King's Speech signals diffuse UK digital policy agenda, but no AI bill

It's popcorn time for U.K. politics, pomp and digital policy.

The pageantry associated with the State Opening of Parliament 13 May 2026 offered the briefest of respite to Keir Starmer, who, at the time of publication, is the U.K.'s prime minister facing undoubtedly his sternest political test yet. As is customary, His Majesty The King's Speech to both Houses of Parliament set forth the U.K. Government's forthcoming legislative agenda, foreshadowing a voluminous and dynamic period ahead for U.K. digital policy.

Whereas data, digital and tech policy might have been traditionally contained within legislative initiatives clearly labeled as such, the latest King's Speech, and the accompanying Briefing Notes, looks to a more diffused regulatory ecosystem, with data and digital governance issues distributed across many legislative initiatives.

AI legislation

Conspicuously absent from this year's King's Speech is any mention of an artificial intelligence bill. Having so far eschewed taking inspiration from the EU AI Act in adopting a comparable U.K. AI Act, the Labour Government has nevertheless repeatedly committed to new AI legislation of some form. In its 2024 election manifesto, Labour pledged it would "ensure the safe development and use of AI models by introducing binding regulation on the handful of companies developing the most powerful AI models and by banning the creation of sexually explicit deepfakes." In 2024, in its first King's Speech, the Labour Government set out a somewhat more tentative commitment to "seek to establish the appropriate legislation to place requirements on those working to develop the most powerful artificial intelligence models."

Though the government is yet to introduce an AI bill, there have been a number of law and policy developments in the U.K. pertaining to AI governance. 

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