2020s in United Kingdom political history

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
See also: 2010s in United Kingdom political history and 2020s in political history
See also: 2020s § Politics and conflicts, 21st century, and 2020 in politics and government

List of years in the United Kingdom
In politics and government
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
In science
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
In United Kingdom politics and government
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021

2020s political history refers to significant political and societal historical events in the United Kingdom in the 2020s, presented as a historical overview in narrative format.

Boris Johnson Premiership, 2019–present[]

See also: Premiership of Boris Johnson

General history[]

Boris Johnson won a landslide majority in the 2019 general election.[1] In late January 2020, the United Kingdom officially left the European Union.

Special events and issues[]

COVID-19 pandemic[]

See also: COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
Sign in Otley reminding the public of the need for social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic spread to the United Kingdom in late January 2020. As of 7 June 2020 there have been 286,194 confirmed cases[nb 1] and 40,542 confirmed deaths overall,[nb 2] the world's second-highest death-rate per capita.[2] There were 48,813 deaths where the death certificate mentioned COVID-19 by 22 May (see Statistics).[3] More than 90% of those dying had underlying illnesses or were over 60 years old. The infection rate is higher in care homes than in the community, which is inflating the overall infection rate. There is large regional variation in the outbreak's severity. In March, London had the highest number of infections[4] while North East England has the highest infection rate.[5] England is the country of the UK with the most such deaths per capita, while Northern Ireland has the lowest. Healthcare in the UK is devolved to each country.

The Department of Health and Social Care launched a public health information campaign to help slow the virus's spread, and began posting daily updates in early February. In February, the Heath Secretary, Matt Hancock, introduced the Health Protection (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020 for England, used as a template in the other parts of the UK, and hospitals set up drive-through screening. The Chief Medical Officer for England, Chris Whitty, outlined a four-pronged strategy to tackle the outbreak: contain, delay, research and mitigate.

In March, the UK government imposed a lockdown, banning all "non-essential" travel and contact with people outside one's home (including family and partners), and shutting almost all schools and other educational institutions, shops selling nonessential goods, venues, facilities, amenities and places of worship. Those with symptoms, and their household, were told to self-isolate, while the most vulnerable (the over 70s and those with certain illnesses) were told to shield themselves. People were made to keep apart in public. Police were empowered to enforce the lockdown, and the Coronavirus Act 2020 gave the government emergency powers[6] not used since the Second World War.[7][8] Panic buying was reported.

George Floyd protests[]

See also: George Floyd protests in the United Kingdom, Actions against memorials in the United Kingdom during the George Floyd protests, and List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests

In late May and in June 2020, protests took place across the country following the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man, by police officers while under arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 25 May. Immediately after the killing, protests and riots broke out in dozens of cities across the United States. These spread internationally for the first time three days later, with a solidarity demonstration outside the United States Embassy in London.

Protests spread across the UK, particularly in London, Birmingham and Manchester. Many have been organised by the Black Lives Matter and Stand Up to Racism movements. As well as providing solidarity to protests in the United States, many of the protests highlight pockets and instances of racism in operational policy and conduct of UK policing, rehabilitation and in daily life.

Many protests have received endorsement and support from local councils and politicians, including in Liverpool and Oxford. Most such UK protests have been peaceful, although notable clashes between protesters and police have occurred many times in central London. Confrontations between police and protesters included a group spraying "ACAB" on the memorial to Earl Haig. When soldiers from the Household Cavalry in plain clothes scrubbed the graffiti off, protesters criticised them for doing so.[9] Protesters sprayed graffiti on the plinth of the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square calling him a racist.[10] A statue of 17th-century slave trader and town benefactor Edward Colston was toppled from its pedestal in The Centre, Bristol and thrown into Bristol Harbour on 7 June.[11] The movement having identified many divisive figures of the past, some local councils have renamed such streets and public buildings, notably the Bristol Beacon having formerly paid homage to Colston.

History by issue[]

Brexit[]

In January 2020, The United Kingdom and Gibraltar left the European Union,[12] beginning an 11-month transition period, during which they remain in the Single Market and Customs Union.[13]

Climate change[]

In December 2019, the World Meteorological Organization released its annual climate report revealing that climate impacts are worsening.[14] They found the global sea temperatures are rising as well as land temperatures worldwide. 2019 is the last year in a decade that is the warmest on record.[15]

Global carbon emissions hit a record high in 2019, even though the rate of increase slowed somewhat, according to a report from Global Carbon Project.[16]

History by major political party[]

See also: Political parties in the UK

Conservatives[]

Leadership elections for the Scottish Conservatives were held in February and August 2020. Douglas Ross is now the leader [17]

Labour[]

