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UK POLITICS TIMELINE (illustrative examples) - Coggle Diagram
UK POLITICS TIMELINE (illustrative examples)
State of Chaos
Coalition
Post war new labour
Pre war New labour
Thatcher (and a bit of Major)
Union power
Post-war consensus
The Attlee government (1949)
attempts to nationalise sugar. The response to this proposal was the 'Mr Cube' jokes which much of the press ran with to show the ridiculousness of this level of nationalisation
Attlee's formation of the NHS (and most of his other nationalisation + creation of a welfare state) was acknowledged by Churchill as necessary. This acceptance arguably won him the election.
The new deal
- a policy set out by President Roosevelt to counter the great depression in
1930s America
this sought out to get the nation working through infrastructure projects and welfare spending - seen as a sucsess.
1949 & 1911 Parliament acts
- Put a limit on the amount of time that the lords can delay a bill passing through parliament. It was originally 2 years and then 1 year, this works along side the
reasonable time convention.
Attlee nationalises the 'commanding heights' of the economy - mixed economic management.
The 'winter of discontent' 1978-1979:
Striking unionists ground many of the nation's services to a halt. Not even the Callaghan government of the time were in support of the strikes, the country was just 'not working' and the media liked to drill this in with the statement that
'the dead were left unburied'
showing the extent of the nations disfunction.
Callaghan looses a
vote of no confidence
(1979) and a general election is called.
Callaghan claimed he
'would not cross the picket lines'
this showed unionists he would not be prepared to negotiate deal with them.
1976 - Labour party conference
, highlighted a 'civil war' within the party between those who supported the unions and those who didn't.
Dennis Healey
(chancellor) made a speech which in turn highlighted this. Some say this moment was why the party ended up in opposition for 18 years - too divided
1979 - peak union membership
- around 13 million compared to 6 million today
1975 - referendum held on EU membership
. Remain wins with a 67% approval rate.
1976
- Callaghan and his cabinet spent a week deciding whether
to go to the IMF for a loan
, they eventually decided to not take the loan. This is a good example of when an age when responses could be slow and the cabinet mattered.
Black Wednesday (1992)
- Major took the UK out of the European exchange rate mechanism (ERM) which caused interest rates to rise to 16% many of the public suffered as a result of this. This undermined the Tory image as fiscally competent and gave Blair a major advantage
Thatcher's mass privatisation marks
the end of the post-war consensus + union power
. Most notably, her closing of coal mines, which was ardently protested by miners (led by Arthur Scargill).
Thatcher and Reagan establish a very clear 'special relationship'. They both oversee the birth of 'new right' politics and were essentially idealogical allies. This strong Anglo-American relationship is repeated during Bush and Blair's 'war on terror'.
Thatcher is the first female PM and from a working-class background, kick-starting class-dealignment and partisanship. The 'right to buy' policy perpetuated this.
Thatcher made the decision to shut down
‘loss making industries’
this led to huge rates of unemployment and tore industries apart. Most famously the closing of steel industries.
The Ridley plan -(created by Nicholas Ridley)
The Ridley Report was a detailed blueprint on how to firstly provoke, and secondly win, a battle against the so-called “barriers” to monetarism. This began in 1980 by taking down the trade unions one by one, finishing with the beast of them all - the miners.
IRA bombing at Party Conference (1984)
an attempt to Kill Thatcher narrowly missed her however killed a dear friend of hers the party never forgave the republicans for this move.
Poll Tax -
This was a ludicrous policy which created a flat rate of tax irregardless of income. This went down massively bad with the electorate and violent protests were held to oppose it.
Jeffery Howe
eventually resigned over anti European abuse that Thatcher hailed in parliament, this eventually fired the start pistol on a leadership question. This was the more that
really
killed thatcher.
Thatcher - No No No speech (1990):
she used this to show she rejected the idea of the EU becoming a superstate gaining too much power.
