There were no big surprises in the King’s Speech today. That’s a shame.

Rishi Sunak and his ministers like to insist their agenda for the next year is an ambitious one. They’re making ‘difficult but necessary long-term decisions to change this country for the better’, as read out by the King to parliament. Yet the legislation put forward seems miles away from the priorities of voters – not to mention the many problems facing the country.

Some of those issues were mentioned at the start of the speech. Lip service was paid to ‘increasing economic growth’ and taking ‘action to bring down inflation’, two of the Prime Minister’s pledges set out at the start of the year. Neither is going especially well. Both pledges currently look like they will be met on a technicality, but at least they stand a chance of being met, unlike the other three.

But what then followed was a string of bills with no clear, cohesive vision: tougher sentencing rules, changes to leasehold properties, a ban on cigarette sales for the next generation and a crackdown on the so-claimed ‘scourge of unlicensed pedicabs in London’ (James Heale has the details here). Some of these changes are welcome, including the pivot to freehold properties and strengthening the rights for current lease holders. But it scratches the surface of a decades-long housing crisis, which otherwise was not mentioned at all. Others are shockingly intrusive, including the government’s plans to ban cigarette sales to the next generation of adults. It’s a plan so antithetical to a smaller state agenda, it could drive even a staunch anti-smoker to pick up a pack of 20.

But put aside the pros and cons of the policies announced, 21 in total. What do they add up to? Is the Pedicab Licensing Bill and the introduction of a football regulator really the best the government can come up with, to turn around a country with stagnant growth, a failing healthcare system and pension liabilities that can never realistically be made good on?

Is this, after 13 years, what the Tory party has left to offer?

The best announcements in the speech today, unfortunately, also come off as the most gimmick-y. Sunak was right back in September to acknowledge that the net-zero agenda had not been properly calibrated to keep the public on side: his decision to push back timelines for banning new petrol cars and gas boilers (while keeping the 2050 deadline in place) seemed to be one of the few policies so far that has made any difference in the election polls. Yet the bill to ensure new licenses for drilling in the North Sea are offered up each year risks looking more like a deliberate attempt to create an electoral divide between the Tories and Labour rather than serious plans for future energy policy. Yes, this might cause some inconvenience, and create a few hurdles for Keir Starmer, who has pledged no more new licences in the future. But for this to be the biggest dividing line between the two parties so far shows why today’s announcements might come across as wholly underwhelming.

So is this it? Is this, after 13 years, what the Tory party has left to offer? The King’s Speech certainly won’t mark the end of announcements – the biggest and most anticipated ones are expected to come in next year’s March Budget, when we are likely to get some kind of notable tax cut. If the Office for Budget Responsibility finds the public finances to not be in such dire shape as previously thought this autumn, there is a chance businesses could be looking at some kind of tax tweak as early as this month’s Autumn Statement.

But in terms of those ‘long-term decisions’, it seems the government remains inclined to dress up tweaks to policy as difficult and substantial change. It’s not obvious the public will be so easily convinced.