🕷️ Crawler Inspector

URL Lookup

Direct Parameter Lookup

Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 62 (from laksa169)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa062.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical, ml_categories_json AS ml_categories_json, ml_types_json AS ml_types_json, ml_intent_types_json AS ml_intent_types_json, meta_language AS meta_language, attrs_author AS attrs_author, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(attrs_publish_time), 0) AS attrs_publish_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(attrs_original_publish_time), 0) AS attrs_original_publish_time, ifNull(attrs_is_republished, 0) AS attrs_is_republished, ifNull(attrs_nr_words, 0) AS attrs_nr_words, ifNull(attrs_boilerpipe_nr_words, 0) AS attrs_boilerpipe_nr_words, ifNull(body_ext_links_number, 0) AS body_ext_links_number, ifNull(body_int_links_number, 0) AS body_int_links_number, ifNull(meta_nofollow, 0) AS meta_nofollow, ifNull(meta_noarchive, 0) AS meta_noarchive, ifNull(props_was_rendered, 0) AS props_was_rendered, ifNull(src_redirect, \'\') AS src_redirect, ifNull(download_time_msec, 0) AS download_time_msec, ifNull(download_ttfb_msec, 0) AS download_ttfb_msec, ifNull(download_size, 0) AS download_size FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum","crawl_time":1776057899,"first_indexed_time":1558561987,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,britannica!www,\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum s443","src_root_hash":"5455945239613777662","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"United Kingdom - The “Brexit” referendum | Britannica","meta_descriptions":["United Kingdom - The “Brexit” referendum: On December 2, 2015, in the wake of the attacks by Islamist terrorists in Paris on November 13, the House of Commons authorized air strikes by the British military on ISIL targets in Syria. The vote on the measure came after some 10 hours of debate. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn freed members of his party to vote their conscience, and dozens of them broke ranks to join the Conservatives and others in voting for authorization, which passed 397–223. At a summit meeting of the leaders of the member countries of the EU in Brussels in February 2016, the European Council"],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"On December 2, 2015, in the wake of the\nattacks by Islamist terrorists in Paris on November 13\n, the\nHouse of Commons\nauthorized air strikes by the British\nmilitary\non ISIL targets in Syria. The vote on the measure came after some 10 hours of debate. Labour leader\nJeremy Corbyn\nfreed members of his party to vote their\nconscience\n, and dozens of them broke ranks to join the\nConservatives\nand others in voting for authorization, which passed 397–223.\nNews\n•\nAt a summit meeting of the leaders of the member countries of the\nEU\nin Brussels in February 2016, the European Council announced agreement on reforms to British membership that had been requested by Cameron in an attempt to forestall British withdrawal (“\nBrexit\n”) from the EU. Although Cameron did not get everything that he had asked for in the proposal that he submitted to\nDonald Tusk\n, the president of the European Council, in November 2015, he won enough\nconcessions\nto move forward on his promise of a referendum on continued British membership. In the face of considerable support within his own party for Brexit, Cameron nevertheless announced that he would campaign for remaining in the EU and scheduled the referendum for June 23, 2016.\nCameron was joined in the “Remain” effort by Corbyn. The “Leave” campaign was headed by former\nLondon\nmayor\nBoris Johnson\n, whom many saw as a rival for Cameron’s leadership of the\nConservative Party\n, and\nMichael Gove\n,\nlord chancellor\nand secretary of state for\njustice\nin Cameron’s cabinet. Opinion polling indicated that the two sides were fairly evenly divided as the referendum approached, but in the event 52 percent of voters opted to leave the EU, making the United Kingdom the first\ncountry\nto ever do so. Cameron announced his intention to resign as\nprime minister\nby the time of the\nConservative\nParty conference in October 2016 to allow his successor to negotiate the U.K. withdrawal under the terms of Article 50 of the\nLisbon Treaty\n, which, when triggered, would open a two-year window for the exit process.\nThe premiership of Theresa May (2016–19)\nThe resignation of Cameron, the rise of May, and a challenge to Corbyn’s leadership of Labour\nOnly days after the Brexit vote, the political drama surrounding Johnson’s pursuit of the Conservative leadership assumed what many observers identified as Shakespearean proportions as Gove removed his prominent support for Johnson’s candidacy, saying that Johnson was “not capable of…leading the party and the country in the way that I would have hoped.” In rapid fashion, a wounded Johnson removed himself from consideration. Gove then threw his hat into the small ring of leadership candidates that was then\nwinnowed\nby successive votes by parliamentary Conservatives in early July to Home Secretary\nTheresa May\nand Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom, whose names were put to a vote by all party members with results due in September. Almost before that process started, Leadsom unexpectedly withdrew her name from consideration, and on July 11 the Conservative Party’s 1922 Committee, which had been steering the leadership contest, declared May the new party leader “with immediate effect.” On July 13 Cameron formally resigned, and May became the second woman in British history to serve as prime minister.\nMeanwhile, Labour underwent its own leadership controversy as prominent party members, including Blair, took Corbyn to task for not mounting a more vigorous effort on behalf of the “Remain” campaign. No sooner had Blair made his\ncriticism\nthan he found himself in the crosshairs, with the release on July 5 of the so-called\nChilcot Report\n, the findings of a seven-year inquiry into Britain’s involvement in the\nIraq War\n, which was scathing in its condemnation of Blair’s handling of the war from the initial decision to join the\nUnited States\nin invading Iraq to the Blair government’s failure to plan and prepare for the postwar aftermath in Iraq. Nonetheless, a challenge was mounted to Corbyn’s leadership of the party that eventually resulted in a head-to-head contest between Corbyn and Owen Smith, the former shadow secretary of work and pensions. In an online vote of party faithful in September, Corbyn held on to the leadership by capturing some 62 percent of the vote against about 38 percent for Smith.\nTriggering Article 50\nIn the meantime, May, who had opposed Brexit but came into office promising to see it to completion, led her government in cautious movement toward triggering Article 50. Her efforts experienced a setback in January 2017, however, when the Supreme Court upheld a November 2016 High Court ruling that prevented the prime minister from triggering Article 50 without first having gained approval from\nParliament\nto do so.  In February 2017 the House of Commons granted May that approval by a 498–114 vote, but the\nHouse of Lords\ncreated another roadblock in early March by adding a pair of\namendments\nto the bill authorizing May to\ninvoke\nArticle 50. One guaranteed that EU passport holders residing in Britain would be permitted to remain, and the other sought a greater role for Parliament in the negotiations. Both amendments were overturned by the House of Commons later in March, and, before the end of the month, May formally submitted a letter to European Council Pres.\nDonald Tusk\nrequesting the opening of the two-year window for talks on the details of British separation from the EU.\nAgainst this backdrop, the Scottish Assembly backed First Minister\nNicola Sturgeon\n’s call for a new\nreferendum\non independence for\nScotland\nto be held before spring 2019 (the majority of Scottish voters had opposed leaving the EU in the Brexit referendum).\nThe Manchester arena bombing and London bridge attacks\nIn mid-April 2017 May called for a snap parliamentary election, saying that its results would provide stability and certainty for Britain during its Brexit negotiations and transition out of the EU. To hold an election ahead of the 2020 date\nmandated\nby the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, May needed to win two-thirds majority approval in the House of Commons. Corbyn welcomed a return to the polls, despite opinion polling that predicted big gains for the Conservatives, and, by a vote of 522 to 13 (with\nSNP\nmembers abstaining), the House of Commons approved a snap election for June 8.\nThe election campaign was temporarily suspended after 22 people were killed and dozens injured in a terrorist attack on the night of May 22 at a 21,000-capacity arena in\nManchester\nfollowing a concert by U.S. singer\nAriana Grande\n. The attacker who detonated the homemade bomb that\nwrought\nthe destruction also was killed in the blast.\nISIL\nclaimed responsibility for the attack, in which many of those who perished or were injured were children—teenaged and younger fans of the American pop star. It was the deadliest terrorist attack in Britain since the\nLondon bombings of 2005\n, in which more than 50 people were killed, and it followed an attack on Westminster Bridge in London on March 22 in which an attacker mowed down pedestrians with a car and then continued his assault on foot with a knife, taking five lives and injuring some 50 people before he was killed outside the\nHouses of Parliament\nby a security officer.\nOn June 3, five days before voters were to go to the polls,\nyet\nanother terrorist attack unfolded in London. This time it occurred on\nLondon Bridge\n, where three attackers ran down victims with a vehicle before leaving it to menace others in nearby Borough Market with knives. Eight people were killed before police arrived, only eight minutes after the start of the incident, and shot and killed the attackers.\nThe snap election campaign\nIn addition to using the campaign to sell her version of “hard Brexit,” May sought to frame the election as a choice between her “strong and stable” leadership and that of Corbyn, who was characterized as an unreliable out-of-touch leftist extremist. However, Corbyn, once thought by many observers to be unelectable, proved to be an inspiring campaigner whose message of hope,\ncompassion\n, and inclusiveness energized a new generation of Labour voters. May, on the other hand, often appeared uncomfortable, stiff, and uncertain on the campaign trail. One element of her manifesto—a proposal to pay for in-home social care of the elderly with government sales of their homes after their deaths, a plan loudly condemned by many as a “dementia tax”—brought widespread outrage that prompted her to quickly alter the proposal. Rather than appearing “strong and stable,” May, in the eyes of some observers, looked to be “weak and wobbly.”\nThe 2017 U.K. general election\nWhen voters had their say on June 8, 2017, they handed the Conservatives a major setback. Rather than securing a\nmandate\n, May watched her party’s legislative majority disappear as it lost at least 12 seats in the House of Commons to fall to 318 seats while Labour gained at least 29 seats to surpass 260 seats in total. Both parties garnered more than 40 percent of the popular vote each in an election that witnessed a return to dominance by the two major parties. Led by\nTim Farron\n, the Liberal Democrats, who had fared badly in the 2015 election, sought to reverse their fortunes by advocating another referendum on Brexit, and, while this proposal did not\nresonate\nfor many voters, the party still gained four seats to reach a total of 12. Support for\nUKIP\nlargely evaporated. Having nearly realized the goal of Brexit, many of those who had supported UKIP in previous elections were expected to vote for the Conservatives, but, in the event, it appeared that they instead were swayed by Corbyn’s vision. The Conservatives did, however, make big gains in Scotland, where the Scottish National Party fell from 56 seats to 35, in what was widely interpreted as a rebuke to Sturgeon and the SNP’s call for another referendum on Scottish independence.\nArguably the election’s biggest winner was Northern Ireland’s\nDemocratic Unionist Party\n(DUP). Having increased its representation in the House of Commons from 8 to 10 seats, it found itself in the role of kingmaker when May enlisted its support to cling to power by forming a\nminority\ngovernment (rather than seeking a formal coalition arrangement). With the support of the DUP on key votes, the Conservatives would be able to just barely surpass the 326-vote bar for a legislative majority.\nThe central task for May’s government remained arriving at a\ncohesive\napproach for its Brexit negotiations with the EU. That task was a\ndaunting\none, however, because wide disagreement persisted even within the Conservative Party, not just on a\nmyriad\nof details related to the British proposal for separation but also on the broader issues involved.\nThe Grenfell Tower fire, a novichok attack in Salisbury, and air strikes on Syria\nIn June 2017 Brexit was pushed off the front pages by one of the worst disasters in recent British history: a fire in a multistory\npublic housing\nresidence (\nGrenfell Tower) in London claimed the lives of 72 individuals, many of whom were recent immigrants. The incident prompted a period of national soul-searching after it was revealed that months before the fire the building’s low-income residents had raised concerns about fire safety and complained that they were being treated like second-class citizens.\nIn March 2018 British national outrage was focused on\nRussia\nwhen a former Russian intelligence officer, who had acted as double agent for Britain, and his daughter were found unconscious in\nSalisbury\n,\nEngland\n. It was determined that the pair had been victims of a “novichok,” a complex\nnerve agent\nthat had been developed by the Soviets. Although the Russian government denied having any involvement with the attack and British investigators were unable to prove that the nerve agent originated in Russia, the May government responded by expelling some two dozen Russian intelligence operatives who had been working in Britain under diplomatic cover.\nIn April Britain joined\nFrance\nand the United States in launching air strikes against targets in Syria after it was revealed that the regime of Syrian Pres.\nBashar al-Assad\nhad again used chemical weapons on its own people. Corbyn was critical of May for having ordered the strike without first consulting Parliament, but she countered that the action had to be undertaken without seeking parliamentary approval in order to protect the operation’s\nintegrity\n. May also said that the strike was intended to prevent further suffering, and she characterized the decision as both right and legal.\nThe wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Chequers plan, and Boris Johnson’s resignation\nIn May 2018 Britain and much of the world stopped for a day to witness the\nroyal wedding\nof\nPrince Harry\nto\nMeghan Markle\n—a divorced American actress, daughter of an African American mother and a white father—whose informal approachability and personal warmth recalled the much beloved “People’s Princess”\nDiana\n. The newlywed couple’s union reflected the changing social landscape of an increasingly multicultural Britain. Moreover, they seemed determined to modernize the monarchy and to connect it with the lives of everyday Britons.\nIn early July May summoned her cabinet to the prime minister’s country retreat,\nChequers\n, determined to forge a\nconsensus\non the nuts and bolts of the government’s Brexit plan. Despite forceful opposition by the cabinet’s “hard” Brexiters, by the end of the marathon meeting a consensus seemed to have emerged around May’s “softer” approach, grounded in policies aimed at preserving economic ties with the EU. Just two days later, however, the government’s apparent harmony was disrupted by the resignation of Britain’s chief Brexit negotiator,\nDavid Davis\n, who complained that May’s plan gave up too much, too easily. The next day Johnson left his post as foreign secretary, writing in his letter of resignation that the dream of Brexit was dying, “suffocated by needless self-doubt.” Suddenly confronted with the possibility of a\nvote of confidence\non her party leadership, May reportedly cautioned Conservatives to line up behind her Brexit plan or run the risk of losing power to a Corbyn-led Labour government.\nEU agreement and Parliamentary opposition to May’s Brexit plan\nOn November 25 the leaders of the EU’s 27 other member countries formally agreed to the terms of a withdrawal deal that May claimed “delivered for the British people” and set the United Kingdom “on course for a prosperous future.” Under the plan Britain was to pay some $50 billion to the EU to satisfy its long-term financial obligations. Britain’s departure from the EU was to come in March 2019, but, according to the agreement, the U.K. would continue to\nabide\nby EU rules and regulations until at least December 2020 while negotiations continued on the details of the long-term relationship between the EU and the U.K.\nThe agreement, which was set to be debated and voted upon by the House of Commons in December, still faced strong opposition in Parliament, not only from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP,\nPlaid Cymru\n, and the DUP but also from dozens of Conservatives. At the same time, the call for holding another referendum on Brexit was growing louder, though May remained\nadamant\nthat the will of the British people had already been expressed. A major sticking point for many of those who opposed the agreement was the so-called\nNorthern Ireland backstop plan\n. Formulated to help maintain an open border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland after Brexit, the “backstop”\nstipulated\nthat a legally binding customs arrangement between the EU and Northern Ireland would go into effect if the U.K. and the EU could not reach a long-term agreement by December 2020. Opponents of the backstop argued that it set up the potential for regulatory barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K., effectively establishing a customs border down the\nIrish Sea\n.\nObjections to the Irish backstop and a challenge to May’s leadership\nThe issue grew more heated in the first week of December after the government was forced to publish in full Attorney General\nGeoffrey Cox\n’s legal advice for the government on the Brexit agreement, which had initially been reported to Parliament in overview only. According to Cox, without agreement between Britain and the EU, the terms of the backstop plan could endure “indefinitely,” with the U.K. legally blocked from terminating the agreement without EU approval. This\ncontentious\nissue was front and centre as the House of Commons began five days of debate leading up to a vote on the Brexit agreement that was scheduled for December 11. Facing the likelihood of a humiliating rejection of the agreement by the House of Commons, May dramatically interrupted the debate after three days, on December 10, and postponed the vote, pledging to seek new\nassurances\nfrom the EU regarding the backstop. The opposition responded by threatening to hold a vote of confidence and to call for an early election.\nA challenge to May’s leadership was quickly mounted within the Conservative Party, and, after more than the required 15 percent of the parliamentary party (48 of 317 MPs) requested a vote on her leadership of the party, a\nsecret ballot\nvote was held on December 12, 2018. May received the votes of 200 MPs, more than the 159 votes she needed to survive as leader. Although, according to Conservative Party rules, she could not be challenged as leader for another year, it remained to be seen whether May would still face pressure to relinquish power.\nParliamentary rejection of May’s plan, May’s survival of a confidence vote, and the Independent Group of breakaway MPs\nResponding to May in a joint letter, European Council Pres.\nDonald Tusk\nand\nEuropean Commission\nPres.\nJean-Claude Juncker\nindicated that, if the backstop had to be\ninvoked\n, they would strive to limit its application to the “shortest possible period.” However, this pledge satisfied few of the agreement’s critics. When debate on the agreement resumed on January 9, Corbyn argued not only for rejection of the agreement but also for an early general election. On January 15 the agreement was overwhelmingly rejected by a vote of 432–202 (the worst defeat for a government\ninitiative\nin modern British parliamentary history), and Corbyn tabled a vote of confidence in the government, which May survived the next day, 325–306, having held onto the support of the DUP and many Conservatives who had deserted her in the agreement vote.\nThe longer the issue of Brexit remained unsettled, the more it became the fulcrum on which British politics turned. Political pundits began to note that opinions on May’s proposed version of Brexit and Brexit in general cut across ideological lines. Both Labour and the Conservative Party were riven by internecine conflict over Brexit. In February eight MPs withdrew from the\nLabour Party\n, citing their disappointment in Corbyn’s leadership on the issue as well as concerns over\nalleged\nanti-Semitism within the party, a criticism that was at least partly tied to Corbyn’s sympathy for Palestinian concerns. Only days after their departure, three moderate Tories left the Conservative Party, protesting that it had been hijacked by the\nEuropean Research Group\n, a faction of right-wing hard-line Brexiters whom the departing MPs accused of acting as a party within the party. Joining together as the Independent Group, these breakaway MPs from both parties began taking steps toward formally\nconstituting\na new\npolitical party\n. Meanwhile, in early March,\nTom Watson, the deputy leader of the Labour Party,\nconvened\na meeting of Labour MPs and members of the House of Lords—many of whom felt that Corbyn had taken the party too far leftward—to consider an\nalternative\nvision for the party.\nParliament rejects May’s plan again\nAgainst this backdrop, May continued negotiations with European leaders in an effort to win concessions that would garner wider support within Parliament than the terms of her earlier, shunned Brexit plan did. On the eve of a scheduled meaningful vote in the House of Commons on her revised plan, May secured new promises of cooperation on the backstop plan from EU leaders. A “joint legally binding instrument” was agreed to under which Britain could initiate a “formal dispute” with the EU if the EU were to attempt to keep Britain bound to the backstop plan indefinitely. A “joint statement” was also issued that committed the U.K. and the EU to arriving at a replacement for the backstop plan by December 2020. Finally, the U.K. put forth a “unilateral declaration” stressing that there was nothing to prevent Britain from abandoning the backstop if negotiations on an alternative arrangement with the EU were to collapse without the prospect of resolution.\nIn advance of the vote in Parliament, Attorney General Cox issued his opinion that while the new\nassurances\nreduced the risk of the U.K.’s being indefinitely confined by the backstop agreement, they did not fundamentally change the agreement’s legal status. In the vote on March 12, the House of Commons once again rejected May’s plan, though by a smaller margin than its earlier defeat, 391–242. The next day the House of Commons voted 312–308 against leaving the EU without a deal in place. On March 14, by just two votes, May survived a vote that would have taken control of Brexit away from her and handed it to Parliament. In a letter to EU leaders on March 20, she requested that the date of Britain’s departure from the EU be delayed until June 30. In response the EU announced its willingness to extend the Brexit deadline until May 22 but only if Parliament had accepted May’s withdrawal plan by the week of March 24.\n“Indicative votes,” May’s pledge to resign, a third defeat for her plan, and a new deadline\nHundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of London on March 23 to demand that another referendum on Brexit be held. On March 25 the House of Commons voted 329–302 to usurp control of Parliament’s agenda from the government in order to hold “\nindicative votes\n” on alternative proposals to May’s plan. Eight of those proposals were put to a vote on March 27, but none was able to gain the support of the majority, though a plan to seek to create a “permanent and\ncomprehensive\nU.K.-wide\ncustoms union\nwith the EU” came close, falling sort by just six votes.\nAlso on March 27, May pledged to resign as party leader and prime minister if the House of Commons were to approve her plan, a\ngambit\nthat won support from some “hard Brexit” opponents of the plan. On March 29, owing to an antique procedural rule invoked by Speaker of the House\nJohn Bercow\n, only the withdrawal agreement portion of May’s plan was voted upon by the House of Commons (excluded was the “political declaration” that addressed what the U.K. and EU expected of their long-term relationship). Although the vote was closer than the previous two (286 in support, 344 in opposition), the plan once again went down in defeat. The U.K. now had until April 12 to decide whether it would leave the EU without an agreement on that day or request a longer\ndelay\nthat would require it to participate in elections for the\nEuropean Parliament\n. May asked the EU to push back the deadline for Brexit until June 30, and on April 11 the European Council announced that it was granting the U.K. a “flexible extension” until October 31.\nShortly thereafter, in response to the Conservative Party’s seeming inability to position the country to leave the EU,\nNigel Farage\nlaunched the\nBrexit Party\n. It proved to be a big winner in the elections for the European Parliament in May, capturing about 31 percent of the vote. The next closest finisher was the Liberal Democrats, with about 20 percent of the vote, while Labour claimed some 14 percent and the Conservatives only about 9 percent.\nHaving failed to\ngarner\nsufficient support from Conservatives for her exit plan, May entered discussions with Labour leaders on a possible compromise, but these too proved fruitless. When May responded to that disappointment by proposing a new version of the plan that included a temporary customs relationship with the EU and a pledge to hold a parliamentary vote on whether to stage another referendum on Brexit, her cabinet revolted. Isolated as never before, the prime minister announced on May 24 that she would step down as leader of the Conservative Party on June 7 but would remain as caretaker premier until her party had chosen her successor.\nThe Boris Johnson government\nBoris Johnson’s ascent, the December 2019 snap election, and Brexit\nAfter a series of votes by the parliamentary Conservative Party winnowed a list of 10 candidates to 2,\nBoris Johnson\nand\nJeremy Hunt\nstood in an election in which all of the party’s roughly 160,000 members were eligible to vote. Johnson took some 66 percent of that vote to assume the leadership. He officially replaced May as prime minister on July 24, 2019. Although he had promised to take the United Kingdom out of the EU without an exit agreement if the deal May had negotiated was not changed to his liking, Johnson faced widespread opposition (even within his own party) to his\nadvocacy\nof no-deal Brexit. Political maneuvering by the new prime minister (including proroguing Parliament just weeks before October 31, the revised departure deadline) was met with forceful legislative countermeasures by those opposed to leaving the EU without an agreement in place. A vote of the House of Commons in early September forced Johnson to request a delay of the British withdrawal from the EU until January 31, 2020, even though on October 22 the House approved, in principle, the agreement that Johnson had negotiated, replacing the backstop with a plan to keep Northern Ireland aligned with the EU for at least four years from the end of the\ntransition\nperiod.\nJohnson repeatedly tried and failed to call a snap election that he hoped would secure a mandate for his vision of Brexit. Because the election would fall outside the five-year term stipulated by the Fixed Terms of Parliament Act, it required approval by two-thirds of the House of Commons to be held, meaning that it needed support from the opposition, which was denied. After no-deal Brexit was blocked, however, Corbyn was willing to let voters once again decide the fate of Brexit, and an election was scheduled for December 12, 2019. Preelection opinion polling indicated a likely win for the Conservatives, but when the results were in, Johnson’s party had recorded its most\ndecisive\nvictory since 1987, adding 48 seats to secure a solid Parliamentary majority of 365 seats. The stage was set for the realization of Johnson’s version of Brexit, which was to take place at 11:00\npm\nLondon time on January 31, when the United Kingdom formally would withdraw from the European Union.\nIn April 2020\nSir Keir Starmer\n, the shadow Brexit secretary and a former director of public prosecutions, replaced Corbyn as Labour leader. At the end of October Corbyn was suspended from the party in response to his somewhat\ndismissive\nreaction to the release of the greatly anticipated report on anti-Semitism within the Labour Party by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. His suspension immediately disrupted the Labour Party, prompting denunciations of that action by Corbyn’s leftist supporters.\nAlthough Britain’s formal withdrawal from the EU had been accomplished, final details relating to a new trade deal between the U.K. and the EU remained to be resolved, and the December 31, 2020, deadline for that resolution was only barely met on December 24. The resultant 2,000-page agreement clarified that there would be no limits or taxes on goods sold between U.K. and EU parties; however, an extensive\nregimen\nof paperwork for such transactions and transport of goods was put in place. The freedom to work and live between the U.K. and the EU became a thing of the past.\nThe coronavirus pandemic\nAs it was in most of the rest of the world, life in the U.K. was turned upside down in 2020 by the onset of the\ncoronavirus\nSARS-CoV-2 global pandemic, which had originated in\nChina\n, where the first cases were reported in December 2019. Because the Johnson government’s key scientific advisers had embraced the controversial theory that the best way to limit the long-term effects of the pandemic was to allow the virus to spread naturally and thus generate “herd immunity,” Britain initially did not adopt the kind of aggressive measures to combat the pandemic that had been undertaken in much of the rest of the world. By mid-March 2020, however, the government had radically shifted gears as\nCOVID-19\n, the potentially deadly disease caused by the virus, began spreading rapidly in Britain. Social-distancing and mask-wearing requirements were imposed, as was a lockdown that included the closing of schools, pubs, restaurants, and other businesses.\nIn late March Prime Minister Johnson contracted the virus and had to be hospitalized, spending three nights in an\nintensive care unit\nwhen his life was in jeopardy. While he was incapacitated, Foreign Secretary\nDominic Raab\nperformed Johnson’s duties. Over the coming year, Johnson would initiate and\nrescind\nstay-at-home orders that varied by region as the spread of the disease came in waves. Although the government’s initial response to the pandemic had been slow and unsteady, British scientists, aided by government funding, made historically rapid advances in developing an effective vaccine. Having become the first country to approve and\ndeploy\nthe Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Britain began rolling out a national immunization program in December 2020. Nevertheless, by March 2021 the U.K. had suffered about 126,000 COVID-related deaths, more than all but four other countries—the United States,\nBrazil\n,\nMexico\n, and\nIndia\n. The British predicament had been complicated by the emergence in the U.K. of a new, more easily transmissible variant of the disease (B.1.1.7) in September 2020.\n“Partygate”\nIn late November 2021 it began to be reported that members of Johnson’s cabinet and staff, as well as the prime minister himself, had\nattended\nparties earlier in the pandemic that violated prohibitions on social gatherings established by the government. The resulting “Partygate” scandal involved both the alleged violations and Johnson’s initial insistence that the government’s pandemic-related guidelines had been “followed at all times.” After reports came to light of an increasing number of illegal social gatherings at Downing Street during the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, Johnson apologized for having attended one such party at which drinks were served. In addition to the alleged violations of pandemic-related rules, a picture of excessive workplace drinking in the prime minister’s orbit began to take shape. Moreover, it appeared that Johnson had misled Parliament with his claim that no pandemic-related rules had been broken. Historically, deceiving Parliament was an offense that called for resignation.\nA report on the affair by senior civil servant Sue Gray was delivered to Parliament in late January 2022. Although it was truncated and heavily\nredacted\nto avoid compromising the investigation that had been undertaken by the\nLondon Metropolitan Police\ninto a number of gatherings, the report said that “there were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No. 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times” and that “some of the events should not have been allowed to take place” whereas “other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did.” Despite a renewed apology to Parliament by Johnson, some Conservatives joined members of the opposition in calling for his resignation. Johnson’s grip on power would remain precarious—especially after the police investigation led to him being fined in April for his transgressions of pandemic-related rules. However, Russia’s invasion of\nUkraine\non February 24 served to forestall efforts to remove Johnson from office. Many in Britain appeared to believe that the moment of\nexistential crisis\nfor\nEurope\nbrought on by Russia’s aggression was not the time for a change of leadership.\nFurther scandal and Johnson’s resignation\nNevertheless, by early June a sufficient number of Conservative MPs had written to the party’s 1922 Committee requesting the prime minister’s resignation that a\nvote of confidence\nin his leadership of the party was forced. To retain his position, Johnson needed to have his leadership affirmed by at least 180 of the party’s 359 members of the House of Commons. When the secret ballots were counted, 211 MPs had voted in support of Johnson, but the 148 MPs who had voted against him represented a larger percentage of the party’s presence in the House of Commons than did the 133 MPs who had rejected Theresa May’s leadership in the 2018 vote of confidence that preceded her eventual resignation.\nOnly weeks later Johnson’s\nuncanny\nability to survive scandal finally deserted him when his apparent prevarication regarding his awareness of allegations of sexual misconduct against a senior Conservative Party official shattered his support within the party and forced him to step down. Johnson tendered his immediate resignation as party leader on July 7, 2022. He announced that he would remain as prime minister until the Conservatives had chosen a new leader.\nThe premiership of Liz Truss\nAscent to office\nLiz Truss\nLiz Truss (centre) attending a Conservative Party leadership campaign event in Marden, England, July 23, 2022.\nThe parliamentary party (sitting Conservative MPs) then undertook a series of votes that incrementally winnowed the field of candidates for the leadership from eight to two, Foreign Secretary\nLiz Truss\nand former chancellor of the\nExchequer\nRishi Sunak\n, whose names were submitted for a vote by the party’s whole membership. When the results of that election were reported on September 5, Truss emerged as the winner. The next day she became the third woman ever to serve as Britain’s prime minister. In a break with tradition, Truss received her official appointment from\nElizabeth II\nat\nBalmoral Castle\nrather than at\nBuckingham Palace\nout of concern for the\nqueen’s\nincreasingly frail health, which had limited Elizabeth’s participation in June in the Platinum Jubilee, a four-day celebration of her 70-year reign.\nThe death of Elizabeth II\nOn September 8 Britain and the world were shocked by the news of the queen’s death. Truss called Elizabeth “the rock on which modern Britain was built.” In an address to the nation the following day, the new king,\nCharles III\n, said:\nQueen Elizabeth’s was a life well lived; a promise with destiny kept and she is mourned most deeply in her passing…. As the Queen herself did with such unswerving devotion, I too now solemnly pledge myself, throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the\nConstitutional\nprinciples at the heart of our nation. And wherever you may live in the United Kingdom, or in the Realms and territories across the world, and whatever may be your background or beliefs, I shall endeavour to serve you with loyalty, respect and love, as I have throughout my life.\nSome 10 days of national mourning followed that led to the queen lying in state in Westminster Hall. Mourners stood in a line that stretched for miles to view her coffin. A sombre funeral ceremony, attended by an estimated 100 heads of foreign governments, was held at\nWestminster Abbey\non September 19.\nAbrupt resignation\nLiz Truss had come into office believing that she had a mandate to carry out a “low taxes, high growth” economic plan. However, the financial markets panicked at the prospect of the budget\ndeficit\nlikely to result from Truss’s proposed combination of unfunded £45 billion ($50 billion) tax cuts and a two-year cap on energy prices (in response to high energy costs facing Britons as a result of sanctions imposed on\nnatural gas\nsupplier Russia). The\nBank of England\nwas forced to intervene to stabilize the markets after the value of the pound nose-dived, mortgage rates rose, and the cost of U.K.\ngovernment borrowing\nclimbed. Responding to the furor that followed, on October 14 Truss sacked Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng, among her closest political allies, and replaced him with former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt. Almost immediately Hunt began undoing Truss’s signature economic plan, reducing the period for the energy price cap to six months and revoking the tax cuts. Truss apologized for the “mistakes” she had made, but a growing number of Conservative MPs called for her to resign, and, amid\nwithering\nsupport for her, on October 20 Truss announced that she was stepping down as party leader but would remain prime minister until the Conservatives will have chosen her successor.\nThe premiership of\nRishi Sunak\nThe leadership selection process was more truncated this time around. Candidates were required to receive 100 nominations from Conservative MPs in order to come up for a vote. Given that there were 357 Conservative MPs, at most only three candidates could advance for consideration, and the party membership would choose between the two finalists. The House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt was the first to declare her candidacy, but Sunak, who still enjoyed broad support among MPs, was the favourite to replace Truss. Although there seemed to be significant support for a return to power by Johnson despite his fall from grace, the former prime minister\nwithdrew\nhis name from consideration the day before the nominations were due. Struggling to gain adequate support for her candidacy, Mordaunt also stepped aside, and on October 24 the path was clear for Sunak, as the sole remaining candidate, to be confirmed as party leader without resorting to a vote of the broader party membership. The stage was set for him to become the first person of colour, the first person of South Asian descent, and the first Hindu to serve as prime minister of the United Kingdom.\nSunak became the fourth consecutive prime minister to oppose conducting a second referendum on Scottish independence. In June 2022, on Johnson’s watch, Scottish First Minister\nNicola Sturgeon\nhad announced her intention to hold a second referendum (dubbed indyref2) in October 2023. In pursuit of that goal, she asked the U.K. Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of Scotland’s holding the vote without the approval of the U.K. government. When the court ruled in November 2022 that Scotland was not empowered to conduct the referendum without Westminster’s approval, Sturgeon pledged to make the U.K. parliamentary election scheduled for 2025 a\nde facto\nreferendum on Scottish independence.\nIn January 2023,\ninvoking\nthe powers of the Scotland Act of 1998, the British government blocked the promulgation of a law enacted in December 2022 by the Scottish Parliament that permitted\ntransgender\npeople in Scotland to change their legal gender by self-declaration without a medical\ndiagnosis\n. The veto of the Scottish legislation—based on the argument that the law created inequalities because elsewhere in the United Kingdom a medical diagnosis was required for an individual to transition for legal purposes—marked the first time in the roughly 25 years since\ndevolution\nthat the British government had overruled an action by Scotland’s Parliament. Sturgeon promised to take the matter to court; however, in February 2023 she announced her intention to resign as leader of the SNP and first minister, saying that she felt that she could no longer summon the energy that was necessary to perform her job. Sturgeon remained as leader of the SNP and first minister until late March, when the party chose her\nsuccessor\n,\nHumza Yousaf\n, the health secretary, who became the first Muslim and first person of colour to head the Scottish government.","attrs_markdown":"[![Encyclopedia Britannica](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/mendel\/eb-logo\/MendelNewThistleLogo.png)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/)\n\n[![Encyclopedia Britannica](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/mendel\/eb-logo\/MendelNewThistleLogo.png)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/)\n\n[SUBSCRIBE](https:\/\/premium.britannica.com\/premium-membership\/?utm_source=premium&utm_medium=global-nav&utm_campaign=blue-evergreen)\n\n[SUBSCRIBE](https:\/\/premium.britannica.com\/premium-membership\/?utm_source=premium&utm_medium=global-nav-mobile&utm_campaign=blue-evergreen)\n\nLogin\n\nhttps:\/\/premium.britannica.com\/premium-membership\/?utm\\_source=premium\\&utm\\_medium=nav-login-box\\&utm\\_campaign=evergreen\n\n[SUBSCRIBE](https:\/\/premium.britannica.com\/premium-membership\/?utm_source=premium&utm_medium=hamburger-menu&utm_campaign=blue)\n\n[Ask the Chatbot](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/chatbot)\n\n[Games & Quizzes](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/quiz\/browse) [History & Society](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/History-Society) [Science & Tech](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/Science-Tech) [Biographies](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/Biographies) [Animals & Nature](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/Animals-Nature) [Geography & Travel](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/Geography-Travel) [Arts & Culture](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/Arts-Culture) [ProCon](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/procon) [Money](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money) [Videos](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/videos)\n\n[United Kingdom](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom)\n\n- [Introduction & Quick Facts](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom)\n- [Land](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom#ref44671)\n  - [Relief](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom#ref44672)\n    - [The highland zone](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-highland-zone)\n    - [The lowland zone](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-lowland-zone)\n  \n  - [Drainage](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-lowland-zone#ref44675)\n  \n  - [Soils](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-lowland-zone#ref44676)\n  \n  - [Climate](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-lowland-zone#ref44677)\n  \n  - [Plant and animal life](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Plant-and-animal-life)\n- [People](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Plant-and-animal-life#ref44682)\n  - [Ethnic groups](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Plant-and-animal-life#ref44683)\n  \n  - [Languages](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Plant-and-animal-life#ref44684)\n  \n  - [Religion](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Religion)\n  \n  - [Settlement patterns](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Religion#ref225229)\n    - [Rural settlement](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Religion#ref225230)\n    - [Urban settlement](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Urban-settlement)\n  \n  - [Demographic trends](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Urban-settlement#ref44686)\n    - [Population growth](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Urban-settlement#ref44687)\n    - [Migration patterns](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Urban-settlement#ref44688)\n- [Economy](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Economy)\n  - [Agriculture, forestry, and fishing](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Economy#ref44691)\n    - [Agriculture](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Economy#ref44692)\n    - [Forestry](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Economy#ref44693)\n    - [Fishing](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Economy#ref44694)\n  \n  - [Resources and power](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Economy#ref44690)\n    - [Minerals](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Economy#ref225232)\n    - [Energy](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Economy#ref225233)\n  \n  - [Manufacturing](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Economy#ref44695)\n  \n  - [Finance](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Economy#ref44699)\n  \n  - [Trade](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Trade)\n  \n  - [Services](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Trade#ref215040)\n  \n  - [Labour and taxation](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Trade#ref225234)\n  \n  - [Transportation and telecommunications](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Trade#ref44701)\n- [Government and society](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Trade#ref44702)\n  - [Constitutional framework](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Trade#ref225235)\n  \n  - [Regional government](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Trade#ref215041)\n  \n  - [Local government](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Local-government)\n  \n  - [Justice](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Local-government#ref44709)\n  \n  - [Political process](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Local-government#ref44706)\n  \n  - [Security](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Local-government#ref44710)\n  \n  - [Health and welfare](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Health-and-welfare)\n    - [The National Health Service](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Health-and-welfare#ref44717)\n    - [Cash benefits](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Health-and-welfare#ref44718)\n  \n  - [Housing](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Health-and-welfare#ref44719)\n  \n  - [Education](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Health-and-welfare#ref44712)\n    - [Primary and secondary education](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Health-and-welfare#ref44713)\n    - [Private schools](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Health-and-welfare#ref44714)\n    - [Higher education](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Higher-education)\n- [Cultural life](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Higher-education#ref44720)\n  - [Daily life and social customs](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Higher-education#ref225236)\n  \n  - [The arts](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Higher-education#ref225237)\n  \n  - [Cultural institutions](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Higher-education#ref225238)\n  \n  - [Sports and recreation](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Sports-and-recreation)\n  \n  - [Media and publishing](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Sports-and-recreation#ref44722)\n    - [Newspapers](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Sports-and-recreation#ref44723)\n    - [Broadcasting](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Sports-and-recreation#ref44724)\n- [History](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Sports-and-recreation#ref214519)\n  - [Ancient Britain](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Ancient-Britain)\n    - [Pre-Roman Britain](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Ancient-Britain#ref44731)\n      - [Neolithic Period](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Ancient-Britain#ref44732)\n      - [Bronze Age](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Ancient-Britain#ref44733)\n      - [Iron Age](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Ancient-Britain#ref44734)\n    - [Roman Britain](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Roman-Britain)\n      - [The conquest](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Roman-Britain#ref44736)\n      - [Condition of the province](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Roman-Britain#ref44737)\n        - [Army and frontier](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Roman-Britain#ref44738)\n        - [Administration](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Roman-Britain#ref44739)\n      - [Roman society](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Roman-society)\n        - [Economy](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Roman-society#ref44741)\n        - [Towns](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Roman-society#ref44742)\n        - [Villas](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Roman-society#ref44743)\n        - [Religion and culture](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Roman-society#ref44744)\n      - [The decline of Roman rule](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Roman-society#ref44745)\n  \n  - [Anglo-Saxon England](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Anglo-Saxon-England)\n    - [The invaders and their early settlements](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Anglo-Saxon-England#ref44747)\n      - [The social system](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Anglo-Saxon-England#ref44748)\n      - [The conversion to Christianity](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Anglo-Saxon-England#ref44749)\n      - [The golden age of Bede](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Anglo-Saxon-England#ref44750)\n    - [The heptarchy](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-heptarchy)\n      - [The supremacy of Northumbria and the rise of Mercia](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-heptarchy#ref44752)\n      - [The great age of Mercia](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-heptarchy#ref44753)\n      - [The church and scholarship in Offa’s time](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-heptarchy#ref44754)\n      - [The decline of Mercia and the rise of Wessex](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-heptarchy#ref44755)\n    - [The period of the Scandinavian invasions](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions)\n      - [Viking invasions and settlements](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44757)\n      - [Alfred’s government and his revival of learning](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44758)\n    - [The achievement of political unity](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44759)\n      - [The reconquest of the Danelaw](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44760)\n      - [The kingdom of England](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44761)\n      - [The church and the monastic revival](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-church-and-the-monastic-revival)\n    - [The Anglo-Danish state](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-church-and-the-monastic-revival#ref44763)\n      - [The Danish conquest and the reigns of the Danish kings](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-church-and-the-monastic-revival#ref44764)\n      - [The reign of Edward the Confessor and the Norman Conquest](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-church-and-the-monastic-revival#ref44765)\n  \n  - [The Normans (1066–1154)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Normans-1066-1154)\n    - [William I (1066–87)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44767)\n      - [Resistance and rebellion](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44768)\n      - [The introduction of feudalism](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44769)\n      - [Government and justice](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44770)\n      - [Church–state relations](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44771)\n      - [William’s accomplishments](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44772)\n    - [The sons of William I](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-sons-of-William-I)\n      - [William II Rufus (1087–1100)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44774)\n      - [Henry I (1100–35)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44775)\n    - [The period of anarchy (1135–54)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44776)\n      - [Matilda and Stephen](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44777)\n      - [Civil war](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44778)\n    - [England in the Norman period](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44779)\n  \n  - [The early Plantagenets](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-early-Plantagenets)\n    - [Henry II (1154–89)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44781)\n      - [Government of England](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44782)\n      - [Struggle with Thomas Becket](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44783)\n      - [Rebellion of Henry’s sons and Eleanor of Aquitaine](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44784)\n    - [Richard I (1189–99)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44785)\n    - [John (1199–1216)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/John-1199-1216)\n      - [Loss of French possessions](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/John-1199-1216#ref44787)\n      - [Struggle with the papacy](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/John-1199-1216#ref44788)\n      - [Revolt of the barons and Magna Carta](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/John-1199-1216#ref44789)\n      - [Economy and society](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/John-1199-1216#ref44790)\n  \n  - [The 13th century](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/John-1199-1216#ref44791)\n    - [Henry III (1216–72)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Henry-III-1216-72)\n      - [Minority](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44793)\n      - [Early reign](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44794)\n      - [The county communities](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44795)\n      - [Simon de Montfort and the Barons’ War](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44796)\n      - [Later reign](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44797)\n    - [Edward I (1272–1307)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Edward-I-1272-1307)\n      - [Law and government](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44799)\n      - [Finance](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44800)\n      - [The growth of Parliament](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44801)\n      - [Edward’s wars](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44802)\n      - [Domestic difficulties](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44803)\n    - [Social, economic, and cultural change](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Social-economic-and-cultural-change)\n  \n  - [The 14th century](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Social-economic-and-cultural-change#ref44805)\n    - [Edward II (1307–27)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Social-economic-and-cultural-change#ref44806)\n    - [Edward III (1327–77)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Edward-III-1327-77)\n      - [The Hundred Years’ War to 1360](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Edward-III-1327-77#ref44808)\n      - [Domestic achievements](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Edward-III-1327-77#ref44809)\n      - [Law and order](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Edward-III-1327-77#ref44810)\n      - [The crises of Edward’s later years](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Edward-III-1327-77#ref44811)\n    - [Richard II (1377–99)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Richard-II-1377-99)\n      - [The Peasants’ Revolt (1381)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Richard-II-1377-99#ref44813)\n      - [John Wycliffe](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Richard-II-1377-99#ref44814)\n      - [Political struggles and Richard’s deposition](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Richard-II-1377-99#ref44815)\n    - [Economic crisis and cultural change](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Richard-II-1377-99#ref44816)\n  \n  - [Lancaster and York](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Lancaster-and-York)\n    - [Henry IV (1399–1413)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Lancaster-and-York#ref44818)\n      - [The rebellions](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Lancaster-and-York#ref44819)\n      - [Henry and Parliament](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Lancaster-and-York#ref44820)\n    - [Henry V (1413–22)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Lancaster-and-York#ref44821)\n      - [The French war](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Lancaster-and-York#ref44822)\n      - [Domestic affairs](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Lancaster-and-York#ref44823)\n    - [Henry VI (1422–61 and 1470–71)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Lancaster-and-York#ref44824)\n      - [Domestic rivalries and the loss of France](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Lancaster-and-York#ref44825)\n      - [Cade’s rebellion](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Lancaster-and-York#ref44826)\n      - [The beginning of the Wars of the Roses](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-beginning-of-the-Wars-of-the-Roses)\n    - [Edward IV (1461–70 and 1471–83)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-beginning-of-the-Wars-of-the-Roses#ref44828)\n    - [Richard III (1483–85)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-beginning-of-the-Wars-of-the-Roses#ref44829)\n    - [England in the 15th century](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/England-in-the-15th-century)\n  \n  - [England under the Tudors](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/England-in-the-15th-century#ref44831)\n    - [Henry VII (1485–1509)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/England-in-the-15th-century#ref44832)\n      - [Economy and society](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/England-in-the-15th-century#ref44833)\n      - [Dynastic threats](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Dynastic-threats)\n      - [Financial policy](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Dynastic-threats#ref44835)\n      - [The administration of justice](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Dynastic-threats#ref44836)\n    - [Henry VIII (1509–47)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Henry-VIII-1509-47)\n      - [Cardinal Wolsey](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Henry-VIII-1509-47#ref44838)\n      - [The king’s “Great Matter”](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Henry-VIII-1509-47#ref44839)\n      - [The Reformation background](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Henry-VIII-1509-47#ref44840)\n      - [The break with Rome](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-break-with-Rome)\n      - [The consolidation of the Reformation](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-break-with-Rome#ref44842)\n      - [The expansion of the English state](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-break-with-Rome#ref275884)\n      - [Henry’s last years](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-break-with-Rome#ref44843)\n    - [Edward VI (1547–53)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Edward-VI-1547-53)\n    - [Mary I (1553–58)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Edward-VI-1547-53#ref44845)\n    - [Elizabeth I (1558–1603)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Edward-VI-1547-53#ref44846)\n      - [The Tudor ideal of government](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Edward-VI-1547-53#ref44847)\n      - [Elizabethan society](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Elizabethan-society)\n      - [Mary, Queen of Scots](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Elizabethan-society#ref44849)\n      - [The clash with Spain](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-clash-with-Spain)\n      - [Internal discontent](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-clash-with-Spain#ref44851)\n  \n  - [The early Stuarts and the Commonwealth](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-early-Stuarts-and-the-Commonwealth)\n    - [England in 1603](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-early-Stuarts-and-the-Commonwealth#ref44853)\n      - [Economy and society](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-early-Stuarts-and-the-Commonwealth#ref44854)\n      - [Government and society](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-early-Stuarts-and-the-Commonwealth#ref44855)\n    - [James I (1603–25)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/James-I-1603-25)\n      - [Triple monarchy](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/James-I-1603-25#ref275885)\n      - [Religious policy](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/James-I-1603-25#ref44857)\n      - [Finance and politics](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/James-I-1603-25#ref44858)\n      - [Factions and favourites](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/James-I-1603-25#ref44859)\n    - [Charles I (1625–49)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Charles-I-1625-49)\n      - [The politics of war](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Charles-I-1625-49#ref44861)\n      - [Peace and reform](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Charles-I-1625-49#ref44862)\n      - [Religious reform](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Charles-I-1625-49#ref44863)\n      - [The Long Parliament](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Long-Parliament)\n      - [Civil war and revolution](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Long-Parliament#ref44865)\n      - [Commonwealth and Protectorate](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Commonwealth-and-Protectorate)\n  \n  - [The later Stuarts](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-later-Stuarts)\n    - [Charles II (1660–85)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-later-Stuarts#ref44868)\n      - [The Restoration](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-later-Stuarts#ref44869)\n      - [War and government](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-later-Stuarts#ref44870)\n      - [The Popish Plot](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-later-Stuarts#ref44871)\n      - [The exclusion crisis and the Tory reaction](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-later-Stuarts#ref44872)\n    - [James II (1685–88)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-later-Stuarts#ref44873)\n      - [Church and king](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-later-Stuarts#ref44874)\n      - [The Revolution of 1688](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Revolution-of-1688)\n    - [William III (1689–1702) and Mary II (1689–94)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Revolution-of-1688#ref44876)\n      - [The revolution settlement](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Revolution-of-1688#ref44877)\n      - [A new society](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Revolution-of-1688#ref275886)\n      - [The sinews of war](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Revolution-of-1688#ref44878)\n    - [Anne (1702–14)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Anne-1702-14)\n      - [Whigs and Tories](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Anne-1702-14#ref44880)\n      - [Tories and Jacobites](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Anne-1702-14#ref44881)\n  \n  - [18th-century Britain, 1714–1815](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815)\n    - [The state of Britain in 1714](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44883)\n    - [Britain from 1715 to 1742](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44884)\n      - [The supremacy of the Whigs](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44885)\n      - [Robert Walpole](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44886)\n        - [George II and Walpole](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44887)\n        - [Foreign policy](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44888)\n        - [Religious policy](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44889)\n        - [Economic policies](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44890)\n      - [The electoral system](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44891)\n      - [Walpole’s loss of power](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Walpoles-loss-of-power)\n    - [Britain from 1742 to 1754](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Walpoles-loss-of-power#ref44893)\n      - [The Jacobite rebellion](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Walpoles-loss-of-power#ref44894)\n      - [The rule of the Pelhams](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Walpoles-loss-of-power#ref44895)\n      - [Domestic reforms](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Walpoles-loss-of-power#ref44896)\n    - [British society by the mid-18th century](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century)\n      - [Joseph Massie’s categories](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century#ref44898)\n      - [Urban development](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century#ref44899)\n      - [Change and continuity](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century#ref44900)\n      - [The revolution in communications](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century#ref44901)\n    - [Britain from 1754 to 1783](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-from-1754-to-1783)\n      - [Conflict abroad](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44903)\n      - [Political instability in Britain](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44904)\n      - [The American Revolution](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44905)\n      - [Domestic responses to the American Revolution](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44906)\n    - [Britain from 1783 to 1815](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44907)\n      - [William Pitt the Younger](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/William-Pitt-the-Younger)\n      - [Economic growth and prosperity](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/William-Pitt-the-Younger#ref44909)\n      - [The Industrial Revolution](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/William-Pitt-the-Younger#ref44910)\n      - [Britain during the French Revolution](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/William-Pitt-the-Younger#ref44911)\n      - [The Napoleonic Wars](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Napoleonic-Wars)\n      - [Imperial expansion](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref44913)\n  \n  - [Great Britain, 1815–1914](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref44914)\n    - [Britain after the Napoleonic Wars](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref44915)\n      - [State and society](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref274567)\n      - [The political situation](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref274568)\n    - [Early and mid-Victorian Britain](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain)\n      - [State and society](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274569)\n      - [The political situation](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274570)\n        - [Whig reforms](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274571)\n        - [Chartism and the Anti-Corn Law League](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274572)\n        - [Peel and the Peelite heritage](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274573)\n        - [Palmerston](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274574)\n        - [Gladstone and Disraeli](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Gladstone-and-Disraeli)\n      - [Economy and society](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Gladstone-and-Disraeli#ref44926)\n      - [Cultural change](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Cultural-change)\n        - [The development of private life](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Cultural-change#ref274576)\n        - [Religion](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Cultural-change#ref274577)\n        - [Leisure](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Cultural-change#ref274578)\n    - [Late Victorian Britain](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Late-Victorian-Britain)\n      - [State and society](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274580)\n      - [The political situation](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274581)\n        - [Gladstone and Chamberlain](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274582)\n        - [The Irish question](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274583)\n        - [Split of the Liberal Party](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274584)\n        - [Imperialism and British politics](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274585)\n        - [The return of the Liberals](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-return-of-the-Liberals)\n        - [The international crisis](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-return-of-the-Liberals#ref274587)\n      - [Economy and society](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-return-of-the-Liberals#ref274588)\n      - [Family and gender](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-return-of-the-Liberals#ref274589)\n      - [Mass culture](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-return-of-the-Liberals#ref274590)\n  \n  - [Britain from 1914 to the present](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present)\n    - [The political situation](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274520)\n      - [World War I](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274521)\n        - [The Asquith coalition](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274522)\n        - [Lloyd George](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274523)\n      - [Between the wars](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274524)\n        - [The election of 1918](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274525)\n        - [Harsh peace and hard times](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274526)\n        - [Ireland and the return of the Conservatives](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274527)\n        - [The Baldwin era](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274528)\n        - [Baldwin and the abdication crisis](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis)\n        - [Foreign policy and appeasement](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis#ref274530)\n      - [World War II](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis#ref274531)\n        - [The phases of war](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis#ref274532)\n        - [Political developments](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis#ref274533)\n      - [Britain since 1945](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-since-1945)\n        - [Labour and the welfare state (1945–51)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-since-1945#ref274535)\n        - [Economic crisis and relief (1947)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-since-1945#ref274536)\n        - [Withdrawal from the empire](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-since-1945#ref274537)\n        - [Conservative government (1951–64)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-since-1945#ref274538)\n        - [Labour interlude (1964–70)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-since-1945#ref274539)\n        - [The return of the Conservatives (1970–74)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-since-1945#ref274540)\n        - [Labour back in power (1974–79)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Britain-since-1945#ref274541)\n        - [The Margaret Thatcher government (1979–90)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90)\n          - [The Falkland Islands War, the 1983 election, and privatization](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342384)\n          - [Racial discrimination and the 1981 England riots](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342385)\n          - [The 2001 England riots](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342386)\n          - [The “Troubles” in Northern Ireland](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342387)\n          - [“Thatcherism”](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342388)\n        - [The government of John Major (1990–97)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref274543)\n          - [“Black Wednesday,” epidemic scandals, and Major’s “Citizens Charter”](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342389)\n          - [“Mad cow disease”](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342390)\n        - [The Tony Blair government (1997–2007)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007)\n          - [The struggle for control of Labour](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342392)\n          - [New Labour, the repeal of Clause IV, and the “third way”](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342393)\n          - [Navigating the European monetary system and the EU Social Chapter](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342394)\n          - [The Good Friday Agreement](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342395)\n          - [London’s local government, House of Lords reform, and devolution for Scotland and Wales](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342396)\n          - [The royal family’s “annus horribilis,” the death of Princess Diana, and the Millennium Dome](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342397)\n          - [The battle for the soul of the Conservative Party](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342398)\n          - [Response to the September 11 attacks](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342399)\n          - [Weapons of mass destruction and the Iraq War](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342400)\n        - [The Gordon Brown government (2007–10)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref274544)\n        - [Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition rule (2010–15)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15)\n          - [The U.K. general election of 2010](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342401)\n          - [First-past-the-post referendum](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342402)\n          - [Intervention in Libya](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342403)\n          - [*News of the World* hacking scandal](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342404)\n          - [The 2011 riots, the European sovereign debt crisis, and Cameron’s veto of changes to the Lisbon Treaty](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342405)\n          - [The 2012 London Olympics, Julian Assange’s embassy refuge, and the emergence of UKIP](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342406)\n          - [The birth of George, rejection of intervention in Syria, and regulation of GCHQ](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342407)\n          - [Euroskepticism](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342408)\n          - [Scottish independence referendum](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342409)\n          - [Economic recovery](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342410)\n        - [David Cameron on his own (2015–16)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref332805)\n          - [The U.K. general election of 2015](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342411)\n          - [The “Brexit” referendum](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum)\n        - [The premiership of Theresa May (2016–19)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref337649)\n          - [The resignation of Cameron, the rise of May, and a challenge to Corbyn’s leadership of Labour](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342413)\n          - [Triggering Article 50](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342414)\n          - [The Manchester arena bombing and London bridge attacks](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342415)\n          - [The snap election campaign](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342416)\n          - [The 2017 U.K. general election](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342417)\n          - [The Grenfell Tower fire, a novichok attack in Salisbury, and air strikes on Syria](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342418)\n          - [The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Chequers plan, and Boris Johnson’s resignation](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342419)\n          - [EU agreement and Parliamentary opposition to May’s Brexit plan](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342420)\n          - [Objections to the Irish backstop and a challenge to May’s leadership](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342421)\n          - [Parliamentary rejection of May’s plan, May’s survival of a confidence vote, and the Independent Group of breakaway MPs](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342422)\n          - [Parliament rejects May’s plan again](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342423)\n          - [“Indicative votes,” May’s pledge to resign, a third defeat for her plan, and a new deadline](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342486)\n        - [The Boris Johnson government](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref350369)\n          - [Boris Johnson’s ascent, the December 2019 snap election, and Brexit](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref344342)\n          - [The coronavirus pandemic](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref347309)\n          - [“Partygate”](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref350370)\n          - [Further scandal and Johnson’s resignation](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref351071)\n        - [The premiership of Liz Truss](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref351684)\n          - [Ascent to office](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref352183)\n          - [The death of Elizabeth II](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref352184)\n          - [Abrupt resignation](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref352772)\n        - [The premiership of Rishi Sunak](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum#ref352803)\n    - [Society, state, and economy](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Society-state-and-economy)\n      - [State and society](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Society-state-and-economy#ref274546)\n      - [Economy and society](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Society-state-and-economy#ref274547)\n      - [Family and gender](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Family-and-gender)\n      - [Mass culture](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Family-and-gender#ref274549)\n- [Sovereigns of Britain](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Sovereigns-of-Britain)\n- [Prime ministers of Great Britain and the United Kingdom](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Sovereigns-of-Britain#ref276899)\n\n[References & Edit History](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/additional-info)  [Facts & Stats](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/facts\/United-Kingdom)\n\n[Images, Videos & Interactives](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/images-videos)\n\n[![United Kingdom](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/25\/4825-004-F1975B92\/Flag-United-Kingdom.jpg)](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/25\/4825-050-977D8C5E\/Flag-United-Kingdom.jpg)  [![United Kingdom](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/26\/4826-004-4994700F\/United-Kingdom.jpg)](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/26\/4826-050-915ED74D\/United-Kingdom.jpg)  [![United Kingdom](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/84\/183784-004-A1E621A9\/World-Data-Locator-Map-United-Kingdom.jpg)](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/84\/183784-050-9C0C8C6B\/World-Data-Locator-Map-United-Kingdom.jpg)  [![Big Ben, London](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/13\/99613-004-31B3604B\/Big-Ben-London.jpg)](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/13\/99613-050-13B8A7D2\/Big-Ben-London.jpg)  [![British Isles terminology](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/41\/193441-004-F59FCB25\/Terminology-British-Isles-United-Kingdom-Ireland-Great.jpg)](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/41\/193441-050-13CCA6B5\/Terminology-British-Isles-United-Kingdom-Ireland-Great.jpg)  [![Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/12\/60112-004-97372343\/Stonehenge-earthwork-site-Wiltshire-England-Early-Bronze.jpg)](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/12\/60112-050-E856C922\/Stonehenge-earthwork-site-Wiltshire-England-Early-Bronze.jpg)  [![Ravenscraig Castle, Kirkcaldy, Scotland](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/27\/1927-004-308BD790\/Ravenscraig-Castle-Kirkcaldy-Scotland.jpg)](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/27\/1927-050-7DCB5384\/Ravenscraig-Castle-Kirkcaldy-Scotland.jpg)  [![Windermere, Cumbria, England](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/07\/20307-004-44AEB441\/Windermere-Cumbria-England.jpg)](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/07\/20307-050-A2FAB763\/Windermere-Cumbria-England.jpg)  [![North Channel coast, Northern Ireland](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/19\/25419-004-E6BBE012\/coast-North-Channel-Northern-Ireland-Torr-Head.jpg)](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/19\/25419-050-7D8F2B02\/coast-North-Channel-Northern-Ireland-Torr-Head.jpg)\n\nAt a Glance\n\n[![default image](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/mendel-resources\/3-179\/images\/shared\/new-thistle.svg?v=3.179.9)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/summary\/United-Kingdom)\n\n[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland summary](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/summary\/United-Kingdom)\n\nQuizzes\n\n[![Flags of all countries of the world. Flags of the world. National flags. Country flags. Hompepage blog 2009, history and society, geography and travel, explore discovery](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/40\/129640-131-0EB20858\/Flags-countries-world-flags-Country-blog-geography-2009.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/quiz\/the-country-quiz)\n\n[The Country Quiz](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/quiz\/the-country-quiz)\n\n[![7:023 Geography: Think of Something Big, globe showing Africa, Europe, and Eurasia](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/95\/168695-131-11055CC5\/Geography-Something-globe-Europe-Eurasia-Africa.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/quiz\/which-country-is-larger-by-area-quiz)\n\n[Which Country Is Larger By Area? Quiz](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/quiz\/which-country-is-larger-by-area-quiz)\n\n[![Flags of the world against blue sky. Countries, International. Globalization, global relations, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Poland, Palestine, Japan. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/91\/142291-131-1FF39F2D\/Flags-world-blue-sky-Countries-Globalization-relations-2010.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/quiz\/which-country-is-larger-by-population-quiz)\n\n[Which Country Is Larger By Population? Quiz](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/quiz\/which-country-is-larger-by-population-quiz)\n\n[![Britain's Queen Elizabeth II smiles to the crowd from Buckingham Palace (London, England) balcony at the end of the Platinum Pageant in London on June 5, 2022 as part of Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee celebrations. The curtain comes down on four days of momentous nationwide celebrations to honor Queen Elizabeth II's historic Platinum Jubilee with a day-long pageant lauding the 96 year old monarch's record seven decades on the throne. (British royalty)](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/06\/235406-131-17CB8E3D\/Queen-Elizabeth-II-Buckingham-Palace-Platinum-Jubilee-London-England-June-5-2022.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/quiz\/fit-for-a-king-or-queen-the-british-royalty-quiz)\n\n[Fit for a King (or Queen): the British Royalty Quiz](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/quiz\/fit-for-a-king-or-queen-the-british-royalty-quiz)\n\n[![Royal golden crown with jewels on British flag. Symbols of United Kingdom. (British royalty, British monarchy)](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/09\/242809-131-AAC5D871\/British-crown-flag.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/quiz\/a-royal-vocabulary-quiz)\n\n[A Royal Vocabulary Quiz](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/quiz\/a-royal-vocabulary-quiz)\n\nRelated Questions\n\n- [What is a major feature of the seafloor of the Atlantic Ocean?](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/question\/What-is-a-major-feature-of-the-seafloor-of-the-Atlantic-Ocean)\n- [What is the salinity of the Atlantic Ocean?](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/question\/What-is-the-salinity-of-the-Atlantic-Ocean)\n- [When was London founded?](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/question\/When-was-London-founded)\n- [Was London bombed during World War II?](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/question\/Was-London-bombed-during-World-War-II)\n- [What is London known for?](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/question\/What-is-London-known-for)\n\n![Britannica AI Icon](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/mendel-resources\/3-179\/images\/chatbot\/star-ai.svg?v=3.179.9)\n\nContents\n\nAsk Anything\n\n[Geography & Travel](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/browse\/Geography-Travel)    [Countries of the World](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/browse\/Countries-of-the-World)\n\nCITE\n\nShare\n\nFeedback\n\nExternal Websites\n\n## The “[Brexit](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Brexit)” referendum\nin  [United Kingdom](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom) in\n\n# [History](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/Sports-and-recreation#ref214519)\n\nHomework Help\n\nAlso known as: Britain, Great Britain, U.K., United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[(Show More)](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/The-Brexit-referendum)\n\nWritten by\n\n[Patrick Joyce Department of History, University of Manchester *.*](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/contributor\/Patrick-Joyce\/5210)\n\nPatrick Joyce[All](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/additional-info#contributors)\n\nFact-checked by\n\n[Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/editor\/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica\/4419)\n\nBritannica Editors\n\nLast updated\n\nApr. 12, 2026\n\n•[History](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom\/additional-info#history)\n\n![Britannica AI Icon](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/mendel-resources\/3-179\/images\/chatbot\/star-ai.svg?v=3.179.9) Britannica AI\n\nAsk Anything\n\nTable of Contents\n\nTable of Contents\n\nAsk Anything\n\nOn December 2, 2015, in the wake of the [attacks by Islamist terrorists in Paris on November 13](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/Paris-attacks-of-2015), the [House of Commons](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/House-of-Commons-British-government) authorized air strikes by the British [military](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/armed-force) on ISIL targets in Syria. The vote on the measure came after some 10 hours of debate. Labour leader [Jeremy Corbyn](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Jeremy-Corbyn) freed members of his party to vote their [conscience](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/conscience), and dozens of them broke ranks to join the [Conservatives](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/Conservatives) and others in voting for authorization, which passed 397–223.\n\n## News •\n[UK puts Chagos Islands handover deal on hold after Trump withdraws support](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/news\/615557\/c37afa22677ec8e504c5a1dab6313d1c)\n\n• Apr. 11, 2026, 6:37 AM ET (AP)\n\n...(Show more)\n\n[Suspect arrested in England after 4 die in failed channel crossing from France to UK](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/news\/615557\/ca9865ee5611596d21f0f9718835e763)  • Apr. 10, 2026, 12:42 PM ET (AP)\n\n[Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi thrilled by Deep Purple's visit to her office](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/news\/615557\/5d8a86f43206643373cc672c1d1bf63c)  • Apr. 10, 2026, 7:53 AM ET (AP)\n\n[UK and Norway led a military operation to deter Russian submarines in the North Atlantic](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/news\/615557\/7aa163bc29266504dd1d4c9949aeafde)  • Apr. 9, 2026, 12:22 PM ET (AP)\n\n[4 dead, 38 rescued during attempted channel crossing from France to UK](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/news\/615557\/5cab4db6f195675268e4d50d5104ae8a)  • Apr. 9, 2026, 11:45 AM ET (AP)\n\nShow less\n\nAt a summit meeting of the leaders of the member countries of the [EU](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/European-Union) in Brussels in February 2016, the European Council announced agreement on reforms to British membership that had been requested by Cameron in an attempt to forestall British withdrawal (“[Brexit](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Brexit)”) from the EU. Although Cameron did not get everything that he had asked for in the proposal that he submitted to [Donald Tusk](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Donald-Tusk), the president of the European Council, in November 2015, he won enough [concessions](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/concessions) to move forward on his promise of a referendum on continued British membership. In the face of considerable support within his own party for Brexit, Cameron nevertheless announced that he would campaign for remaining in the EU and scheduled the referendum for June 23, 2016.\n\n[![United Kingdom Brexit referendum](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/21\/190621-050-7418E53A\/majority-vote-region-referendum-United-Kingdom-European-2016.jpg)](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/21\/190621-050-7418E53A\/majority-vote-region-referendum-United-Kingdom-European-2016.jpg)\n\n[United Kingdom Brexit referendum](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/21\/190621-050-7418E53A\/majority-vote-region-referendum-United-Kingdom-European-2016.jpg)The majority vote by region in the 2016 referendum on whether the United Kingdom should remain in the European Union.\n\n(more)\n\nCameron was joined in the “Remain” effort by Corbyn. The “Leave” campaign was headed by former [London](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/London) mayor [Boris Johnson](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Boris-Johnson), whom many saw as a rival for Cameron’s leadership of the [Conservative Party](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Conservative-Party-political-party-United-Kingdom), and [Michael Gove](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Michael-Gove), [lord chancellor](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/lord-chancellor) and secretary of state for [justice](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/justice) in Cameron’s cabinet. Opinion polling indicated that the two sides were fairly evenly divided as the referendum approached, but in the event 52 percent of voters opted to leave the EU, making the United Kingdom the first [country](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/nation-state) to ever do so. Cameron announced his intention to resign as [prime minister](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/prime-minister) by the time of the [Conservative](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/Conservative) Party conference in October 2016 to allow his successor to negotiate the U.K. withdrawal under the terms of Article 50 of the [Lisbon Treaty](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/Lisbon-Treaty), which, when triggered, would open a two-year window for the exit process.\n\n## The premiership of Theresa May (2016–19)\n## The resignation of Cameron, the rise of May, and a challenge to Corbyn’s leadership of Labour\nOnly days after the Brexit vote, the political drama surrounding Johnson’s pursuit of the Conservative leadership assumed what many observers identified as Shakespearean proportions as Gove removed his prominent support for Johnson’s candidacy, saying that Johnson was “not capable of…leading the party and the country in the way that I would have hoped.” In rapid fashion, a wounded Johnson removed himself from consideration. Gove then threw his hat into the small ring of leadership candidates that was then [winnowed](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/winnowed) by successive votes by parliamentary Conservatives in early July to Home Secretary [Theresa May](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Theresa-May) and Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom, whose names were put to a vote by all party members with results due in September. Almost before that process started, Leadsom unexpectedly withdrew her name from consideration, and on July 11 the Conservative Party’s 1922 Committee, which had been steering the leadership contest, declared May the new party leader “with immediate effect.” On July 13 Cameron formally resigned, and May became the second woman in British history to serve as prime minister.\n\nMeanwhile, Labour underwent its own leadership controversy as prominent party members, including Blair, took Corbyn to task for not mounting a more vigorous effort on behalf of the “Remain” campaign. No sooner had Blair made his [criticism](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/criticism) than he found himself in the crosshairs, with the release on July 5 of the so-called [Chilcot Report](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Chilcot-Report), the findings of a seven-year inquiry into Britain’s involvement in the [Iraq War](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/Iraq-War), which was scathing in its condemnation of Blair’s handling of the war from the initial decision to join the [United States](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-States) in invading Iraq to the Blair government’s failure to plan and prepare for the postwar aftermath in Iraq. Nonetheless, a challenge was mounted to Corbyn’s leadership of the party that eventually resulted in a head-to-head contest between Corbyn and Owen Smith, the former shadow secretary of work and pensions. In an online vote of party faithful in September, Corbyn held on to the leadership by capturing some 62 percent of the vote against about 38 percent for Smith.\n\n## Triggering Article 50\nIn the meantime, May, who had opposed Brexit but came into office promising to see it to completion, led her government in cautious movement toward triggering Article 50. Her efforts experienced a setback in January 2017, however, when the Supreme Court upheld a November 2016 High Court ruling that prevented the prime minister from triggering Article 50 without first having gained approval from [Parliament](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Parliament) to do so. In February 2017 the House of Commons granted May that approval by a 498–114 vote, but the [House of Lords](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/House-of-Lords) created another roadblock in early March by adding a pair of [amendments](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/amendments) to the bill authorizing May to [invoke](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/invoke) Article 50. One guaranteed that EU passport holders residing in Britain would be permitted to remain, and the other sought a greater role for Parliament in the negotiations. Both amendments were overturned by the House of Commons later in March, and, before the end of the month, May formally submitted a letter to European Council Pres. [Donald Tusk](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Donald-Tusk) requesting the opening of the two-year window for talks on the details of British separation from the EU.\n\nAgainst this backdrop, the Scottish Assembly backed First Minister [Nicola Sturgeon](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Nicola-Sturgeon)’s call for a new [referendum](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/referendum) on independence for [Scotland](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Scotland) to be held before spring 2019 (the majority of Scottish voters had opposed leaving the EU in the Brexit referendum).\n\n## The Manchester arena bombing and London bridge attacks\nIn mid-April 2017 May called for a snap parliamentary election, saying that its results would provide stability and certainty for Britain during its Brexit negotiations and transition out of the EU. To hold an election ahead of the 2020 date [mandated](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/mandated) by the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, May needed to win two-thirds majority approval in the House of Commons. Corbyn welcomed a return to the polls, despite opinion polling that predicted big gains for the Conservatives, and, by a vote of 522 to 13 (with [SNP](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Scottish-National-Party) members abstaining), the House of Commons approved a snap election for June 8.\n\nThe election campaign was temporarily suspended after 22 people were killed and dozens injured in a terrorist attack on the night of May 22 at a 21,000-capacity arena in [Manchester](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Manchester-England) following a concert by U.S. singer [Ariana Grande](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Ariana-Grande). The attacker who detonated the homemade bomb that [wrought](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/wrought) the destruction also was killed in the blast. [ISIL](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Islamic-State-in-Iraq-and-the-Levant) claimed responsibility for the attack, in which many of those who perished or were injured were children—teenaged and younger fans of the American pop star. It was the deadliest terrorist attack in Britain since the [London bombings of 2005](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/London-bombings-of-2005), in which more than 50 people were killed, and it followed an attack on Westminster Bridge in London on March 22 in which an attacker mowed down pedestrians with a car and then continued his assault on foot with a knife, taking five lives and injuring some 50 people before he was killed outside the [Houses of Parliament](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Houses-of-Parliament-buildings-London-United-Kingdom) by a security officer.\n\nOn June 3, five days before voters were to go to the polls, [yet](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/yet) another terrorist attack unfolded in London. This time it occurred on [London Bridge](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Old-London-Bridge), where three attackers ran down victims with a vehicle before leaving it to menace others in nearby Borough Market with knives. Eight people were killed before police arrived, only eight minutes after the start of the incident, and shot and killed the attackers.\n\n## The snap election campaign\nIn addition to using the campaign to sell her version of “hard Brexit,” May sought to frame the election as a choice between her “strong and stable” leadership and that of Corbyn, who was characterized as an unreliable out-of-touch leftist extremist. However, Corbyn, once thought by many observers to be unelectable, proved to be an inspiring campaigner whose message of hope, [compassion](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/compassion), and inclusiveness energized a new generation of Labour voters. May, on the other hand, often appeared uncomfortable, stiff, and uncertain on the campaign trail. One element of her manifesto—a proposal to pay for in-home social care of the elderly with government sales of their homes after their deaths, a plan loudly condemned by many as a “dementia tax”—brought widespread outrage that prompted her to quickly alter the proposal. Rather than appearing “strong and stable,” May, in the eyes of some observers, looked to be “weak and wobbly.”\n\n## The 2017 U.K. general election\nWhen voters had their say on June 8, 2017, they handed the Conservatives a major setback. Rather than securing a [mandate](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/mandate), May watched her party’s legislative majority disappear as it lost at least 12 seats in the House of Commons to fall to 318 seats while Labour gained at least 29 seats to surpass 260 seats in total. Both parties garnered more than 40 percent of the popular vote each in an election that witnessed a return to dominance by the two major parties. Led by [Tim Farron](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Tim-Farron), the Liberal Democrats, who had fared badly in the 2015 election, sought to reverse their fortunes by advocating another referendum on Brexit, and, while this proposal did not [resonate](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/resonate) for many voters, the party still gained four seats to reach a total of 12. Support for [UKIP](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/United-Kingdom-Independence-Party) largely evaporated. Having nearly realized the goal of Brexit, many of those who had supported UKIP in previous elections were expected to vote for the Conservatives, but, in the event, it appeared that they instead were swayed by Corbyn’s vision. The Conservatives did, however, make big gains in Scotland, where the Scottish National Party fell from 56 seats to 35, in what was widely interpreted as a rebuke to Sturgeon and the SNP’s call for another referendum on Scottish independence.\n\nArguably the election’s biggest winner was Northern Ireland’s [Democratic Unionist Party](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Democratic-Unionist-Party) (DUP). Having increased its representation in the House of Commons from 8 to 10 seats, it found itself in the role of kingmaker when May enlisted its support to cling to power by forming a [minority](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/minority) government (rather than seeking a formal coalition arrangement). With the support of the DUP on key votes, the Conservatives would be able to just barely surpass the 326-vote bar for a legislative majority.\n\nThe central task for May’s government remained arriving at a [cohesive](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/cohesive) approach for its Brexit negotiations with the EU. That task was a [daunting](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/daunting) one, however, because wide disagreement persisted even within the Conservative Party, not just on a [myriad](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/myriad) of details related to the British proposal for separation but also on the broader issues involved.