KING CHARLES has arrived at Parliament for the State Opening as Sir Keir Starmer faces the most serious crisis of his premiership.

The monarch and Queen Camilla travelled from Buckingham Palace to Westminster in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach, with the Imperial State Crown and Sword of State taken separately to Parliament ahead of the ceremony.

But the traditional pageantry has been overshadowed by growing questions over the Prime Minister’s future, following heavy Labour losses in last week’s elections and mounting unrest inside the party.

Unions turn on Starmer

The pressure intensified this morning when Labour’s 11 affiliated unions, including Unite, Unison, the GMB and Community, issued a joint statement saying it was now “clear” Sir Keir would not lead Labour into the next general election.

They said Labour had failed to deliver enough of the change working people voted for, despite some progress on employment rights and the minimum wage.

The intervention is significant because the unions remain among Labour’s most important financial and organisational backers.

Streeting meeting fuels speculation

Speculation over Sir Keir’s future intensified further after Health Secretary Wes Streeting made a brief visit to Downing Street on Wednesday morning.

Streeting, widely viewed as a potential leadership contender, was seen arriving at No 10 before leaving less than twenty minutes later — a meeting so short that Westminster insiders immediately began questioning its purpose.

The unusually brief talks triggered fresh rumours of behind-the-scenes discussions over the Prime Minister’s future, although allies of both men attempted to play down suggestions of an imminent leadership move.

Streeting has previously denied plotting against Sir Keir, but many Labour MPs now believe a challenge could come within days if the crisis deepens further.

More than eighty Labour MPs are reported to have called for Sir Keir to stand down, although no rival has yet secured the numbers needed to trigger a formal contest.

For now, Sir Keir is refusing to resign and insists he will continue governing. But with ministerial resignations, a bruising election result, and the unions now openly discussing a future leadership change, the Prime Minister’s position looks increasingly fragile.

The King’s Speech is expected to set out the Government’s legislative programme for the new parliamentary session, including plans on the economy, immigration, energy costs and closer ties with the EU.

The State Opening, one of the most ceremonial events in the parliamentary calendar, began with the traditional search of the Palace of Westminster by the Yeomen of the Guard — a ritual dating back to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

Sir Keir left No 10 with his wife, Lady Victoria Starmer, shortly before the ceremony.

MPs will later debate the King’s Speech in the Commons, where opposition parties are expected to use the occasion to test the Prime Minister’s authority.

PEMBROKE’S Monkton ward will soon have a new town councillor after its previous representative secured a seat in the Senedd as one of six new members for the Ceredigion Penfro seat.

A notice of casual vacancy for the Monkton ward of Pembroke Town Council was publicised yesterday, May 11.

If no written request is made to the county council’s returning officer, the town council may fill the vacant seat by co-option.

The seat was made vacant following now-former town councillor Reform’s Susan Claire Archibald becoming a Senedd member for the new Ceredigion Penfro Senedd ward, one of two Reform candidates to do so.

At the Senedd count on May 8, the former councillor spoke on behalf of herself, fellow Reform winner Paul Marr, and the party’s supporters, saying the supporters would need “new shoes,” given Ceredigion Penfro’s “ginormous constituency”.

She added: “Paul and I are obviously very excited to get to work to representing our constituency of Ceredigion and Penfro.”

The six Senedd members for the new Ceredigion Penfro ward, which saw three Plaid seats, two Reform and one Welsh Conservatives gained, are: Elin Jones, Kerry Ferguson, and Anna Nicholl Plaid Cymru; Susan Claire Archibald and Paul Marr Reform; Welsh Conservatives Paul Windsor Davies.

A formal request for an election to fill the vacant Monkton seat may be made to: Returning Officer, Pembrokeshire County Council, Electoral Services, County Hall, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, SA61 1TP.

The town council itself saw, last weekend, the inauguration of Councillor Jonathan Grimes, also joint county councillor for Pembroke Monkton and St Mary South, as the 647th Mayor of Pembroke.

Accompanied by his wife, Councillor Deborah Willcocks, a civic lunch was held at the town hall, Main Street, successfully raising £350 in support of his chosen charity, Sandy Bear.

The weekend also saw a service at St Mary’s Church, where the Bishop of St Davids offered a blessing for the newly installed bells.

A CALL to site specialist diesel generators at Pembroke Power Station to help keep the lights on in the event of a National Grid shutdown has been given the thumbs-up by county planners.

In a screening application to Pembrokeshire County Council, RWE Generation UK PLC, through Ove Arup & Partners Ltd, sought to site up to six containerised diesel generators, diesel storage tank(s) and electrical connections at Pembroke Power Station, Pwllcrochan, near Pembroke.

The application site is within the site of the existing Pembroke Power Station, a combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) station which began commercial operation in September 2012, with a gross consented capacity of about 2,199 megawatts electric (MWe), replacing the previous oil-fired power station which operated for almost 30 years and was decommissioned in 1999.

A supporting statement says, subject to confirmation, it is considered to comprise permitted development, the scheme “a standalone plant, with its own fuel supply, capable of starting up, operating and shutting down independently from the power station”.

It adds: “It is required only in an emergency to maintain plant status and keep the power station operationally ‘ready’ in the event of a total or partial shutdown of the National Grid system. It is not required for the normal operation of the power station and does not extend its capacity, which remains as already consented, therefore it is not considered a change or extension.”

On need, it says it is mandatory that all electricity generators of over a megawatt have to adopt a new minimum standard of asset resilience; power stations “must be capable of restoring demand on the National Grid electricity transmission system in the event of a total or partial shutdown of the National Grid system,” the Power Station not currently meeting this new asset resilience standard.

It says construction is hoped to start in July 2026, lasting approximately nine to 12 months, the main part across the summer months.

The application was considered by officers to fall under permitted development, saying it “does not require Environmental Impact Assessment because the development, including cumulatively with other development in the locality, is not likely to have significant effects on the environment”.