Gerald Kaufman
dubs the 1983 Labour manifesto 'the longest suicide note in history.' This precedes and fuels Blair's decision to revise clause IV
The 1984-85 miners' strike,
a watershed moment in UK politics, cemented Thatcher's neoliberal, anti-union agenda, crippled the power of trade unions, and spurred massive deindustrialization
1994 - 'cash for questions' scandal
-The Sunday Times and The Guardian exposed Members of Parliament accepting money and undisclosed payments in exchange for tabling parliamentary questions and performing advocacy on behalf of private interests.
1983 general election:
This was a massive defeat for Labour and a big landslide for Thatcher. This was because the left wing vote was split between Labour and the SDP - this caused certain members of the party to put the ideas for the 'new labour' ideology in the works - they wanted to win elections
The September Dossier
is published in 2002. A highly controversial government document which uncovered to the public the grounds of Blair's suspicions regarding WMDs in Iraq
(2000) Blair announces extra spending for the NHS
to the media (BBC Breakfast) without consulting the treasury - this sets the precedent for policy announcements to the media before they are spoken about in the house and also eposes the relax 'sofa' style of government Blair operated
Blair was the first world leader to phone Bush after 9/11, showing his undying support for America.
Peter Mandelson
seeks to reform the labour party's 'look' after the massive
1987 defeat
- the red rose is made the new logo to disassociate the party with communism and make it feel more British.
Following 9/11, Bush and Blair form a 'special relationship' (much like Thatcher and Reagan) to fight their 'war on terror.'
1997
- Labor made the manifesto commitment to hold a referendum on having mayor of London if they came into power - Ken Livingston became the first mayor of London
Adaptation of clause IV (1995)
There were elements of the communist manifesto in the old clause, which Blair removed.This was all part of bringing the Labour party closer to the centre.
Death of Diana (1997) -
The death of the princess was as much a cultural moment as a political one, Blair made a statement quickly after her death accepting the fact that the country had entered national mourning. Alistair Campbell advised Blair on his message he labeled her the ‘people’s princess’.
At this exact moment Blair's populairty peaked
Blair had success in
military intervention in Kosovo
which gave him heroic status, this gave him the confidence to use the same tactics again.
Millennium dome
- This disaster rendered a storm of bad press many considered it a metaphor for the new labour regime which was nothing but a vanity project.
15th of February 2003
a mass demonstration took place in central London with slogans such as
‘no blood for oil’.
1997 landslide -
The Tories lost all of their seats in Scotland and Wales and their dominance over the South weakened - they did retain rural dominance however
Why did Blair’s government have more women?
He created ‘women only’ shortlist candidates to ensure that there would be more female MPs, this was massively controversial.
Joining the Euro?
Blair wanted to join but Brown didn’t let him - The PM doesn’t hold complete control.
Blair's method of governing was criticised as
'sofa government'
as he made decisions in small meetings and made heavy use of special advisers.
MPs expenses scandal (2010
) - MPs were caught spending on their delegated credit cards - for things as big as paying off morgages.
The wright reforms (2010)
changed the way that select committees functioned making them more effective as a method of Scrutiny. (1) Made the role of Chair more important and desirable (pay rise). (2) meant that chairs were elected by all backbenchers rather than appointed.
Blair looses his first vote in the commons (2005)
over whether terror suspects can be held for up to 90 days.
Gordon Brown remains PM for 5 days beyond convention dictates
whilst the coalition is being formed, exhibiting a positive aspect of the flexibility of our constitution.
'cash for honours' scandal (2006-2007)
Previous large labour party members were suggested for peerages by the government of the time, many of which were rejected by the HLCA.
Iraq protests
take place in London from 15th Feb 2003, the biggest political protests in British history. A clear example of a peak of political engagement in the UK.
Gordon Brown calls a woman bigoted and is forced to apologise
7/7 bombings (2005)
50 people lost their lives in terrorist attacks in London, Blair had to fly back from the G8 summit to address the shaken nation. Some claimed that his Iraq policy caused this unrest.