Hustings during the 2020 labour leadership contest

As both the Labour leader (Jeremy Corbyn) and deputy leader (Tom Watson) had resigned or announced their intention to do so in late 2019,[18][19] the party had both a leadership and deputy leadership contest in early 2020.[20] The leadership contest was won by Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union Keir Starmer with 275,780 votes (56.2% of the vote share).[21] Angela Rayner became the deputy leader, achieving 192,168 first preference votes (41.7% of the vote share) and winning a majority of votes after the third round.[22]

Liberal Democrats[]

As their leader (Jo Swinson) lost her seat at the 2019 general election, the liberal democrats announced early in 2020 that they planned to have new leader in place by the middle of July that year.[23] The contest was delayed by six weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic with the winner being declared in late August, until then MP Sir Ed Davey and the party's president Mark Pack remained its acting leadership.[24][25][26] The contest was won by Ed Davey with 63.5% of the vote.[27]

Scottish National Party[]

The SNP won a plurality of seats in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.[28]

History by devolved administration[]

See also: Devolution in the United Kingdom

Greater London Authority[]

The London mayoral election originally due to take place in May 2020 was suspended for a year to 6 May 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[29] The mayoral race saw London Labour's Sadiq Khan win on second preferences with 55.2% of the vote. The 2021 London Assembly election took place on the same day. The assembly elections saw Labour lose a seat while the London Conservatives, London Liberal Democrats and London Greens each gained one.[30][31]

Scottish government[]

Official portrait of the Scottish Cabinet appointed following the 2021 election

The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021.[32] The election saw limited changes in vote share and seats with each party gaining or losing less than 2% of the overall share in each category of voting. The SNP gained one seat but fell one short of an overall majority. The Scottish Conservatives maintained their second place position with the same number of seats as in 2016. Whilst, Scottish Labour continued in third place with a loss of two seats. The Scottish Greens gained two extra seats with a small increase in their vote share. The election also had an unusually high voter turnout compared to previous Scottish parliament elections of 63.2%. It was suggested that this may have been in part due to the Covid-19 pandemic leading to higher postal voting and lockdown giving people more time to engage with political activists and go to the polling station.[33][34] Later that year, the SNP and Scottish Greens established a powersharing agreement where the later was given non-cabinet ministerial positions in exchange for support on votes of confidence, budgets and some areas of policy.[35]

Welsh government[]

The 2021 Senedd election took place on 6 May 2021.[32] It was the first Welsh Parliament election where 16 and 17 year olds could vote, following the enactment of Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act that lowered the voting age to 16 for Welsh Senedd elections.[36] The election saw Welsh Labour gain one seat falling one short of an overall majority (which no party had ever achieved). The Welsh Conservatives gained five seats returning their strongest ever result of 16. Plaid Cymru made a net gain of one seat returning 13. The Welsh Liberal Democrats lost their only constituency but kept a seat through the regional vote. Whilst, UKIP lost all its seats from 2016 and no other party gained any.[37][38] Whilst labour lacked an overall majority it decided to not make any kind of coalition or confidence pact and it's leader Mark Drakeford was reconfirmed as First Minister of Wales a few days later with none of the other parties attempted to mount any kind of challenge.[39][40]

Northern Irish Executive[]

The Northern Irish Assembly returned to business in January 2020 after a three-year hiatus with a new power sharing agreement between Sinn Féin and the DUP.[41]

On 30 April, First Minister of Northern Ireland Arlene Foster resigned as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party.[42] She was replaced as First Minister of Northern Ireland by Paul Givan who was confirmed on 17 July.[43] Meanwhile the role of DUP leader was handled separately, being given first to Edwin Poots on the 14 May and following his resignation after just 21 days in the role it was taken by Jeffrey Donaldson.[44][45][46]

Deaths[]

Main article: List of United Kingdom MPs who died in the 2020s

History by local government[]

See also: Local government in the United Kingdom

Local elections in England as well as police and crime commissioner elections in England and Wales were postponed from May 2020 to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[47] Taking place on 6 May, the local elections saw the conservatives make a net gain of 294 councillors and 13 councils, whilst labour lost 264 and eight respectively. The Green Party of England and Wales gained 85 council seats and the liberal democrats increased their total by three.[48] The conservatives gained both a mayor and a police and crime commissioner of Labour, whom themselves gained the same from the conservatives and Plaid Cymru.[49][50][51]

See also[]

Timeline articles[]

UK articles[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Not including cases identified in British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, all of which test and report cases independently.
  2. ^ Death figures are those who have died after testing positive. It does not include the death of one British citizen on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship (see COVID-19 pandemic on cruise ships), or the 84 recorded deaths in the British Overseas Territories and Crown dependencies.

