MPs gathered in Parliament for the first King’s Speech: a speech which is delivered by the King, but is read on behalf of the Prime Minister and government of the day.

Commentators discussed whether the ermine robes and horse drawn carriages provided a reassuring sense of tradition or whether it jarred with a public grappling with the worst cost of living crisis in a generation.

But they all agreed on one thing: as the first and potentially last King’s Speech for Prime Minister Sunak, it was a critical test of his vision and his priorities.

What was extraordinary was that it was incredibly thin. It only proposed 21 new laws. (To put that into context, 67 new Bills became law in the last Parliamentary session).

And of those 21, 5 were “rolled over” from the last session, meaning only 15 were new.

The government set out its plans to renew oil and gas licences, against the advice of their own climate advisors.

It set out its plans to extend anti-strike laws that won’t do anything to recruit the NHS and social care staff that we so desperately need.

And despite repeated promises to fix their broken planning system, the Conservatives have chosen yet again to do nothing about it.

There were some crumbs of good news: there would be some leaseholder reform (but not much); there could finally be a ban on “no fault evictions” (but it will probably be delayed); and the government may finally ban live exports, in a win for animal welfare campaigners.

Fundamentally however the King’s Speech looked like the Conservative Government is just out of ideas, and out of steam.

When I speak to constituents in St Albans, they tell me that everything is broken. Every day is a struggle. They can't see a GP or a dentist. They can’t afford childcare.

Families and businesses are struggling with the cost of living and people are worried about our local environment.

The country is desperate for change and if the King’s Speech is anything to go by, change can’t come soon enough.