\n\n## The Grenfell Tower fire, a novichok attack in Salisbury, and air strikes on Syria\nIn June 2017 Brexit was pushed off the front pages by one of the worst disasters in recent British history: a fire in a multistory [public housing](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/public-housing) residence (Grenfell Tower) in London claimed the lives of 72 individuals, many of whom were recent immigrants. The incident prompted a period of national soul-searching after it was revealed that months before the fire the building’s low-income residents had raised concerns about fire safety and complained that they were being treated like second-class citizens.\n\nIn March 2018 British national outrage was focused on [Russia](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Russia) when a former Russian intelligence officer, who had acted as double agent for Britain, and his daughter were found unconscious in [Salisbury](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Salisbury-former-district-England), [England](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/England). It was determined that the pair had been victims of a “novichok,” a complex [nerve agent](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/nerve-gas) that had been developed by the Soviets. Although the Russian government denied having any involvement with the attack and British investigators were unable to prove that the nerve agent originated in Russia, the May government responded by expelling some two dozen Russian intelligence operatives who had been working in Britain under diplomatic cover.\n\nIn April Britain joined [France](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/France) and the United States in launching air strikes against targets in Syria after it was revealed that the regime of Syrian Pres. [Bashar al-Assad](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Bashar-al-Assad) had again used chemical weapons on its own people. Corbyn was critical of May for having ordered the strike without first consulting Parliament, but she countered that the action had to be undertaken without seeking parliamentary approval in order to protect the operation’s [integrity](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/integrity). May also said that the strike was intended to prevent further suffering, and she characterized the decision as both right and legal.\n\n## The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Chequers plan, and Boris Johnson’s resignation\nIn May 2018 Britain and much of the world stopped for a day to witness the [royal wedding](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/British-Royal-Wedding-of-2018) of [Prince Harry](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Prince-Harry-of-Wales) to [Meghan Markle](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Meghan-Markle)—a divorced American actress, daughter of an African American mother and a white father—whose informal approachability and personal warmth recalled the much beloved “People’s Princess” [Diana](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Diana-princess-of-Wales). The newlywed couple’s union reflected the changing social landscape of an increasingly multicultural Britain. Moreover, they seemed determined to modernize the monarchy and to connect it with the lives of everyday Britons.\n\nIn early July May summoned her cabinet to the prime minister’s country retreat, [Chequers](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Chequers), determined to forge a [consensus](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/consensus) on the nuts and bolts of the government’s Brexit plan. Despite forceful opposition by the cabinet’s “hard” Brexiters, by the end of the marathon meeting a consensus seemed to have emerged around May’s “softer” approach, grounded in policies aimed at preserving economic ties with the EU. Just two days later, however, the government’s apparent harmony was disrupted by the resignation of Britain’s chief Brexit negotiator, [David Davis](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/David-Davis), who complained that May’s plan gave up too much, too easily. The next day Johnson left his post as foreign secretary, writing in his letter of resignation that the dream of Brexit was dying, “suffocated by needless self-doubt.” Suddenly confronted with the possibility of a [vote of confidence](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/vote-of-confidence) on her party leadership, May reportedly cautioned Conservatives to line up behind her Brexit plan or run the risk of losing power to a Corbyn-led Labour government.\n\n## EU agreement and Parliamentary opposition to May’s Brexit plan\nOn November 25 the leaders of the EU’s 27 other member countries formally agreed to the terms of a withdrawal deal that May claimed “delivered for the British people” and set the United Kingdom “on course for a prosperous future.” Under the plan Britain was to pay some \\$50 billion to the EU to satisfy its long-term financial obligations. Britain’s departure from the EU was to come in March 2019, but, according to the agreement, the U.K. would continue to [abide](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/abide) by EU rules and regulations until at least December 2020 while negotiations continued on the details of the long-term relationship between the EU and the U.K.\n\nThe agreement, which was set to be debated and voted upon by the House of Commons in December, still faced strong opposition in Parliament, not only from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, [Plaid Cymru](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Plaid-Cymru), and the DUP but also from dozens of Conservatives. At the same time, the call for holding another referendum on Brexit was growing louder, though May remained [adamant](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/adamant) that the will of the British people had already been expressed. A major sticking point for many of those who opposed the agreement was the so-called [Northern Ireland backstop plan](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Northern-Ireland-backstop-plan). Formulated to help maintain an open border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland after Brexit, the “backstop” [stipulated](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/stipulated) that a legally binding customs arrangement between the EU and Northern Ireland would go into effect if the U.K. and the EU could not reach a long-term agreement by December 2020. Opponents of the backstop argued that it set up the potential for regulatory barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K., effectively establishing a customs border down the [Irish Sea](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Irish-Sea).\n\n## Objections to the Irish backstop and a challenge to May’s leadership\nThe issue grew more heated in the first week of December after the government was forced to publish in full Attorney General [Geoffrey Cox](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Geoffrey-Cox)’s legal advice for the government on the Brexit agreement, which had initially been reported to Parliament in overview only. According to Cox, without agreement between Britain and the EU, the terms of the backstop plan could endure “indefinitely,” with the U.K. legally blocked from terminating the agreement without EU approval. This [contentious](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/contentious) issue was front and centre as the House of Commons began five days of debate leading up to a vote on the Brexit agreement that was scheduled for December 11. Facing the likelihood of a humiliating rejection of the agreement by the House of Commons, May dramatically interrupted the debate after three days, on December 10, and postponed the vote, pledging to seek new [assurances](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/assurances) from the EU regarding the backstop. The opposition responded by threatening to hold a vote of confidence and to call for an early election.\n\nA challenge to May’s leadership was quickly mounted within the Conservative Party, and, after more than the required 15 percent of the parliamentary party (48 of 317 MPs) requested a vote on her leadership of the party, a [secret ballot](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Australian-ballot) vote was held on December 12, 2018. May received the votes of 200 MPs, more than the 159 votes she needed to survive as leader. Although, according to Conservative Party rules, she could not be challenged as leader for another year, it remained to be seen whether May would still face pressure to relinquish power.\n\n## Parliamentary rejection of May’s plan, May’s survival of a confidence vote, and the Independent Group of breakaway MPs\nResponding to May in a joint letter, European Council Pres. [Donald Tusk](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Donald-Tusk) and [European Commission](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/European-Commission) Pres. [Jean-Claude Juncker](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Jean-Claude-Juncker) indicated that, if the backstop had to be [invoked](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/invoked), they would strive to limit its application to the “shortest possible period.” However, this pledge satisfied few of the agreement’s critics. When debate on the agreement resumed on January 9, Corbyn argued not only for rejection of the agreement but also for an early general election. On January 15 the agreement was overwhelmingly rejected by a vote of 432–202 (the worst defeat for a government [initiative](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/initiative) in modern British parliamentary history), and Corbyn tabled a vote of confidence in the government, which May survived the next day, 325–306, having held onto the support of the DUP and many Conservatives who had deserted her in the agreement vote.\n\nThe longer the issue of Brexit remained unsettled, the more it became the fulcrum on which British politics turned. Political pundits began to note that opinions on May’s proposed version of Brexit and Brexit in general cut across ideological lines. Both Labour and the Conservative Party were riven by internecine conflict over Brexit. In February eight MPs withdrew from the [Labour Party](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Labour-Party-political-party), citing their disappointment in Corbyn’s leadership on the issue as well as concerns over [alleged](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/alleged) anti-Semitism within the party, a criticism that was at least partly tied to Corbyn’s sympathy for Palestinian concerns. Only days after their departure, three moderate Tories left the Conservative Party, protesting that it had been hijacked by the [European Research Group](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/European-Research-Group), a faction of right-wing hard-line Brexiters whom the departing MPs accused of acting as a party within the party. Joining together as the Independent Group, these breakaway MPs from both parties began taking steps toward formally [constituting](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/constituting) a new [political party](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/political-party). Meanwhile, in early March, Tom Watson, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, [convened](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/convened) a meeting of Labour MPs and members of the House of Lords—many of whom felt that Corbyn had taken the party too far leftward—to consider an [alternative](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/alternative) vision for the party.\n\n## Parliament rejects May’s plan again\nAgainst this backdrop, May continued negotiations with European leaders in an effort to win concessions that would garner wider support within Parliament than the terms of her earlier, shunned Brexit plan did. On the eve of a scheduled meaningful vote in the House of Commons on her revised plan, May secured new promises of cooperation on the backstop plan from EU leaders. A “joint legally binding instrument” was agreed to under which Britain could initiate a “formal dispute” with the EU if the EU were to attempt to keep Britain bound to the backstop plan indefinitely. A “joint statement” was also issued that committed the U.K. and the EU to arriving at a replacement for the backstop plan by December 2020. Finally, the U.K. put forth a “unilateral declaration” stressing that there was nothing to prevent Britain from abandoning the backstop if negotiations on an alternative arrangement with the EU were to collapse without the prospect of resolution.\n\nIn advance of the vote in Parliament, Attorney General Cox issued his opinion that while the new [assurances](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/assurances) reduced the risk of the U.K.’s being indefinitely confined by the backstop agreement, they did not fundamentally change the agreement’s legal status. In the vote on March 12, the House of Commons once again rejected May’s plan, though by a smaller margin than its earlier defeat, 391–242. The next day the House of Commons voted 312–308 against leaving the EU without a deal in place. On March 14, by just two votes, May survived a vote that would have taken control of Brexit away from her and handed it to Parliament. In a letter to EU leaders on March 20, she requested that the date of Britain’s departure from the EU be delayed until June 30. In response the EU announced its willingness to extend the Brexit deadline until May 22 but only if Parliament had accepted May’s withdrawal plan by the week of March 24.\n\n## “Indicative votes,” May’s pledge to resign, a third defeat for her plan, and a new deadline\nHundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of London on March 23 to demand that another referendum on Brexit be held. On March 25 the House of Commons voted 329–302 to usurp control of Parliament’s agenda from the government in order to hold “[indicative votes](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/indicative-vote)” on alternative proposals to May’s plan. Eight of those proposals were put to a vote on March 27, but none was able to gain the support of the majority, though a plan to seek to create a “permanent and [comprehensive](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/comprehensive) U.K.-wide [customs union](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/customs-union) with the EU” came close, falling sort by just six votes.\n\nAlso on March 27, May pledged to resign as party leader and prime minister if the House of Commons were to approve her plan, a [gambit](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/gambit) that won support from some “hard Brexit” opponents of the plan. On March 29, owing to an antique procedural rule invoked by Speaker of the House [John Bercow](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/John-Bercow), only the withdrawal agreement portion of May’s plan was voted upon by the House of Commons (excluded was the “political declaration” that addressed what the U.K. and EU expected of their long-term relationship). Although the vote was closer than the previous two (286 in support, 344 in opposition), the plan once again went down in defeat. The U.K. now had until April 12 to decide whether it would leave the EU without an agreement on that day or request a longer [delay](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/delay) that would require it to participate in elections for the [European Parliament](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/European-Parliament). May asked the EU to push back the deadline for Brexit until June 30, and on April 11 the European Council announced that it was granting the U.K. a “flexible extension” until October 31.\n\nShortly thereafter, in response to the Conservative Party’s seeming inability to position the country to leave the EU, [Nigel Farage](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Nigel-Farage) launched the [Brexit Party](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Reform-UK). It proved to be a big winner in the elections for the European Parliament in May, capturing about 31 percent of the vote. The next closest finisher was the Liberal Democrats, with about 20 percent of the vote, while Labour claimed some 14 percent and the Conservatives only about 9 percent.\n\nHaving failed to [garner](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/garner) sufficient support from Conservatives for her exit plan, May entered discussions with Labour leaders on a possible compromise, but these too proved fruitless. When May responded to that disappointment by proposing a new version of the plan that included a temporary customs relationship with the EU and a pledge to hold a parliamentary vote on whether to stage another referendum on Brexit, her cabinet revolted. Isolated as never before, the prime minister announced on May 24 that she would step down as leader of the Conservative Party on June 7 but would remain as caretaker premier until her party had chosen her successor.\n\n## The Boris Johnson government\n## Boris Johnson’s ascent, the December 2019 snap election, and Brexit\nAfter a series of votes by the parliamentary Conservative Party winnowed a list of 10 candidates to 2, [Boris Johnson](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Boris-Johnson) and [Jeremy Hunt](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Jeremy-Hunt) stood in an election in which all of the party’s roughly 160,000 members were eligible to vote. Johnson took some 66 percent of that vote to assume the leadership. He officially replaced May as prime minister on July 24, 2019. Although he had promised to take the United Kingdom out of the EU without an exit agreement if the deal May had negotiated was not changed to his liking, Johnson faced widespread opposition (even within his own party) to his [advocacy](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/advocacy) of no-deal Brexit. Political maneuvering by the new prime minister (including proroguing Parliament just weeks before October 31, the revised departure deadline) was met with forceful legislative countermeasures by those opposed to leaving the EU without an agreement in place. A vote of the House of Commons in early September forced Johnson to request a delay of the British withdrawal from the EU until January 31, 2020, even though on October 22 the House approved, in principle, the agreement that Johnson had negotiated, replacing the backstop with a plan to keep Northern Ireland aligned with the EU for at least four years from the end of the [transition](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/transition) period.\n\nJohnson repeatedly tried and failed to call a snap election that he hoped would secure a mandate for his vision of Brexit. Because the election would fall outside the five-year term stipulated by the Fixed Terms of Parliament Act, it required approval by two-thirds of the House of Commons to be held, meaning that it needed support from the opposition, which was denied. After no-deal Brexit was blocked, however, Corbyn was willing to let voters once again decide the fate of Brexit, and an election was scheduled for December 12, 2019. Preelection opinion polling indicated a likely win for the Conservatives, but when the results were in, Johnson’s party had recorded its most [decisive](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/decisive) victory since 1987, adding 48 seats to secure a solid Parliamentary majority of 365 seats. The stage was set for the realization of Johnson’s version of Brexit, which was to take place at 11:00 pm London time on January 31, when the United Kingdom formally would withdraw from the European Union.\n\nIn April 2020 [Sir Keir Starmer](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Keir-Starmer), the shadow Brexit secretary and a former director of public prosecutions, replaced Corbyn as Labour leader. At the end of October Corbyn was suspended from the party in response to his somewhat [dismissive](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/dismissive) reaction to the release of the greatly anticipated report on anti-Semitism within the Labour Party by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. His suspension immediately disrupted the Labour Party, prompting denunciations of that action by Corbyn’s leftist supporters.\n\nAlthough Britain’s formal withdrawal from the EU had been accomplished, final details relating to a new trade deal between the U.K. and the EU remained to be resolved, and the December 31, 2020, deadline for that resolution was only barely met on December 24. The resultant 2,000-page agreement clarified that there would be no limits or taxes on goods sold between U.K. and EU parties; however, an extensive [regimen](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/regimen) of paperwork for such transactions and transport of goods was put in place. The freedom to work and live between the U.K. and the EU became a thing of the past.\n\n## The coronavirus pandemic\nAs it was in most of the rest of the world, life in the U.K. was turned upside down in 2020 by the onset of the [coronavirus](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/coronavirus-virus-group) SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic, which had originated in [China](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/China), where the first cases were reported in December 2019. Because the Johnson government’s key scientific advisers had embraced the controversial theory that the best way to limit the long-term effects of the pandemic was to allow the virus to spread naturally and thus generate “herd immunity,” Britain initially did not adopt the kind of aggressive measures to combat the pandemic that had been undertaken in much of the rest of the world. By mid-March 2020, however, the government had radically shifted gears as [COVID-19](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/COVID-19), the potentially deadly disease caused by the virus, began spreading rapidly in Britain. Social-distancing and mask-wearing requirements were imposed, as was a lockdown that included the closing of schools, pubs, restaurants, and other businesses.\n\nIn late March Prime Minister Johnson contracted the virus and had to be hospitalized, spending three nights in an [intensive care unit](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/intensive-care-unit) when his life was in jeopardy. While he was incapacitated, Foreign Secretary [Dominic Raab](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Dominic-Raab) performed Johnson’s duties. Over the coming year, Johnson would initiate and [rescind](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/rescind) stay-at-home orders that varied by region as the spread of the disease came in waves. Although the government’s initial response to the pandemic had been slow and unsteady, British scientists, aided by government funding, made historically rapid advances in developing an effective vaccine. Having become the first country to approve and [deploy](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/deploy) the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Britain began rolling out a national immunization program in December 2020. Nevertheless, by March 2021 the U.K. had suffered about 126,000 COVID-related deaths, more than all but four other countries—the United States, [Brazil](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Brazil), [Mexico](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Mexico), and [India](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/India). The British predicament had been complicated by the emergence in the U.K. of a new, more easily transmissible variant of the disease (B.1.1.7) in September 2020.\n\n## “Partygate”\nIn late November 2021 it began to be reported that members of Johnson’s cabinet and staff, as well as the prime minister himself, had [attended](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/attended) parties earlier in the pandemic that violated prohibitions on social gatherings established by the government. The resulting “Partygate” scandal involved both the alleged violations and Johnson’s initial insistence that the government’s pandemic-related guidelines had been “followed at all times.” After reports came to light of an increasing number of illegal social gatherings at Downing Street during the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, Johnson apologized for having attended one such party at which drinks were served. In addition to the alleged violations of pandemic-related rules, a picture of excessive workplace drinking in the prime minister’s orbit began to take shape. Moreover, it appeared that Johnson had misled Parliament with his claim that no pandemic-related rules had been broken. Historically, deceiving Parliament was an offense that called for resignation.\n\nA report on the affair by senior civil servant Sue Gray was delivered to Parliament in late January 2022. Although it was truncated and heavily [redacted](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/redacted) to avoid compromising the investigation that had been undertaken by the [London Metropolitan Police](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Scotland-Yard) into a number of gatherings, the report said that “there were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No. 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times” and that “some of the events should not have been allowed to take place” whereas “other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did.” Despite a renewed apology to Parliament by Johnson, some Conservatives joined members of the opposition in calling for his resignation. Johnson’s grip on power would remain precarious—especially after the police investigation led to him being fined in April for his transgressions of pandemic-related rules. However, Russia’s invasion of [Ukraine](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Ukraine) on February 24 served to forestall efforts to remove Johnson from office. Many in Britain appeared to believe that the moment of [existential crisis](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/existential-crisis) for [Europe](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Europe) brought on by Russia’s aggression was not the time for a change of leadership.\n\n## Further scandal and Johnson’s resignation\nNevertheless, by early June a sufficient number of Conservative MPs had written to the party’s 1922 Committee requesting the prime minister’s resignation that a [vote of confidence](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/vote%20of%20confidence) in his leadership of the party was forced. To retain his position, Johnson needed to have his leadership affirmed by at least 180 of the party’s 359 members of the House of Commons. When the secret ballots were counted, 211 MPs had voted in support of Johnson, but the 148 MPs who had voted against him represented a larger percentage of the party’s presence in the House of Commons than did the 133 MPs who had rejected Theresa May’s leadership in the 2018 vote of confidence that preceded her eventual resignation.\n\nOnly weeks later Johnson’s [uncanny](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/uncanny) ability to survive scandal finally deserted him when his apparent prevarication regarding his awareness of allegations of sexual misconduct against a senior Conservative Party official shattered his support within the party and forced him to step down. Johnson tendered his immediate resignation as party leader on July 7, 2022. He announced that he would remain as prime minister until the Conservatives had chosen a new leader.\n\n## The premiership of Liz Truss\n## Ascent to office\n[![Liz Truss](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/95\/234995-050-4DEFAE08\/British-Foreign-Secretary-Liz-Truss-attends-Conservative-Party-leadership-campaign-event-Marden-England-July-23-2022.jpg?w=300)](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/95\/234995-050-4DEFAE08\/British-Foreign-Secretary-Liz-Truss-attends-Conservative-Party-leadership-campaign-event-Marden-England-July-23-2022.jpg)\n\n[Liz Truss](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/95\/234995-050-4DEFAE08\/British-Foreign-Secretary-Liz-Truss-attends-Conservative-Party-leadership-campaign-event-Marden-England-July-23-2022.jpg)Liz Truss (centre) attending a Conservative Party leadership campaign event in Marden, England, July 23, 2022.\n\n(more)\n\nThe parliamentary party (sitting Conservative MPs) then undertook a series of votes that incrementally winnowed the field of candidates for the leadership from eight to two, Foreign Secretary [Liz Truss](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Liz-Truss) and former chancellor of the [Exchequer](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/Exchequer) [Rishi Sunak](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Rishi-Sunak), whose names were submitted for a vote by the party’s whole membership. When the results of that election were reported on September 5, Truss emerged as the winner. The next day she became the third woman ever to serve as Britain’s prime minister. In a break with tradition, Truss received her official appointment from [Elizabeth II](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Elizabeth-II) at [Balmoral Castle](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Balmoral-Castle) rather than at [Buckingham Palace](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Buckingham-Palace) out of concern for the [queen’s](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Queen-British-rock-group) increasingly frail health, which had limited Elizabeth’s participation in June in the Platinum Jubilee, a four-day celebration of her 70-year reign.\n\n## The death of Elizabeth II\nOn September 8 Britain and the world were shocked by the news of the queen’s death. Truss called Elizabeth “the rock on which modern Britain was built.” In an address to the nation the following day, the new king, [Charles III](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Charles-III-king-of-the-United-Kingdom), said:\n\n> Queen Elizabeth’s was a life well lived; a promise with destiny kept and she is mourned most deeply in her passing…. As the Queen herself did with such unswerving devotion, I too now solemnly pledge myself, throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the [Constitutional](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/Constitutional) principles at the heart of our nation. And wherever you may live in the United Kingdom, or in the Realms and territories across the world, and whatever may be your background or beliefs, I shall endeavour to serve you with loyalty, respect and love, as I have throughout my life.\n\nSome 10 days of national mourning followed that led to the queen lying in state in Westminster Hall. Mourners stood in a line that stretched for miles to view her coffin. A sombre funeral ceremony, attended by an estimated 100 heads of foreign governments, was held at [Westminster Abbey](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Westminster-Abbey) on September 19.\n\n## Abrupt resignation\nLiz Truss had come into office believing that she had a mandate to carry out a “low taxes, high growth” economic plan. However, the financial markets panicked at the prospect of the budget [deficit](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/deficit) likely to result from Truss’s proposed combination of unfunded £45 billion (\\$50 billion) tax cuts and a two-year cap on energy prices (in response to high energy costs facing Britons as a result of sanctions imposed on [natural gas](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/natural-gas) supplier Russia). The [Bank of England](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/Bank-of-England) was forced to intervene to stabilize the markets after the value of the pound nose-dived, mortgage rates rose, and the cost of U.K. [government borrowing](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/deficit-financing) climbed. Responding to the furor that followed, on October 14 Truss sacked Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng, among her closest political allies, and replaced him with former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt. Almost immediately Hunt began undoing Truss’s signature economic plan, reducing the period for the energy price cap to six months and revoking the tax cuts. Truss apologized for the “mistakes” she had made, but a growing number of Conservative MPs called for her to resign, and, amid [withering](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/withering) support for her, on October 20 Truss announced that she was stepping down as party leader but would remain prime minister until the Conservatives will have chosen her successor.\n\n## The premiership of [Rishi Sunak](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Rishi-Sunak)\nThe leadership selection process was more truncated this time around. Candidates were required to receive 100 nominations from Conservative MPs in order to come up for a vote. Given that there were 357 Conservative MPs, at most only three candidates could advance for consideration, and the party membership would choose between the two finalists. The House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt was the first to declare her candidacy, but Sunak, who still enjoyed broad support among MPs, was the favourite to replace Truss. Although there seemed to be significant support for a return to power by Johnson despite his fall from grace, the former prime minister [withdrew](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/withdrew) his name from consideration the day before the nominations were due. Struggling to gain adequate support for her candidacy, Mordaunt also stepped aside, and on October 24 the path was clear for Sunak, as the sole remaining candidate, to be confirmed as party leader without resorting to a vote of the broader party membership. The stage was set for him to become the first person of colour, the first person of South Asian descent, and the first Hindu to serve as prime minister of the United Kingdom.\n\nSunak became the fourth consecutive prime minister to oppose conducting a second referendum on Scottish independence. In June 2022, on Johnson’s watch, Scottish First Minister [Nicola Sturgeon](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Nicola-Sturgeon) had announced her intention to hold a second referendum (dubbed indyref2) in October 2023. In pursuit of that goal, she asked the U.K. Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of Scotland’s holding the vote without the approval of the U.K. government. When the court ruled in November 2022 that Scotland was not empowered to conduct the referendum without Westminster’s approval, Sturgeon pledged to make the U.K. parliamentary election scheduled for 2025 a [de facto](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/de-facto) referendum on Scottish independence.\n\nIn January 2023, [invoking](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/invoking) the powers of the Scotland Act of 1998, the British government blocked the promulgation of a law enacted in December 2022 by the Scottish Parliament that permitted [transgender](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/transgender) people in Scotland to change their legal gender by self-declaration without a medical [diagnosis](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/diagnosis). The veto of the Scottish legislation—based on the argument that the law created inequalities because elsewhere in the United Kingdom a medical diagnosis was required for an individual to transition for legal purposes—marked the first time in the roughly 25 years since [devolution](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/devolution-government-and-politics) that the British government had overruled an action by Scotland’s Parliament. Sturgeon promised to take the matter to court; however, in February 2023 she announced her intention to resign as leader of the SNP and first minister, saying that she felt that she could no longer summon the energy that was necessary to perform her job. Sturgeon remained as leader of the SNP and first minister until late March, when the party chose her [successor](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/successor), [Humza Yousaf](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Humza-Yousaf), the health secretary, who became the first Muslim and first person of colour to head the Scottish government.\n\n[The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/editor\/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica\/4419)\n\n![Britannica AI Icon](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/mendel-resources\/3-179\/images\/chatbot\/star-ai.svg?v=3.179.9)Britannica AI\n\n*chevron\\_right*\n\nUnited Kingdom - The “Brexit” referendum\n\n*close*\n\n[AI-generated answers](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/about-britannica-ai) from Britannica articles. AI makes mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.\n\n# Society, state, and economy\n## State and society\nDespite the so-called “dismantling of controls” after the end of World War I, government involvement in economic life was to continue, as were increased public expenditure, extensions of social welfare, and a higher degree of administrative rationalization. In the interwar years the level of [integration](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/integration) of labour, capital, and the state was more considerable than is often thought. Attempts to organize the [market](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/market) continued up to the beginning of [World War II](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/World-War-II), evident, for example, in government’s financial support for regional development in the late 1930s. Few Britons, however, felt they were living in a period of decreased government power. Nonetheless, attachment to the “impartial state” and to voluntarism was still considerable and exemplified by the popularity of the approved organizations set up to administer [health insurance](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/health-insurance) in the interwar years. The governance of society through what were now taken to be the social characteristics of that society itself, for example, family life as well as [demographic](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/demographic) and economic factors—developed by Liberal administrations before World War I—along with the advent of “planning,” continued to be the direction of change, but the connection back to Victorian notions of [moral](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/moral) [individualism](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/individualism) and the purely regulative, liberal state was still strong. Even the greatest exponent of the move toward economic intervention and social government, [John Maynard Keynes](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/John-Maynard-Keynes), whose *[General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/The-General-Theory-of-Employment-Interest-and-Money)* (1935–36) provided the major rationale for subsequent state intervention and whose work downgraded the importance of private rationality and private responsibility, nonetheless believed that governmental intervention in one area was necessary to buttress freedom and privacy elsewhere, so that the moral responsibility of the citizen would be forthcoming.\n\n[![Lord Beveridge](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/71\/6471-050-ED9F8DE6\/Beveridge-photograph-Yousuf-Karsh.jpg?w=300)](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/71\/6471-050-ED9F8DE6\/Beveridge-photograph-Yousuf-Karsh.jpg)\n\n[Lord Beveridge](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/71\/6471-050-ED9F8DE6\/Beveridge-photograph-Yousuf-Karsh.jpg)\n\n(more)\n\nThere was, however, only an [incremental](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/incremental) increase in the level of interest in state involvement in the economy and society in the immediate years before World War II, when the fear of war [galvanized](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/galvanized) politicians and administrators. It was the “total war” of 1939–45 that brought a degree of centralized control of the economy and society that was unparalleled before or indeed since. In some ways this was an expression of prewar developments, but the [impetus](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/impetus) of the war was enormous and felt in all political quarters. In 1941 it was a [Conservative](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/Conservative) chancellor of the [Exchequer](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/Exchequer), Sir Kingsley Wood, who introduced the first Keynesian budget. Cross-party support was also evident in the response to the 1942 [Beveridge Report](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Beveridge-Report), which became the blueprint of what was later to be called the [welfare state](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/welfare-state). After 1945 a decisive shift had taken place toward the recognition of state intervention and planning as the norm, not the exception, and toward the idea that society could now be molded by political will. Nonetheless, there was much popular dislike of “government controls,” and the familiar [rhetoric](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/rhetoric) of the impartial state remained strong, as reflected in Beveridge’s attack in 1948 on the Labour government’s failure to encourage voluntarism. This voluntarism, however, was decidedly different from 19th-century voluntarism in that Beveridge advocated a minister-guardian of voluntary action. So [pervasive](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/pervasive) was the postwar party [consensus](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/consensus) on the welfare state that the term coined to identify it, “[Butskellism](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Butskellism),” is at least as well remembered as the successive chancellors of the Exchequer—[R.A. Butler](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/R-A-Butler-Baron-Butler-of-Saffron-Walden) and [Hugh Gaitskell](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Hugh-Gaitskell)—from whose amalgamated surnames it was derived.\n\nFrom the 1960s onward this consensus began to unravel, with the perception of poor economic performance and calls for the modernization of British society and the British economy. The [mixed economy](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/mixed-economy) came under pressure, as did the institutions of the welfare state, especially the [National Health Service](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/National-Health-Service) (NHS). In the 1970s in particular, older beliefs in [constitutional](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/constitutional) methods came into question—for instance, in the first national Civil Service strike ever, in 1973, and in the strikes and political violence that marked that decade as a whole. The result was a revolution in the relationship between state and society, whereby the market came to replace society as the model of state governance. This did not, however, mean a return to 19th-century models, though the character of this [manifestation](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/manifestation) of the relationship between state and society was clearly liberal, in line with the long British tradition of governance.\n\nInstitutionally, this way of governing was pluralistic, but its [pluralism](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/pluralism) was decidedly statist. It was not, as in the 19th century, a private, self-governing voluntarist pluralism but one that was designedly competitive, enlisting quasi-governmental institutions as clients competing with one another in a marketplace. In economic and cultural conditions increasingly shaped by [globalization](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/globalization), the economy was exposed to the [benign](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/benign) operations of the market not by leaving it alone but by actively intervening in it to create the conditions for entrepreneurship.\n\nAnalogously, social life was marketized too, thrown open to the idea that the capacity for self-realization could be obtained only through individual activity, not through society. Institutions like the NHS were reformed as a series of internal markets. These markets were to be governed by what has been called “the new public management.” This involved a focus upon accountability, with explicit standards and measures of performance. The [ethical](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/ethical) change involved a transition from the idea of public service to one of private management of the self. Parallel to this “culture of accountability” was the emergence of an “audit society,” in which formal and professionally sanctioned monitoring systems replaced the trust that earlier versions of relationship between state and society had invested in professional specialists of all sorts (the professions themselves, such as university teaching, were opened up to this sort of audit, which was all the more onerous because, if directed from above, it was carried out by the professionals themselves, so preserving the fiction of professional freedom).\n\nThe social state gave way to a state that was regarded as “enabling,” permitting not only the citizen but also the firm, the locality, and so on to freely choose. This politics of choice was in fact shared by the Thatcher’s Conservative administration and Blair’s Labour one. In both the state was seen as a partner. In the so-called “[Third Way](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/third-way)” of Blair, one between socialism and the market, the partnership evolved much more in terms of [community](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/community) than in the Conservative case. In Blair’s Labour vision there was a more active concern with creating ethical citizens who would exchange obligations for rights in a new realization of marketized [communities](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/communities). This new relation of state and society involved the [decentralization](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/devolution-government-and-politics) of rule upon the citizen himself and herself, which was reflected in the host of self-help activities to be found in the Britain of the 1990s and 2000s, from the new concern with [alternative](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/alternative) health therapies to the self-management of schools. Reflecting this decentralization (in which the state itself made the citizen a consumer, for instance, of education and health) was the increasingly important role of the [consumption](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/consumption) of goods in constructing lifestyles through which individual choice could realize self-expression and self-fulfillment.\n\n## Economy and society\nEconomically, Britain had been hurt severely by [World War I](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/World-War-I). The huge balances of credit in foreign currencies that had provided the capital for the [City of London’s](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/City-of-London) financial operations for a century were spent. Britain had moved from the position of a creditor to that of a debtor [country](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/nation-state). Moreover, its industrial [infrastructure](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/infrastructure), already out of date at the start of the war, had been allowed to depreciate and decay further. The industries of the [Industrial Revolution](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/Industrial-Revolution), such as [coal mining](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/technology\/coal-mining), textile production, and [shipbuilding](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/technology\/ship-construction), upon which British prosperity had been built, were now either weakened or [redundant](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/redundant). The Japanese had usurped the textile export market. Coal was superseded by other forms of energy. Shipping lost during the war had to be almost fully replaced with more-modern and more-efficient vessels.\n\nFinally, the [Treaty of Versailles](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/Treaty-of-Versailles-1919), particularly its harsh demands on [Germany](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Germany) for financial reparations, ensured that foreign markets would remain depressed. Germany had been Britain’s largest foreign customer. The export of German coal to [France](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/France), as [stipulated](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/stipulated) by the treaty, upset world coal markets for nearly a decade. Depression and unemployment, not prosperity and a better Britain, characterized the interwar years.\n\n[![Ramsay MacDonald](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/38\/2238-004-7BB9ED04\/Ramsay-MacDonald.jpg?w=300)](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/38\/2238-004-7BB9ED04\/Ramsay-MacDonald.jpg)\n\n[Ramsay MacDonald](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/38\/2238-004-7BB9ED04\/Ramsay-MacDonald.jpg)\n\n(more)\n\nThe British economy, as well as that of the rest of the world, was devastated by the [Great Depression](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/Great-Depression). The post-[World War I](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/World-War-I) world of reconstruction became a prewar world of deep depression, radicalism, racism, and violence. Although [MacDonald](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Ramsay-MacDonald) was well-meaning and highly intelligent, he was badly equipped to handle the science of economics and the depression. By the end of 1930, unemployment was nearly double the figure of 1928 and would reach 25 percent of the workforce by the spring of 1931. It was accompanied, after the closing of banks in Germany in May, by a devastating run on gold in British banks that threatened the stability of the pound.\n\nMacDonald’s government fell in August over the protection of the pound; Britain needed to borrow gold, but foreign bankers would lend gold only on the condition that domestic expenditures would be cut, and this meant, among other things, reducing [unemployment insurance](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/unemployment-insurance) payments. However, a [Labour Party](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Labour-Party-political-party) whose central commitment was to the welfare of the working people could not [mandate](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/mandate) such a course of action even in an economic crisis. Thus, the Labour cabinet resigned. MacDonald with a few colleagues formed a coalition with the Conservative and Liberal opposition on August 24, 1931. This new “national” government, which allowed Britain to go off the [gold standard](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/gold-standard) on September 21, was confirmed in office by a general election on October 27, in which 473 [Conservatives](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/Conservatives) were returned while the Labour Party in the [House of Commons](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/House-of-Commons-British-government) was nearly destroyed, capturing only 52 seats. MacDonald, who was returned to the House of Commons along with 13 so-called National Labour colleagues, remained [prime minister](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/prime-minister) nonetheless. The new government was in fact a conservative government, and MacDonald, by consenting to remain prime minister, became and remains in Labour histories a traitor.\n\nUnder [Neville Chamberlain](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Neville-Chamberlain), who became chancellor of the Exchequer in November 1931, the [coalition government](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/coalition-government) pursued a policy of strict economy. Housing subsidies were cut; Britain ended its three-quarter-century devotion to [free trade](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/free-trade) and began import protection; and interest rates were lowered. Manufacturing [revived](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/revived), stimulated particularly by a marked revival in the construction of private housing made possible by reduced interest rates and by a modest growth in exports as a result of the cheaper pound. Similarly, unemployment declined, although it never reached the 10 percent level of the late 1920s until after the outbreak of war.