2008 - gurkhas
(nepalese troops in the british army)
To try to lessern immigration numbers this group was told they could not settle in the UK. Awareness was raised about this group and the public rallied round them. This pushed Gordon Brown to U-turn.
Meg Russell (2013)
a study on law making in the lords. Found that many back benchers used the lords to put their policy ideas forward. The study also mentioned the concept of 'anticipated reaction' where amendments are made before the first reading.
Cameron (2016)
attempted to make the wording of the Brexit question more 'remain friendly' however parliament voted down this proposal.
Despite the establishment of the information Act. Cameron refuses to publish the minutes of Blair's Iraq meetings, he did not want to set a precedent about minutes being open for public viewing, as this could lead ministers to being more cautious and consciously-spoken in important meetings.
Austerity measures 2010-2019
the conservative government makes huge cuts to welfare spending across the board and kills many elements of the welfare state previously put in place by Labour.
London Riots (2011)
- Riots began in Tottenham, North London. Those involved claim this was a protest against police brutality (in the case of Mark Duggan) and state cuts to funds for deprived communities. Cameron claimed that the riots were not about poverty but about culture.
STV example:
In 2011 there were 12,000 spoilt ballets in the northern Irish election
Tuition fees put up (2010)
- this measure meant that student tuition fees went from £3,000 annually to £9,000 annually this was a very unpopular move and lost the lib dems many of their young supporters.
Cabinet management - During the coalition, there were formal/informal meetings of
the ‘quad’
. The role of the quad was for Cameron to gauge whether or not both parties could agree on an issue and therefore bring it to the cabinet. It consisted of Cameron, Chancellor Obsourne,Deputy PM Nick Clegg and Chief Secretary to the treasury (second chancellor) Danny Alexander.
Johnson (September 2019)
attempted to prorogue parliament in order to push through his Brexit deal - the supreme court deems this unlawful are parliament enters session once again, the Brexit deal goes through
Partygate
- The top team at number 10 were found to be partying through lockdown - enquiry by Sue Grey. The scandal that lost the public faith in the Tories and killed Johnson
(2017) May
- after cabinet discussion calls a snap election and ends up loosing her majority - this election saw mass partisan realignment within the electorate.
Voter concentration
example - In the 2019 election the city of london and westminster seat was won by the conservatives with a majority of around 4000 however in knowsley labour won with a majority of about 40,000 labour won 10x the amount of votes here but the same amount of seats.
around 1/3 of voters said that the economy and immigration were key issues for them when it came to Brexit
Green new deal
- concept came about with the creation of net zero and was inspired by the work of both Roosevelt and Blair. Sought out to create jobs through new climate infrastructure.
(2019) Boris
made it clear through his campaign he wanted to
'get Brexit done'
, he thought this would become his legacy.
2019 marks the
'fall of the red wall
' through which long-time Labour voters switched to vote Tory. This is an example of Valence issues, Party leadership or Campaigns affecting voter choice, rather than social class.
2020 - Boris Jonson
announces a national lockdown - a move he is reluctant to make due to his libertarian view of society.
Interesting note for party funding.. for a donation of £250,000, a wealthy individual can buy themselves into the advisory board for the Conservative Party (meetings with the PM and Chancellor), which became a lot more relevant during Johnson's premiership (May had sidelined a lot of these members because they were Eurosceptics). Labour has criticised this.
21 MPs were banished from the party by chief whip Mark Spencer because they did not agree with the government's position on the EU.
Sep 2019
2017
- May puts out her manifesto without showing it to her cabinet.
Cambridge analytica - 2018
2018
- Amber Rudd was forced to resign as home sec after providing false information to parliament on the government's deportation targets - dubbed the 'widrush scandal'. Pushed by the work of yvette cooper by select committee.
Urgent questions
- brought in under the wright reforms - 2007-2008 only 4 were asked, 2017-2019 307 were asked.
Jeremy Hunt (2019)
became chair of the select committee for health and scrutinised the work of government through the pandemic.
