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UK Politics - Statistics & Facts

Even by modern British standards, 2022 was a chaotic political year for the UK. Three different Prime Ministers occupied 10 Downing Street; Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak. The incumbent, Sunak, has restored a degree of stability to the role simply by staying in power. Sunak's predecessor, Liz Truss, resigned less than 50 days into the job, by far the shortest reign of any Prime Minister. Despite this, Sunak has inherited a country in crisis. High inflation is pushing living standards down causing the worst cost of living crisis in a generation. The National Health Service (NHS) is almost at breaking point, and has struggled to keep pace with patient demand over winter. This issue has been further exacerbated by public sector strikes. With wage growth struggling to keep up with inflation, workers across a swathe of industries have opted for industrial action. Outside of the UK, Sunak must also navigate Europe's worst security crisis in decades following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Unfortunately for the UK, 2023 has the possibility to be just as difficult, if not more so, than 2022.

The unpopular populist - Johnson's fall from power

Despite winning a large majority in the 2019 general election, Boris Johnson's popularity fell significantly throughout his time as Prime Minister. Although the approval rating of his government ebbed and flowed for much of his time in office, it did not truly recover since the second half of 2021. This downturn in approval was likely because the government and Boris Johnson, in particular, came under scrutiny for breaking lockdown rules at the height of the societal restrictions in 2020. Due to the nature of the violations, which concerned celebratory social gatherings at Downing Street, the scandal became known as 'Partygate' and led to an irreversible turn in Johnson's fortunes. Johnson was ultimately served a fixed-penalty notice for breaking lockdown rules, and despite surviving a vote of no-confidence in his leadership in June 2022, his authority was badly shaken. A series of damaging ministerial resignations between July 5-7, 2022 forced Johnson's hand, and he resigned on July 7, 2022, and stayed on as Prime Minister until the Conservative party elected the ill-fated Liz Truss as his replacement in September 2022.

The Brexit Saga

Modern British politics has undoubtedly been dominated by the issue of Brexit, following the result of the UK’s referendum to withdraw from the European Union in 2016. The 2017 general election was in many ways a reaction to Brexit, an attempt by the Conservative Party to increase their majority in parliament and strengthen their hand in the Brexit negotiations. The Prime Minister, Theresa May, did return to power, but with a reduced number of seats in the House of Commons. May's pyrrhic victory in that election was followed by almost two years of constant instability, which saw May gradually lose political capital as she attempted to get her unpopular Brexit deal approved by parliament three times in early 2019. Her inability to do so led to her resignation and the rise to power of Boris Johnson, who would go on to decisively win the 2019 general election and achieve his goal of taking Britain out of the European Union on January 31, 2020. Any honeymoon period that Johnson may have had was soon shattered by the Coronavirus pandemic, with the first UK cases reported on the very same day that Britain left the EU.

UK politics explained

While the United Kingdom is technically still a monarchy and also has an unelected upper-house in the form of the House of Lords, the true center of executive and legislative power lies in the House of Commons. The 650 Members of Parliament (MPs) that sit in the UK’s House of Commons represent 650 electoral areas called constituencies. Voters in the UK elect an MP for their constituency who will sit in parliament to stand for both local and national interests. Almost all MPs belong to political parties, the largest of which is the center-right Conservative Party and the center-left Labour Party. If one single party can win 326 or more seats in a general election, it will be able to form a government by virtue of having a simple majority in the House of Commons. The leader of the party who wins the most MPs usually goes on to become the Prime Minister, although these leaders must also win the constituency they represent, just like any other MP.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by D. Clark, Jan 20, 2023

Key insights

GB adults who intend to vote Conservative
23%
GB adults who intend to vote Labour
45%
Most important issue for British public
The economy
Get more insights

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