\n\nIn terms of the occupational structure of Britain, the aftermath of World War I saw the decline of the great 19th-century staple industries become increasingly sharp, and the interwar experience of textiles was particularly difficult. The great expansion of mining after 1881 became a contraction, particularly from the 1930s, and domestic service, which itself may be termed a staple industry, suffered similarly. In 1911 these sectors accounted for some 20 percent of the British [labour force](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/labor-in-economics), but by 1961 they accounted for barely 5 percent. Manufacturing continued to be of great importance into the third quarter of the century, when the next great restructuring occurred. After World War I an increasing emphasis on monopoly, scale, and sophisticated labour-management became apparent in British industry, though there was still much of the old “archaicism” of the 19th century to be seen, both in respect to management practices and the entrenched power of certain skilled occupations. Although different from its 19th-century [antecedents](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/antecedents), a distinct sense of [working-class](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/working-class) identity, based on manual work—especially in the manufacturing industry and mining—remained strong until about 1960. This was buttressed by a considerable degree of [continuity](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/continuity) in terms of residential community. After 1960 or so, the wholesale development of slum clearance and relocation to new residential settings was to go far to dissolve this older sense of identity.\n\nFrom the interwar years automobile manufacture, the manufacture of consumer durables, and light industry, especially along the corridor between [London](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/London) and [Birmingham](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Birmingham-England), as well as in the new industrial suburbs of London, announced the economic eclipse of the north by the south, the “south” here including South Wales and industrial [Scotland](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Scotland). In the Midlands electrical manufacturing and automobile industries developed. In the south, in addition to construction industries, new service industries such as hotels and the shops of London [flourished](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/flourished). These in particular offered employment opportunities for women at a time when the demand for domestic servants was in decline. London grew enormously, and the [unemployment rate](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/unemployment-rate) there was half that of the north of [England](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/England) and of Wales, Scotland, and [Northern Ireland](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Northern-Ireland). The effect of these developments was to divide Britain politically and economically into two areas, a division that, with the exception of an interval during World War II and its immediate aftermath, still exists. New, science-based industries (e.g., the electrical and chemical industries) also developed from the interwar period, which together with the multiplication of service industries and the growth of the public sector—despite repeated government attempts to halt this growth—had by 1960 given rise to an occupational structure very different from that of the 19th century.\n\nOn the surface the 1950s and early ’60s were years of economic expansion and [prosperity](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/prosperity). The economic well-being of the average Briton rose dramatically and visibly. But when prosperity created a demand for imports, large-scale buying abroad hurt the value of the pound. A declining pound meant higher interest rates as well as credit and import controls, which in turn caused [inflation](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/inflation-economics). Inflation hurt exports and caused strikes. These crises occurred in approximately three-year cycles.\n\nThe economic concern then of the British government in the 1950s and ’60s and indeed through the 1970s was to increase productivity and ensure labour peace so that Britain could again become an exporting country able to pay for public [expenditure](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/expenditure) at home while maintaining the value of its currency and its place as a world banker. A drastic run on the pound had been one of the pressing reasons for the quick withdrawal from Suez in 1956, and throughout the 1950s and ’60s Britain’s share of world trade fell with almost perfect consistency by about 1 percent per year. On the other hand, Britain benefited from an unprecedented rise in tourism occasioned mostly by the attraction of “Swinging London.”\n\nAll of this made Britain’s decision, after fierce political discussion, not to join the planned [EEC](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/European-Community-European-economic-association), established by the [Treaty of Rome](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/Treaty-of-Rome) on March 25, 1957, an event of signal importance. It meant that although economic conditions in Britain did indeed improve in the last years of the 1950s and through 1960—Prime Minister [Harold Macmillan](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Harold-Macmillan) could remark with only slight [irony](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/irony) that the British people had never “had it so good”—Britain nevertheless did not share in the astonishing growth in European production and trade led by the “economic miracle” in [West Germany](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/West-Germany). By the mid-1960s there were signs that British prosperity was declining. Increases in productivity were disappearing, and labour unrest was marked. Prime Minister Macmillan quickly realized that it had been a mistake not to join the EEC, and in July 1961 he initiated negotiations to do so. By this time, however, the French government was headed by [Charles de Gaulle](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Charles-de-Gaulle-president-of-France), and he chose to veto Britain’s entry. Britain did not join the EEC until 1973.\n\nIn the aftermath of increasing difficulties for industry and increasing labour conflict, the Thatcher governments after 1979 set about a far-reaching restructuring of the economy, one based less on economic than on political and moral factors. Thatcher set out to end socialism in Britain. Her most dramatic acts consisted of a continuing series of statutes to denationalize nearly every industry that Labour had brought under government control in the previous 40 years as well as some industries, such as telecommunications, that had been in state hands for a century or more. But perhaps her most important achievement, helped by high unemployment in the old heavy industries, was in winning the contest for power with the trade unions. Instead of attempting to put all legislation in one massive bill, as Heath had done, Thatcher proceeded step by step, making secondary strikes and [boycotts](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/boycotts) illegal, providing for fines, as well as allocation of union funds, for the violation of law, and taking measures for ending the [closed shop](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/closed-shop). Finally, in 1984–85, she won a struggle with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), who staged a nationwide strike to prevent the closure of 20 coal mines that the government claimed were unproductive. The walkout, which lasted nearly a year and was accompanied by continuing violence, soon became emblematic of the struggle for power between the Conservative government and the trade unions. After the defeat of the miners, that struggle was essentially over; Thatcher’s victory was aided by divisions within the ranks of the miners themselves, [exacerbated](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/exacerbated) by the [divisive](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/divisive) leadership of the militant NUM leader Arthur Scargill, and by the Conservative government’s use of the police as a national constabulary, one not afraid to employ violence. The miners returned to work without a single [concession](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/concession). In all these efforts, Thatcher was helped by a revival of world prosperity and lessening inflation, by the profits from industries sold to investors, and by the enormous sums realized from the sale abroad of [North Sea](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/North-Sea) [oil](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/petroleum). From 1974 the unexpected windfall of the discovery of large oil reserves under the North Sea, together with the increase in oil prices that year, transformed Britain into a considerable player in the field of oil production (production soared from 87,000 tons in 1974 to 75,000,000 tons five years later). The political use of oil [revenues](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/revenues) was seen by some as characteristic of the failure of successive British governments to put them to good economic and social use.\n\nThe restructuring of the economy away from the manual and industrial sectors, which was a consequence of the rapid decline of manufacturing industry in Britain in the 1990s, also meant the decline of the old, manual working class and the coming of what has been called “postindustrial” or “postmodern” society. Within industry itself, “post-Fordist” (flexible, technologically innovative, and demand-driven) production and new forms of industrial management restructured the labour force in ways that broke up traditional [hierarchies](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/hierarchies) and outlooks. Not least among these changes has been the expansion of work, chiefly part-time, for [women](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/women). There has been a corresponding rise of new, nonmanual employment, primarily in the [service sector](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/service-industry). In the early phases of these changes, there was much underemployment and unemployment.\n\nThe result has been not only the numerical decline of the old working class but the diminishing significance of manual work itself, as well as the growing disappearance of work as a fairly stable, uniform, lifelong experience. The shift in employment and investment from production to consumption industries has paralleled the rise of consumption itself as an arena in which people’s desires and hopes are centred and as the basis of their [conceptions](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/conceptions) of themselves and the social order. However, in the 1990s there was a considerable move back to the workplace as the source of identity and self-value. At the same time, new management practices and ideas developed that were in line with the still generally high level of [working hours](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/hours-of-labour).\n\nCentral to the new economy and new ideas about work has been the staggering growth of information technology. This has been especially evident in the operations of financial markets, contributing hugely to their global integration. One of the great beneficiaries of these changes has been the City of London, which has profited from very light state regulation. The financial sector, in terms of international markets and the domestic [provision](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/provision) of financial goods and services, has become a major sector of the new economy. Speculation in markets, with ever-increasing degrees of ingenuity (for example, the phenomenon of [hedge fund](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/hedge-fund) trading), has helped create a cohort of the newly rich in Britain and elsewhere. It has also led to an increasingly unstable world financial system. The spoils of this new society have been divided between large-scale multinational corporations and new kinds of industrial organizations that are smaller and often more responsive to demand, evident in development of the dot.com and e-commerce phenomena. Internet shopping, along with the unparalleled development of giant supermarket chains, transformed the traditional pattern of retailing and shopping and, with it, patterns of social interaction. This, however, was only one aspect of a general [transformation](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/transformation) of the economy and society that even as recently as the early 1990s had hardly been glimpsed.\n\nIn the conditions of economic stability and prosperity at the turn of the 21st century, a relatively large middle group arose in terms of income, housing, and lifestyle that politicians and others began to refer to as “middle England.” In effect this meant Scotland and [Wales](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Wales) as well, although in Britain as a whole the old imbalance between west and east continued, in a similar fashion to that between north and south in England. However, even this middle was exposed to the vagaries of financial markets and an underperforming welfare state. Moreover, the gap between the least well-off and the most well-off widened even further, so that alongside the new rich were the new poor, or underclass. Social [mobility](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/mobility) either declined or stalled in comparison with the 1960s—in particular, the capacity of the poorest parents to send their children to university. Levels of poverty among children continued to be high. The reborn postindustrial cities of the north and [Midlands](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Midlands), such as [Manchester](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Manchester-England), came to symbolize much of the new Britain, with their mixture of revitalized city centres and deprived city perimeters that were home to the new poor. However, as had long been the case, the economic centre of the country remained in London and the southeast. Britain thus became a prosperous but increasingly unequal and divided society.\n\nLoad Next Page\n\nFeedback\n\nThank you for your feedback\n\nOur editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.\n\n*print* Print\n\nPlease select which sections you would like to print:\n\n*verified*Cite\n\nWhile every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.\n\nSelect Citation Style\n\nJoyce, Patrick, Hastings, Margaret, Atkins, Ralph Charles, Colley, Linda J., Frere, Sheppard Sunderland, Morrill, John S., Briggs, Asa, Kishlansky, Mark A., Josephson, Paul R., Ravenhill, William, Kellner, Peter, Chaney, William A., Gilbert, Bentley Brinkerhoff, Prestwich, Michael Charles, Spencer, Ulric M., Whitelock, Dorothy, Smith, Lacey Baldwin, Barr, Nicholas A.. \"United Kingdom\". *Encyclopedia Britannica*, 12 Apr. 2026, https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom. Accessed 13 April 2026.\n\nCopy Citation\n\nShare\n\nShare to social media\n\n[Facebook](https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BRITANNICA\/) [X](https:\/\/x.com\/britannica)\n\nURL\n\n<https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-Kingdom>\n\nExternal Websites\n\n- [CRW Flags - Flag of United Kingdom](https:\/\/www.crwflags.com\/fotw\/flags\/gb.html)\n- [Central Intelligence Agency - The World Factbook - United Kingdom](https:\/\/www.cia.gov\/the-world-factbook\/countries\/united-kingdom\/)\n\nBritannica Websites\n\nArticles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.\n\n- [United Kingdom - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)](https:\/\/kids.britannica.com\/kids\/article\/United-Kingdom\/345811)\n- [United Kingdom - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)](https:\/\/kids.britannica.com\/students\/article\/United-Kingdom\/277509)","attrs_readable_markdown":"On December 2, 2015, in the wake of the [attacks by Islamist terrorists in Paris on November 13](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/Paris-attacks-of-2015), the [House of Commons](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/House-of-Commons-British-government) authorized air strikes by the British [military](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/armed-force) on ISIL targets in Syria. The vote on the measure came after some 10 hours of debate. Labour leader [Jeremy Corbyn](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Jeremy-Corbyn) freed members of his party to vote their [conscience](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/conscience), and dozens of them broke ranks to join the [Conservatives](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/Conservatives) and others in voting for authorization, which passed 397–223.\n\n## News •\nAt a summit meeting of the leaders of the member countries of the [EU](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/European-Union) in Brussels in February 2016, the European Council announced agreement on reforms to British membership that had been requested by Cameron in an attempt to forestall British withdrawal (“[Brexit](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Brexit)”) from the EU. Although Cameron did not get everything that he had asked for in the proposal that he submitted to [Donald Tusk](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Donald-Tusk), the president of the European Council, in November 2015, he won enough [concessions](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/concessions) to move forward on his promise of a referendum on continued British membership. In the face of considerable support within his own party for Brexit, Cameron nevertheless announced that he would campaign for remaining in the EU and scheduled the referendum for June 23, 2016.\n\nCameron was joined in the “Remain” effort by Corbyn. The “Leave” campaign was headed by former [London](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/London) mayor [Boris Johnson](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Boris-Johnson), whom many saw as a rival for Cameron’s leadership of the [Conservative Party](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Conservative-Party-political-party-United-Kingdom), and [Michael Gove](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Michael-Gove), [lord chancellor](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/lord-chancellor) and secretary of state for [justice](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/justice) in Cameron’s cabinet. Opinion polling indicated that the two sides were fairly evenly divided as the referendum approached, but in the event 52 percent of voters opted to leave the EU, making the United Kingdom the first [country](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/nation-state) to ever do so. Cameron announced his intention to resign as [prime minister](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/prime-minister) by the time of the [Conservative](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/Conservative) Party conference in October 2016 to allow his successor to negotiate the U.K. withdrawal under the terms of Article 50 of the [Lisbon Treaty](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/Lisbon-Treaty), which, when triggered, would open a two-year window for the exit process.\n\n## The premiership of Theresa May (2016–19)\n## The resignation of Cameron, the rise of May, and a challenge to Corbyn’s leadership of Labour\nOnly days after the Brexit vote, the political drama surrounding Johnson’s pursuit of the Conservative leadership assumed what many observers identified as Shakespearean proportions as Gove removed his prominent support for Johnson’s candidacy, saying that Johnson was “not capable of…leading the party and the country in the way that I would have hoped.” In rapid fashion, a wounded Johnson removed himself from consideration. Gove then threw his hat into the small ring of leadership candidates that was then [winnowed](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/winnowed) by successive votes by parliamentary Conservatives in early July to Home Secretary [Theresa May](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Theresa-May) and Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom, whose names were put to a vote by all party members with results due in September. Almost before that process started, Leadsom unexpectedly withdrew her name from consideration, and on July 11 the Conservative Party’s 1922 Committee, which had been steering the leadership contest, declared May the new party leader “with immediate effect.” On July 13 Cameron formally resigned, and May became the second woman in British history to serve as prime minister.\n\nMeanwhile, Labour underwent its own leadership controversy as prominent party members, including Blair, took Corbyn to task for not mounting a more vigorous effort on behalf of the “Remain” campaign. No sooner had Blair made his [criticism](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/criticism) than he found himself in the crosshairs, with the release on July 5 of the so-called [Chilcot Report](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Chilcot-Report), the findings of a seven-year inquiry into Britain’s involvement in the [Iraq War](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/Iraq-War), which was scathing in its condemnation of Blair’s handling of the war from the initial decision to join the [United States](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/United-States) in invading Iraq to the Blair government’s failure to plan and prepare for the postwar aftermath in Iraq. Nonetheless, a challenge was mounted to Corbyn’s leadership of the party that eventually resulted in a head-to-head contest between Corbyn and Owen Smith, the former shadow secretary of work and pensions. In an online vote of party faithful in September, Corbyn held on to the leadership by capturing some 62 percent of the vote against about 38 percent for Smith.\n\n## Triggering Article 50\nIn the meantime, May, who had opposed Brexit but came into office promising to see it to completion, led her government in cautious movement toward triggering Article 50. Her efforts experienced a setback in January 2017, however, when the Supreme Court upheld a November 2016 High Court ruling that prevented the prime minister from triggering Article 50 without first having gained approval from [Parliament](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Parliament) to do so. In February 2017 the House of Commons granted May that approval by a 498–114 vote, but the [House of Lords](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/House-of-Lords) created another roadblock in early March by adding a pair of [amendments](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/amendments) to the bill authorizing May to [invoke](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/invoke) Article 50. One guaranteed that EU passport holders residing in Britain would be permitted to remain, and the other sought a greater role for Parliament in the negotiations. Both amendments were overturned by the House of Commons later in March, and, before the end of the month, May formally submitted a letter to European Council Pres. [Donald Tusk](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Donald-Tusk) requesting the opening of the two-year window for talks on the details of British separation from the EU.\n\nAgainst this backdrop, the Scottish Assembly backed First Minister [Nicola Sturgeon](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Nicola-Sturgeon)’s call for a new [referendum](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/referendum) on independence for [Scotland](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Scotland) to be held before spring 2019 (the majority of Scottish voters had opposed leaving the EU in the Brexit referendum).\n\n## The Manchester arena bombing and London bridge attacks\nIn mid-April 2017 May called for a snap parliamentary election, saying that its results would provide stability and certainty for Britain during its Brexit negotiations and transition out of the EU. To hold an election ahead of the 2020 date [mandated](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/mandated) by the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, May needed to win two-thirds majority approval in the House of Commons. Corbyn welcomed a return to the polls, despite opinion polling that predicted big gains for the Conservatives, and, by a vote of 522 to 13 (with [SNP](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Scottish-National-Party) members abstaining), the House of Commons approved a snap election for June 8.\n\nThe election campaign was temporarily suspended after 22 people were killed and dozens injured in a terrorist attack on the night of May 22 at a 21,000-capacity arena in [Manchester](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Manchester-England) following a concert by U.S. singer [Ariana Grande](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Ariana-Grande). The attacker who detonated the homemade bomb that [wrought](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/wrought) the destruction also was killed in the blast. [ISIL](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Islamic-State-in-Iraq-and-the-Levant) claimed responsibility for the attack, in which many of those who perished or were injured were children—teenaged and younger fans of the American pop star. It was the deadliest terrorist attack in Britain since the [London bombings of 2005](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/London-bombings-of-2005), in which more than 50 people were killed, and it followed an attack on Westminster Bridge in London on March 22 in which an attacker mowed down pedestrians with a car and then continued his assault on foot with a knife, taking five lives and injuring some 50 people before he was killed outside the [Houses of Parliament](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Houses-of-Parliament-buildings-London-United-Kingdom) by a security officer.\n\nOn June 3, five days before voters were to go to the polls, [yet](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/yet) another terrorist attack unfolded in London. This time it occurred on [London Bridge](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Old-London-Bridge), where three attackers ran down victims with a vehicle before leaving it to menace others in nearby Borough Market with knives. Eight people were killed before police arrived, only eight minutes after the start of the incident, and shot and killed the attackers.\n\n## The snap election campaign\nIn addition to using the campaign to sell her version of “hard Brexit,” May sought to frame the election as a choice between her “strong and stable” leadership and that of Corbyn, who was characterized as an unreliable out-of-touch leftist extremist. However, Corbyn, once thought by many observers to be unelectable, proved to be an inspiring campaigner whose message of hope, [compassion](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/compassion), and inclusiveness energized a new generation of Labour voters. May, on the other hand, often appeared uncomfortable, stiff, and uncertain on the campaign trail. One element of her manifesto—a proposal to pay for in-home social care of the elderly with government sales of their homes after their deaths, a plan loudly condemned by many as a “dementia tax”—brought widespread outrage that prompted her to quickly alter the proposal. Rather than appearing “strong and stable,” May, in the eyes of some observers, looked to be “weak and wobbly.”\n\n## The 2017 U.K. general election\nWhen voters had their say on June 8, 2017, they handed the Conservatives a major setback. Rather than securing a [mandate](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/mandate), May watched her party’s legislative majority disappear as it lost at least 12 seats in the House of Commons to fall to 318 seats while Labour gained at least 29 seats to surpass 260 seats in total. Both parties garnered more than 40 percent of the popular vote each in an election that witnessed a return to dominance by the two major parties. Led by [Tim Farron](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Tim-Farron), the Liberal Democrats, who had fared badly in the 2015 election, sought to reverse their fortunes by advocating another referendum on Brexit, and, while this proposal did not [resonate](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/resonate) for many voters, the party still gained four seats to reach a total of 12. Support for [UKIP](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/United-Kingdom-Independence-Party) largely evaporated. Having nearly realized the goal of Brexit, many of those who had supported UKIP in previous elections were expected to vote for the Conservatives, but, in the event, it appeared that they instead were swayed by Corbyn’s vision. The Conservatives did, however, make big gains in Scotland, where the Scottish National Party fell from 56 seats to 35, in what was widely interpreted as a rebuke to Sturgeon and the SNP’s call for another referendum on Scottish independence.\n\nArguably the election’s biggest winner was Northern Ireland’s [Democratic Unionist Party](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Democratic-Unionist-Party) (DUP). Having increased its representation in the House of Commons from 8 to 10 seats, it found itself in the role of kingmaker when May enlisted its support to cling to power by forming a [minority](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/minority) government (rather than seeking a formal coalition arrangement). With the support of the DUP on key votes, the Conservatives would be able to just barely surpass the 326-vote bar for a legislative majority.\n\nThe central task for May’s government remained arriving at a [cohesive](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/cohesive) approach for its Brexit negotiations with the EU. That task was a [daunting](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/daunting) one, however, because wide disagreement persisted even within the Conservative Party, not just on a [myriad](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/myriad) of details related to the British proposal for separation but also on the broader issues involved.\n\n## The Grenfell Tower fire, a novichok attack in Salisbury, and air strikes on Syria\nIn June 2017 Brexit was pushed off the front pages by one of the worst disasters in recent British history: a fire in a multistory [public housing](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/public-housing) residence (Grenfell Tower) in London claimed the lives of 72 individuals, many of whom were recent immigrants. The incident prompted a period of national soul-searching after it was revealed that months before the fire the building’s low-income residents had raised concerns about fire safety and complained that they were being treated like second-class citizens.\n\nIn March 2018 British national outrage was focused on [Russia](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Russia) when a former Russian intelligence officer, who had acted as double agent for Britain, and his daughter were found unconscious in [Salisbury](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Salisbury-former-district-England), [England](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/England). It was determined that the pair had been victims of a “novichok,” a complex [nerve agent](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/nerve-gas) that had been developed by the Soviets. Although the Russian government denied having any involvement with the attack and British investigators were unable to prove that the nerve agent originated in Russia, the May government responded by expelling some two dozen Russian intelligence operatives who had been working in Britain under diplomatic cover.\n\nIn April Britain joined [France](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/France) and the United States in launching air strikes against targets in Syria after it was revealed that the regime of Syrian Pres. [Bashar al-Assad](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Bashar-al-Assad) had again used chemical weapons on its own people. Corbyn was critical of May for having ordered the strike without first consulting Parliament, but she countered that the action had to be undertaken without seeking parliamentary approval in order to protect the operation’s [integrity](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/integrity). May also said that the strike was intended to prevent further suffering, and she characterized the decision as both right and legal.\n\n## The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Chequers plan, and Boris Johnson’s resignation\nIn May 2018 Britain and much of the world stopped for a day to witness the [royal wedding](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/British-Royal-Wedding-of-2018) of [Prince Harry](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Prince-Harry-of-Wales) to [Meghan Markle](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Meghan-Markle)—a divorced American actress, daughter of an African American mother and a white father—whose informal approachability and personal warmth recalled the much beloved “People’s Princess” [Diana](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Diana-princess-of-Wales). The newlywed couple’s union reflected the changing social landscape of an increasingly multicultural Britain. Moreover, they seemed determined to modernize the monarchy and to connect it with the lives of everyday Britons.\n\nIn early July May summoned her cabinet to the prime minister’s country retreat, [Chequers](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Chequers), determined to forge a [consensus](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/consensus) on the nuts and bolts of the government’s Brexit plan. Despite forceful opposition by the cabinet’s “hard” Brexiters, by the end of the marathon meeting a consensus seemed to have emerged around May’s “softer” approach, grounded in policies aimed at preserving economic ties with the EU. Just two days later, however, the government’s apparent harmony was disrupted by the resignation of Britain’s chief Brexit negotiator, [David Davis](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/David-Davis), who complained that May’s plan gave up too much, too easily. The next day Johnson left his post as foreign secretary, writing in his letter of resignation that the dream of Brexit was dying, “suffocated by needless self-doubt.” Suddenly confronted with the possibility of a [vote of confidence](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/vote-of-confidence) on her party leadership, May reportedly cautioned Conservatives to line up behind her Brexit plan or run the risk of losing power to a Corbyn-led Labour government.\n\n## EU agreement and Parliamentary opposition to May’s Brexit plan\nOn November 25 the leaders of the EU’s 27 other member countries formally agreed to the terms of a withdrawal deal that May claimed “delivered for the British people” and set the United Kingdom “on course for a prosperous future.” Under the plan Britain was to pay some \\$50 billion to the EU to satisfy its long-term financial obligations. Britain’s departure from the EU was to come in March 2019, but, according to the agreement, the U.K. would continue to [abide](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/abide) by EU rules and regulations until at least December 2020 while negotiations continued on the details of the long-term relationship between the EU and the U.K.\n\nThe agreement, which was set to be debated and voted upon by the House of Commons in December, still faced strong opposition in Parliament, not only from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, [Plaid Cymru](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Plaid-Cymru), and the DUP but also from dozens of Conservatives. At the same time, the call for holding another referendum on Brexit was growing louder, though May remained [adamant](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/adamant) that the will of the British people had already been expressed. A major sticking point for many of those who opposed the agreement was the so-called [Northern Ireland backstop plan](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Northern-Ireland-backstop-plan). Formulated to help maintain an open border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland after Brexit, the “backstop” [stipulated](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/stipulated) that a legally binding customs arrangement between the EU and Northern Ireland would go into effect if the U.K. and the EU could not reach a long-term agreement by December 2020. Opponents of the backstop argued that it set up the potential for regulatory barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K., effectively establishing a customs border down the [Irish Sea](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Irish-Sea).\n\n## Objections to the Irish backstop and a challenge to May’s leadership\nThe issue grew more heated in the first week of December after the government was forced to publish in full Attorney General [Geoffrey Cox](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Geoffrey-Cox)’s legal advice for the government on the Brexit agreement, which had initially been reported to Parliament in overview only. According to Cox, without agreement between Britain and the EU, the terms of the backstop plan could endure “indefinitely,” with the U.K. legally blocked from terminating the agreement without EU approval. This [contentious](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/contentious) issue was front and centre as the House of Commons began five days of debate leading up to a vote on the Brexit agreement that was scheduled for December 11. Facing the likelihood of a humiliating rejection of the agreement by the House of Commons, May dramatically interrupted the debate after three days, on December 10, and postponed the vote, pledging to seek new [assurances](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/assurances) from the EU regarding the backstop. The opposition responded by threatening to hold a vote of confidence and to call for an early election.\n\nA challenge to May’s leadership was quickly mounted within the Conservative Party, and, after more than the required 15 percent of the parliamentary party (48 of 317 MPs) requested a vote on her leadership of the party, a [secret ballot](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Australian-ballot) vote was held on December 12, 2018. May received the votes of 200 MPs, more than the 159 votes she needed to survive as leader. Although, according to Conservative Party rules, she could not be challenged as leader for another year, it remained to be seen whether May would still face pressure to relinquish power.\n\n## Parliamentary rejection of May’s plan, May’s survival of a confidence vote, and the Independent Group of breakaway MPs\nResponding to May in a joint letter, European Council Pres. [Donald Tusk](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Donald-Tusk) and [European Commission](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/European-Commission) Pres. [Jean-Claude Juncker](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Jean-Claude-Juncker) indicated that, if the backstop had to be [invoked](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/invoked), they would strive to limit its application to the “shortest possible period.” However, this pledge satisfied few of the agreement’s critics. When debate on the agreement resumed on January 9, Corbyn argued not only for rejection of the agreement but also for an early general election. On January 15 the agreement was overwhelmingly rejected by a vote of 432–202 (the worst defeat for a government [initiative](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/initiative) in modern British parliamentary history), and Corbyn tabled a vote of confidence in the government, which May survived the next day, 325–306, having held onto the support of the DUP and many Conservatives who had deserted her in the agreement vote.\n\nThe longer the issue of Brexit remained unsettled, the more it became the fulcrum on which British politics turned. Political pundits began to note that opinions on May’s proposed version of Brexit and Brexit in general cut across ideological lines. Both Labour and the Conservative Party were riven by internecine conflict over Brexit. In February eight MPs withdrew from the [Labour Party](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Labour-Party-political-party), citing their disappointment in Corbyn’s leadership on the issue as well as concerns over [alleged](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/alleged) anti-Semitism within the party, a criticism that was at least partly tied to Corbyn’s sympathy for Palestinian concerns. Only days after their departure, three moderate Tories left the Conservative Party, protesting that it had been hijacked by the [European Research Group](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/European-Research-Group), a faction of right-wing hard-line Brexiters whom the departing MPs accused of acting as a party within the party. Joining together as the Independent Group, these breakaway MPs from both parties began taking steps toward formally [constituting](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/constituting) a new [political party](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/political-party). Meanwhile, in early March, Tom Watson, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, [convened](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/convened) a meeting of Labour MPs and members of the House of Lords—many of whom felt that Corbyn had taken the party too far leftward—to consider an [alternative](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/alternative) vision for the party.\n\n## Parliament rejects May’s plan again\nAgainst this backdrop, May continued negotiations with European leaders in an effort to win concessions that would garner wider support within Parliament than the terms of her earlier, shunned Brexit plan did. On the eve of a scheduled meaningful vote in the House of Commons on her revised plan, May secured new promises of cooperation on the backstop plan from EU leaders. A “joint legally binding instrument” was agreed to under which Britain could initiate a “formal dispute” with the EU if the EU were to attempt to keep Britain bound to the backstop plan indefinitely. A “joint statement” was also issued that committed the U.K. and the EU to arriving at a replacement for the backstop plan by December 2020. Finally, the U.K. put forth a “unilateral declaration” stressing that there was nothing to prevent Britain from abandoning the backstop if negotiations on an alternative arrangement with the EU were to collapse without the prospect of resolution.\n\nIn advance of the vote in Parliament, Attorney General Cox issued his opinion that while the new [assurances](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/assurances) reduced the risk of the U.K.’s being indefinitely confined by the backstop agreement, they did not fundamentally change the agreement’s legal status. In the vote on March 12, the House of Commons once again rejected May’s plan, though by a smaller margin than its earlier defeat, 391–242. The next day the House of Commons voted 312–308 against leaving the EU without a deal in place. On March 14, by just two votes, May survived a vote that would have taken control of Brexit away from her and handed it to Parliament. In a letter to EU leaders on March 20, she requested that the date of Britain’s departure from the EU be delayed until June 30. In response the EU announced its willingness to extend the Brexit deadline until May 22 but only if Parliament had accepted May’s withdrawal plan by the week of March 24.\n\n## “Indicative votes,” May’s pledge to resign, a third defeat for her plan, and a new deadline\nHundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of London on March 23 to demand that another referendum on Brexit be held. On March 25 the House of Commons voted 329–302 to usurp control of Parliament’s agenda from the government in order to hold “[indicative votes](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/indicative-vote)” on alternative proposals to May’s plan. Eight of those proposals were put to a vote on March 27, but none was able to gain the support of the majority, though a plan to seek to create a “permanent and [comprehensive](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/comprehensive) U.K.-wide [customs union](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/customs-union) with the EU” came close, falling sort by just six votes.\n\nAlso on March 27, May pledged to resign as party leader and prime minister if the House of Commons were to approve her plan, a [gambit](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/gambit) that won support from some “hard Brexit” opponents of the plan. On March 29, owing to an antique procedural rule invoked by Speaker of the House [John Bercow](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/John-Bercow), only the withdrawal agreement portion of May’s plan was voted upon by the House of Commons (excluded was the “political declaration” that addressed what the U.K. and EU expected of their long-term relationship). Although the vote was closer than the previous two (286 in support, 344 in opposition), the plan once again went down in defeat. The U.K. now had until April 12 to decide whether it would leave the EU without an agreement on that day or request a longer [delay](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/delay) that would require it to participate in elections for the [European Parliament](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/European-Parliament). May asked the EU to push back the deadline for Brexit until June 30, and on April 11 the European Council announced that it was granting the U.K. a “flexible extension” until October 31.\n\nShortly thereafter, in response to the Conservative Party’s seeming inability to position the country to leave the EU, [Nigel Farage](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Nigel-Farage) launched the [Brexit Party](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Reform-UK). It proved to be a big winner in the elections for the European Parliament in May, capturing about 31 percent of the vote. The next closest finisher was the Liberal Democrats, with about 20 percent of the vote, while Labour claimed some 14 percent and the Conservatives only about 9 percent.\n\nHaving failed to [garner](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/garner) sufficient support from Conservatives for her exit plan, May entered discussions with Labour leaders on a possible compromise, but these too proved fruitless. When May responded to that disappointment by proposing a new version of the plan that included a temporary customs relationship with the EU and a pledge to hold a parliamentary vote on whether to stage another referendum on Brexit, her cabinet revolted. Isolated as never before, the prime minister announced on May 24 that she would step down as leader of the Conservative Party on June 7 but would remain as caretaker premier until her party had chosen her successor.\n\n## The Boris Johnson government\n## Boris Johnson’s ascent, the December 2019 snap election, and Brexit\nAfter a series of votes by the parliamentary Conservative Party winnowed a list of 10 candidates to 2, [Boris Johnson](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Boris-Johnson) and [Jeremy Hunt](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Jeremy-Hunt) stood in an election in which all of the party’s roughly 160,000 members were eligible to vote. Johnson took some 66 percent of that vote to assume the leadership. He officially replaced May as prime minister on July 24, 2019. Although he had promised to take the United Kingdom out of the EU without an exit agreement if the deal May had negotiated was not changed to his liking, Johnson faced widespread opposition (even within his own party) to his [advocacy](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/advocacy) of no-deal Brexit. Political maneuvering by the new prime minister (including proroguing Parliament just weeks before October 31, the revised departure deadline) was met with forceful legislative countermeasures by those opposed to leaving the EU without an agreement in place. A vote of the House of Commons in early September forced Johnson to request a delay of the British withdrawal from the EU until January 31, 2020, even though on October 22 the House approved, in principle, the agreement that Johnson had negotiated, replacing the backstop with a plan to keep Northern Ireland aligned with the EU for at least four years from the end of the [transition](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/transition) period.\n\nJohnson repeatedly tried and failed to call a snap election that he hoped would secure a mandate for his vision of Brexit. Because the election would fall outside the five-year term stipulated by the Fixed Terms of Parliament Act, it required approval by two-thirds of the House of Commons to be held, meaning that it needed support from the opposition, which was denied. After no-deal Brexit was blocked, however, Corbyn was willing to let voters once again decide the fate of Brexit, and an election was scheduled for December 12, 2019. Preelection opinion polling indicated a likely win for the Conservatives, but when the results were in, Johnson’s party had recorded its most [decisive](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/decisive) victory since 1987, adding 48 seats to secure a solid Parliamentary majority of 365 seats. The stage was set for the realization of Johnson’s version of Brexit, which was to take place at 11:00 pm London time on January 31, when the United Kingdom formally would withdraw from the European Union.\n\nIn April 2020 [Sir Keir Starmer](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Keir-Starmer), the shadow Brexit secretary and a former director of public prosecutions, replaced Corbyn as Labour leader. At the end of October Corbyn was suspended from the party in response to his somewhat [dismissive](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/dismissive) reaction to the release of the greatly anticipated report on anti-Semitism within the Labour Party by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. His suspension immediately disrupted the Labour Party, prompting denunciations of that action by Corbyn’s leftist supporters.\n\nAlthough Britain’s formal withdrawal from the EU had been accomplished, final details relating to a new trade deal between the U.K. and the EU remained to be resolved, and the December 31, 2020, deadline for that resolution was only barely met on December 24. The resultant 2,000-page agreement clarified that there would be no limits or taxes on goods sold between U.K. and EU parties; however, an extensive [regimen](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/regimen) of paperwork for such transactions and transport of goods was put in place. The freedom to work and live between the U.K. and the EU became a thing of the past.\n\n## The coronavirus pandemic\nAs it was in most of the rest of the world, life in the U.K. was turned upside down in 2020 by the onset of the [coronavirus](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/coronavirus-virus-group) SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic, which had originated in [China](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/China), where the first cases were reported in December 2019. Because the Johnson government’s key scientific advisers had embraced the controversial theory that the best way to limit the long-term effects of the pandemic was to allow the virus to spread naturally and thus generate “herd immunity,” Britain initially did not adopt the kind of aggressive measures to combat the pandemic that had been undertaken in much of the rest of the world. By mid-March 2020, however, the government had radically shifted gears as [COVID-19](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/COVID-19), the potentially deadly disease caused by the virus, began spreading rapidly in Britain. Social-distancing and mask-wearing requirements were imposed, as was a lockdown that included the closing of schools, pubs, restaurants, and other businesses.\n\nIn late March Prime Minister Johnson contracted the virus and had to be hospitalized, spending three nights in an [intensive care unit](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/intensive-care-unit) when his life was in jeopardy. While he was incapacitated, Foreign Secretary [Dominic Raab](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Dominic-Raab) performed Johnson’s duties. Over the coming year, Johnson would initiate and [rescind](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/rescind) stay-at-home orders that varied by region as the spread of the disease came in waves. Although the government’s initial response to the pandemic had been slow and unsteady, British scientists, aided by government funding, made historically rapid advances in developing an effective vaccine. Having become the first country to approve and [deploy](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/deploy) the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Britain began rolling out a national immunization program in December 2020. Nevertheless, by March 2021 the U.K. had suffered about 126,000 COVID-related deaths, more than all but four other countries—the United States, [Brazil](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Brazil), [Mexico](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Mexico), and [India](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/India). The British predicament had been complicated by the emergence in the U.K. of a new, more easily transmissible variant of the disease (B.1.1.7) in September 2020.