References[]

  1. ^ "Results of the 2019 General Election". BBC News. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  2. ^ "Mortality in the most affected countries". Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  3. ^ "Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 26 May 2020."Deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland". National Records of Scotland. Retrieved 26 May 2020."Weekly Deaths". NISRA. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  4. ^ O'Carroll, Lisa (16 March 2020). "Coronavirus spreading fastest in UK in London". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Data reveals parts of the country with the highest rate of coronavirus infection". ITV News. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  6. ^ "PM announces strict new curbs on life in UK". BBC News. 23 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  7. ^ "What is in the Coronavirus Bill? Key areas of the new legislation". The Telegraph, 25 March 2020.
  8. ^ "Britain Placed Under a Virtual Lockdown by Boris Johnson". The New York Times, 23 March 2020.
  9. ^ Youths cleaning graffiti are taunted
  10. ^ Winston Churchill statue desecrated
  11. ^ "Protesters tear down statue amid anti-racism demos". BBC News. 8 June 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  12. ^ "Brexit: UK leaves the European Union". BBC News. BBC. 31 January 2019.
  13. ^ Edgington, Tom (31 January 2020). "Brexit: What happens next?". BBC News. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  14. ^ Climate Change Is Accelerating, Bringing World ‘Dangerously Close’ to Irreversible Change, By Henry Fountain, 4 Dec. 2019, NY Times.
  15. ^ 2019 Ends Warmest Decade On Record, State Of The Global Climate Report Warns, iflscience.com
  16. ^ Global carbon emissions growth slows, but hits record high, 3 December 2019, Stanford University via phys.org.
  17. ^ "Douglas Ross confirmed as new Scottish Tory leader". BBC News. 5 August 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  18. ^ Stewart, Heather (6 November 2019). "Tom Watson quits as Labour deputy leader and steps down as MP". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  19. ^ Bienkov, Thomas Colson, Adam. "Jeremy Corbyn announces he will resign as Labour Party leader". Business Insider. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  20. ^ Chappell, Elliot; Rodgers, Sienna (13 January 2020). "5 leadership and 5 deputy candidates through to next stage of contests". LabourList. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  21. ^ "Keir Starmer elected as new Labour leader". BBC News. 4 April 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  22. ^ "Leaderhip Elections 2020 Results". The Labour Party. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  23. ^ "New Liberal Democrat leader in place by mid-July". BBC News. 18 January 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  24. ^ "Lib Dems to hold leadership contest this summer". BBC News. 20 May 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  25. ^ "Election Timeline". Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  26. ^ "Evening Call: What's on the news agenda for 2020?". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  27. ^ "Davey wins Liberal Democrat leadership race". BBC News. 27 August 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  28. ^ "Sturgeon hails historic win short of a majority". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  29. ^ "English local elections postponed over coronavirus". BBC News. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  30. ^ Clark, Alex; Riddy, Bruno; Edgington, Oliver; Butcher, Ben (10 May 2021). "London mayoral election results 2021: Sadiq Khan re-elected for second term". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  31. ^ Talora, Joe (9 May 2021). "Full results for the 2021 Mayor of London and London Assembly elections". East London and West Essex Guardian Series. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  32. ^ Jump up to: a b Forrest, Adam (6 May 2021). "When are the local elections and what exactly are we voting on?". The Independent. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  33. ^ Sim, Philip (9 May 2021). "Scottish election 2021: Results in maps and charts". BBC News. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  34. ^ "Scottish Parliament election 2021". BBC News. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  35. ^ "Scottish Greens back historic government deal". BBC News. 28 August 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  36. ^ "Assembly passes new law to give 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote in Welsh elections". ITV News. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  37. ^ "Welsh election results 2021: How it happened". BBC News. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  38. ^ "Welsh Parliament election 2021". BBC News. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  39. ^ "Election 2021: Mark Drakeford to form Welsh Labour government alone". BBC News. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  40. ^ "Wales election: Senedd confirms Mark Drakeford as first minister". BBC News. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  41. ^ "Northern Ireland: Devolution formally restored as power-sharing resumes at Stormont". Sky News. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  42. ^ "Arlene Foster set to quit DUP after stepping down as leader: reports". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  43. ^ Kearney, Vincent (17 June 2021). "Givan, O'Neill installed as NI First and Deputy First Ministers". RTÉ News and Current Affairs. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  44. ^ "As it happened: How Edwin Poots won DUP vote". BBC News. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  45. ^ "DUP leader Edwin Poots resigns amid internal party revolt". BBC News. 17 June 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  46. ^ "DUP leadership: Sir Jeffrey Donaldson ratified as party leader". BBC News. 30 June 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  47. ^ "English local elections postponed over coronavirus". BBC News. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  48. ^ Clark, Alex; Butcher, Ben; Riddy, Bruno; Edgington, Oliver (10 May 2021). "Local election results 2021: how your council voted and how the numbers map across England". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  49. ^ "England local elections 2021 (Mayors) - BBC News". BBC News. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  50. ^ "England local elections 2021 (Police and Crime Commissioners) - BBC News". BBC News. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  51. ^ "Welsh Parliament election 2021 (Police and Crime Commissioner results)". BBC News. Retrieved 1 June 2021.

Coordinates: 55°N 3°W / 55°N 3°W / 55; -3 (2020 in UK politics)

Retrieved from ""