The Queen’s Procession for the State Opening of Parliament. Image:@RoyalCentral

A new parliament and government after the 2015 General Election means pageant and politics with the formal State opening of Parliament and the Queen’s speech.

This was a truly veteran constitutional ritual by her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh.

In the politics Prime Minister David Cameron faces a new third political force in the House of Commons- the SNPs now with 50 more MPs.

The Crown- a bejewelled symbol of constitutional monarchy. Image@Britishmonarchy

The headline Tory government legislative commitments include a vote on the European Union, extending right to buy to housing association tenants, 30 hours of free childcare a week for three and four-year-olds for 38 weeks, and a blanket ban on ‘legal highs.’

Ditching the Human Rights Act and replacing it with an English and Welsh Bill of Rights has been put on hold.

But the Tories are going for a reform that would undermine the Labour Party.

Union members are going to be given the right to opt in to their union’s political fund.