\n\n## “Partygate”\nIn late November 2021 it began to be reported that members of Johnson’s cabinet and staff, as well as the prime minister himself, had [attended](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/attended) parties earlier in the pandemic that violated prohibitions on social gatherings established by the government. The resulting “Partygate” scandal involved both the alleged violations and Johnson’s initial insistence that the government’s pandemic-related guidelines had been “followed at all times.” After reports came to light of an increasing number of illegal social gatherings at Downing Street during the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, Johnson apologized for having attended one such party at which drinks were served. In addition to the alleged violations of pandemic-related rules, a picture of excessive workplace drinking in the prime minister’s orbit began to take shape. Moreover, it appeared that Johnson had misled Parliament with his claim that no pandemic-related rules had been broken. Historically, deceiving Parliament was an offense that called for resignation.\n\nA report on the affair by senior civil servant Sue Gray was delivered to Parliament in late January 2022. Although it was truncated and heavily [redacted](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/redacted) to avoid compromising the investigation that had been undertaken by the [London Metropolitan Police](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Scotland-Yard) into a number of gatherings, the report said that “there were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No. 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times” and that “some of the events should not have been allowed to take place” whereas “other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did.” Despite a renewed apology to Parliament by Johnson, some Conservatives joined members of the opposition in calling for his resignation. Johnson’s grip on power would remain precarious—especially after the police investigation led to him being fined in April for his transgressions of pandemic-related rules. However, Russia’s invasion of [Ukraine](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Ukraine) on February 24 served to forestall efforts to remove Johnson from office. Many in Britain appeared to believe that the moment of [existential crisis](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/existential-crisis) for [Europe](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Europe) brought on by Russia’s aggression was not the time for a change of leadership.\n\n## Further scandal and Johnson’s resignation\nNevertheless, by early June a sufficient number of Conservative MPs had written to the party’s 1922 Committee requesting the prime minister’s resignation that a [vote of confidence](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/vote%20of%20confidence) in his leadership of the party was forced. To retain his position, Johnson needed to have his leadership affirmed by at least 180 of the party’s 359 members of the House of Commons. When the secret ballots were counted, 211 MPs had voted in support of Johnson, but the 148 MPs who had voted against him represented a larger percentage of the party’s presence in the House of Commons than did the 133 MPs who had rejected Theresa May’s leadership in the 2018 vote of confidence that preceded her eventual resignation.\n\nOnly weeks later Johnson’s [uncanny](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/uncanny) ability to survive scandal finally deserted him when his apparent prevarication regarding his awareness of allegations of sexual misconduct against a senior Conservative Party official shattered his support within the party and forced him to step down. Johnson tendered his immediate resignation as party leader on July 7, 2022. He announced that he would remain as prime minister until the Conservatives had chosen a new leader.\n\n## The premiership of Liz Truss\n## Ascent to office\n[Liz Truss](https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/95\/234995-050-4DEFAE08\/British-Foreign-Secretary-Liz-Truss-attends-Conservative-Party-leadership-campaign-event-Marden-England-July-23-2022.jpg)Liz Truss (centre) attending a Conservative Party leadership campaign event in Marden, England, July 23, 2022.\n\nThe parliamentary party (sitting Conservative MPs) then undertook a series of votes that incrementally winnowed the field of candidates for the leadership from eight to two, Foreign Secretary [Liz Truss](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Liz-Truss) and former chancellor of the [Exchequer](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/Exchequer) [Rishi Sunak](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Rishi-Sunak), whose names were submitted for a vote by the party’s whole membership. When the results of that election were reported on September 5, Truss emerged as the winner. The next day she became the third woman ever to serve as Britain’s prime minister. In a break with tradition, Truss received her official appointment from [Elizabeth II](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Elizabeth-II) at [Balmoral Castle](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Balmoral-Castle) rather than at [Buckingham Palace](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Buckingham-Palace) out of concern for the [queen’s](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Queen-British-rock-group) increasingly frail health, which had limited Elizabeth’s participation in June in the Platinum Jubilee, a four-day celebration of her 70-year reign.\n\n## The death of Elizabeth II\nOn September 8 Britain and the world were shocked by the news of the queen’s death. Truss called Elizabeth “the rock on which modern Britain was built.” In an address to the nation the following day, the new king, [Charles III](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Charles-III-king-of-the-United-Kingdom), said:\n\n> Queen Elizabeth’s was a life well lived; a promise with destiny kept and she is mourned most deeply in her passing…. As the Queen herself did with such unswerving devotion, I too now solemnly pledge myself, throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the [Constitutional](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/Constitutional) principles at the heart of our nation. And wherever you may live in the United Kingdom, or in the Realms and territories across the world, and whatever may be your background or beliefs, I shall endeavour to serve you with loyalty, respect and love, as I have throughout my life.\n\nSome 10 days of national mourning followed that led to the queen lying in state in Westminster Hall. Mourners stood in a line that stretched for miles to view her coffin. A sombre funeral ceremony, attended by an estimated 100 heads of foreign governments, was held at [Westminster Abbey](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Westminster-Abbey) on September 19.\n\n## Abrupt resignation\nLiz Truss had come into office believing that she had a mandate to carry out a “low taxes, high growth” economic plan. However, the financial markets panicked at the prospect of the budget [deficit](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/deficit) likely to result from Truss’s proposed combination of unfunded £45 billion (\\$50 billion) tax cuts and a two-year cap on energy prices (in response to high energy costs facing Britons as a result of sanctions imposed on [natural gas](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/natural-gas) supplier Russia). The [Bank of England](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/Bank-of-England) was forced to intervene to stabilize the markets after the value of the pound nose-dived, mortgage rates rose, and the cost of U.K. [government borrowing](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/money\/deficit-financing) climbed. Responding to the furor that followed, on October 14 Truss sacked Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng, among her closest political allies, and replaced him with former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt. Almost immediately Hunt began undoing Truss’s signature economic plan, reducing the period for the energy price cap to six months and revoking the tax cuts. Truss apologized for the “mistakes” she had made, but a growing number of Conservative MPs called for her to resign, and, amid [withering](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/withering) support for her, on October 20 Truss announced that she was stepping down as party leader but would remain prime minister until the Conservatives will have chosen her successor.\n\n## The premiership of [Rishi Sunak](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Rishi-Sunak)\nThe leadership selection process was more truncated this time around. Candidates were required to receive 100 nominations from Conservative MPs in order to come up for a vote. Given that there were 357 Conservative MPs, at most only three candidates could advance for consideration, and the party membership would choose between the two finalists. The House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt was the first to declare her candidacy, but Sunak, who still enjoyed broad support among MPs, was the favourite to replace Truss. Although there seemed to be significant support for a return to power by Johnson despite his fall from grace, the former prime minister [withdrew](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/withdrew) his name from consideration the day before the nominations were due. Struggling to gain adequate support for her candidacy, Mordaunt also stepped aside, and on October 24 the path was clear for Sunak, as the sole remaining candidate, to be confirmed as party leader without resorting to a vote of the broader party membership. The stage was set for him to become the first person of colour, the first person of South Asian descent, and the first Hindu to serve as prime minister of the United Kingdom.\n\nSunak became the fourth consecutive prime minister to oppose conducting a second referendum on Scottish independence. In June 2022, on Johnson’s watch, Scottish First Minister [Nicola Sturgeon](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Nicola-Sturgeon) had announced her intention to hold a second referendum (dubbed indyref2) in October 2023. In pursuit of that goal, she asked the U.K. Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of Scotland’s holding the vote without the approval of the U.K. government. When the court ruled in November 2022 that Scotland was not empowered to conduct the referendum without Westminster’s approval, Sturgeon pledged to make the U.K. parliamentary election scheduled for 2025 a [de facto](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/de-facto) referendum on Scottish independence.\n\nIn January 2023, [invoking](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/invoking) the powers of the Scotland Act of 1998, the British government blocked the promulgation of a law enacted in December 2022 by the Scottish Parliament that permitted [transgender](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/transgender) people in Scotland to change their legal gender by self-declaration without a medical [diagnosis](https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/diagnosis). The veto of the Scottish legislation—based on the argument that the law created inequalities because elsewhere in the United Kingdom a medical diagnosis was required for an individual to transition for legal purposes—marked the first time in the roughly 25 years since [devolution](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/devolution-government-and-politics) that the British government had overruled an action by Scotland’s Parliament. Sturgeon promised to take the matter to court; however, in February 2023 she announced her intention to resign as leader of the SNP and first minister, saying that she felt that she could no longer summon the energy that was necessary to perform her job. Sturgeon remained as leader of the SNP and first minister until late March, when the party chose her [successor](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/successor), [Humza Yousaf](https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Humza-Yousaf), the health secretary, who became the first Muslim and first person of colour to head the Scottish government.","meta_canonical":null,"ml_categories_json":"{\"\/Law_and_Government\":726,\"\/Law_and_Government\/Government\":581,\"\/Law_and_Government\/Government\/Legislative_Branch\":436,\"\/People_and_Society\":243,\"\/People_and_Society\/Social_Issues_and_Advocacy\":144,\"\/News\":111,\"\/News\/Politics\":108}","ml_types_json":"{\"\/Article\":997,\"\/Article\/News_Update\":559}","ml_intent_types_json":"{\"Informational\":999}","meta_language":"en","attrs_author":"Patrick Joyce","attrs_publish_time":1775952000,"attrs_original_publish_time":1558561987,"attrs_is_republished":1,"attrs_nr_words":"12298","attrs_boilerpipe_nr_words":"6570","body_ext_links_number":84,"body_int_links_number":321,"meta_nofollow":0,"meta_noarchive":0,"props_was_rendered":1,"src_redirect":"","download_time_msec":250,"download_ttfb_msec":249,"download_size":50205}

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United Kingdom - The “Brexit” referendum: On December 2, 2015, in the wake of the attacks by Islamist terrorists in Paris on November 13, the House of Commons authorized air strikes by the British military on ISIL targets in Syria. The vote on the measure came after some 10 hours of debate. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn freed members of his party to vote their conscience, and dozens of them broke ranks to join the Conservatives and others in voting for authorization, which passed 397–223. At a summit meeting of the leaders of the member countries of the EU in Brussels in February 2016, the European Council

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On December 2, 2015, in the wake of the attacks by Islamist terrorists in Paris on November 13 , the House of Commons authorized air strikes by the British military on ISIL targets in Syria. The vote on the measure came after some 10 hours of debate. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn freed members of his party to vote their conscience , and dozens of them broke ranks to join the Conservatives and others in voting for authorization, which passed 397–223. News • At a summit meeting of the leaders of the member countries of the EU in Brussels in February 2016, the European Council announced agreement on reforms to British membership that had been requested by Cameron in an attempt to forestall British withdrawal (“ Brexit ”) from the EU. Although Cameron did not get everything that he had asked for in the proposal that he submitted to Donald Tusk , the president of the European Council, in November 2015, he won enough concessions to move forward on his promise of a referendum on continued British membership. In the face of considerable support within his own party for Brexit, Cameron nevertheless announced that he would campaign for remaining in the EU and scheduled the referendum for June 23, 2016. Cameron was joined in the “Remain” effort by Corbyn. The “Leave” campaign was headed by former London mayor Boris Johnson , whom many saw as a rival for Cameron’s leadership of the Conservative Party , and Michael Gove , lord chancellor and secretary of state for justice in Cameron’s cabinet. Opinion polling indicated that the two sides were fairly evenly divided as the referendum approached, but in the event 52 percent of voters opted to leave the EU, making the United Kingdom the first country to ever do so. Cameron announced his intention to resign as prime minister by the time of the Conservative Party conference in October 2016 to allow his successor to negotiate the U.K. withdrawal under the terms of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty , which, when triggered, would open a two-year window for the exit process. The premiership of Theresa May (2016–19) The resignation of Cameron, the rise of May, and a challenge to Corbyn’s leadership of Labour Only days after the Brexit vote, the political drama surrounding Johnson’s pursuit of the Conservative leadership assumed what many observers identified as Shakespearean proportions as Gove removed his prominent support for Johnson’s candidacy, saying that Johnson was “not capable of…leading the party and the country in the way that I would have hoped.” In rapid fashion, a wounded Johnson removed himself from consideration. Gove then threw his hat into the small ring of leadership candidates that was then winnowed by successive votes by parliamentary Conservatives in early July to Home Secretary Theresa May and Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom, whose names were put to a vote by all party members with results due in September. Almost before that process started, Leadsom unexpectedly withdrew her name from consideration, and on July 11 the Conservative Party’s 1922 Committee, which had been steering the leadership contest, declared May the new party leader “with immediate effect.” On July 13 Cameron formally resigned, and May became the second woman in British history to serve as prime minister. Meanwhile, Labour underwent its own leadership controversy as prominent party members, including Blair, took Corbyn to task for not mounting a more vigorous effort on behalf of the “Remain” campaign. No sooner had Blair made his criticism than he found himself in the crosshairs, with the release on July 5 of the so-called Chilcot Report , the findings of a seven-year inquiry into Britain’s involvement in the Iraq War , which was scathing in its condemnation of Blair’s handling of the war from the initial decision to join the United States in invading Iraq to the Blair government’s failure to plan and prepare for the postwar aftermath in Iraq. Nonetheless, a challenge was mounted to Corbyn’s leadership of the party that eventually resulted in a head-to-head contest between Corbyn and Owen Smith, the former shadow secretary of work and pensions. In an online vote of party faithful in September, Corbyn held on to the leadership by capturing some 62 percent of the vote against about 38 percent for Smith. Triggering Article 50 In the meantime, May, who had opposed Brexit but came into office promising to see it to completion, led her government in cautious movement toward triggering Article 50. Her efforts experienced a setback in January 2017, however, when the Supreme Court upheld a November 2016 High Court ruling that prevented the prime minister from triggering Article 50 without first having gained approval from Parliament to do so. In February 2017 the House of Commons granted May that approval by a 498–114 vote, but the House of Lords created another roadblock in early March by adding a pair of amendments to the bill authorizing May to invoke Article 50. One guaranteed that EU passport holders residing in Britain would be permitted to remain, and the other sought a greater role for Parliament in the negotiations. Both amendments were overturned by the House of Commons later in March, and, before the end of the month, May formally submitted a letter to European Council Pres. Donald Tusk requesting the opening of the two-year window for talks on the details of British separation from the EU. Against this backdrop, the Scottish Assembly backed First Minister Nicola Sturgeon ’s call for a new referendum on independence for Scotland to be held before spring 2019 (the majority of Scottish voters had opposed leaving the EU in the Brexit referendum). The Manchester arena bombing and London bridge attacks In mid-April 2017 May called for a snap parliamentary election, saying that its results would provide stability and certainty for Britain during its Brexit negotiations and transition out of the EU. To hold an election ahead of the 2020 date mandated by the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, May needed to win two-thirds majority approval in the House of Commons. Corbyn welcomed a return to the polls, despite opinion polling that predicted big gains for the Conservatives, and, by a vote of 522 to 13 (with SNP members abstaining), the House of Commons approved a snap election for June 8. The election campaign was temporarily suspended after 22 people were killed and dozens injured in a terrorist attack on the night of May 22 at a 21,000-capacity arena in Manchester following a concert by U.S. singer Ariana Grande . The attacker who detonated the homemade bomb that wrought the destruction also was killed in the blast. ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack, in which many of those who perished or were injured were children—teenaged and younger fans of the American pop star. It was the deadliest terrorist attack in Britain since the London bombings of 2005 , in which more than 50 people were killed, and it followed an attack on Westminster Bridge in London on March 22 in which an attacker mowed down pedestrians with a car and then continued his assault on foot with a knife, taking five lives and injuring some 50 people before he was killed outside the Houses of Parliament by a security officer. On June 3, five days before voters were to go to the polls, yet another terrorist attack unfolded in London. This time it occurred on London Bridge , where three attackers ran down victims with a vehicle before leaving it to menace others in nearby Borough Market with knives. Eight people were killed before police arrived, only eight minutes after the start of the incident, and shot and killed the attackers. The snap election campaign In addition to using the campaign to sell her version of “hard Brexit,” May sought to frame the election as a choice between her “strong and stable” leadership and that of Corbyn, who was characterized as an unreliable out-of-touch leftist extremist. However, Corbyn, once thought by many observers to be unelectable, proved to be an inspiring campaigner whose message of hope, compassion , and inclusiveness energized a new generation of Labour voters. May, on the other hand, often appeared uncomfortable, stiff, and uncertain on the campaign trail. One element of her manifesto—a proposal to pay for in-home social care of the elderly with government sales of their homes after their deaths, a plan loudly condemned by many as a “dementia tax”—brought widespread outrage that prompted her to quickly alter the proposal. Rather than appearing “strong and stable,” May, in the eyes of some observers, looked to be “weak and wobbly.” The 2017 U.K. general election When voters had their say on June 8, 2017, they handed the Conservatives a major setback. Rather than securing a mandate , May watched her party’s legislative majority disappear as it lost at least 12 seats in the House of Commons to fall to 318 seats while Labour gained at least 29 seats to surpass 260 seats in total. Both parties garnered more than 40 percent of the popular vote each in an election that witnessed a return to dominance by the two major parties. Led by Tim Farron , the Liberal Democrats, who had fared badly in the 2015 election, sought to reverse their fortunes by advocating another referendum on Brexit, and, while this proposal did not resonate for many voters, the party still gained four seats to reach a total of 12. Support for UKIP largely evaporated. Having nearly realized the goal of Brexit, many of those who had supported UKIP in previous elections were expected to vote for the Conservatives, but, in the event, it appeared that they instead were swayed by Corbyn’s vision. The Conservatives did, however, make big gains in Scotland, where the Scottish National Party fell from 56 seats to 35, in what was widely interpreted as a rebuke to Sturgeon and the SNP’s call for another referendum on Scottish independence. Arguably the election’s biggest winner was Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Having increased its representation in the House of Commons from 8 to 10 seats, it found itself in the role of kingmaker when May enlisted its support to cling to power by forming a minority government (rather than seeking a formal coalition arrangement). With the support of the DUP on key votes, the Conservatives would be able to just barely surpass the 326-vote bar for a legislative majority. The central task for May’s government remained arriving at a cohesive approach for its Brexit negotiations with the EU. That task was a daunting one, however, because wide disagreement persisted even within the Conservative Party, not just on a myriad of details related to the British proposal for separation but also on the broader issues involved. The Grenfell Tower fire, a novichok attack in Salisbury, and air strikes on Syria In June 2017 Brexit was pushed off the front pages by one of the worst disasters in recent British history: a fire in a multistory public housing residence ( Grenfell Tower) in London claimed the lives of 72 individuals, many of whom were recent immigrants. The incident prompted a period of national soul-searching after it was revealed that months before the fire the building’s low-income residents had raised concerns about fire safety and complained that they were being treated like second-class citizens. In March 2018 British national outrage was focused on Russia when a former Russian intelligence officer, who had acted as double agent for Britain, and his daughter were found unconscious in Salisbury , England . It was determined that the pair had been victims of a “novichok,” a complex nerve agent that had been developed by the Soviets. Although the Russian government denied having any involvement with the attack and British investigators were unable to prove that the nerve agent originated in Russia, the May government responded by expelling some two dozen Russian intelligence operatives who had been working in Britain under diplomatic cover. In April Britain joined France and the United States in launching air strikes against targets in Syria after it was revealed that the regime of Syrian Pres. Bashar al-Assad had again used chemical weapons on its own people. Corbyn was critical of May for having ordered the strike without first consulting Parliament, but she countered that the action had to be undertaken without seeking parliamentary approval in order to protect the operation’s integrity . May also said that the strike was intended to prevent further suffering, and she characterized the decision as both right and legal. The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Chequers plan, and Boris Johnson’s resignation In May 2018 Britain and much of the world stopped for a day to witness the royal wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle —a divorced American actress, daughter of an African American mother and a white father—whose informal approachability and personal warmth recalled the much beloved “People’s Princess” Diana . The newlywed couple’s union reflected the changing social landscape of an increasingly multicultural Britain. Moreover, they seemed determined to modernize the monarchy and to connect it with the lives of everyday Britons. In early July May summoned her cabinet to the prime minister’s country retreat, Chequers , determined to forge a consensus on the nuts and bolts of the government’s Brexit plan. Despite forceful opposition by the cabinet’s “hard” Brexiters, by the end of the marathon meeting a consensus seemed to have emerged around May’s “softer” approach, grounded in policies aimed at preserving economic ties with the EU. Just two days later, however, the government’s apparent harmony was disrupted by the resignation of Britain’s chief Brexit negotiator, David Davis , who complained that May’s plan gave up too much, too easily. The next day Johnson left his post as foreign secretary, writing in his letter of resignation that the dream of Brexit was dying, “suffocated by needless self-doubt.” Suddenly confronted with the possibility of a vote of confidence on her party leadership, May reportedly cautioned Conservatives to line up behind her Brexit plan or run the risk of losing power to a Corbyn-led Labour government. EU agreement and Parliamentary opposition to May’s Brexit plan On November 25 the leaders of the EU’s 27 other member countries formally agreed to the terms of a withdrawal deal that May claimed “delivered for the British people” and set the United Kingdom “on course for a prosperous future.” Under the plan Britain was to pay some $50 billion to the EU to satisfy its long-term financial obligations. Britain’s departure from the EU was to come in March 2019, but, according to the agreement, the U.K. would continue to abide by EU rules and regulations until at least December 2020 while negotiations continued on the details of the long-term relationship between the EU and the U.K. The agreement, which was set to be debated and voted upon by the House of Commons in December, still faced strong opposition in Parliament, not only from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, Plaid Cymru , and the DUP but also from dozens of Conservatives. At the same time, the call for holding another referendum on Brexit was growing louder, though May remained adamant that the will of the British people had already been expressed. A major sticking point for many of those who opposed the agreement was the so-called Northern Ireland backstop plan . Formulated to help maintain an open border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland after Brexit, the “backstop” stipulated that a legally binding customs arrangement between the EU and Northern Ireland would go into effect if the U.K. and the EU could not reach a long-term agreement by December 2020. Opponents of the backstop argued that it set up the potential for regulatory barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K., effectively establishing a customs border down the Irish Sea . Objections to the Irish backstop and a challenge to May’s leadership The issue grew more heated in the first week of December after the government was forced to publish in full Attorney General Geoffrey Cox ’s legal advice for the government on the Brexit agreement, which had initially been reported to Parliament in overview only. According to Cox, without agreement between Britain and the EU, the terms of the backstop plan could endure “indefinitely,” with the U.K. legally blocked from terminating the agreement without EU approval. This contentious issue was front and centre as the House of Commons began five days of debate leading up to a vote on the Brexit agreement that was scheduled for December 11. Facing the likelihood of a humiliating rejection of the agreement by the House of Commons, May dramatically interrupted the debate after three days, on December 10, and postponed the vote, pledging to seek new assurances from the EU regarding the backstop. The opposition responded by threatening to hold a vote of confidence and to call for an early election. A challenge to May’s leadership was quickly mounted within the Conservative Party, and, after more than the required 15 percent of the parliamentary party (48 of 317 MPs) requested a vote on her leadership of the party, a secret ballot vote was held on December 12, 2018. May received the votes of 200 MPs, more than the 159 votes she needed to survive as leader. Although, according to Conservative Party rules, she could not be challenged as leader for another year, it remained to be seen whether May would still face pressure to relinquish power. Parliamentary rejection of May’s plan, May’s survival of a confidence vote, and the Independent Group of breakaway MPs Responding to May in a joint letter, European Council Pres. Donald Tusk and European Commission Pres. Jean-Claude Juncker indicated that, if the backstop had to be invoked , they would strive to limit its application to the “shortest possible period.” However, this pledge satisfied few of the agreement’s critics. When debate on the agreement resumed on January 9, Corbyn argued not only for rejection of the agreement but also for an early general election. On January 15 the agreement was overwhelmingly rejected by a vote of 432–202 (the worst defeat for a government initiative in modern British parliamentary history), and Corbyn tabled a vote of confidence in the government, which May survived the next day, 325–306, having held onto the support of the DUP and many Conservatives who had deserted her in the agreement vote. The longer the issue of Brexit remained unsettled, the more it became the fulcrum on which British politics turned. Political pundits began to note that opinions on May’s proposed version of Brexit and Brexit in general cut across ideological lines. Both Labour and the Conservative Party were riven by internecine conflict over Brexit. In February eight MPs withdrew from the Labour Party , citing their disappointment in Corbyn’s leadership on the issue as well as concerns over alleged anti-Semitism within the party, a criticism that was at least partly tied to Corbyn’s sympathy for Palestinian concerns. Only days after their departure, three moderate Tories left the Conservative Party, protesting that it had been hijacked by the European Research Group , a faction of right-wing hard-line Brexiters whom the departing MPs accused of acting as a party within the party. Joining together as the Independent Group, these breakaway MPs from both parties began taking steps toward formally constituting a new political party . Meanwhile, in early March, Tom Watson, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, convened a meeting of Labour MPs and members of the House of Lords—many of whom felt that Corbyn had taken the party too far leftward—to consider an alternative vision for the party. Parliament rejects May’s plan again Against this backdrop, May continued negotiations with European leaders in an effort to win concessions that would garner wider support within Parliament than the terms of her earlier, shunned Brexit plan did. On the eve of a scheduled meaningful vote in the House of Commons on her revised plan, May secured new promises of cooperation on the backstop plan from EU leaders. A “joint legally binding instrument” was agreed to under which Britain could initiate a “formal dispute” with the EU if the EU were to attempt to keep Britain bound to the backstop plan indefinitely. A “joint statement” was also issued that committed the U.K. and the EU to arriving at a replacement for the backstop plan by December 2020. Finally, the U.K. put forth a “unilateral declaration” stressing that there was nothing to prevent Britain from abandoning the backstop if negotiations on an alternative arrangement with the EU were to collapse without the prospect of resolution. In advance of the vote in Parliament, Attorney General Cox issued his opinion that while the new assurances reduced the risk of the U.K.’s being indefinitely confined by the backstop agreement, they did not fundamentally change the agreement’s legal status. In the vote on March 12, the House of Commons once again rejected May’s plan, though by a smaller margin than its earlier defeat, 391–242. The next day the House of Commons voted 312–308 against leaving the EU without a deal in place. On March 14, by just two votes, May survived a vote that would have taken control of Brexit away from her and handed it to Parliament. In a letter to EU leaders on March 20, she requested that the date of Britain’s departure from the EU be delayed until June 30. In response the EU announced its willingness to extend the Brexit deadline until May 22 but only if Parliament had accepted May’s withdrawal plan by the week of March 24. “Indicative votes,” May’s pledge to resign, a third defeat for her plan, and a new deadline Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of London on March 23 to demand that another referendum on Brexit be held. On March 25 the House of Commons voted 329–302 to usurp control of Parliament’s agenda from the government in order to hold “ indicative votes ” on alternative proposals to May’s plan. Eight of those proposals were put to a vote on March 27, but none was able to gain the support of the majority, though a plan to seek to create a “permanent and comprehensive U.K.-wide customs union with the EU” came close, falling sort by just six votes. Also on March 27, May pledged to resign as party leader and prime minister if the House of Commons were to approve her plan, a gambit that won support from some “hard Brexit” opponents of the plan. On March 29, owing to an antique procedural rule invoked by Speaker of the House John Bercow , only the withdrawal agreement portion of May’s plan was voted upon by the House of Commons (excluded was the “political declaration” that addressed what the U.K. and EU expected of their long-term relationship). Although the vote was closer than the previous two (286 in support, 344 in opposition), the plan once again went down in defeat. The U.K. now had until April 12 to decide whether it would leave the EU without an agreement on that day or request a longer delay that would require it to participate in elections for the European Parliament . May asked the EU to push back the deadline for Brexit until June 30, and on April 11 the European Council announced that it was granting the U.K. a “flexible extension” until October 31. Shortly thereafter, in response to the Conservative Party’s seeming inability to position the country to leave the EU, Nigel Farage launched the Brexit Party . It proved to be a big winner in the elections for the European Parliament in May, capturing about 31 percent of the vote. The next closest finisher was the Liberal Democrats, with about 20 percent of the vote, while Labour claimed some 14 percent and the Conservatives only about 9 percent. Having failed to garner sufficient support from Conservatives for her exit plan, May entered discussions with Labour leaders on a possible compromise, but these too proved fruitless. When May responded to that disappointment by proposing a new version of the plan that included a temporary customs relationship with the EU and a pledge to hold a parliamentary vote on whether to stage another referendum on Brexit, her cabinet revolted. Isolated as never before, the prime minister announced on May 24 that she would step down as leader of the Conservative Party on June 7 but would remain as caretaker premier until her party had chosen her successor. The Boris Johnson government Boris Johnson’s ascent, the December 2019 snap election, and Brexit After a series of votes by the parliamentary Conservative Party winnowed a list of 10 candidates to 2, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt stood in an election in which all of the party’s roughly 160,000 members were eligible to vote. Johnson took some 66 percent of that vote to assume the leadership. He officially replaced May as prime minister on July 24, 2019. Although he had promised to take the United Kingdom out of the EU without an exit agreement if the deal May had negotiated was not changed to his liking, Johnson faced widespread opposition (even within his own party) to his advocacy of no-deal Brexit. Political maneuvering by the new prime minister (including proroguing Parliament just weeks before October 31, the revised departure deadline) was met with forceful legislative countermeasures by those opposed to leaving the EU without an agreement in place. A vote of the House of Commons in early September forced Johnson to request a delay of the British withdrawal from the EU until January 31, 2020, even though on October 22 the House approved, in principle, the agreement that Johnson had negotiated, replacing the backstop with a plan to keep Northern Ireland aligned with the EU for at least four years from the end of the transition period. Johnson repeatedly tried and failed to call a snap election that he hoped would secure a mandate for his vision of Brexit. Because the election would fall outside the five-year term stipulated by the Fixed Terms of Parliament Act, it required approval by two-thirds of the House of Commons to be held, meaning that it needed support from the opposition, which was denied. After no-deal Brexit was blocked, however, Corbyn was willing to let voters once again decide the fate of Brexit, and an election was scheduled for December 12, 2019. Preelection opinion polling indicated a likely win for the Conservatives, but when the results were in, Johnson’s party had recorded its most decisive victory since 1987, adding 48 seats to secure a solid Parliamentary majority of 365 seats. The stage was set for the realization of Johnson’s version of Brexit, which was to take place at 11:00 pm London time on January 31, when the United Kingdom formally would withdraw from the European Union. In April 2020 Sir Keir Starmer , the shadow Brexit secretary and a former director of public prosecutions, replaced Corbyn as Labour leader. At the end of October Corbyn was suspended from the party in response to his somewhat dismissive reaction to the release of the greatly anticipated report on anti-Semitism within the Labour Party by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. His suspension immediately disrupted the Labour Party, prompting denunciations of that action by Corbyn’s leftist supporters. Although Britain’s formal withdrawal from the EU had been accomplished, final details relating to a new trade deal between the U.K. and the EU remained to be resolved, and the December 31, 2020, deadline for that resolution was only barely met on December 24. The resultant 2,000-page agreement clarified that there would be no limits or taxes on goods sold between U.K. and EU parties; however, an extensive regimen of paperwork for such transactions and transport of goods was put in place. The freedom to work and live between the U.K. and the EU became a thing of the past. The coronavirus pandemic As it was in most of the rest of the world, life in the U.K. was turned upside down in 2020 by the onset of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic, which had originated in China , where the first cases were reported in December 2019. Because the Johnson government’s key scientific advisers had embraced the controversial theory that the best way to limit the long-term effects of the pandemic was to allow the virus to spread naturally and thus generate “herd immunity,” Britain initially did not adopt the kind of aggressive measures to combat the pandemic that had been undertaken in much of the rest of the world. By mid-March 2020, however, the government had radically shifted gears as COVID-19 , the potentially deadly disease caused by the virus, began spreading rapidly in Britain. Social-distancing and mask-wearing requirements were imposed, as was a lockdown that included the closing of schools, pubs, restaurants, and other businesses. In late March Prime Minister Johnson contracted the virus and had to be hospitalized, spending three nights in an intensive care unit when his life was in jeopardy. While he was incapacitated, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab performed Johnson’s duties. Over the coming year, Johnson would initiate and rescind stay-at-home orders that varied by region as the spread of the disease came in waves. Although the government’s initial response to the pandemic had been slow and unsteady, British scientists, aided by government funding, made historically rapid advances in developing an effective vaccine. Having become the first country to approve and deploy the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Britain began rolling out a national immunization program in December 2020. Nevertheless, by March 2021 the U.K. had suffered about 126,000 COVID-related deaths, more than all but four other countries—the United States, Brazil , Mexico , and India . The British predicament had been complicated by the emergence in the U.K. of a new, more easily transmissible variant of the disease (B.1.1.7) in September 2020. “Partygate” In late November 2021 it began to be reported that members of Johnson’s cabinet and staff, as well as the prime minister himself, had attended parties earlier in the pandemic that violated prohibitions on social gatherings established by the government. The resulting “Partygate” scandal involved both the alleged violations and Johnson’s initial insistence that the government’s pandemic-related guidelines had been “followed at all times.” After reports came to light of an increasing number of illegal social gatherings at Downing Street during the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, Johnson apologized for having attended one such party at which drinks were served. In addition to the alleged violations of pandemic-related rules, a picture of excessive workplace drinking in the prime minister’s orbit began to take shape. Moreover, it appeared that Johnson had misled Parliament with his claim that no pandemic-related rules had been broken. Historically, deceiving Parliament was an offense that called for resignation. A report on the affair by senior civil servant Sue Gray was delivered to Parliament in late January 2022. Although it was truncated and heavily redacted to avoid compromising the investigation that had been undertaken by the London Metropolitan Police into a number of gatherings, the report said that “there were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No. 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times” and that “some of the events should not have been allowed to take place” whereas “other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did.” Despite a renewed apology to Parliament by Johnson, some Conservatives joined members of the opposition in calling for his resignation. Johnson’s grip on power would remain precarious—especially after the police investigation led to him being fined in April for his transgressions of pandemic-related rules. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 served to forestall efforts to remove Johnson from office. Many in Britain appeared to believe that the moment of existential crisis for Europe brought on by Russia’s aggression was not the time for a change of leadership. Further scandal and Johnson’s resignation Nevertheless, by early June a sufficient number of Conservative MPs had written to the party’s 1922 Committee requesting the prime minister’s resignation that a vote of confidence in his leadership of the party was forced. To retain his position, Johnson needed to have his leadership affirmed by at least 180 of the party’s 359 members of the House of Commons. When the secret ballots were counted, 211 MPs had voted in support of Johnson, but the 148 MPs who had voted against him represented a larger percentage of the party’s presence in the House of Commons than did the 133 MPs who had rejected Theresa May’s leadership in the 2018 vote of confidence that preceded her eventual resignation. Only weeks later Johnson’s uncanny ability to survive scandal finally deserted him when his apparent prevarication regarding his awareness of allegations of sexual misconduct against a senior Conservative Party official shattered his support within the party and forced him to step down. Johnson tendered his immediate resignation as party leader on July 7, 2022. He announced that he would remain as prime minister until the Conservatives had chosen a new leader. The premiership of Liz Truss Ascent to office Liz Truss Liz Truss (centre) attending a Conservative Party leadership campaign event in Marden, England, July 23, 2022. The parliamentary party (sitting Conservative MPs) then undertook a series of votes that incrementally winnowed the field of candidates for the leadership from eight to two, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and former chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak , whose names were submitted for a vote by the party’s whole membership. When the results of that election were reported on September 5, Truss emerged as the winner. The next day she became the third woman ever to serve as Britain’s prime minister. In a break with tradition, Truss received her official appointment from Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle rather than at Buckingham Palace out of concern for the queen’s increasingly frail health, which had limited Elizabeth’s participation in June in the Platinum Jubilee, a four-day celebration of her 70-year reign. The death of Elizabeth II On September 8 Britain and the world were shocked by the news of the queen’s death. Truss called Elizabeth “the rock on which modern Britain was built.” In an address to the nation the following day, the new king, Charles III , said: Queen Elizabeth’s was a life well lived; a promise with destiny kept and she is mourned most deeply in her passing…. As the Queen herself did with such unswerving devotion, I too now solemnly pledge myself, throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the Constitutional principles at the heart of our nation. And wherever you may live in the United Kingdom, or in the Realms and territories across the world, and whatever may be your background or beliefs, I shall endeavour to serve you with loyalty, respect and love, as I have throughout my life. Some 10 days of national mourning followed that led to the queen lying in state in Westminster Hall. Mourners stood in a line that stretched for miles to view her coffin. A sombre funeral ceremony, attended by an estimated 100 heads of foreign governments, was held at Westminster Abbey on September 19. Abrupt resignation Liz Truss had come into office believing that she had a mandate to carry out a “low taxes, high growth” economic plan. However, the financial markets panicked at the prospect of the budget deficit likely to result from Truss’s proposed combination of unfunded £45 billion ($50 billion) tax cuts and a two-year cap on energy prices (in response to high energy costs facing Britons as a result of sanctions imposed on natural gas supplier Russia). The Bank of England was forced to intervene to stabilize the markets after the value of the pound nose-dived, mortgage rates rose, and the cost of U.K. government borrowing climbed. Responding to the furor that followed, on October 14 Truss sacked Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng, among her closest political allies, and replaced him with former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt. Almost immediately Hunt began undoing Truss’s signature economic plan, reducing the period for the energy price cap to six months and revoking the tax cuts. Truss apologized for the “mistakes” she had made, but a growing number of Conservative MPs called for her to resign, and, amid withering support for her, on October 20 Truss announced that she was stepping down as party leader but would remain prime minister until the Conservatives will have chosen her successor. The premiership of Rishi Sunak The leadership selection process was more truncated this time around. Candidates were required to receive 100 nominations from Conservative MPs in order to come up for a vote. Given that there were 357 Conservative MPs, at most only three candidates could advance for consideration, and the party membership would choose between the two finalists. The House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt was the first to declare her candidacy, but Sunak, who still enjoyed broad support among MPs, was the favourite to replace Truss. Although there seemed to be significant support for a return to power by Johnson despite his fall from grace, the former prime minister withdrew his name from consideration the day before the nominations were due. Struggling to gain adequate support for her candidacy, Mordaunt also stepped aside, and on October 24 the path was clear for Sunak, as the sole remaining candidate, to be confirmed as party leader without resorting to a vote of the broader party membership. The stage was set for him to become the first person of colour, the first person of South Asian descent, and the first Hindu to serve as prime minister of the United Kingdom. Sunak became the fourth consecutive prime minister to oppose conducting a second referendum on Scottish independence. In June 2022, on Johnson’s watch, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had announced her intention to hold a second referendum (dubbed indyref2) in October 2023. In pursuit of that goal, she asked the U.K. Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of Scotland’s holding the vote without the approval of the U.K. government. When the court ruled in November 2022 that Scotland was not empowered to conduct the referendum without Westminster’s approval, Sturgeon pledged to make the U.K. parliamentary election scheduled for 2025 a de facto referendum on Scottish independence. In January 2023, invoking the powers of the Scotland Act of 1998, the British government blocked the promulgation of a law enacted in December 2022 by the Scottish Parliament that permitted transgender people in Scotland to change their legal gender by self-declaration without a medical diagnosis . The veto of the Scottish legislation—based on the argument that the law created inequalities because elsewhere in the United Kingdom a medical diagnosis was required for an individual to transition for legal purposes—marked the first time in the roughly 25 years since devolution that the British government had overruled an action by Scotland’s Parliament. Sturgeon promised to take the matter to court; however, in February 2023 she announced her intention to resign as leader of the SNP and first minister, saying that she felt that she could no longer summon the energy that was necessary to perform her job. Sturgeon remained as leader of the SNP and first minister until late March, when the party chose her successor , Humza Yousaf , the health secretary, who became the first Muslim and first person of colour to head the Scottish government.

