What can we expect from the King's Speech?

Rishi Sunak will use the first King's Speech in 70 years to draw clear dividing lines with Labour before the next general election as well as to set out a legislative agenda for the coming parliament.

Tuesday's speech will be one of those "bizarrely British mashups of arcane tradition… and modern politics", said Laura Kuenssberg for the BBC.

"It's a big moment for a new monarch," she said, and "the last chance for a government in trouble to introduce a programme of new laws in the hope of shaking them out of the doldrums and grabbing your attention".

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What did the papers say?

The final parliamentary session before an election is "generally when a government has the least political capital", said the Institute for Government, so Downing Street will likely want to "avoid difficult or contentious legislation that could slow down its ability to pass its wider legislative agenda".

With that in mind, the most "controversial" policies will, according to The Times, include bills to phase out the sale of tobacco in England, set up a football regulator, reform England's "feudal" leasehold system, establish the legal framework for autonomous vehicles, and reform pensions. A new crime and justice bill could include restrictions on the use of tents by homeless people in UK towns and cities, which has already drawn a huge backlash after it was announced by the home secretary, Suella Braverman, over the weekend.

Crime and justice will form an important part of the speech, said Politics Home, "both as a policy priority" and "an issue on which to take the fight" to Labour leader Keir Starmer. The new bill will aim to toughen sentences for repeat offenders and convicted rapists, give the government powers to use foreign jails to house prisoners and force criminals to attend their sentencing hearings – setting up the issue as a "major battleground come the next general election campaign", said the news site.

Items missing from the speech are "almost as important" as what is included, said deputy political editor Sam Coates at Sky News, as this gives an indication about "where a government's weaknesses lie". Anything absent or with the word "draft", such as plans to set up Great British Railways or ban gay conversion therapy, has a relatively low chance of happening before the next election.

With more than one eye on polling day, there will, however, be attempts to "mine environmental dividing lines with Labour", said Coates, including laws to mandate annual oil and gas licensing and a series of pro-car measures limiting clean air zones and low traffic neighbourhoods.

The proposed new legislation could "set a political trap for Labour", said The Guardian, and prove uncomfortable reading for King Charles, who has long championed environmental causes.

What next?

Sunak's allies admit that the next few weeks – which will see the King's Speech followed by the Autumn Statement on 22 November, when Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will face growing pressure to announce tax cuts – represent a "crucial juncture for the PM", reported Politics Home. Sunak is trying to reduce Labour's "commanding, double-digit lead in the opinion polls" and "convince despondent Conservative backbenchers that a major Tory turnaround is still possible".

"It's going to be an important month for him," acknowledged one senior government source. "It's about acting, not talking."

But "with so few genuinely new announcements, it seems hard to imagine" that tomorrow's speech will move the political dial for Sunak, said Coates at Sky News. Nor does it amount to a relaunch.

Lacking "any shiny new ideas or revolutionary plans", Kuenssberg said, "some cabinet ministers worry it is all a bit 'managerial', all a bit 'tinkering', not really talking to the problems millions of voters are facing right now".

And with so much public and political attention taken up by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and last week's revelations from the Covid inquiry, perhaps the biggest challenge for Sunak this week is just trying to be heard.

As one of the few remaining set-piece announcements before the next election, failure to cut through in the King's Speech would represent yet another missed opportunity for the PM and could prove hugely costly for his chances next year.

"As King, Tuesday will be Charles's first outing in that grandest of ceremonies in Parliament," concluded Kuenssberg. "Without a dramatic turn for Rishi Sunak, this King's Speech could be this PM's last."