Labour landslide 2024
Starmer appoints an almost entirely state educated cabinet for the first time in history.
See: Starmer's cabinet
(2024) Labour
cuts the winter fuel allowance
this proves a massively controversial measure. Disabled benefit cuts are introduced in the same vein.
Come 2025 neither of these measures were pushed through with a major U-turn on winter feul.
Starmer's governmen
t represents the right of the labour party and -much to the dismay of the left- is essentially controlled by chief of staff Morgan Mcsweeney. They gained power by killing off many of the solidly left wing party figures
2024 election party representation
-
The Greens managed to gain more seats in the 2024 election by targeting areas with their demographic. E.g brighton pavilion.
Reform gained
14% of the vote in 2024 with only gaining 5 seats.
The DUP held less than 1% of the vote however held 5 seats off the back of it.
Spring statement 2025
- Reeves announced cuts to welfare spending and an increase in defence spending.
The
assisted dying bill
was initiated by Kim Leaderbeater, exhibiting a success of backbenchers to influence the legislative process
Starmer aims (and is in the process of)
abolishing all hereditary peers
. This is an example of fairly old labour ideologies influencing further constitutional reform. The lords continue to delay this bill for long periods of time - same with assisted dying.
May 2025
- Reform UK win huge on the local elections at the expense of the Labour and Conservative parties. These 667 seats won have truly shown the presence of a multiparty system in the UK.
'An island of strangers'
- Stamer makes a major immigration policy announcement which has extremely reform like retoric - echoing the words of Enoch Powell. The policy makes requirements for citizenship even tighter.
Starmer works to improve British relations with the EU through a new deal.
September 2025
- Rayner resigns over stamp duties scandal
Robert Jenrick
- claims in 2025 that senior judges are not neutral any more, they work for immigration charities while also legislating on it. This has caused him to call for a return to the fusion on powers for this system.
ECHR - late 2025
- parties are now calling for us to leave it, interpretation of this is becoming an issue.
Raising the colours
- Britain is plastered with St Georges crosses in what is now being dubbed the 'flag wars'. Starmer initially supports this movement however then goes on to claim it is ripping the nation apart.
Starmer's Cabinet after the resignation of Lousie Haigh is the first to be 100% state school educated.
May council elections (2026)
- Starmer takes a beating and his leadership is again questioned.
Trump
claims that Starmer is 'no Churchill' the 'special relationship grows weaker.
Starmer's
cabinet turns on him and his leadership is in major danger (May 2026)
The appointment of Lord Mandelson
as ambassador to the US is under further scrutiny (April 2025) as it is found he failed his security vetting. Number 10 claim not to have known about this.
Elections covered in this timeline:
- 1945 - 1950 - 1951 - 1959 - 1964 - 1966 - 1970 - 1974 - 1979 - 1983 - 1987 - 1992 - 1997 - 2001 - 2005 - 2010 - 2015 - 2017 - 2019 - 2024
political concepts (somewhat niche)
The Overton window
The Overton window frames the general policies and political ideas excepted by the wider public, this shifts over time - currently shifting right
Chesterton’s Fence
This concept encourages you to think before you change something, if you don’t understand why something is in place you shouldn’t change it. (conservatism)
Monetarism
is an economic theory that focuses on controlling the money supply to achieve stable economic growth and price stability
Conviction politics
is the practice of campaigning based on a politician's own fundamental values or ideas rather than attempting to represent an existing consensus or simply take positions that are popular in polls.
Tim Shipman perpetuates the idea that this is a rare occurrence, and that very few politicians are
'nakedly ideological.'
This is a consequence of FPTP. We only really see this from 'marmite' figures such as Corbyn and Farage.
Legislative tyranny
when decisions made by the courts oppress the individuals - this is an abuse of power.
Revolving door theory
where previous public figures make their way into the private sector. E.g. Tony Blair
Popular sovereignty
- Recent opinion polls reveal that the public trust politician less and less, therefore there has been a rise in direct democracy such as referendums