Markdown

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[Introduction & Quick Facts](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom) - [Land](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom#ref44671) - [Relief](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom#ref44672) - [The highland zone](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-highland-zone) - [The lowland zone](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-lowland-zone) - [Drainage](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-lowland-zone#ref44675) - [Soils](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-lowland-zone#ref44676) - [Climate](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-lowland-zone#ref44677) - [Plant and animal life](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Plant-and-animal-life) - [People](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Plant-and-animal-life#ref44682) - [Ethnic groups](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Plant-and-animal-life#ref44683) - [Languages](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Plant-and-animal-life#ref44684) - [Religion](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Religion) - [Settlement patterns](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Religion#ref225229) - [Rural settlement](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Religion#ref225230) - [Urban settlement](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Urban-settlement) - [Demographic trends](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Urban-settlement#ref44686) - [Population growth](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Urban-settlement#ref44687) - [Migration patterns](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Urban-settlement#ref44688) - [Economy](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Economy) - [Agriculture, forestry, and fishing](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44691) - [Agriculture](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44692) - [Forestry](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44693) - [Fishing](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44694) - [Resources and power](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44690) - [Minerals](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref225232) - [Energy](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref225233) - [Manufacturing](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44695) - [Finance](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44699) - [Trade](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Trade) - [Services](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref215040) - [Labour and taxation](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref225234) - [Transportation and telecommunications](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref44701) - [Government and society](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref44702) - [Constitutional framework](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref225235) - [Regional government](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref215041) - [Local government](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Local-government) - [Justice](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Local-government#ref44709) - [Political process](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Local-government#ref44706) - [Security](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Local-government#ref44710) - [Health and welfare](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare) - [The National Health Service](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44717) - [Cash benefits](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44718) - [Housing](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44719) - [Education](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44712) - [Primary and secondary education](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44713) - [Private schools](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44714) - [Higher education](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Higher-education) - [Cultural life](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Higher-education#ref44720) - [Daily life and social customs](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Higher-education#ref225236) - [The arts](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Higher-education#ref225237) - [Cultural institutions](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Higher-education#ref225238) - [Sports and recreation](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation) - [Media and publishing](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation#ref44722) - [Newspapers](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation#ref44723) - [Broadcasting](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation#ref44724) - [History](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation#ref214519) - [Ancient Britain](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Ancient-Britain) - [Pre-Roman Britain](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Ancient-Britain#ref44731) - [Neolithic Period](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Ancient-Britain#ref44732) - [Bronze Age](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Ancient-Britain#ref44733) - [Iron Age](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Ancient-Britain#ref44734) - [Roman Britain](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-Britain) - [The conquest](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-Britain#ref44736) - [Condition of the province](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-Britain#ref44737) - [Army and frontier](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-Britain#ref44738) - [Administration](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-Britain#ref44739) - [Roman society](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society) - [Economy](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society#ref44741) - [Towns](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society#ref44742) - [Villas](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society#ref44743) - [Religion and culture](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society#ref44744) - [The decline of Roman rule](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society#ref44745) - [Anglo-Saxon England](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Anglo-Saxon-England) - [The invaders and their early settlements](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Anglo-Saxon-England#ref44747) - [The social system](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Anglo-Saxon-England#ref44748) - [The conversion to Christianity](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Anglo-Saxon-England#ref44749) - [The golden age of Bede](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Anglo-Saxon-England#ref44750) - [The heptarchy](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-heptarchy) - [The supremacy of Northumbria and the rise of Mercia](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-heptarchy#ref44752) - [The great age of Mercia](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-heptarchy#ref44753) - [The church and scholarship in Offa’s time](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-heptarchy#ref44754) - [The decline of Mercia and the rise of Wessex](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-heptarchy#ref44755) - [The period of the Scandinavian invasions](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions) - [Viking invasions and settlements](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44757) - [Alfred’s government and his revival of learning](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44758) - [The achievement of political unity](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44759) - [The reconquest of the Danelaw](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44760) - [The kingdom of England](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44761) - [The church and the monastic revival](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-church-and-the-monastic-revival) - [The Anglo-Danish state](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-church-and-the-monastic-revival#ref44763) - [The Danish conquest and the reigns of the Danish kings](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-church-and-the-monastic-revival#ref44764) - [The reign of Edward the Confessor and the Norman Conquest](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-church-and-the-monastic-revival#ref44765) - [The Normans (1066–1154)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154) - [William I (1066–87)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44767) - [Resistance and rebellion](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44768) - [The introduction of feudalism](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44769) - [Government and justice](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44770) - [Church–state relations](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44771) - [William’s accomplishments](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44772) - [The sons of William I](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I) - [William II Rufus (1087–1100)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44774) - [Henry I (1100–35)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44775) - [The period of anarchy (1135–54)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44776) - [Matilda and Stephen](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44777) - [Civil war](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44778) - [England in the Norman period](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44779) - [The early Plantagenets](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets) - [Henry II (1154–89)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44781) - [Government of England](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44782) - [Struggle with Thomas Becket](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44783) - [Rebellion of Henry’s sons and Eleanor of Aquitaine](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44784) - [Richard I (1189–99)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44785) - [John (1199–1216)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216) - [Loss of French possessions](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216#ref44787) - [Struggle with the papacy](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216#ref44788) - [Revolt of the barons and Magna Carta](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216#ref44789) - [Economy and society](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216#ref44790) - [The 13th century](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216#ref44791) - [Henry III (1216–72)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72) - [Minority](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44793) - [Early reign](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44794) - [The county communities](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44795) - [Simon de Montfort and the Barons’ War](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44796) - [Later reign](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44797) - [Edward I (1272–1307)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307) - [Law and government](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44799) - [Finance](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44800) - [The growth of Parliament](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44801) - [Edward’s wars](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44802) - [Domestic difficulties](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44803) - [Social, economic, and cultural change](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Social-economic-and-cultural-change) - [The 14th century](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Social-economic-and-cultural-change#ref44805) - [Edward II (1307–27)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Social-economic-and-cultural-change#ref44806) - [Edward III (1327–77)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-III-1327-77) - [The Hundred Years’ War to 1360](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-III-1327-77#ref44808) - [Domestic achievements](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-III-1327-77#ref44809) - [Law and order](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-III-1327-77#ref44810) - [The crises of Edward’s later years](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-III-1327-77#ref44811) - [Richard II (1377–99)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Richard-II-1377-99) - [The Peasants’ Revolt (1381)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Richard-II-1377-99#ref44813) - [John Wycliffe](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Richard-II-1377-99#ref44814) - [Political struggles and Richard’s deposition](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Richard-II-1377-99#ref44815) - [Economic crisis and cultural change](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Richard-II-1377-99#ref44816) - [Lancaster and York](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York) - [Henry IV (1399–1413)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44818) - [The rebellions](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44819) - [Henry and Parliament](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44820) - [Henry V (1413–22)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44821) - [The French war](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44822) - [Domestic affairs](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44823) - [Henry VI (1422–61 and 1470–71)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44824) - [Domestic rivalries and the loss of France](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44825) - [Cade’s rebellion](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44826) - [The beginning of the Wars of the Roses](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-beginning-of-the-Wars-of-the-Roses) - [Edward IV (1461–70 and 1471–83)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-beginning-of-the-Wars-of-the-Roses#ref44828) - [Richard III (1483–85)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-beginning-of-the-Wars-of-the-Roses#ref44829) - [England in the 15th century](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/England-in-the-15th-century) - [England under the Tudors](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/England-in-the-15th-century#ref44831) - [Henry VII (1485–1509)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/England-in-the-15th-century#ref44832) - [Economy and society](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/England-in-the-15th-century#ref44833) - [Dynastic threats](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Dynastic-threats) - [Financial policy](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Dynastic-threats#ref44835) - [The administration of justice](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Dynastic-threats#ref44836) - [Henry VIII (1509–47)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-VIII-1509-47) - [Cardinal Wolsey](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-VIII-1509-47#ref44838) - [The king’s “Great Matter”](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-VIII-1509-47#ref44839) - [The Reformation background](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-VIII-1509-47#ref44840) - [The break with Rome](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-break-with-Rome) - [The consolidation of the Reformation](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-break-with-Rome#ref44842) - [The expansion of the English state](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-break-with-Rome#ref275884) - [Henry’s last years](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-break-with-Rome#ref44843) - [Edward VI (1547–53)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-VI-1547-53) - [Mary I (1553–58)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-VI-1547-53#ref44845) - [Elizabeth I (1558–1603)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-VI-1547-53#ref44846) - [The Tudor ideal of government](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-VI-1547-53#ref44847) - [Elizabethan society](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Elizabethan-society) - [Mary, Queen of Scots](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Elizabethan-society#ref44849) - [The clash with Spain](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-clash-with-Spain) - [Internal discontent](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-clash-with-Spain#ref44851) - [The early Stuarts and the Commonwealth](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Stuarts-and-the-Commonwealth) - [England in 1603](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Stuarts-and-the-Commonwealth#ref44853) - [Economy and society](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Stuarts-and-the-Commonwealth#ref44854) - [Government and society](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Stuarts-and-the-Commonwealth#ref44855) - [James I (1603–25)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/James-I-1603-25) - [Triple monarchy](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/James-I-1603-25#ref275885) - [Religious policy](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/James-I-1603-25#ref44857) - [Finance and politics](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/James-I-1603-25#ref44858) - [Factions and favourites](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/James-I-1603-25#ref44859) - [Charles I (1625–49)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Charles-I-1625-49) - [The politics of war](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Charles-I-1625-49#ref44861) - [Peace and reform](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Charles-I-1625-49#ref44862) - [Religious reform](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Charles-I-1625-49#ref44863) - [The Long Parliament](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Long-Parliament) - [Civil war and revolution](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Long-Parliament#ref44865) - [Commonwealth and Protectorate](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Commonwealth-and-Protectorate) - [The later Stuarts](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts) - [Charles II (1660–85)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44868) - [The Restoration](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44869) - [War and government](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44870) - [The Popish Plot](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44871) - [The exclusion crisis and the Tory reaction](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44872) - [James II (1685–88)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44873) - [Church and king](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44874) - [The Revolution of 1688](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Revolution-of-1688) - [William III (1689–1702) and Mary II (1689–94)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Revolution-of-1688#ref44876) - [The revolution settlement](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Revolution-of-1688#ref44877) - [A new society](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Revolution-of-1688#ref275886) - [The sinews of war](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Revolution-of-1688#ref44878) - [Anne (1702–14)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Anne-1702-14) - [Whigs and Tories](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Anne-1702-14#ref44880) - [Tories and Jacobites](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Anne-1702-14#ref44881) - [18th-century Britain, 1714–1815](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815) - [The state of Britain in 1714](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44883) - [Britain from 1715 to 1742](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44884) - [The supremacy of the Whigs](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44885) - [Robert Walpole](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44886) - [George II and Walpole](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44887) - [Foreign policy](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44888) - [Religious policy](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44889) - [Economic policies](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44890) - [The electoral system](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44891) - [Walpole’s loss of power](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Walpoles-loss-of-power) - [Britain from 1742 to 1754](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Walpoles-loss-of-power#ref44893) - [The Jacobite rebellion](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Walpoles-loss-of-power#ref44894) - [The rule of the Pelhams](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Walpoles-loss-of-power#ref44895) - [Domestic reforms](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Walpoles-loss-of-power#ref44896) - [British society by the mid-18th century](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century) - [Joseph Massie’s categories](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century#ref44898) - [Urban development](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century#ref44899) - [Change and continuity](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century#ref44900) - [The revolution in communications](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century#ref44901) - [Britain from 1754 to 1783](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783) - [Conflict abroad](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44903) - [Political instability in Britain](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44904) - [The American Revolution](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44905) - [Domestic responses to the American Revolution](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44906) - [Britain from 1783 to 1815](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44907) - [William Pitt the Younger](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/William-Pitt-the-Younger) - [Economic growth and prosperity](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/William-Pitt-the-Younger#ref44909) - [The Industrial Revolution](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/William-Pitt-the-Younger#ref44910) - [Britain during the French Revolution](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/William-Pitt-the-Younger#ref44911) - [The Napoleonic Wars](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars) - [Imperial expansion](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref44913) - [Great Britain, 1815–1914](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref44914) - [Britain after the Napoleonic Wars](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref44915) - [State and society](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref274567) - [The political situation](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref274568) - [Early and mid-Victorian Britain](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain) - [State and society](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274569) - [The political situation](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274570) - [Whig reforms](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274571) - [Chartism and the Anti-Corn Law League](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274572) - [Peel and the Peelite heritage](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274573) - [Palmerston](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274574) - [Gladstone and Disraeli](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Gladstone-and-Disraeli) - [Economy and society](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Gladstone-and-Disraeli#ref44926) - [Cultural change](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Cultural-change) - [The development of private life](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Cultural-change#ref274576) - [Religion](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Cultural-change#ref274577) - [Leisure](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Cultural-change#ref274578) - [Late Victorian Britain](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain) - [State and society](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274580) - [The political situation](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274581) - [Gladstone and Chamberlain](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274582) - [The Irish question](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274583) - [Split of the Liberal Party](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274584) - [Imperialism and British politics](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274585) - [The return of the Liberals](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-return-of-the-Liberals) - [The international crisis](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-return-of-the-Liberals#ref274587) - [Economy and society](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-return-of-the-Liberals#ref274588) - [Family and gender](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-return-of-the-Liberals#ref274589) - [Mass culture](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-return-of-the-Liberals#ref274590) - [Britain from 1914 to the present](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present) - [The political situation](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274520) - [World War I](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274521) - [The Asquith coalition](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274522) - [Lloyd George](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274523) - [Between the wars](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274524) - [The election of 1918](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274525) - [Harsh peace and hard times](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274526) - [Ireland and the return of the Conservatives](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274527) - [The Baldwin era](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274528) - [Baldwin and the abdication crisis](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis) - [Foreign policy and appeasement](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis#ref274530) - [World War II](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis#ref274531) - [The phases of war](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis#ref274532) - [Political developments](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis#ref274533) - [Britain since 1945](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945) - [Labour and the welfare state (1945–51)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274535) - [Economic crisis and relief (1947)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274536) - [Withdrawal from the empire](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274537) - [Conservative government (1951–64)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274538) - [Labour interlude (1964–70)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274539) - [The return of the Conservatives (1970–74)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274540) - [Labour back in power (1974–79)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274541) - [The Margaret Thatcher government (1979–90)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90) - [The Falkland Islands War, the 1983 election, and privatization](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342384) - [Racial discrimination and the 1981 England riots](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342385) - [The 2001 England riots](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342386) - [The “Troubles” in Northern Ireland](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342387) - [“Thatcherism”](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342388) - [The government of John Major (1990–97)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref274543) - [“Black Wednesday,” epidemic scandals, and Major’s “Citizens Charter”](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342389) - [“Mad cow disease”](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342390) - [The Tony Blair government (1997–2007)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007) - [The struggle for control of Labour](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342392) - [New Labour, the repeal of Clause IV, and the “third way”](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342393) - [Navigating the European monetary system and the EU Social Chapter](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342394) - [The Good Friday Agreement](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342395) - [London’s local government, House of Lords reform, and devolution for Scotland and Wales](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342396) - [The royal family’s “annus horribilis,” the death of Princess Diana, and the Millennium Dome](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342397) - [The battle for the soul of the Conservative Party](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342398) - [Response to the September 11 attacks](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342399) - [Weapons of mass destruction and the Iraq War](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342400) - [The Gordon Brown government (2007–10)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref274544) - [Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition rule (2010–15)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15) - [The U.K. general election of 2010](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342401) - [First-past-the-post referendum](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342402) - [Intervention in Libya](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342403) - [*News of the World* hacking scandal](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342404) - [The 2011 riots, the European sovereign debt crisis, and Cameron’s veto of changes to the Lisbon Treaty](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342405) - [The 2012 London Olympics, Julian Assange’s embassy refuge, and the emergence of UKIP](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342406) - [The birth of George, rejection of intervention in Syria, and regulation of GCHQ](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342407) - [Euroskepticism](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342408) - [Scottish independence referendum](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342409) - [Economic recovery](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342410) - [David Cameron on his own (2015–16)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref332805) - [The U.K. general election of 2015](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342411) - [The “Brexit” referendum](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum) - [The premiership of Theresa May (2016–19)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref337649) - [The resignation of Cameron, the rise of May, and a challenge to Corbyn’s leadership of Labour](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342413) - [Triggering Article 50](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342414) - [The Manchester arena bombing and London bridge attacks](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342415) - [The snap election campaign](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342416) - [The 2017 U.K. general election](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342417) - [The Grenfell Tower fire, a novichok attack in Salisbury, and air strikes on Syria](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342418) - [The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Chequers plan, and Boris Johnson’s resignation](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342419) - [EU agreement and Parliamentary opposition to May’s Brexit plan](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342420) - [Objections to the Irish backstop and a challenge to May’s leadership](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342421) - [Parliamentary rejection of May’s plan, May’s survival of a confidence vote, and the Independent Group of breakaway MPs](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342422) - [Parliament rejects May’s plan again](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342423) - [“Indicative votes,” May’s pledge to resign, a third defeat for her plan, and a new deadline](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342486) - [The Boris Johnson government](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref350369) - [Boris Johnson’s ascent, the December 2019 snap election, and Brexit](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref344342) - [The coronavirus pandemic](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref347309) - [“Partygate”](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref350370) - [Further scandal and Johnson’s resignation](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref351071) - [The premiership of Liz Truss](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref351684) - [Ascent to office](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref352183) - [The death of Elizabeth II](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref352184) - [Abrupt resignation](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref352772) - [The premiership of Rishi Sunak](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref352803) - [Society, state, and economy](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Society-state-and-economy) - [State and society](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Society-state-and-economy#ref274546) - [Economy and society](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Society-state-and-economy#ref274547) - [Family and gender](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Family-and-gender) - [Mass culture](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Family-and-gender#ref274549) - [Sovereigns of Britain](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Sovereigns-of-Britain) - [Prime ministers of Great Britain and the United Kingdom](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Sovereigns-of-Britain#ref276899) [References & Edit History](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/additional-info) [Facts & Stats](https://www.britannica.com/facts/United-Kingdom) [Images, Videos & Interactives](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/images-videos) [![United Kingdom](https://cdn.britannica.com/25/4825-004-F1975B92/Flag-United-Kingdom.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/25/4825-050-977D8C5E/Flag-United-Kingdom.jpg) [![United Kingdom](https://cdn.britannica.com/26/4826-004-4994700F/United-Kingdom.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/26/4826-050-915ED74D/United-Kingdom.jpg) [![United Kingdom](https://cdn.britannica.com/84/183784-004-A1E621A9/World-Data-Locator-Map-United-Kingdom.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/84/183784-050-9C0C8C6B/World-Data-Locator-Map-United-Kingdom.jpg) [![Big Ben, London](https://cdn.britannica.com/13/99613-004-31B3604B/Big-Ben-London.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/13/99613-050-13B8A7D2/Big-Ben-London.jpg) [![British Isles terminology](https://cdn.britannica.com/41/193441-004-F59FCB25/Terminology-British-Isles-United-Kingdom-Ireland-Great.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/41/193441-050-13CCA6B5/Terminology-British-Isles-United-Kingdom-Ireland-Great.jpg) [![Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England](https://cdn.britannica.com/12/60112-004-97372343/Stonehenge-earthwork-site-Wiltshire-England-Early-Bronze.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/12/60112-050-E856C922/Stonehenge-earthwork-site-Wiltshire-England-Early-Bronze.jpg) [![Ravenscraig Castle, Kirkcaldy, Scotland](https://cdn.britannica.com/27/1927-004-308BD790/Ravenscraig-Castle-Kirkcaldy-Scotland.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/27/1927-050-7DCB5384/Ravenscraig-Castle-Kirkcaldy-Scotland.jpg) [![Windermere, Cumbria, England](https://cdn.britannica.com/07/20307-004-44AEB441/Windermere-Cumbria-England.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/07/20307-050-A2FAB763/Windermere-Cumbria-England.jpg) [![North Channel coast, Northern Ireland](https://cdn.britannica.com/19/25419-004-E6BBE012/coast-North-Channel-Northern-Ireland-Torr-Head.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/19/25419-050-7D8F2B02/coast-North-Channel-Northern-Ireland-Torr-Head.jpg) At a Glance [![default image](https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-179/images/shared/new-thistle.svg?v=3.179.9)](https://www.britannica.com/summary/United-Kingdom) [United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland summary](https://www.britannica.com/summary/United-Kingdom) Quizzes [![Flags of all countries of the world. Flags of the world. National flags. Country flags. Hompepage blog 2009, history and society, geography and travel, explore discovery](https://cdn.britannica.com/40/129640-131-0EB20858/Flags-countries-world-flags-Country-blog-geography-2009.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](https://www.britannica.com/quiz/the-country-quiz) [The Country Quiz](https://www.britannica.com/quiz/the-country-quiz) [![7:023 Geography: Think of Something Big, globe showing Africa, Europe, and Eurasia](https://cdn.britannica.com/95/168695-131-11055CC5/Geography-Something-globe-Europe-Eurasia-Africa.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](https://www.britannica.com/quiz/which-country-is-larger-by-area-quiz) [Which Country Is Larger By Area? Quiz](https://www.britannica.com/quiz/which-country-is-larger-by-area-quiz) [![Flags of the world against blue sky. Countries, International. Globalization, global relations, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Poland, Palestine, Japan. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society](https://cdn.britannica.com/91/142291-131-1FF39F2D/Flags-world-blue-sky-Countries-Globalization-relations-2010.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](https://www.britannica.com/quiz/which-country-is-larger-by-population-quiz) [Which Country Is Larger By Population? Quiz](https://www.britannica.com/quiz/which-country-is-larger-by-population-quiz) [![Britain's Queen Elizabeth II smiles to the crowd from Buckingham Palace (London, England) balcony at the end of the Platinum Pageant in London on June 5, 2022 as part of Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee celebrations. The curtain comes down on four days of momentous nationwide celebrations to honor Queen Elizabeth II's historic Platinum Jubilee with a day-long pageant lauding the 96 year old monarch's record seven decades on the throne. (British royalty)](https://cdn.britannica.com/06/235406-131-17CB8E3D/Queen-Elizabeth-II-Buckingham-Palace-Platinum-Jubilee-London-England-June-5-2022.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](https://www.britannica.com/quiz/fit-for-a-king-or-queen-the-british-royalty-quiz) [Fit for a King (or Queen): the British Royalty Quiz](https://www.britannica.com/quiz/fit-for-a-king-or-queen-the-british-royalty-quiz) [![Royal golden crown with jewels on British flag. Symbols of United Kingdom. (British royalty, British monarchy)](https://cdn.britannica.com/09/242809-131-AAC5D871/British-crown-flag.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](https://www.britannica.com/quiz/a-royal-vocabulary-quiz) [A Royal Vocabulary Quiz](https://www.britannica.com/quiz/a-royal-vocabulary-quiz) Related Questions - [What is a major feature of the seafloor of the Atlantic Ocean?](https://www.britannica.com/question/What-is-a-major-feature-of-the-seafloor-of-the-Atlantic-Ocean) - [What is the salinity of the Atlantic Ocean?](https://www.britannica.com/question/What-is-the-salinity-of-the-Atlantic-Ocean) - [When was London founded?](https://www.britannica.com/question/When-was-London-founded) - [Was London bombed during World War II?](https://www.britannica.com/question/Was-London-bombed-during-World-War-II) - [What is London known for?](https://www.britannica.com/question/What-is-London-known-for) ![Britannica AI Icon](https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-179/images/chatbot/star-ai.svg?v=3.179.9) Contents Ask Anything [Geography & Travel](https://www.britannica.com/browse/Geography-Travel) [Countries of the World](https://www.britannica.com/browse/Countries-of-the-World) CITE Share Feedback External Websites ## The “[Brexit](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Brexit)” referendum in [United Kingdom](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom) in # [History](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation#ref214519) Homework Help Also known as: Britain, Great Britain, U.K., United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[(Show More)](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum) Written by [Patrick Joyce Department of History, University of Manchester *.*](https://www.britannica.com/contributor/Patrick-Joyce/5210) Patrick Joyce[All](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/additional-info#contributors) Fact-checked by [Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....](https://www.britannica.com/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419) Britannica Editors Last updated Apr. 12, 2026 •[History](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/additional-info#history) ![Britannica AI Icon](https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-179/images/chatbot/star-ai.svg?v=3.179.9) Britannica AI Ask Anything Table of Contents Table of Contents Ask Anything On December 2, 2015, in the wake of the [attacks by Islamist terrorists in Paris on November 13](https://www.britannica.com/event/Paris-attacks-of-2015), the [House of Commons](https://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Commons-British-government) authorized air strikes by the British [military](https://www.britannica.com/topic/armed-force) on ISIL targets in Syria. The vote on the measure came after some 10 hours of debate. Labour leader [Jeremy Corbyn](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jeremy-Corbyn) freed members of his party to vote their [conscience](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conscience), and dozens of them broke ranks to join the [Conservatives](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Conservatives) and others in voting for authorization, which passed 397–223. ## News • [UK puts Chagos Islands handover deal on hold after Trump withdraws support](https://www.britannica.com/news/615557/c37afa22677ec8e504c5a1dab6313d1c) • Apr. 11, 2026, 6:37 AM ET (AP) ...(Show more) [Suspect arrested in England after 4 die in failed channel crossing from France to UK](https://www.britannica.com/news/615557/ca9865ee5611596d21f0f9718835e763) • Apr. 10, 2026, 12:42 PM ET (AP) [Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi thrilled by Deep Purple's visit to her office](https://www.britannica.com/news/615557/5d8a86f43206643373cc672c1d1bf63c) • Apr. 10, 2026, 7:53 AM ET (AP) [UK and Norway led a military operation to deter Russian submarines in the North Atlantic](https://www.britannica.com/news/615557/7aa163bc29266504dd1d4c9949aeafde) • Apr. 9, 2026, 12:22 PM ET (AP) [4 dead, 38 rescued during attempted channel crossing from France to UK](https://www.britannica.com/news/615557/5cab4db6f195675268e4d50d5104ae8a) • Apr. 9, 2026, 11:45 AM ET (AP) Show less At a summit meeting of the leaders of the member countries of the [EU](https://www.britannica.com/topic/European-Union) in Brussels in February 2016, the European Council announced agreement on reforms to British membership that had been requested by Cameron in an attempt to forestall British withdrawal (“[Brexit](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Brexit)”) from the EU. Although Cameron did not get everything that he had asked for in the proposal that he submitted to [Donald Tusk](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Donald-Tusk), the president of the European Council, in November 2015, he won enough [concessions](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/concessions) to move forward on his promise of a referendum on continued British membership. In the face of considerable support within his own party for Brexit, Cameron nevertheless announced that he would campaign for remaining in the EU and scheduled the referendum for June 23, 2016. [![United Kingdom Brexit referendum](https://cdn.britannica.com/21/190621-050-7418E53A/majority-vote-region-referendum-United-Kingdom-European-2016.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/21/190621-050-7418E53A/majority-vote-region-referendum-United-Kingdom-European-2016.jpg) [United Kingdom Brexit referendum](https://cdn.britannica.com/21/190621-050-7418E53A/majority-vote-region-referendum-United-Kingdom-European-2016.jpg)The majority vote by region in the 2016 referendum on whether the United Kingdom should remain in the European Union. (more) Cameron was joined in the “Remain” effort by Corbyn. The “Leave” campaign was headed by former [London](https://www.britannica.com/place/London) mayor [Boris Johnson](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Boris-Johnson), whom many saw as a rival for Cameron’s leadership of the [Conservative Party](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Conservative-Party-political-party-United-Kingdom), and [Michael Gove](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michael-Gove), [lord chancellor](https://www.britannica.com/topic/lord-chancellor) and secretary of state for [justice](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/justice) in Cameron’s cabinet. Opinion polling indicated that the two sides were fairly evenly divided as the referendum approached, but in the event 52 percent of voters opted to leave the EU, making the United Kingdom the first [country](https://www.britannica.com/topic/nation-state) to ever do so. Cameron announced his intention to resign as [prime minister](https://www.britannica.com/topic/prime-minister) by the time of the [Conservative](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Conservative) Party conference in October 2016 to allow his successor to negotiate the U.K. withdrawal under the terms of Article 50 of the [Lisbon Treaty](https://www.britannica.com/event/Lisbon-Treaty), which, when triggered, would open a two-year window for the exit process. ## The premiership of Theresa May (2016–19) ## The resignation of Cameron, the rise of May, and a challenge to Corbyn’s leadership of Labour Only days after the Brexit vote, the political drama surrounding Johnson’s pursuit of the Conservative leadership assumed what many observers identified as Shakespearean proportions as Gove removed his prominent support for Johnson’s candidacy, saying that Johnson was “not capable of…leading the party and the country in the way that I would have hoped.” In rapid fashion, a wounded Johnson removed himself from consideration. Gove then threw his hat into the small ring of leadership candidates that was then [winnowed](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/winnowed) by successive votes by parliamentary Conservatives in early July to Home Secretary [Theresa May](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theresa-May) and Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom, whose names were put to a vote by all party members with results due in September. Almost before that process started, Leadsom unexpectedly withdrew her name from consideration, and on July 11 the Conservative Party’s 1922 Committee, which had been steering the leadership contest, declared May the new party leader “with immediate effect.” On July 13 Cameron formally resigned, and May became the second woman in British history to serve as prime minister. Meanwhile, Labour underwent its own leadership controversy as prominent party members, including Blair, took Corbyn to task for not mounting a more vigorous effort on behalf of the “Remain” campaign. No sooner had Blair made his [criticism](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/criticism) than he found himself in the crosshairs, with the release on July 5 of the so-called [Chilcot Report](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chilcot-Report), the findings of a seven-year inquiry into Britain’s involvement in the [Iraq War](https://www.britannica.com/event/Iraq-War), which was scathing in its condemnation of Blair’s handling of the war from the initial decision to join the [United States](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States) in invading Iraq to the Blair government’s failure to plan and prepare for the postwar aftermath in Iraq. Nonetheless, a challenge was mounted to Corbyn’s leadership of the party that eventually resulted in a head-to-head contest between Corbyn and Owen Smith, the former shadow secretary of work and pensions. In an online vote of party faithful in September, Corbyn held on to the leadership by capturing some 62 percent of the vote against about 38 percent for Smith. ## Triggering Article 50 In the meantime, May, who had opposed Brexit but came into office promising to see it to completion, led her government in cautious movement toward triggering Article 50. Her efforts experienced a setback in January 2017, however, when the Supreme Court upheld a November 2016 High Court ruling that prevented the prime minister from triggering Article 50 without first having gained approval from [Parliament](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Parliament) to do so. In February 2017 the House of Commons granted May that approval by a 498–114 vote, but the [House of Lords](https://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Lords) created another roadblock in early March by adding a pair of [amendments](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amendments) to the bill authorizing May to [invoke](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/invoke) Article 50. One guaranteed that EU passport holders residing in Britain would be permitted to remain, and the other sought a greater role for Parliament in the negotiations. Both amendments were overturned by the House of Commons later in March, and, before the end of the month, May formally submitted a letter to European Council Pres. [Donald Tusk](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Donald-Tusk) requesting the opening of the two-year window for talks on the details of British separation from the EU. Against this backdrop, the Scottish Assembly backed First Minister [Nicola Sturgeon](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nicola-Sturgeon)’s call for a new [referendum](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/referendum) on independence for [Scotland](https://www.britannica.com/place/Scotland) to be held before spring 2019 (the majority of Scottish voters had opposed leaving the EU in the Brexit referendum). ## The Manchester arena bombing and London bridge attacks In mid-April 2017 May called for a snap parliamentary election, saying that its results would provide stability and certainty for Britain during its Brexit negotiations and transition out of the EU. To hold an election ahead of the 2020 date [mandated](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mandated) by the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, May needed to win two-thirds majority approval in the House of Commons. Corbyn welcomed a return to the polls, despite opinion polling that predicted big gains for the Conservatives, and, by a vote of 522 to 13 (with [SNP](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Scottish-National-Party) members abstaining), the House of Commons approved a snap election for June 8. The election campaign was temporarily suspended after 22 people were killed and dozens injured in a terrorist attack on the night of May 22 at a 21,000-capacity arena in [Manchester](https://www.britannica.com/place/Manchester-England) following a concert by U.S. singer [Ariana Grande](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ariana-Grande). The attacker who detonated the homemade bomb that [wrought](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/wrought) the destruction also was killed in the blast. [ISIL](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islamic-State-in-Iraq-and-the-Levant) claimed responsibility for the attack, in which many of those who perished or were injured were children—teenaged and younger fans of the American pop star. It was the deadliest terrorist attack in Britain since the [London bombings of 2005](https://www.britannica.com/event/London-bombings-of-2005), in which more than 50 people were killed, and it followed an attack on Westminster Bridge in London on March 22 in which an attacker mowed down pedestrians with a car and then continued his assault on foot with a knife, taking five lives and injuring some 50 people before he was killed outside the [Houses of Parliament](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Houses-of-Parliament-buildings-London-United-Kingdom) by a security officer. On June 3, five days before voters were to go to the polls, [yet](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/yet) another terrorist attack unfolded in London. This time it occurred on [London Bridge](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Old-London-Bridge), where three attackers ran down victims with a vehicle before leaving it to menace others in nearby Borough Market with knives. Eight people were killed before police arrived, only eight minutes after the start of the incident, and shot and killed the attackers. ## The snap election campaign In addition to using the campaign to sell her version of “hard Brexit,” May sought to frame the election as a choice between her “strong and stable” leadership and that of Corbyn, who was characterized as an unreliable out-of-touch leftist extremist. However, Corbyn, once thought by many observers to be unelectable, proved to be an inspiring campaigner whose message of hope, [compassion](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/compassion), and inclusiveness energized a new generation of Labour voters. May, on the other hand, often appeared uncomfortable, stiff, and uncertain on the campaign trail. One element of her manifesto—a proposal to pay for in-home social care of the elderly with government sales of their homes after their deaths, a plan loudly condemned by many as a “dementia tax”—brought widespread outrage that prompted her to quickly alter the proposal. Rather than appearing “strong and stable,” May, in the eyes of some observers, looked to be “weak and wobbly.” ## The 2017 U.K. general election When voters had their say on June 8, 2017, they handed the Conservatives a major setback. Rather than securing a [mandate](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mandate), May watched her party’s legislative majority disappear as it lost at least 12 seats in the House of Commons to fall to 318 seats while Labour gained at least 29 seats to surpass 260 seats in total. Both parties garnered more than 40 percent of the popular vote each in an election that witnessed a return to dominance by the two major parties. Led by [Tim Farron](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tim-Farron), the Liberal Democrats, who had fared badly in the 2015 election, sought to reverse their fortunes by advocating another referendum on Brexit, and, while this proposal did not [resonate](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/resonate) for many voters, the party still gained four seats to reach a total of 12. Support for [UKIP](https://www.britannica.com/topic/United-Kingdom-Independence-Party) largely evaporated. Having nearly realized the goal of Brexit, many of those who had supported UKIP in previous elections were expected to vote for the Conservatives, but, in the event, it appeared that they instead were swayed by Corbyn’s vision. The Conservatives did, however, make big gains in Scotland, where the Scottish National Party fell from 56 seats to 35, in what was widely interpreted as a rebuke to Sturgeon and the SNP’s call for another referendum on Scottish independence. Arguably the election’s biggest winner was Northern Ireland’s [Democratic Unionist Party](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Democratic-Unionist-Party) (DUP). Having increased its representation in the House of Commons from 8 to 10 seats, it found itself in the role of kingmaker when May enlisted its support to cling to power by forming a [minority](https://www.britannica.com/topic/minority) government (rather than seeking a formal coalition arrangement). With the support of the DUP on key votes, the Conservatives would be able to just barely surpass the 326-vote bar for a legislative majority. The central task for May’s government remained arriving at a [cohesive](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cohesive) approach for its Brexit negotiations with the EU. That task was a [daunting](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/daunting) one, however, because wide disagreement persisted even within the Conservative Party, not just on a [myriad](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myriad) of details related to the British proposal for separation but also