Policy Priorities of UK Governments: A Content Analysis of Kings' and Queens' Speeches, 1940-2005

One of the key expectations citizens have of a political system is that the government of the day is able to set out its priorities for the year ahead as a clear statement of intentions or promises, upon which it can be judged by the media, experts and citizens themselves. In Britain, the annual statement of legislative intent is the institution of the Queen’s (or King’s) speech, which is made to Parliament each year at the beginning of the session or shortly after a General Election. This occasion is highly ceremonial, but the speech, which is written by No 10, is a serious list of legislative intentions, with little general or procedural content, and which is closely followed by the media as their guide to the year ahead. But there has been very little academic work seeking to report the content of these speeches over time. The project aimed to understand the nature of the setting of executive priorities in the UK, by examining Queen’s or King’s speeches since 1940, and to also use these to understand the origins and consequences of the policy priorities. The objectives of the research were, first, to report the content of the speeches and how they change over time; second, to explain why the content changes, such as whether it is different according to the party in power; third, to find out whether the policy priorities of government match the policy content of party manifestoes and public opinion; and fourth, to find out whether the policy priorities were reflected in the budget priorities of government departments. The methods of the project was a content analysis of the Queen’s and King’s speeches from 1940-2005.<br> <br>