North East tour for Secretary of State

True North’s Eilidh Whiteford shares her key takeaways from the King’s Speech this afternoon and highlights everything you need to know about the 39 new Bills announced. The majority of MPs who crowded into the House of Lords’ lobby this morning to listen to the King’s Speech are new to parliament and could probably be forgiven for feeling a bit bemused by the arcane pageantry on display. However, the 39 new Bills announced will be keeping them extremely busy over the coming months.

The dust has settled on the general election and, following a disciplined and professionally executed campaign, voters overwhelmingly opted for the “change” Labour offered. The party corralled its pitch around five “missions”, the most hotly debated of which was the pledge to make Britain a clean energy superpower. To ensure this mission is accomplished, Sir Keir Starmer said his government will establish GB Energy, a state-backed energy company, here in Scotland.

Three-quarters of Scots support domestic oil and gas production from the North Sea, according to new polling released today by True North. Less than a month out from the general election, the data shows 75% would rather see the UK meet its energy demands from domestic sources than import from overseas. The Scotland-wide polling, carried out by Survation, comes as the sector takes centre-stage in the ongoing election campaign, while the UK’s energy production hits the lowest level on record since 1948. By a factor of 4 to 1, people see energy companies operating in the North Sea as an economic force for good, according to the polling. That’s despite news of one of Scotland’s largest new oil projects, Buchan in the Moray Firth, has had its production pushed back by a year due to general election uncertainty.