on the broader issues involved. ## The Grenfell Tower fire, a novichok attack in Salisbury, and air strikes on Syria In June 2017 Brexit was pushed off the front pages by one of the worst disasters in recent British history: a fire in a multistory [public housing](https://www.britannica.com/topic/public-housing) residence (Grenfell Tower) in London claimed the lives of 72 individuals, many of whom were recent immigrants. The incident prompted a period of national soul-searching after it was revealed that months before the fire the building’s low-income residents had raised concerns about fire safety and complained that they were being treated like second-class citizens. In March 2018 British national outrage was focused on [Russia](https://www.britannica.com/place/Russia) when a former Russian intelligence officer, who had acted as double agent for Britain, and his daughter were found unconscious in [Salisbury](https://www.britannica.com/place/Salisbury-former-district-England), [England](https://www.britannica.com/place/England). It was determined that the pair had been victims of a “novichok,” a complex [nerve agent](https://www.britannica.com/science/nerve-gas) that had been developed by the Soviets. Although the Russian government denied having any involvement with the attack and British investigators were unable to prove that the nerve agent originated in Russia, the May government responded by expelling some two dozen Russian intelligence operatives who had been working in Britain under diplomatic cover. In April Britain joined [France](https://www.britannica.com/place/France) and the United States in launching air strikes against targets in Syria after it was revealed that the regime of Syrian Pres. [Bashar al-Assad](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bashar-al-Assad) had again used chemical weapons on its own people. Corbyn was critical of May for having ordered the strike without first consulting Parliament, but she countered that the action had to be undertaken without seeking parliamentary approval in order to protect the operation’s [integrity](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/integrity). May also said that the strike was intended to prevent further suffering, and she characterized the decision as both right and legal. ## The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Chequers plan, and Boris Johnson’s resignation In May 2018 Britain and much of the world stopped for a day to witness the [royal wedding](https://www.britannica.com/event/British-Royal-Wedding-of-2018) of [Prince Harry](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Prince-Harry-of-Wales) to [Meghan Markle](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Meghan-Markle)—a divorced American actress, daughter of an African American mother and a white father—whose informal approachability and personal warmth recalled the much beloved “People’s Princess” [Diana](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Diana-princess-of-Wales). The newlywed couple’s union reflected the changing social landscape of an increasingly multicultural Britain. Moreover, they seemed determined to modernize the monarchy and to connect it with the lives of everyday Britons. In early July May summoned her cabinet to the prime minister’s country retreat, [Chequers](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chequers), determined to forge a [consensus](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consensus) on the nuts and bolts of the government’s Brexit plan. Despite forceful opposition by the cabinet’s “hard” Brexiters, by the end of the marathon meeting a consensus seemed to have emerged around May’s “softer” approach, grounded in policies aimed at preserving economic ties with the EU. Just two days later, however, the government’s apparent harmony was disrupted by the resignation of Britain’s chief Brexit negotiator, [David Davis](https://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Davis), who complained that May’s plan gave up too much, too easily. The next day Johnson left his post as foreign secretary, writing in his letter of resignation that the dream of Brexit was dying, “suffocated by needless self-doubt.” Suddenly confronted with the possibility of a [vote of confidence](https://www.britannica.com/topic/vote-of-confidence) on her party leadership, May reportedly cautioned Conservatives to line up behind her Brexit plan or run the risk of losing power to a Corbyn-led Labour government. ## EU agreement and Parliamentary opposition to May’s Brexit plan On November 25 the leaders of the EU’s 27 other member countries formally agreed to the terms of a withdrawal deal that May claimed “delivered for the British people” and set the United Kingdom “on course for a prosperous future.” Under the plan Britain was to pay some \$50 billion to the EU to satisfy its long-term financial obligations. Britain’s departure from the EU was to come in March 2019, but, according to the agreement, the U.K. would continue to [abide](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abide) by EU rules and regulations until at least December 2020 while negotiations continued on the details of the long-term relationship between the EU and the U.K. The agreement, which was set to be debated and voted upon by the House of Commons in December, still faced strong opposition in Parliament, not only from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, [Plaid Cymru](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Plaid-Cymru), and the DUP but also from dozens of Conservatives. At the same time, the call for holding another referendum on Brexit was growing louder, though May remained [adamant](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adamant) that the will of the British people had already been expressed. A major sticking point for many of those who opposed the agreement was the so-called [Northern Ireland backstop plan](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Northern-Ireland-backstop-plan). Formulated to help maintain an open border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland after Brexit, the “backstop” [stipulated](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stipulated) that a legally binding customs arrangement between the EU and Northern Ireland would go into effect if the U.K. and the EU could not reach a long-term agreement by December 2020. Opponents of the backstop argued that it set up the potential for regulatory barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K., effectively establishing a customs border down the [Irish Sea](https://www.britannica.com/place/Irish-Sea). ## Objections to the Irish backstop and a challenge to May’s leadership The issue grew more heated in the first week of December after the government was forced to publish in full Attorney General [Geoffrey Cox](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Geoffrey-Cox)’s legal advice for the government on the Brexit agreement, which had initially been reported to Parliament in overview only. According to Cox, without agreement between Britain and the EU, the terms of the backstop plan could endure “indefinitely,” with the U.K. legally blocked from terminating the agreement without EU approval. This [contentious](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contentious) issue was front and centre as the House of Commons began five days of debate leading up to a vote on the Brexit agreement that was scheduled for December 11. Facing the likelihood of a humiliating rejection of the agreement by the House of Commons, May dramatically interrupted the debate after three days, on December 10, and postponed the vote, pledging to seek new [assurances](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assurances) from the EU regarding the backstop. The opposition responded by threatening to hold a vote of confidence and to call for an early election. A challenge to May’s leadership was quickly mounted within the Conservative Party, and, after more than the required 15 percent of the parliamentary party (48 of 317 MPs) requested a vote on her leadership of the party, a [secret ballot](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Australian-ballot) vote was held on December 12, 2018. May received the votes of 200 MPs, more than the 159 votes she needed to survive as leader. Although, according to Conservative Party rules, she could not be challenged as leader for another year, it remained to be seen whether May would still face pressure to relinquish power. ## Parliamentary rejection of May’s plan, May’s survival of a confidence vote, and the Independent Group of breakaway MPs Responding to May in a joint letter, European Council Pres. [Donald Tusk](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Donald-Tusk) and [European Commission](https://www.britannica.com/topic/European-Commission) Pres. [Jean-Claude Juncker](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Claude-Juncker) indicated that, if the backstop had to be [invoked](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/invoked), they would strive to limit its application to the “shortest possible period.” However, this pledge satisfied few of the agreement’s critics. When debate on the agreement resumed on January 9, Corbyn argued not only for rejection of the agreement but also for an early general election. On January 15 the agreement was overwhelmingly rejected by a vote of 432–202 (the worst defeat for a government [initiative](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/initiative) in modern British parliamentary history), and Corbyn tabled a vote of confidence in the government, which May survived the next day, 325–306, having held onto the support of the DUP and many Conservatives who had deserted her in the agreement vote. The longer the issue of Brexit remained unsettled, the more it became the fulcrum on which British politics turned. Political pundits began to note that opinions on May’s proposed version of Brexit and Brexit in general cut across ideological lines. Both Labour and the Conservative Party were riven by internecine conflict over Brexit. In February eight MPs withdrew from the [Labour Party](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Labour-Party-political-party), citing their disappointment in Corbyn’s leadership on the issue as well as concerns over [alleged](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alleged) anti-Semitism within the party, a criticism that was at least partly tied to Corbyn’s sympathy for Palestinian concerns. Only days after their departure, three moderate Tories left the Conservative Party, protesting that it had been hijacked by the [European Research Group](https://www.britannica.com/topic/European-Research-Group), a faction of right-wing hard-line Brexiters whom the departing MPs accused of acting as a party within the party. Joining together as the Independent Group, these breakaway MPs from both parties began taking steps toward formally [constituting](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constituting) a new [political party](https://www.britannica.com/topic/political-party). Meanwhile, in early March, Tom Watson, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, [convened](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/convened) a meeting of Labour MPs and members of the House of Lords—many of whom felt that Corbyn had taken the party too far leftward—to consider an [alternative](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alternative) vision for the party. ## Parliament rejects May’s plan again Against this backdrop, May continued negotiations with European leaders in an effort to win concessions that would garner wider support within Parliament than the terms of her earlier, shunned Brexit plan did. On the eve of a scheduled meaningful vote in the House of Commons on her revised plan, May secured new promises of cooperation on the backstop plan from EU leaders. A “joint legally binding instrument” was agreed to under which Britain could initiate a “formal dispute” with the EU if the EU were to attempt to keep Britain bound to the backstop plan indefinitely. A “joint statement” was also issued that committed the U.K. and the EU to arriving at a replacement for the backstop plan by December 2020. Finally, the U.K. put forth a “unilateral declaration” stressing that there was nothing to prevent Britain from abandoning the backstop if negotiations on an alternative arrangement with the EU were to collapse without the prospect of resolution. In advance of the vote in Parliament, Attorney General Cox issued his opinion that while the new [assurances](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/assurances) reduced the risk of the U.K.’s being indefinitely confined by the backstop agreement, they did not fundamentally change the agreement’s legal status. In the vote on March 12, the House of Commons once again rejected May’s plan, though by a smaller margin than its earlier defeat, 391–242. The next day the House of Commons voted 312–308 against leaving the EU without a deal in place. On March 14, by just two votes, May survived a vote that would have taken control of Brexit away from her and handed it to Parliament. In a letter to EU leaders on March 20, she requested that the date of Britain’s departure from the EU be delayed until June 30. In response the EU announced its willingness to extend the Brexit deadline until May 22 but only if Parliament had accepted May’s withdrawal plan by the week of March 24. ## “Indicative votes,” May’s pledge to resign, a third defeat for her plan, and a new deadline Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of London on March 23 to demand that another referendum on Brexit be held. On March 25 the House of Commons voted 329–302 to usurp control of Parliament’s agenda from the government in order to hold “[indicative votes](https://www.britannica.com/topic/indicative-vote)” on alternative proposals to May’s plan. Eight of those proposals were put to a vote on March 27, but none was able to gain the support of the majority, though a plan to seek to create a “permanent and [comprehensive](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comprehensive) U.K.-wide [customs union](https://www.britannica.com/money/customs-union) with the EU” came close, falling sort by just six votes. Also on March 27, May pledged to resign as party leader and prime minister if the House of Commons were to approve her plan, a [gambit](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gambit) that won support from some “hard Brexit” opponents of the plan. On March 29, owing to an antique procedural rule invoked by Speaker of the House [John Bercow](https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Bercow), only the withdrawal agreement portion of May’s plan was voted upon by the House of Commons (excluded was the “political declaration” that addressed what the U.K. and EU expected of their long-term relationship). Although the vote was closer than the previous two (286 in support, 344 in opposition), the plan once again went down in defeat. The U.K. now had until April 12 to decide whether it would leave the EU without an agreement on that day or request a longer [delay](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/delay) that would require it to participate in elections for the [European Parliament](https://www.britannica.com/topic/European-Parliament). May asked the EU to push back the deadline for Brexit until June 30, and on April 11 the European Council announced that it was granting the U.K. a “flexible extension” until October 31. Shortly thereafter, in response to the Conservative Party’s seeming inability to position the country to leave the EU, [Nigel Farage](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nigel-Farage) launched the [Brexit Party](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Reform-UK). It proved to be a big winner in the elections for the European Parliament in May, capturing about 31 percent of the vote. The next closest finisher was the Liberal Democrats, with about 20 percent of the vote, while Labour claimed some 14 percent and the Conservatives only about 9 percent. Having failed to [garner](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/garner) sufficient support from Conservatives for her exit plan, May entered discussions with Labour leaders on a possible compromise, but these too proved fruitless. When May responded to that disappointment by proposing a new version of the plan that included a temporary customs relationship with the EU and a pledge to hold a parliamentary vote on whether to stage another referendum on Brexit, her cabinet revolted. Isolated as never before, the prime minister announced on May 24 that she would step down as leader of the Conservative Party on June 7 but would remain as caretaker premier until her party had chosen her successor. ## The Boris Johnson government ## Boris Johnson’s ascent, the December 2019 snap election, and Brexit After a series of votes by the parliamentary Conservative Party winnowed a list of 10 candidates to 2, [Boris Johnson](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Boris-Johnson) and [Jeremy Hunt](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jeremy-Hunt) stood in an election in which all of the party’s roughly 160,000 members were eligible to vote. Johnson took some 66 percent of that vote to assume the leadership. He officially replaced May as prime minister on July 24, 2019. Although he had promised to take the United Kingdom out of the EU without an exit agreement if the deal May had negotiated was not changed to his liking, Johnson faced widespread opposition (even within his own party) to his [advocacy](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/advocacy) of no-deal Brexit. Political maneuvering by the new prime minister (including proroguing Parliament just weeks before October 31, the revised departure deadline) was met with forceful legislative countermeasures by those opposed to leaving the EU without an agreement in place. A vote of the House of Commons in early September forced Johnson to request a delay of the British withdrawal from the EU until January 31, 2020, even though on October 22 the House approved, in principle, the agreement that Johnson had negotiated, replacing the backstop with a plan to keep Northern Ireland aligned with the EU for at least four years from the end of the [transition](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/transition) period. Johnson repeatedly tried and failed to call a snap election that he hoped would secure a mandate for his vision of Brexit. Because the election would fall outside the five-year term stipulated by the Fixed Terms of Parliament Act, it required approval by two-thirds of the House of Commons to be held, meaning that it needed support from the opposition, which was denied. After no-deal Brexit was blocked, however, Corbyn was willing to let voters once again decide the fate of Brexit, and an election was scheduled for December 12, 2019. Preelection opinion polling indicated a likely win for the Conservatives, but when the results were in, Johnson’s party had recorded its most [decisive](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/decisive) victory since 1987, adding 48 seats to secure a solid Parliamentary majority of 365 seats. The stage was set for the realization of Johnson’s version of Brexit, which was to take place at 11:00 pm London time on January 31, when the United Kingdom formally would withdraw from the European Union. In April 2020 [Sir Keir Starmer](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Keir-Starmer), the shadow Brexit secretary and a former director of public prosecutions, replaced Corbyn as Labour leader. At the end of October Corbyn was suspended from the party in response to his somewhat [dismissive](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/dismissive) reaction to the release of the greatly anticipated report on anti-Semitism within the Labour Party by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. His suspension immediately disrupted the Labour Party, prompting denunciations of that action by Corbyn’s leftist supporters. Although Britain’s formal withdrawal from the EU had been accomplished, final details relating to a new trade deal between the U.K. and the EU remained to be resolved, and the December 31, 2020, deadline for that resolution was only barely met on December 24. The resultant 2,000-page agreement clarified that there would be no limits or taxes on goods sold between U.K. and EU parties; however, an extensive [regimen](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/regimen) of paperwork for such transactions and transport of goods was put in place. The freedom to work and live between the U.K. and the EU became a thing of the past. ## The coronavirus pandemic As it was in most of the rest of the world, life in the U.K. was turned upside down in 2020 by the onset of the [coronavirus](https://www.britannica.com/science/coronavirus-virus-group) SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic, which had originated in [China](https://www.britannica.com/place/China), where the first cases were reported in December 2019. Because the Johnson government’s key scientific advisers had embraced the controversial theory that the best way to limit the long-term effects of the pandemic was to allow the virus to spread naturally and thus generate “herd immunity,” Britain initially did not adopt the kind of aggressive measures to combat the pandemic that had been undertaken in much of the rest of the world. By mid-March 2020, however, the government had radically shifted gears as [COVID-19](https://www.britannica.com/science/COVID-19), the potentially deadly disease caused by the virus, began spreading rapidly in Britain. Social-distancing and mask-wearing requirements were imposed, as was a lockdown that included the closing of schools, pubs, restaurants, and other businesses. In late March Prime Minister Johnson contracted the virus and had to be hospitalized, spending three nights in an [intensive care unit](https://www.britannica.com/science/intensive-care-unit) when his life was in jeopardy. While he was incapacitated, Foreign Secretary [Dominic Raab](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dominic-Raab) performed Johnson’s duties. Over the coming year, Johnson would initiate and [rescind](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rescind) stay-at-home orders that varied by region as the spread of the disease came in waves. Although the government’s initial response to the pandemic had been slow and unsteady, British scientists, aided by government funding, made historically rapid advances in developing an effective vaccine. Having become the first country to approve and [deploy](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deploy) the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Britain began rolling out a national immunization program in December 2020. Nevertheless, by March 2021 the U.K. had suffered about 126,000 COVID-related deaths, more than all but four other countries—the United States, [Brazil](https://www.britannica.com/place/Brazil), [Mexico](https://www.britannica.com/place/Mexico), and [India](https://www.britannica.com/place/India). The British predicament had been complicated by the emergence in the U.K. of a new, more easily transmissible variant of the disease (B.1.1.7) in September 2020. ## “Partygate” In late November 2021 it began to be reported that members of Johnson’s cabinet and staff, as well as the prime minister himself, had [attended](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/attended) parties earlier in the pandemic that violated prohibitions on social gatherings established by the government. The resulting “Partygate” scandal involved both the alleged violations and Johnson’s initial insistence that the government’s pandemic-related guidelines had been “followed at all times.” After reports came to light of an increasing number of illegal social gatherings at Downing Street during the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, Johnson apologized for having attended one such party at which drinks were served. In addition to the alleged violations of pandemic-related rules, a picture of excessive workplace drinking in the prime minister’s orbit began to take shape. Moreover, it appeared that Johnson had misled Parliament with his claim that no pandemic-related rules had been broken. Historically, deceiving Parliament was an offense that called for resignation. A report on the affair by senior civil servant Sue Gray was delivered to Parliament in late January 2022. Although it was truncated and heavily [redacted](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/redacted) to avoid compromising the investigation that had been undertaken by the [London Metropolitan Police](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Scotland-Yard) into a number of gatherings, the report said that “there were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No. 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times” and that “some of the events should not have been allowed to take place” whereas “other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did.” Despite a renewed apology to Parliament by Johnson, some Conservatives joined members of the opposition in calling for his resignation. Johnson’s grip on power would remain precarious—especially after the police investigation led to him being fined in April for his transgressions of pandemic-related rules. However, Russia’s invasion of [Ukraine](https://www.britannica.com/place/Ukraine) on February 24 served to forestall efforts to remove Johnson from office. Many in Britain appeared to believe that the moment of [existential crisis](https://www.britannica.com/topic/existential-crisis) for [Europe](https://www.britannica.com/place/Europe) brought on by Russia’s aggression was not the time for a change of leadership. ## Further scandal and Johnson’s resignation Nevertheless, by early June a sufficient number of Conservative MPs had written to the party’s 1922 Committee requesting the prime minister’s resignation that a [vote of confidence](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/vote%20of%20confidence) in his leadership of the party was forced. To retain his position, Johnson needed to have his leadership affirmed by at least 180 of the party’s 359 members of the House of Commons. When the secret ballots were counted, 211 MPs had voted in support of Johnson, but the 148 MPs who had voted against him represented a larger percentage of the party’s presence in the House of Commons than did the 133 MPs who had rejected Theresa May’s leadership in the 2018 vote of confidence that preceded her eventual resignation. Only weeks later Johnson’s [uncanny](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/uncanny) ability to survive scandal finally deserted him when his apparent prevarication regarding his awareness of allegations of sexual misconduct against a senior Conservative Party official shattered his support within the party and forced him to step down. Johnson tendered his immediate resignation as party leader on July 7, 2022. He announced that he would remain as prime minister until the Conservatives had chosen a new leader. ## The premiership of Liz Truss ## Ascent to office [![Liz Truss](https://cdn.britannica.com/95/234995-050-4DEFAE08/British-Foreign-Secretary-Liz-Truss-attends-Conservative-Party-leadership-campaign-event-Marden-England-July-23-2022.jpg?w=300)](https://cdn.britannica.com/95/234995-050-4DEFAE08/British-Foreign-Secretary-Liz-Truss-attends-Conservative-Party-leadership-campaign-event-Marden-England-July-23-2022.jpg) [Liz Truss](https://cdn.britannica.com/95/234995-050-4DEFAE08/British-Foreign-Secretary-Liz-Truss-attends-Conservative-Party-leadership-campaign-event-Marden-England-July-23-2022.jpg)Liz Truss (centre) attending a Conservative Party leadership campaign event in Marden, England, July 23, 2022. (more) The parliamentary party (sitting Conservative MPs) then undertook a series of votes that incrementally winnowed the field of candidates for the leadership from eight to two, Foreign Secretary [Liz Truss](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Liz-Truss) and former chancellor of the [Exchequer](https://www.britannica.com/money/Exchequer) [Rishi Sunak](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rishi-Sunak), whose names were submitted for a vote by the party’s whole membership. When the results of that election were reported on September 5, Truss emerged as the winner. The next day she became the third woman ever to serve as Britain’s prime minister. In a break with tradition, Truss received her official appointment from [Elizabeth II](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elizabeth-II) at [Balmoral Castle](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Balmoral-Castle) rather than at [Buckingham Palace](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Buckingham-Palace) out of concern for the [queen’s](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Queen-British-rock-group) increasingly frail health, which had limited Elizabeth’s participation in June in the Platinum Jubilee, a four-day celebration of her 70-year reign. ## The death of Elizabeth II On September 8 Britain and the world were shocked by the news of the queen’s death. Truss called Elizabeth “the rock on which modern Britain was built.” In an address to the nation the following day, the new king, [Charles III](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-III-king-of-the-United-Kingdom), said: > Queen Elizabeth’s was a life well lived; a promise with destiny kept and she is mourned most deeply in her passing…. As the Queen herself did with such unswerving devotion, I too now solemnly pledge myself, throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the [Constitutional](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Constitutional) principles at the heart of our nation. And wherever you may live in the United Kingdom, or in the Realms and territories across the world, and whatever may be your background or beliefs, I shall endeavour to serve you with loyalty, respect and love, as I have throughout my life. Some 10 days of national mourning followed that led to the queen lying in state in Westminster Hall. Mourners stood in a line that stretched for miles to view her coffin. A sombre funeral ceremony, attended by an estimated 100 heads of foreign governments, was held at [Westminster Abbey](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Westminster-Abbey) on September 19. ## Abrupt resignation Liz Truss had come into office believing that she had a mandate to carry out a “low taxes, high growth” economic plan. However, the financial markets panicked at the prospect of the budget [deficit](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/deficit) likely to result from Truss’s proposed combination of unfunded £45 billion (\$50 billion) tax cuts and a two-year cap on energy prices (in response to high energy costs facing Britons as a result of sanctions imposed on [natural gas](https://www.britannica.com/science/natural-gas) supplier Russia). The [Bank of England](https://www.britannica.com/money/Bank-of-England) was forced to intervene to stabilize the markets after the value of the pound nose-dived, mortgage rates rose, and the cost of U.K. [government borrowing](https://www.britannica.com/money/deficit-financing) climbed. Responding to the furor that followed, on October 14 Truss sacked Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng, among her closest political allies, and replaced him with former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt. Almost immediately Hunt began undoing Truss’s signature economic plan, reducing the period for the energy price cap to six months and revoking the tax cuts. Truss apologized for the “mistakes” she had made, but a growing number of Conservative MPs called for her to resign, and, amid [withering](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/withering) support for her, on October 20 Truss announced that she was stepping down as party leader but would remain prime minister until the Conservatives will have chosen her successor. ## The premiership of [Rishi Sunak](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rishi-Sunak) The leadership selection process was more truncated this time around. Candidates were required to receive 100 nominations from Conservative MPs in order to come up for a vote. Given that there were 357 Conservative MPs, at most only three candidates could advance for consideration, and the party membership would choose between the two finalists. The House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt was the first to declare her candidacy, but Sunak, who still enjoyed broad support among MPs, was the favourite to replace Truss. Although there seemed to be significant support for a return to power by Johnson despite his fall from grace, the former prime minister [withdrew](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/withdrew) his name from consideration the day before the nominations were due. Struggling to gain adequate support for her candidacy, Mordaunt also stepped aside, and on October 24 the path was clear for Sunak, as the sole remaining candidate, to be confirmed as party leader without resorting to a vote of the broader party membership. The stage was set for him to become the first person of colour, the first person of South Asian descent, and the first Hindu to serve as prime minister of the United Kingdom. Sunak became the fourth consecutive prime minister to oppose conducting a second referendum on Scottish independence. In June 2022, on Johnson’s watch, Scottish First Minister [Nicola Sturgeon](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nicola-Sturgeon) had announced her intention to hold a second referendum (dubbed indyref2) in October 2023. In pursuit of that goal, she asked the U.K. Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of Scotland’s holding the vote without the approval of the U.K. government. When the court ruled in November 2022 that Scotland was not empowered to conduct the referendum without Westminster’s approval, Sturgeon pledged to make the U.K. parliamentary election scheduled for 2025 a [de facto](https://www.britannica.com/topic/de-facto) referendum on Scottish independence. In January 2023, [invoking](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/invoking) the powers of the Scotland Act of 1998, the British government blocked the promulgation of a law enacted in December 2022 by the Scottish Parliament that permitted [transgender](https://www.britannica.com/topic/transgender) people in Scotland to change their legal gender by self-declaration without a medical [diagnosis](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diagnosis). The veto of the Scottish legislation—based on the argument that the law created inequalities because elsewhere in the United Kingdom a medical diagnosis was required for an individual to transition for legal purposes—marked the first time in the roughly 25 years since [devolution](https://www.britannica.com/topic/devolution-government-and-politics) that the British government had overruled an action by Scotland’s Parliament. Sturgeon promised to take the matter to court; however, in February 2023 she announced her intention to resign as leader of the SNP and first minister, saying that she felt that she could no longer summon the energy that was necessary to perform her job. Sturgeon remained as leader of the SNP and first minister until late March, when the party chose her [successor](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/successor), [Humza Yousaf](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Humza-Yousaf), the health secretary, who became the first Muslim and first person of colour to head the Scottish government. [The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419) ![Britannica AI Icon](https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-179/images/chatbot/star-ai.svg?v=3.179.9)Britannica AI *chevron\_right* United Kingdom - The “Brexit” referendum *close* [AI-generated answers](https://www.britannica.com/about-britannica-ai) from Britannica articles. AI makes mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. # Society, state, and economy ## State and society Despite the so-called “dismantling of controls” after the end of World War I, government involvement in economic life was to continue, as were increased public expenditure, extensions of social welfare, and a higher degree of administrative rationalization. In the interwar years the level of [integration](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/integration) of labour, capital, and the state was more considerable than is often thought. Attempts to organize the [market](https://www.britannica.com/money/market) continued up to the beginning of [World War II](https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II), evident, for example, in government’s financial support for regional development in the late 1930s. Few Britons, however, felt they were living in a period of decreased government power. Nonetheless, attachment to the “impartial state” and to voluntarism was still considerable and exemplified by the popularity of the approved organizations set up to administer [health insurance](https://www.britannica.com/money/health-insurance) in the interwar years. The governance of society through what were now taken to be the social characteristics of that society itself, for example, family life as well as [demographic](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/demographic) and economic factors—developed by Liberal administrations before World War I—along with the advent of “planning,” continued to be the direction of change, but the connection back to Victorian notions of [moral](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moral) [individualism](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/individualism) and the purely regulative, liberal state was still strong. Even the greatest exponent of the move toward economic intervention and social government, [John Maynard Keynes](https://www.britannica.com/money/John-Maynard-Keynes), whose *[General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money](https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-General-Theory-of-Employment-Interest-and-Money)* (1935–36) provided the major rationale for subsequent state intervention and whose work downgraded the importance of private rationality and private responsibility, nonetheless believed that governmental intervention in one area was necessary to buttress freedom and privacy elsewhere, so that the moral responsibility of the citizen would be forthcoming. [![Lord Beveridge](https://cdn.britannica.com/71/6471-050-ED9F8DE6/Beveridge-photograph-Yousuf-Karsh.jpg?w=300)](https://cdn.britannica.com/71/6471-050-ED9F8DE6/Beveridge-photograph-Yousuf-Karsh.jpg) [Lord Beveridge](https://cdn.britannica.com/71/6471-050-ED9F8DE6/Beveridge-photograph-Yousuf-Karsh.jpg) (more) There was, however, only an [incremental](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incremental) increase in the level of interest in state involvement in the economy and society in the immediate years before World War II, when the fear of war [galvanized](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/galvanized) politicians and administrators. It was the “total war” of 1939–45 that brought a degree of centralized control of the economy and society that was unparalleled before or indeed since. In some ways this was an expression of prewar developments, but the [impetus](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impetus) of the war was enormous and felt in all political quarters. In 1941 it was a [Conservative](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Conservative) chancellor of the [Exchequer](https://www.britannica.com/money/Exchequer), Sir Kingsley Wood, who introduced the first Keynesian budget. Cross-party support was also evident in the response to the 1942 [Beveridge Report](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Beveridge-Report), which became the blueprint of what was later to be called the [welfare state](https://www.britannica.com/money/welfare-state). After 1945 a decisive shift had taken place toward the recognition of state intervention and planning as the norm, not the exception, and toward the idea that society could now be molded by political will. Nonetheless, there was much popular dislike of “government controls,” and the familiar [rhetoric](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rhetoric) of the impartial state remained strong, as reflected in Beveridge’s attack in 1948 on the Labour government’s failure to encourage voluntarism. This voluntarism, however, was decidedly different from 19th-century voluntarism in that Beveridge advocated a minister-guardian of voluntary action. So [pervasive](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pervasive) was the postwar party [consensus](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consensus) on the welfare state that the term coined to identify it, “[Butskellism](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Butskellism),” is at least as well remembered as the successive chancellors of the Exchequer—[R.A. Butler](https://www.britannica.com/biography/R-A-Butler-Baron-Butler-of-Saffron-Walden) and [Hugh Gaitskell](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hugh-Gaitskell)—from whose amalgamated surnames it was derived. From the 1960s onward this consensus began to unravel, with the perception of poor economic performance and calls for the modernization of British society and the British economy. The [mixed economy](https://www.britannica.com/money/mixed-economy) came under pressure, as did the institutions of the welfare state, especially the [National Health Service](https://www.britannica.com/topic/National-Health-Service) (NHS). In the 1970s in particular, older beliefs in [constitutional](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constitutional) methods came into question—for instance, in the first national Civil Service strike ever, in 1973, and in the strikes and political violence that marked that decade as a whole. The result was a revolution in the relationship between state and society, whereby the market came to replace society as the model of state governance. This did not, however, mean a return to 19th-century models, though the character of this [manifestation](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manifestation) of the relationship between state and society was clearly liberal, in line with the long British tradition of governance. Institutionally, this way of governing was pluralistic, but its [pluralism](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pluralism) was decidedly statist. It was not, as in the 19th century, a private, self-governing voluntarist pluralism but one that was designedly competitive, enlisting quasi-governmental institutions as clients competing with one another in a marketplace. In economic and cultural conditions increasingly shaped by [globalization](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/globalization), the economy was exposed to the [benign](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/benign) operations of the market not by leaving it alone but by actively intervening in it to create the conditions for entrepreneurship. Analogously, social life was marketized too, thrown open to the idea that the capacity for self-realization could be obtained only through individual activity, not through society. Institutions like the NHS were reformed as a series of internal markets. These markets were to be governed by what has been called “the new public management.” This involved a focus upon accountability, with explicit standards and measures of performance. The [ethical](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethical) change involved a transition from the idea of public service to one of private management of the self. Parallel to this “culture of accountability” was the emergence of an “audit society,” in which formal and professionally sanctioned monitoring systems replaced the trust that earlier versions of relationship between state and society had invested in professional specialists of all sorts (the professions themselves, such as university teaching, were opened up to this sort of audit, which was all the more onerous because, if directed from above, it was carried out by the professionals themselves, so preserving the fiction of professional freedom). The social state gave way to a state that was regarded as “enabling,” permitting not only the citizen but also the firm, the locality, and so on to freely choose. This politics of choice was in fact shared by the Thatcher’s Conservative administration and Blair’s Labour one. In both the state was seen as a partner. In the so-called “[Third Way](https://www.britannica.com/topic/third-way)” of Blair, one between socialism and the market, the partnership evolved much more in terms of [community](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/community) than in the Conservative case. In Blair’s Labour vision there was a more active concern with creating ethical citizens who would exchange obligations for rights in a new realization of marketized [communities](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communities). This new relation of state and society involved the [decentralization](https://www.britannica.com/topic/devolution-government-and-politics) of rule upon the citizen himself and herself, which was reflected in the host of self-help activities to be found in the Britain of the 1990s and 2000s, from the new concern with [alternative](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alternative) health therapies to the self-management of schools. Reflecting this decentralization (in which the state itself made the citizen a consumer, for instance, of education and health) was the increasingly important role of the [consumption](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consumption) of goods in constructing lifestyles through which individual choice could realize self-expression and self-fulfillment. ## Economy and society Economically, Britain had been hurt severely by [World War I](https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-I). The huge balances of credit in foreign currencies that had provided the capital for the [City of London’s](https://www.britannica.com/place/City-of-London) financial operations for a century were spent. Britain had moved from the position of a creditor to that of a debtor [country](https://www.britannica.com/topic/nation-state). Moreover, its industrial [infrastructure](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/infrastructure), already out of date at the start of the war, had been allowed to depreciate and decay further. The industries of the [Industrial Revolution](https://www.britannica.com/event/Industrial-Revolution), such as [coal mining](https://www.britannica.com/technology/coal-mining), textile production, and [shipbuilding](https://www.britannica.com/technology/ship-construction), upon which British prosperity had been built, were now either weakened or [redundant](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/redundant). The Japanese had usurped the textile export market. Coal was superseded by other forms of energy. Shipping lost during the war had to be almost fully replaced with more-modern and more-efficient vessels. Finally, the [Treaty of Versailles](https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaty-of-Versailles-1919), particularly its harsh demands on [Germany](https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany) for financial reparations, ensured that foreign markets would remain depressed. Germany had been Britain’s largest foreign customer. The export of German coal to [France](https://www.britannica.com/place/France), as [stipulated](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stipulated) by the treaty, upset world coal markets for nearly a decade. Depression and unemployment, not prosperity and a better Britain, characterized the interwar years. [![Ramsay MacDonald](https://cdn.britannica.com/38/2238-004-7BB9ED04/Ramsay-MacDonald.jpg?w=300)](https://cdn.britannica.com/38/2238-004-7BB9ED04/Ramsay-MacDonald.jpg) [Ramsay MacDonald](https://cdn.britannica.com/38/2238-004-7BB9ED04/Ramsay-MacDonald.jpg) (more) The British economy, as well as that of the rest of the world, was devastated by the [Great Depression](https://www.britannica.com/event/Great-Depression). The post-[World War I](https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-I) world of reconstruction became a prewar world of deep depression, radicalism, racism, and violence. Although [MacDonald](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ramsay-MacDonald) was well-meaning and highly intelligent, he was badly equipped to handle the science of economics and the depression. By the end of 1930, unemployment was nearly double the figure of 1928 and would reach 25 percent of the workforce by the spring of 1931. It was accompanied, after the closing of banks in Germany in May, by a devastating run on gold in British banks that threatened the stability of the pound. MacDonald’s government fell in August over the protection of the pound; Britain needed to borrow gold, but foreign bankers would lend gold only on the condition that domestic expenditures would be cut, and this meant, among other things, reducing [unemployment insurance](https://www.britannica.com/money/unemployment-insurance) payments. However, a [Labour Party](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Labour-Party-political-party) whose central commitment was to the welfare of the working people could not [mandate](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mandate) such a course of action even in an economic crisis. Thus, the Labour cabinet resigned. MacDonald with a few colleagues formed a coalition with the Conservative and Liberal opposition on August 24, 1931. This new “national” government, which allowed Britain to go off the [gold standard](https://www.britannica.com/money/gold-standard) on September 21, was confirmed in office by a general election on October 27, in which 473 [Conservatives](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Conservatives) were returned while the Labour Party in the [House of Commons](https://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Commons-British-government) was nearly destroyed, capturing only 52 seats. MacDonald, who was returned to the House of Commons along with 13 so-called National Labour colleagues, remained [prime minister](https://www.britannica.com/topic/prime-minister) nonetheless. The new government was in fact a conservative government, and MacDonald, by consenting to remain prime minister, became and remains in Labour histories a traitor. Under [Neville Chamberlain](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Neville-Chamberlain), who became chancellor of the Exchequer in November 1931, the [coalition government](https://www.britannica.com/topic/coalition-government) pursued a policy of strict economy. Housing subsidies were cut; Britain ended its three-quarter-century devotion to [free trade](https://www.britannica.com/money/free-trade) and began import protection; and interest rates were lowered. Manufacturing [revived](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/revived), stimulated particularly by a marked revival in the construction of private housing made possible by reduced interest rates and by a modest growth in exports as a result of the cheaper pound. Similarly, unemployment declined, although it never reached the 10 percent level of the late 1920s until after the outbreak of war. In terms of the occupational structure of Britain, the aftermath of World War I saw the decline of the great 19th-century staple industries become increasingly sharp, and the interwar experience of textiles was particularly difficult. The great expansion of mining after 1881 became a contraction, particularly from the 1930s, and domestic service, which itself may be termed a staple industry, suffered similarly. In 1911 these sectors accounted for some 20 percent of the British [labour force](https://www.britannica.com/money/labor-in-economics), but by 1961 they accounted for barely 5 percent. Manufacturing continued to be of great importance into the third quarter of the century, when the next great restructuring occurred. After World War I an increasing emphasis on monopoly, scale, and sophisticated labour-management became apparent in British industry, though there was still much of the old “archaicism” of the 19th century to be seen, both in respect to management practices and the entrenched power of certain skilled occupations. Although different from its 19th-century [antecedents](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/antecedents), a distinct sense of [working-class](https://www.britannica.com/topic/working-class) identity, based on manual work—especially in the manufacturing industry and mining—remained strong until about 1960. This was buttressed by a considerable degree of [continuity](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/continuity) in terms of residential community. After 1960 or so, the wholesale development of slum clearance and relocation to new residential settings was to go far to dissolve this older sense of identity. From the interwar years automobile manufacture, the manufacture of consumer durables, and light industry, especially along the corridor between [London](https://www.britannica.com/place/London) and [Birmingham](https://www.britannica.com/place/Birmingham-England), as well as in the new industrial suburbs of London, announced the economic eclipse of the north by the south, the “south” here including South Wales and industrial [Scotland](https://www.britannica.com/place/Scotland). In the Midlands electrical manufacturing and automobile industries developed. In the south, in addition to construction industries, new service industries such as hotels and the shops of London [flourished](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/flourished). These in particular offered employment opportunities for women at a time when the demand for domestic servants was in decline. London grew enormously, and the [unemployment rate](https://www.britannica.com/money/unemployment-rate) there was half that of the north of [England](https://www.britannica.com/place/England) and of Wales, Scotland, and [Northern Ireland](https://www.britannica.com/place/Northern-Ireland). The effect of these developments was to divide Britain politically and economically into two areas, a division that, with the exception of an interval during World War II and its immediate aftermath, still exists. New, science-based industries (e.g., the electrical and chemical industries) also developed from the interwar period, which together with the multiplication of service industries and the growth of the public sector—despite repeated government attempts to halt this growth—had by 1960 given rise to an occupational structure very different from that of the 19th century. On the surface the 1950s and early ’60s were years of economic expansion and [prosperity](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/prosperity). The economic well-being of the average Briton rose dramatically and visibly. But when prosperity created a demand for imports, large-scale buying abroad hurt the value of the pound. A declining pound meant higher interest rates as well as credit and import controls, which in turn caused [inflation](https://www.britannica.com/money/inflation-economics). Inflation hurt exports and caused strikes. These crises occurred in approximately three-year cycles. The economic concern then of the British government in the 1950s and ’60s and indeed through the 1970s was to increase productivity and ensure labour peace so that Britain could again become an exporting country able to pay for public [expenditure](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/expenditure) at home while maintaining the value of its currency and its place as a world banker. A drastic run on the pound had been one of the pressing reasons for the quick withdrawal from Suez in 1956, and throughout the 1950s and ’60s Britain’s share of world trade fell with almost perfect consistency by about 1 percent per year. On the other hand, Britain benefited from an unprecedented rise in tourism occasioned mostly by the attraction of “Swinging London.” All of this made Britain’s decision, after fierce political discussion, not to join the planned [EEC](https://www.britannica.com/topic/European-Community-European-economic-association), established by the [Treaty of Rome](https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaty-of-Rome) on March 25, 1957, an event of signal importance. It meant that although economic conditions in Britain did indeed improve in the last years of the 1950s and through 1960—Prime Minister [Harold Macmillan](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harold-Macmillan) could remark with only slight [irony](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irony) that the British people had never “had it so good”—Britain nevertheless did not share in the astonishing growth in European production and trade led by the “economic miracle” in [West Germany](https://www.britannica.com/place/West-Germany). By the mid-1960s there were signs that British prosperity was declining. Increases in productivity were disappearing, and labour unrest was marked. Prime Minister Macmillan quickly realized that it had been a mistake not to join the EEC, and in July 1961 he initiated negotiations to do so. By this time, however, the French government was headed by [Charles de Gaulle](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-de-Gaulle-president-of-France), and he chose to veto Britain’s entry. Britain did not join the EEC until 1973. In the aftermath of increasing difficulties for industry and increasing labour conflict, the Thatcher governments after 1979 set about a far-reaching restructuring of the economy, one based less on economic than on political and moral factors. Thatcher set out to end socialism in Britain. Her most dramatic acts consisted of a continuing series of statutes to denationalize nearly every industry that Labour had brought under government control in the previous 40 years as well as some industries, such as telecommunications, that had been in state hands for a century or more. But perhaps her most important achievement, helped by high unemployment in the old heavy industries, was in winning the contest for power with the trade unions. Instead of attempting to put all legislation in one massive bill, as Heath had done, Thatcher proceeded step by step, making secondary strikes and [boycotts](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boycotts) illegal, providing for fines, as well as allocation of union funds, for the violation of law, and taking measures for ending the [closed shop](https://www.britannica.com/topic/closed-shop). Finally, in 1984–85, she won a struggle with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), who staged a nationwide strike to prevent the closure of 20 coal mines that the government claimed were unproductive. The walkout, which lasted nearly a year and was accompanied by continuing violence, soon became emblematic of the struggle for power between the Conservative government and the trade unions. After the defeat of the miners, that struggle was essentially over; Thatcher’s victory was aided by divisions within the ranks of the miners themselves, [exacerbated](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exacerbated) by the [divisive](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/divisive) leadership of the militant NUM leader Arthur Scargill, and by the Conservative government’s use of the police as a national constabulary, one not afraid to employ violence. The miners returned to work without a single [concession](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/concession). In all these efforts, Thatcher was helped by a revival of world prosperity and lessening inflation, by the profits from industries sold to investors, and by the enormous sums realized from the sale abroad of [North Sea](https://www.britannica.com/place/North-Sea) [oil](https://www.britannica.com/science/petroleum). From 1974 the unexpected windfall of the discovery of large oil reserves under the North Sea, together with the increase in oil prices that year, transformed Britain into a considerable player in the field of oil production (production soared from 87,000 tons in 1974 to 75,000,000 tons five years later). The political use of oil [revenues](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/revenues) was seen by some as characteristic of the failure of successive British governments to put them to good economic and social use. The restructuring of the economy away from the manual and industrial sectors, which was a consequence of the rapid decline of manufacturing industry in Britain in the 1990s, also meant the decline of the old, manual working class and the coming of what has been called “postindustrial” or “postmodern” society. Within industry itself, “post-Fordist” (flexible, technologically innovative, and demand-driven) production and new forms of industrial management restructured the labour force in ways that broke up traditional [hierarchies](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hierarchies) and outlooks. Not least among these changes has been the expansion of work, chiefly part-time, for [women](https://www.britannica.com/topic/women). There has been a corresponding rise of new, nonmanual employment, primarily in the [service sector](https://www.britannica.com/money/service-industry). In the early phases of these changes, there was much underemployment and unemployment. The result has been not only the numerical decline of the old working class but the diminishing significance of manual work itself, as well as the growing disappearance of work as a fairly stable, uniform, lifelong experience. The shift in employment and investment from production to consumption industries has paralleled the rise of consumption itself as an arena in which people’s desires and hopes are centred and as the basis of their [conceptions](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conceptions) of themselves and the social order. However, in the 1990s there was a considerable move back to the workplace as the source of identity and self-value. At the same time, new management practices and ideas developed that were in line with the still generally high level of [working hours](https://www.britannica.com/money/hours-of-labour). Central to the new economy and new ideas about work has been the staggering growth of information technology. This has been especially evident in the operations of financial markets, contributing hugely to their global integration. One of the great beneficiaries of these changes has been the City of London, which has profited from very light state regulation. The financial sector, in terms of international markets and the domestic [provision](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/provision) of financial goods and services, has become a major sector of the new economy. Speculation in markets, with ever-increasing degrees of ingenuity (for example, the phenomenon of [hedge fund](https://www.britannica.com/money/hedge-fund) trading), has helped create a cohort of the newly rich in Britain and elsewhere. It has also led to an increasingly unstable world financial system. The spoils of this new society have been divided between large-scale multinational corporations and new kinds of industrial organizations that are smaller and often more responsive to demand, evident in development of the dot.com and e-commerce phenomena. Internet shopping, along with the unparalleled development of giant supermarket chains, transformed the traditional pattern of retailing and shopping and, with it, patterns of social interaction. This, however, was only one aspect of a general [transformation](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/transformation) of the economy and society that even as recently as the early 1990s had hardly been glimpsed. In the conditions of economic stability and prosperity at the turn of the 21st century, a relatively large middle group arose in terms of income, housing, and lifestyle that politicians and others began to refer to as “middle England.” In effect this meant Scotland and [Wales](https://www.britannica.com/place/Wales) as well, although in Britain as a whole the old imbalance between west and east continued, in a similar fashion to that between north and south in England. However, even this middle was exposed to the vagaries of financial markets and an underperforming welfare state. Moreover, the gap between the least well-off and the most well-off widened even further, so that alongside the new rich were the new poor, or underclass. Social [mobility](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/mobility) either declined or stalled in comparison with the 1960s—in particular, the capacity of the poorest parents to send their children to university. Levels of poverty among children continued to be high. The reborn postindustrial cities of the north and [Midlands](https://www.britannica.com/place/Midlands), such as [Manchester](https://www.britannica.com/place/Manchester-England), came to symbolize much of the new Britain, with their mixture of revitalized city centres and deprived city perimeters that were home to the new poor. However, as had long been the case, the economic centre of the country remained in London and the southeast. Britain thus became a prosperous but increasingly unequal and divided society. Load Next Page Feedback Thank you for your feedback Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. *print* Print Please select which sections you would like to print: *verified*Cite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style Joyce, Patrick, Hastings, Margaret, Atkins, Ralph Charles, Colley, Linda J., Frere, Sheppard Sunderland, Morrill, John S., Briggs, Asa, Kishlansky, Mark A., Josephson, Paul R., Ravenhill, William, Kellner, Peter, Chaney, William A., Gilbert, Bentley Brinkerhoff, Prestwich, Michael Charles, Spencer, Ulric M., Whitelock, Dorothy, Smith, Lacey Baldwin, Barr, Nicholas A.. "United Kingdom". *Encyclopedia Britannica*, 12 Apr. 2026, https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom. Accessed 13 April 2026. 