Parliament Over the Past 10 Years – By Samuel Hughes

Over the past 10 years, the UK parliament has witnessed many ‘crazy times.’ In 2010 we saw our first coalition government since 1945, a referendum which led to Brexit- a topic which still splits opinion today, and the resignation of David Cameron as prime minister in 2016. In 2017 we witnessed a snap election called by Theresa May, leading to the countries third hung parliament since 1929. In 2019 May resigned as Prime Minister after losing support from members of her own party. It was Boris Johnson who took over. In December 2019 we saw another election, called by Johnson in an attempt to give him a majority government so he could pass his Brexit deal through parliament, he succeeded and consequently gifted Corbyn’s labour party their worst election defeat since 1935. Just as things began to settle down, COVID-19 struck. What effect have the significant events of the last 10 years meant for Great Britain?

2010 started with a labour majority government led by Gordon Brown. However, that year in the General Election Labour lose 91 seats and the Conservatives gain 97, making them the single biggest party. Although the Tories did not have a majority, David Cameron formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, led by Nick Clegg, to have 363 seats in parliament. This was the first coalition government since 1945. Despite contrasting views, the first few months of the Tory-Lib Dems coalition was relatively smooth with no major disputes. Although things changed in May 2011 when Nick Clegg’s Lib Dems suffered in the local elections, whilst the Tories held up well, Clegg blamed this on his party bearing the brunt of public anger over coalition policies.

2011 saw the Fixed-Term Parliament Act passed, meaning a general election could only be called if two thirds of the house agree on it or if a motion of no confidence is passed and no alternative government is confirmed by the Commons within 14 days. This act removed some power the Prime Minister had on calling a general election in the UK.

As prime minister of the UK from 2010 to 2015, David Cameron oversaw 2 referendums, election reforms (Supported by Clegg) and Scottish Independence, both outcomes were those which Cameron favoured, keeping the first past the post voting system and Scotland staying part of the United Kingdom. 2015 saw the second general election of the decade. With 331 seats David Cameron’s Conservative Party achieved a majority Government, with Ed Miliband’s Labour party losing 26 seats. The Liberal Democrats lost 49 seats in 2015, with a large portion of that loss suffered in the south-west which the Conservatives gained.

These first 5 years of the decade were significant to the UK as we witnessed a drop from being in a coalition government to losing 49 seats for the Lib Dems- something they haven’t recovered from since. We also saw Scotland vote to remain part of the UK yet a year later a rise in SNP votes in the general election. Furthermore, the Labour party change leadership from Miliband to Corbyn and with that change moved further left on the political ideology spectrum.

For the first time in 5 years, there was a majority government in the UK. Labour appointed Jeremy Corbyn as their new leader after Miliband resigned and the Lib Dems appointed Tim Farron to replace Nick Clegg. As promised prior to the 2015 election, Cameron called a referendum on whether the UK should remain part of the EU. Cameron campaigned against leaving the European Union, a topic which split political parties in half. One of the lead campaigners to leave the EU was Nigel Farage, then UKIP leader and formed Tory MP. After receiving 13% of the vote and coming second in 115 constituencies in the 2015 election, there was obvious support for his vision of an independent UK. In June 2016 the country voted, with 52% of the vote, the UK elected to withdraw from the European Union. This event had massive significance on the UK. A direct consequence was the resignation of David Cameron as PM of the UK claiming that ‘fresh leadership’ was needed. A sharp decline in the value of the British pound as well as the stocks being down in New York and Britain the day after the referendum results were announced shows the clear economic consequences of Brexit. Furthermore, it would take two prime ministers and two General elections before the UK would finally leave the EU, proving that getting a deal was harder than imagined.

Theresa May took over as Prime Minister after being granted leadership of the Conservative Party. May, like Cameron, voted remain in the EU referendum however promised to deliver a deal. In 2017 May called a snap election in an attempt to strengthen her small majority in parliament. However, it did not go to plan and May lost 14 seats along with a majority. This, in the eyes of Labour Leader Corbyn, was a relative success as it meant his party had higher influence in parliament. Resulting in the 2nd hung parliament of the 21st century. The DUP formed an alliance with the Conservatives. After the election May worked to get a Brexit deal through parliament but all to no avail which eventually led to her resignation in June 2019. She remained as caretaker prime minister until the new conservative leader was announced. May calling a snap election which resulted in a hung parliament had significance on UK politics, especially regarding leaving the European Union as she was unable to pass a deal through parliament causing the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union to be postponed. Three years after the vote took place the UK had witnessed another PM resign and still hadn’t left the EU.

It was Boris Johnson who took over as Prime Minister from Theresa May. Johnson suffered from rebel Tories in his first few months on the job, losing his working majority. It became apparent that this situation in parliament was stopping Johnson from passing his Brexit deal. After several attempts Johnson managed to call a general election, realising that he needed to remove the current stalemate in the House of Commons. In December 2019 Johnson won the general election with an 80-seat majority. Labour suffered their worst defeat since 1935 which led to Corbyn resigning and Sir Keir Starmer being appointed new leader of the opposition. On 31st January, Johnson as promised, took the country out of the EU.

Johnson would go on to face another problem as prime minister, how to deal with a deadly pandemic. COVID-19 has caused over 30,000 deaths in the UK alone to date. It has changed normal day to day life as the country stays in lockdown. The government has borrowed huge quantities of money to aid their fight against COVID-19. In the future, when this is all over, questions will be asked of the government dealt with it and what that will mean for UK politics in the future, no one knows.

In conclusion, the past 10 years of politics have been significant on the UK. We have had 4 different Prime Ministers, 4 general elections, 2 referendums, left the EU and seen a coalition government and huge parliament. Only one prime minister has served a full 5-year term in that time. Will the next 10 years be as ‘action packed’.

Sam Hughes