex Bills – this one is predictably lighter (though its main constitutional Bill on the House of Lords could prove pretty controversial if it isn’t sidelined by Ministers).

No surprises for local government either – this was never going to be a landmark  Speech and there must be some relief given what else councils are currently dealing with. Nothing from DCLG, but there was never going to be much after the complex Localism Act. The LGiU shares the relief of not having a huge new Bill, but regrets some lost opportunities: We published our alternative Queen’s Speech before the real one: Andy Sawford has commented that we wanted to see legislation on Community Budgets and on the Repeal of Statutory Duties, but neither of these were included today.