In 2019, Parliament enacted the Stalking Protection Act. The Act introduces the stalking protection order (SPO); a civil measure the breach of which is an offence. The role of courts in assessing whether similar behaviour orders are penalties has attracted significant scholarly attention. This article examines instead the roles of Government and Parliament in developing the stalking protection order. [---] Assessing the roles of the executive and legislature in developing the SPO also allows for fresh insight into wider discussions of behaviour orders. [---]