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On December 2, 2015, in the wake of the [attacks by Islamist terrorists in Paris on November 13](https://www.britannica.com/event/Paris-attacks-of-2015), the [House of Commons](https://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Commons-British-government) authorized air strikes by the British [military](https://www.britannica.com/topic/armed-force) on ISIL targets in Syria. The vote on the measure came after some 10 hours of debate. Labour leader [Jeremy Corbyn](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jeremy-Corbyn) freed members of his party to vote their [conscience](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conscience), and dozens of them broke ranks to join the [Conservatives](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Conservatives) and others in voting for authorization, which passed 397–223. ## News • At a summit meeting of the leaders of the member countries of the [EU](https://www.britannica.com/topic/European-Union) in Brussels in February 2016, the European Council announced agreement on reforms to British membership that had been requested by Cameron in an attempt to forestall British withdrawal (“[Brexit](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Brexit)”) from the EU. Although Cameron did not get everything that he had asked for in the proposal that he submitted to [Donald Tusk](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Donald-Tusk), the president of the European Council, in November 2015, he won enough [concessions](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/concessions) to move forward on his promise of a referendum on continued British membership. In the face of considerable support within his own party for Brexit, Cameron nevertheless announced that he would campaign for remaining in the EU and scheduled the referendum for June 23, 2016. Cameron was joined in the “Remain” effort by Corbyn. The “Leave” campaign was headed by former [London](https://www.britannica.com/place/London) mayor [Boris Johnson](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Boris-Johnson), whom many saw as a rival for Cameron’s leadership of the [Conservative Party](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Conservative-Party-political-party-United-Kingdom), and [Michael Gove](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michael-Gove), [lord chancellor](https://www.britannica.com/topic/lord-chancellor) and secretary of state for [justice](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/justice) in Cameron’s cabinet. Opinion polling indicated that the two sides were fairly evenly divided as the referendum approached, but in the event 52 percent of voters opted to leave the EU, making the United Kingdom the first [country](https://www.britannica.com/topic/nation-state) to ever do so. Cameron announced his intention to resign as [prime minister](https://www.britannica.com/topic/prime-minister) by the time of the [Conservative](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Conservative) Party conference in October 2016 to allow his successor to negotiate the U.K. withdrawal under the terms of Article 50 of the [Lisbon Treaty](https://www.britannica.com/event/Lisbon-Treaty), which, when triggered, would open a two-year window for the exit process. ## The premiership of Theresa May (2016–19) ## The resignation of Cameron, the rise of May, and a challenge to Corbyn’s leadership of Labour Only days after the Brexit vote, the political drama surrounding Johnson’s pursuit of the Conservative leadership assumed what many observers identified as Shakespearean proportions as Gove removed his prominent support for Johnson’s candidacy, saying that Johnson was “not capable of…leading the party and the country in the way that I would have hoped.” In rapid fashion, a wounded Johnson removed himself from consideration. Gove then threw his hat into the small ring of leadership candidates that was then [winnowed](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/winnowed) by successive votes by parliamentary Conservatives in early July to Home Secretary [Theresa May](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theresa-May) and Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom, whose names were put to a vote by all party members with results due in September. Almost before that process started, Leadsom unexpectedly withdrew her name from consideration, and on July 11 the Conservative Party’s 1922 Committee, which had been steering the leadership contest, declared May the new party leader “with immediate effect.” On July 13 Cameron formally resigned, and May became the second woman in British history to serve as prime minister. Meanwhile, Labour underwent its own leadership controversy as prominent party members, including Blair, took Corbyn to task for not mounting a more vigorous effort on behalf of the “Remain” campaign. No sooner had Blair made his [criticism](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/criticism) than he found himself in the crosshairs, with the release on July 5 of the so-called [Chilcot Report](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chilcot-Report), the findings of a seven-year inquiry into Britain’s involvement in the [Iraq War](https://www.britannica.com/event/Iraq-War), which was scathing in its condemnation of Blair’s handling of the war from the initial decision to join the [United States](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States) in invading Iraq to the Blair government’s failure to plan and prepare for the postwar aftermath in Iraq. Nonetheless, a challenge was mounted to Corbyn’s leadership of the party that eventually resulted in a head-to-head contest between Corbyn and Owen Smith, the former shadow secretary of work and pensions. In an online vote of party faithful in September, Corbyn held on to the leadership by capturing some 62 percent of the vote against about 38 percent for Smith. ## Triggering Article 50 In the meantime, May, who had opposed Brexit but came into office promising to see it to completion, led her government in cautious movement toward triggering Article 50. Her efforts experienced a setback in January 2017, however, when the Supreme Court upheld a November 2016 High Court ruling that prevented the prime minister from triggering Article 50 without first having gained approval from [Parliament](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Parliament) to do so. In February 2017 the House of Commons granted May that approval by a 498–114 vote, but the [House of Lords](https://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Lords) created another roadblock in early March by adding a pair of [amendments](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amendments) to the bill authorizing May to [invoke](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/invoke) Article 50. One guaranteed that EU passport holders residing in Britain would be permitted to remain, and the other sought a greater role for Parliament in the negotiations. Both amendments were overturned by the House of Commons later in March, and, before the end of the month, May formally submitted a letter to European Council Pres. [Donald Tusk](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Donald-Tusk) requesting the opening of the two-year window for talks on the details of British separation from the EU. Against this backdrop, the Scottish Assembly backed First Minister [Nicola Sturgeon](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nicola-Sturgeon)’s call for a new [referendum](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/referendum) on independence for [Scotland](https://www.britannica.com/place/Scotland) to be held before spring 2019 (the majority of Scottish voters had opposed leaving the EU in the Brexit referendum). ## The Manchester arena bombing and London bridge attacks In mid-April 2017 May called for a snap parliamentary election, saying that its results would provide stability and certainty for Britain during its Brexit negotiations and transition out of the EU. To hold an election ahead of the 2020 date [mandated](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mandated) by the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, May needed to win two-thirds majority approval in the House of Commons. Corbyn welcomed a return to the polls, despite opinion polling that predicted big gains for the Conservatives, and, by a vote of 522 to 13 (with [SNP](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Scottish-National-Party) members abstaining), the House of Commons approved a snap election for June 8. The election campaign was temporarily suspended after 22 people were killed and dozens injured in a terrorist attack on the night of May 22 at a 21,000-capacity arena in [Manchester](https://www.britannica.com/place/Manchester-England) following a concert by U.S. singer [Ariana Grande](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ariana-Grande). The attacker who detonated the homemade bomb that [wrought](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/wrought) the destruction also was killed in the blast. [ISIL](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islamic-State-in-Iraq-and-the-Levant) claimed responsibility for the attack, in which many of those who perished or were injured were children—teenaged and younger fans of the American pop star. It was the deadliest terrorist attack in Britain since the [London bombings of 2005](https://www.britannica.com/event/London-bombings-of-2005), in which more than 50 people were killed, and it followed an attack on Westminster Bridge in London on March 22 in which an attacker mowed down pedestrians with a car and then continued his assault on foot with a knife, taking five lives and injuring some 50 people before he was killed outside the [Houses of Parliament](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Houses-of-Parliament-buildings-London-United-Kingdom) by a security officer. On June 3, five days before voters were to go to the polls, [yet](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/yet) another terrorist attack unfolded in London. This time it occurred on [London Bridge](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Old-London-Bridge), where three attackers ran down victims with a vehicle before leaving it to menace others in nearby Borough Market with knives. Eight people were killed before police arrived, only eight minutes after the start of the incident, and shot and killed the attackers. ## The snap election campaign In addition to using the campaign to sell her version of “hard Brexit,” May sought to frame the election as a choice between her “strong and stable” leadership and that of Corbyn, who was characterized as an unreliable out-of-touch leftist extremist. However, Corbyn, once thought by many observers to be unelectable, proved to be an inspiring campaigner whose message of hope, [compassion](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/compassion), and inclusiveness energized a new generation of Labour voters. May, on the other hand, often appeared uncomfortable, stiff, and uncertain on the campaign trail. One element of her manifesto—a proposal to pay for in-home social care of the elderly with government sales of their homes after their deaths, a plan loudly condemned by many as a “dementia tax”—brought widespread outrage that prompted her to quickly alter the proposal. Rather than appearing “strong and stable,” May, in the eyes of some observers, looked to be “weak and wobbly.” ## The 2017 U.K. general election When voters had their say on June 8, 2017, they handed the Conservatives a major setback. Rather than securing a [mandate](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mandate), May watched her party’s legislative majority disappear as it lost at least 12 seats in the House of Commons to fall to 318 seats while Labour gained at least 29 seats to surpass 260 seats in total. Both parties garnered more than 40 percent of the popular vote each in an election that witnessed a return to dominance by the two major parties. Led by [Tim Farron](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tim-Farron), the Liberal Democrats, who had fared badly in the 2015 election, sought to reverse their fortunes by advocating another referendum on Brexit, and, while this proposal did not [resonate](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/resonate) for many voters, the party still gained four seats to reach a total of 12. Support for [UKIP](https://www.britannica.com/topic/United-Kingdom-Independence-Party) largely evaporated. Having nearly realized the goal of Brexit, many of those who had supported UKIP in previous elections were expected to vote for the Conservatives, but, in the event, it appeared that they instead were swayed by Corbyn’s vision. The Conservatives did, however, make big gains in Scotland, where the Scottish National Party fell from 56 seats to 35, in what was widely interpreted as a rebuke to Sturgeon and the SNP’s call for another referendum on Scottish independence. Arguably the election’s biggest winner was Northern Ireland’s [Democratic Unionist Party](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Democratic-Unionist-Party) (DUP). Having increased its representation in the House of Commons from 8 to 10 seats, it found itself in the role of kingmaker when May enlisted its support to cling to power by forming a [minority](https://www.britannica.com/topic/minority) government (rather than seeking a formal coalition arrangement). With the support of the DUP on key votes, the Conservatives would be able to just barely surpass the 326-vote bar for a legislative majority. The central task for May’s government remained arriving at a [cohesive](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cohesive) approach for its Brexit negotiations with the EU. That task was a [daunting](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/daunting) one, however, because wide disagreement persisted even within the Conservative Party, not just on a [myriad](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myriad) of details related to the British proposal for separation but also on the broader issues involved. ## The Grenfell Tower fire, a novichok attack in Salisbury, and air strikes on Syria In June 2017 Brexit was pushed off the front pages by one of the worst disasters in recent British history: a fire in a multistory [public housing](https://www.britannica.com/topic/public-housing) residence (Grenfell Tower) in London claimed the lives of 72 individuals, many of whom were recent immigrants. The incident prompted a period of national soul-searching after it was revealed that months before the fire the building’s low-income residents had raised concerns about fire safety and complained that they were being treated like second-class citizens. In March 2018 British national outrage was focused on [Russia](https://www.britannica.com/place/Russia) when a former Russian intelligence officer, who had acted as double agent for Britain, and his daughter were found unconscious in [Salisbury](https://www.britannica.com/place/Salisbury-former-district-England), [England](https://www.britannica.com/place/England). It was determined that the pair had been victims of a “novichok,” a complex [nerve agent](https://www.britannica.com/science/nerve-gas) that had been developed by the Soviets. Although the Russian government denied having any involvement with the attack and British investigators were unable to prove that the nerve agent originated in Russia, the May government responded by expelling some two dozen Russian intelligence operatives who had been working in Britain under diplomatic cover. In April Britain joined [France](https://www.britannica.com/place/France) and the United States in launching air strikes against targets in Syria after it was revealed that the regime of Syrian Pres. [Bashar al-Assad](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bashar-al-Assad) had again used chemical weapons on its own people. Corbyn was critical of May for having ordered the strike without first consulting Parliament, but she countered that the action had to be undertaken without seeking parliamentary approval in order to protect the operation’s [integrity](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/integrity). May also said that the strike was intended to prevent further suffering, and she characterized the decision as both right and legal. ## The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Chequers plan, and Boris Johnson’s resignation In May 2018 Britain and much of the world stopped for a day to witness the [royal wedding](https://www.britannica.com/event/British-Royal-Wedding-of-2018) of [Prince Harry](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Prince-Harry-of-Wales) to [Meghan Markle](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Meghan-Markle)—a divorced American actress, daughter of an African American mother and a white father—whose informal approachability and personal warmth recalled the much beloved “People’s Princess” [Diana](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Diana-princess-of-Wales). The newlywed couple’s union reflected the changing social landscape of an increasingly multicultural Britain. Moreover, they seemed determined to modernize the monarchy and to connect it with the lives of everyday Britons. In early July May summoned her cabinet to the prime minister’s country retreat, [Chequers](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chequers), determined to forge a [consensus](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consensus) on the nuts and bolts of the government’s Brexit plan. Despite forceful opposition by the cabinet’s “hard” Brexiters, by the end of the marathon meeting a consensus seemed to have emerged around May’s “softer” approach, grounded in policies aimed at preserving economic ties with the EU. Just two days later, however, the government’s apparent harmony was disrupted by the resignation of Britain’s chief Brexit negotiator, [David Davis](https://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Davis), who complained that May’s plan gave up too much, too easily. The next day Johnson left his post as foreign secretary, writing in his letter of resignation that the dream of Brexit was dying, “suffocated by needless self-doubt.” Suddenly confronted with the possibility of a [vote of confidence](https://www.britannica.com/topic/vote-of-confidence) on her party leadership, May reportedly cautioned Conservatives to line up behind her Brexit plan or run the risk of losing power to a Corbyn-led Labour government. ## EU agreement and Parliamentary opposition to May’s Brexit plan On November 25 the leaders of the EU’s 27 other member countries formally agreed to the terms of a withdrawal deal that May claimed “delivered for the British people” and set the United Kingdom “on course for a prosperous future.” Under the plan Britain was to pay some \$50 billion to the EU to satisfy its long-term financial obligations. Britain’s departure from the EU was to come in March 2019, but, according to the agreement, the U.K. would continue to [abide](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abide) by EU rules and regulations until at least December 2020 while negotiations continued on the details of the long-term relationship between the EU and the U.K. The agreement, which was set to be debated and voted upon by the House of Commons in December, still faced strong opposition in Parliament, not only from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, [Plaid Cymru](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Plaid-Cymru), and the DUP but also from dozens of Conservatives. At the same time, the call for holding another referendum on Brexit was growing louder, though May remained [adamant](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adamant) that the will of the British people had already been expressed. A major sticking point for many of those who opposed the agreement was the so-called [Northern Ireland backstop plan](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Northern-Ireland-backstop-plan). Formulated to help maintain an open border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland after Brexit, the “backstop” [stipulated](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stipulated) that a legally binding customs arrangement between the EU and Northern Ireland would go into effect if the U.K. and the EU could not reach a long-term agreement by December 2020. Opponents of the backstop argued that it set up the potential for regulatory barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K., effectively establishing a customs border down the [Irish Sea](https://www.britannica.com/place/Irish-Sea). ## Objections to the Irish backstop and a challenge to May’s leadership The issue grew more heated in the first week of December after the government was forced to publish in full Attorney General [Geoffrey Cox](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Geoffrey-Cox)’s legal advice for the government on the Brexit agreement, which had initially been reported to Parliament in overview only. According to Cox, without agreement between Britain and the EU, the terms of the backstop plan could endure “indefinitely,” with the U.K. legally blocked from terminating the agreement without EU approval. This [contentious](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contentious) issue was front and centre as the House of Commons began five days of debate leading up to a vote on the Brexit agreement that was scheduled for December 11. Facing the likelihood of a humiliating rejection of the agreement by the House of Commons, May dramatically interrupted the debate after three days, on December 10, and postponed the vote, pledging to seek new [assurances](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assurances) from the EU regarding the backstop. The opposition responded by threatening to hold a vote of confidence and to call for an early election. A challenge to May’s leadership was quickly mounted within the Conservative Party, and, after more than the required 15 percent of the parliamentary party (48 of 317 MPs) requested a vote on her leadership of the party, a [secret ballot](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Australian-ballot) vote was held on December 12, 2018. May received the votes of 200 MPs, more than the 159 votes she needed to survive as leader. Although, according to Conservative Party rules, she could not be challenged as leader for another year, it remained to be seen whether May would still face pressure to relinquish power. ## Parliamentary rejection of May’s plan, May’s survival of a confidence vote, and the Independent Group of breakaway MPs Responding to May in a joint letter, European Council Pres. [Donald Tusk](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Donald-Tusk) and [European Commission](https://www.britannica.com/topic/European-Commission) Pres. [Jean-Claude Juncker](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Claude-Juncker) indicated that, if the backstop had to be [invoked](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/invoked), they would strive to limit its application to the “shortest possible period.” However, this pledge satisfied few of the agreement’s critics. When debate on the agreement resumed on January 9, Corbyn argued not only for rejection of the agreement but also for an early general election. On January 15 the agreement was overwhelmingly rejected by a vote of 432–202 (the worst defeat for a government [initiative](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/initiative) in modern British parliamentary history), and Corbyn tabled a vote of confidence in the government, which May survived the next day, 325–306, having held onto the support of the DUP and many Conservatives who had deserted her in the agreement vote. The longer the issue of Brexit remained unsettled, the more it became the fulcrum on which British politics turned. Political pundits began to note that opinions on May’s proposed version of Brexit and Brexit in general cut across ideological lines. Both Labour and the Conservative Party were riven by internecine conflict over Brexit. In February eight MPs withdrew from the [Labour Party](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Labour-Party-political-party), citing their disappointment in Corbyn’s leadership on the issue as well as concerns over [alleged](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alleged) anti-Semitism within the party, a criticism that was at least partly tied to Corbyn’s sympathy for Palestinian concerns. Only days after their departure, three moderate Tories left the Conservative Party, protesting that it had been hijacked by the [European Research Group](https://www.britannica.com/topic/European-Research-Group), a faction of right-wing hard-line Brexiters whom the departing MPs accused of acting as a party within the party. Joining together as the Independent Group, these breakaway MPs from both parties began taking steps toward formally [constituting](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constituting) a new [political party](https://www.britannica.com/topic/political-party). Meanwhile, in early March, Tom Watson, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, [convened](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/convened) a meeting of Labour MPs and members of the House of Lords—many of whom felt that Corbyn had taken the party too far leftward—to consider an [alternative](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alternative) vision for the party. ## Parliament rejects May’s plan again Against this backdrop, May continued negotiations with European leaders in an effort to win concessions that would garner wider support within Parliament than the terms of her earlier, shunned Brexit plan did. On the eve of a scheduled meaningful vote in the House of Commons on her revised plan, May secured new promises of cooperation on the backstop plan from EU leaders. A “joint legally binding instrument” was agreed to under which Britain could initiate a “formal dispute” with the EU if the EU were to attempt to keep Britain bound to the backstop plan indefinitely. A “joint statement” was also issued that committed the U.K. and the EU to arriving at a replacement for the backstop plan by December 2020. Finally, the U.K. put forth a “unilateral declaration” stressing that there was nothing to prevent Britain from abandoning the backstop if negotiations on an alternative arrangement with the EU were to collapse without the prospect of resolution. In advance of the vote in Parliament, Attorney General Cox issued his opinion that while the new [assurances](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/assurances) reduced the risk of the U.K.’s being indefinitely confined by the backstop agreement, they did not fundamentally change the agreement’s legal status. In the vote on March 12, the House of Commons once again rejected May’s plan, though by a smaller margin than its earlier defeat, 391–242. The next day the House of Commons voted 312–308 against leaving the EU without a deal in place. On March 14, by just two votes, May survived a vote that would have taken control of Brexit away from her and handed it to Parliament. In a letter to EU leaders on March 20, she requested that the date of Britain’s departure from the EU be delayed until June 30. In response the EU announced its willingness to extend the Brexit deadline until May 22 but only if Parliament had accepted May’s withdrawal plan by the week of March 24. ## “Indicative votes,” May’s pledge to resign, a third defeat for her plan, and a new deadline Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of London on March 23 to demand that another referendum on Brexit be held. On March 25 the House of Commons voted 329–302 to usurp control of Parliament’s agenda from the government in order to hold “[indicative votes](https://www.britannica.com/topic/indicative-vote)” on alternative proposals to May’s plan. Eight of those proposals were put to a vote on March 27, but none was able to gain the support of the majority, though a plan to seek to create a “permanent and [comprehensive](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comprehensive) U.K.-wide [customs union](https://www.britannica.com/money/customs-union) with the EU” came close, falling sort by just six votes. Also on March 27, May pledged to resign as party leader and prime minister if the House of Commons were to approve her plan, a [gambit](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gambit) that won support from some “hard Brexit” opponents of the plan. On March 29, owing to an antique procedural rule invoked by Speaker of the House [John Bercow](https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Bercow), only the withdrawal agreement portion of May’s plan was voted upon by the House of Commons (excluded was the “political declaration” that addressed what the U.K. and EU expected of their long-term relationship). Although the vote was closer than the previous two (286 in support, 344 in opposition), the plan once again went down in defeat. The U.K. now had until April 12 to decide whether it would leave the EU without an agreement on that day or request a longer [delay](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/delay) that would require it to participate in elections for the [European Parliament](https://www.britannica.com/topic/European-Parliament). May asked the EU to push back the deadline for Brexit until June 30, and on April 11 the European Council announced that it was granting the U.K. a “flexible extension” until October 31. Shortly thereafter, in response to the Conservative Party’s seeming inability to position the country to leave the EU, [Nigel Farage](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nigel-Farage) launched the [Brexit Party](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Reform-UK). It proved to be a big winner in the elections for the European Parliament in May, capturing about 31 percent of the vote. The next closest finisher was the Liberal Democrats, with about 20 percent of the vote, while Labour claimed some 14 percent and the Conservatives only about 9 percent. Having failed to [garner](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/garner) sufficient support from Conservatives for her exit plan, May entered discussions with Labour leaders on a possible compromise, but these too proved fruitless. When May responded to that disappointment by proposing a new version of the plan that included a temporary customs relationship with the EU and a pledge to hold a parliamentary vote on whether to stage another referendum on Brexit, her cabinet revolted. Isolated as never before, the prime minister announced on May 24 that she would step down as leader of the Conservative Party on June 7 but would remain as caretaker premier until her party had chosen her successor. ## The Boris Johnson government ## Boris Johnson’s ascent, the December 2019 snap election, and Brexit After a series of votes by the parliamentary Conservative Party winnowed a list of 10 candidates to 2, [Boris Johnson](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Boris-Johnson) and [Jeremy Hunt](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jeremy-Hunt) stood in an election in which all of the party’s roughly 160,000 members were eligible to vote. Johnson took some 66 percent of that vote to assume the leadership. He officially replaced May as prime minister on July 24, 2019. Although he had promised to take the United Kingdom out of the EU without an exit agreement if the deal May had negotiated was not changed to his liking, Johnson faced widespread opposition (even within his own party) to his [advocacy](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/advocacy) of no-deal Brexit. Political maneuvering by the new prime minister (including proroguing Parliament just weeks before October 31, the revised departure deadline) was met with forceful legislative countermeasures by those opposed to leaving the EU without an agreement in place. A vote of the House of Commons in early September forced Johnson to request a delay of the British withdrawal from the EU until January 31, 2020, even though on October 22 the House approved, in principle, the agreement that Johnson had negotiated, replacing the backstop with a plan to keep Northern Ireland aligned with the EU for at least four years from the end of the [transition](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/transition) period. Johnson repeatedly tried and failed to call a snap election that he hoped would secure a mandate for his vision of Brexit. Because the election would fall outside the five-year term stipulated by the Fixed Terms of Parliament Act, it required approval by two-thirds of the House of Commons to be held, meaning that it needed support from the opposition, which was denied. After no-deal Brexit was blocked, however, Corbyn was willing to let voters once again decide the fate of Brexit, and an election was scheduled for December 12, 2019. Preelection opinion polling indicated a likely win for the Conservatives, but when the results were in, Johnson’s party had recorded its most [decisive](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/decisive) victory since 1987, adding 48 seats to secure a solid Parliamentary majority of 365 seats. The stage was set for the realization of Johnson’s version of Brexit, which was to take place at 11:00 pm London time on January 31, when the United Kingdom formally would withdraw from the European Union. In April 2020 [Sir Keir Starmer](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Keir-Starmer), the shadow Brexit secretary and a former director of public prosecutions, replaced Corbyn as Labour leader. At the end of October Corbyn was suspended from the party in response to his somewhat [dismissive](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/dismissive) reaction to the release of the greatly anticipated report on anti-Semitism within the Labour Party by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. His suspension immediately disrupted the Labour Party, prompting denunciations of that action by Corbyn’s leftist supporters. Although Britain’s formal withdrawal from the EU had been accomplished, final details relating to a new trade deal between the U.K. and the EU remained to be resolved, and the December 31, 2020, deadline for that resolution was only barely met on December 24. The resultant 2,000-page agreement clarified that there would be no limits or taxes on goods sold between U.K. and EU parties; however, an extensive [regimen](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/regimen) of paperwork for such transactions and transport of goods was put in place. The freedom to work and live between the U.K. and the EU became a thing of the past. ## The coronavirus pandemic As it was in most of the rest of the world, life in the U.K. was turned upside down in 2020 by the onset of the [coronavirus](https://www.britannica.com/science/coronavirus-virus-group) SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic, which had originated in [China](https://www.britannica.com/place/China), where the first cases were reported in December 2019. Because the Johnson government’s key scientific advisers had embraced the controversial theory that the best way to limit the long-term effects of the pandemic was to allow the virus to spread naturally and thus generate “herd immunity,” Britain initially did not adopt the kind of aggressive measures to combat the pandemic that had been undertaken in much of the rest of the world. By mid-March 2020, however, the government had radically shifted gears as [COVID-19](https://www.britannica.com/science/COVID-19), the potentially deadly disease caused by the virus, began spreading rapidly in Britain. Social-distancing and mask-wearing requirements were imposed, as was a lockdown that included the closing of schools, pubs, restaurants, and other businesses. In late March Prime Minister Johnson contracted the virus and had to be hospitalized, spending three nights in an [intensive care unit](https://www.britannica.com/science/intensive-care-unit) when his life was in jeopardy. While he was incapacitated, Foreign Secretary [Dominic Raab](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dominic-Raab) performed Johnson’s duties. Over the coming year, Johnson would initiate and [rescind](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rescind) stay-at-home orders that varied by region as the spread of the disease came in waves. Although the government’s initial response to the pandemic had been slow and unsteady, British scientists, aided by government funding, made historically rapid advances in developing an effective vaccine. Having become the first country to approve and [deploy](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deploy) the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Britain began rolling out a national immunization program in December 2020. Nevertheless, by March 2021 the U.K. had suffered about 126,000 COVID-related deaths, more than all but four other countries—the United States, [Brazil](https://www.britannica.com/place/Brazil), [Mexico](https://www.britannica.com/place/Mexico), and [India](https://www.britannica.com/place/India). The British predicament had been complicated by the emergence in the U.K. of a new, more easily transmissible variant of the disease (B.1.1.7) in September 2020. ## “Partygate” In late November 2021 it began to be reported that members of Johnson’s cabinet and staff, as well as the prime minister himself, had [attended](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/attended) parties earlier in the pandemic that violated prohibitions on social gatherings established by the government. The resulting “Partygate” scandal involved both the alleged violations and Johnson’s initial insistence that the government’s pandemic-related guidelines had been “followed at all times.” After reports came to light of an increasing number of illegal social gatherings at Downing Street during the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, Johnson apologized for having attended one such party at which drinks were served. In addition to the alleged violations of pandemic-related rules, a picture of excessive workplace drinking in the prime minister’s orbit began to take shape. Moreover, it appeared that Johnson had misled Parliament with his claim that no pandemic-related rules had been broken. Historically, deceiving Parliament was an offense that called for resignation. A report on the affair by senior civil servant Sue Gray was delivered to Parliament in late January 2022. Although it was truncated and heavily [redacted](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/redacted) to avoid compromising the investigation that had been undertaken by the [London Metropolitan Police](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Scotland-Yard) into a number of gatherings, the report said that “there were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No. 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times” and that “some of the events should not have been allowed to take place” whereas “other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did.” Despite a renewed apology to Parliament by Johnson, some Conservatives joined members of the opposition in calling for his resignation. Johnson’s grip on power would remain precarious—especially after the police investigation led to him being fined in April for his transgressions of pandemic-related rules. However, Russia’s invasion of [Ukraine](https://www.britannica.com/place/Ukraine) on February 24 served to forestall efforts to remove Johnson from office. Many in Britain appeared to believe that the moment of [existential crisis](https://www.britannica.com/topic/existential-crisis) for [Europe](https://www.britannica.com/place/Europe) brought on by Russia’s aggression was not the time for a change of leadership. ## Further scandal and Johnson’s resignation Nevertheless, by early June a sufficient number of Conservative MPs had written to the party’s 1922 Committee requesting the prime minister’s resignation that a [vote of confidence](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/vote%20of%20confidence) in his leadership of the party was forced. To retain his position, Johnson needed to have his leadership affirmed by at least 180 of the party’s 359 members of the House of Commons. When the secret ballots were counted, 211 MPs had voted in support of Johnson, but the 148 MPs who had voted against him represented a larger percentage of the party’s presence in the House of Commons than did the 133 MPs who had rejected Theresa May’s leadership in the 2018 vote of confidence that preceded her eventual resignation. Only weeks later Johnson’s [uncanny](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/uncanny) ability to survive scandal finally deserted him when his apparent prevarication regarding his awareness of allegations of sexual misconduct against a senior Conservative Party official shattered his support within the party and forced him to step down. Johnson tendered his immediate resignation as party leader on July 7, 2022. He announced that he would remain as prime minister until the Conservatives had chosen a new leader. ## The premiership of Liz Truss ## Ascent to office [Liz Truss](https://cdn.britannica.com/95/234995-050-4DEFAE08/British-Foreign-Secretary-Liz-Truss-attends-Conservative-Party-leadership-campaign-event-Marden-England-July-23-2022.jpg)Liz Truss (centre) attending a Conservative Party leadership campaign event in Marden, England, July 23, 2022. The parliamentary party (sitting Conservative MPs) then undertook a series of votes that incrementally winnowed the field of candidates for the leadership from eight to two, Foreign Secretary [Liz Truss](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Liz-Truss) and former chancellor of the [Exchequer](https://www.britannica.com/money/Exchequer) [Rishi Sunak](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rishi-Sunak), whose names were submitted for a vote by the party’s whole membership. When the results of that election were reported on September 5, Truss emerged as the winner. The next day she became the third woman ever to serve as Britain’s prime minister. In a break with tradition, Truss received her official appointment from [Elizabeth II](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elizabeth-II) at [Balmoral Castle](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Balmoral-Castle) rather than at [Buckingham Palace](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Buckingham-Palace) out of concern for the [queen’s](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Queen-British-rock-group) increasingly frail health, which had limited Elizabeth’s participation in June in the Platinum Jubilee, a four-day celebration of her 70-year reign. ## The death of Elizabeth II On September 8 Britain and the world were shocked by the news of the queen’s death. Truss called Elizabeth “the rock on which modern Britain was built.” In an address to the nation the following day, the new king, [Charles III](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-III-king-of-the-United-Kingdom), said: > Queen Elizabeth’s was a life well lived; a promise with destiny kept and she is mourned most deeply in her passing…. As the Queen herself did with such unswerving devotion, I too now solemnly pledge myself, throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the [Constitutional](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Constitutional) principles at the heart of our nation. And wherever you may live in the United Kingdom, or in the Realms and territories across the world, and whatever may be your background or beliefs, I shall endeavour to serve you with loyalty, respect and love, as I have throughout my life. Some 10 days of national mourning followed that led to the queen lying in state in Westminster Hall. Mourners stood in a line that stretched for miles to view her coffin. A sombre funeral ceremony, attended by an estimated 100 heads of foreign governments, was held at [Westminster Abbey](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Westminster-Abbey) on September 19. ## Abrupt resignation Liz Truss had come into office believing that she had a mandate to carry out a “low taxes, high growth” economic plan. However, the financial markets panicked at the prospect of the budget [deficit](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/deficit) likely to result from Truss’s proposed combination of unfunded £45 billion (\$50 billion) tax cuts and a two-year cap on energy prices (in response to high energy costs facing Britons as a result of sanctions imposed on [natural gas](https://www.britannica.com/science/natural-gas) supplier Russia). The [Bank of England](https://www.britannica.com/money/Bank-of-England) was forced to intervene to stabilize the markets after the value of the pound nose-dived, mortgage rates rose, and the cost of U.K. [government borrowing](https://www.britannica.com/money/deficit-financing) climbed. Responding to the furor that followed, on October 14 Truss sacked Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng, among her closest political allies, and replaced him with former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt. Almost immediately Hunt began undoing Truss’s signature economic plan, reducing the period for the energy price cap to six months and revoking the tax cuts. Truss apologized for the “mistakes” she had made, but a growing number of Conservative MPs called for her to resign, and, amid [withering](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/withering) support for her, on October 20 Truss announced that she was stepping down as party leader but would remain prime minister until the Conservatives will have chosen her successor. ## The premiership of [Rishi Sunak](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rishi-Sunak) The leadership selection process was more truncated this time around. Candidates were required to receive 100 nominations from Conservative MPs in order to come up for a vote. Given that there were 357 Conservative MPs, at most only three candidates could advance for consideration, and the party membership would choose between the two finalists. The House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt was the first to declare her candidacy, but Sunak, who still enjoyed broad support among MPs, was the favourite to replace Truss. Although there seemed to be significant support for a return to power by Johnson despite his fall from grace, the former prime minister [withdrew](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/withdrew) his name from consideration the day before the nominations were due. Struggling to gain adequate support for her candidacy, Mordaunt also stepped aside, and on October 24 the path was clear for Sunak, as the sole remaining candidate, to be confirmed as party leader without resorting to a vote of the broader party membership. The stage was set for him to become the first person of colour, the first person of South Asian descent, and the first Hindu to serve as prime minister of the United Kingdom. Sunak became the fourth consecutive prime minister to oppose conducting a second referendum on Scottish independence. In June 2022, on Johnson’s watch, Scottish First Minister [Nicola Sturgeon](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nicola-Sturgeon) had announced her intention to hold a second referendum (dubbed indyref2) in October 2023. In pursuit of that goal, she asked the U.K. Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of Scotland’s holding the vote without the approval of the U.K. government. When the court ruled in November 2022 that Scotland was not empowered to conduct the referendum without Westminster’s approval, Sturgeon pledged to make the U.K. parliamentary election scheduled for 2025 a [de facto](https://www.britannica.com/topic/de-facto) referendum on Scottish independence. In January 2023, [invoking](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/invoking) the powers of the Scotland Act of 1998, the British government blocked the promulgation of a law enacted in December 2022 by the Scottish Parliament that permitted [transgender](https://www.britannica.com/topic/transgender) people in Scotland to change their legal gender by self-declaration without a medical [diagnosis](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diagnosis). The veto of the Scottish legislation—based on the argument that the law created inequalities because elsewhere in the United Kingdom a medical diagnosis was required for an individual to transition for legal purposes—marked the first time in the roughly 25 years since [devolution](https://www.britannica.com/topic/devolution-government-and-politics) that the British government had overruled an action by Scotland’s Parliament. Sturgeon promised to take the matter to court; however, in February 2023 she announced her intention to resign as leader of the SNP and first minister, saying that she felt that she could no longer summon the energy that was necessary to perform her job. Sturgeon remained as leader of the SNP and first minister until late March, when the party chose her [successor](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/successor), [Humza Yousaf](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Humza-Yousaf), the health secretary, who became the first Muslim and first person of colour to head the Scottish government.

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