Consumer law | UK Regulatory Outlook May 2026

King's Speech 2026: consumer law aspects 

King Charles III opened Parliament on 13 May 2026 with the announcement of 37 bills his ministers would like to pass in this parliamentary session. 

Ticket Tout Ban Bill 

The government will introduce a new draft bill to crack down on ticket touting by making it illegal to resell tickets for live events above their original cost. This follows last year's consultation, which resulted in the government committing to legislate for caps on resale tickets (see this Regulatory Outlook). 

The draft Ticket Tout Ban Bill will also cap the service fees charged by resale platforms and prohibit individuals from reselling more tickets than they were originally entitled to purchase on the primary market. In addition, resale platforms will face strict accountability obligations to ensure compliance with the new rules and the Competition and Markets Authority will be given new powers to impose fines of up to ten per cent of global turnover on those found to be in breach.

Essentially, the aim of the measures is to ensure that ticket touting is no longer a profitable business, while still allowing consumers to resell tickets for events they can no longer attend. 

The Railways and Passenger Benefits Bill 

The government also intends to improve rail passengers' rights. The Railways and Passenger Benefits Bill will, as promised in the Labour manifesto, establish Great British Railways (GBR), a new publicly owned company that will bring track and train under a single body and ensure that the whole network is considered holistically. A new passenger watchdog will also be created, tasked with setting consumer standards for railways, investigating poor service and providing an independent rail ombudsman service to resolve disputes between passengers and operators. On ticketing, GBR will bring together the 14 existing train operator websites into a single, online platform and overhaul the current fares structure to make it simpler for passengers to identify the most affordable option. 

See this Insight for other announcements in the King's Speech.