Online updates

British Politics Online Updates

The Conservative Government and the Prime Minister

British politics continues to show turbulence, disruption, and frenetic activity, as explored in British Politics 1e. Chapter two (section 2.7.2) of the book focused on the role of the prime minister (PM hereafter) as a source of instability. So, it is no surprise that PM Johnson was at the centre of the dominant news stories of late 2021 and throughout 2022: the ‘party-gate’ scandal, subsequent police investigation, and the pressure for him to stand down leading to the appointment of Liz Truss, who was elected as PM by Conservative MPs and party members.

The scandal came from the period of national lockdowns which were the response of the governments of the UK to the Covid-19 crisis discussed in the book (see Case Study 1.2). People in the countries of the UK were restricted from leaving their homes except for limited time for exercise and essential shopping. From May 2020, evidence from photos revealed that parties, where alcohol was consumed, took place on a regular basis in 10 Downing St and elsewhere in Whitehall, some of which were attended for brief periods by the former PM. The events dominated the news and parliamentary business. Conservative MPs called for Johnson’s resignation, with several writing letters to the chair of the 1922 committee (54 are needed to trigger a vote of confidence in the leader). A report into the affair led by civil servant Sue Gray was commissioned by the PM Matters got worse when the Metropolitan Police investigated and the former PM and then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, were both fined with fixed penalty notices. With the full text of the Gray report having to wait until the completed police investigation and no further fines, Johnson appeared, at first, to survive in office, buoyed by his strong commitment to support for Ukraine after the Russian Invasion (see below), which caused some MPs to withdraw their letters calling for his resignation. By the time the Gray report was published on 25 May 2022, some of the sting of the affair had appeared to have been taken out, but not the loss of trust and confidence in the government, linked to the anti-politics sentiments discussed in chapter four (section 4.4.9).

But the PM remained vulnerable to challenge by his MPs. In June a confidence vote was mounted by Conservative MPs, which Johnson survived. Then, another example of the prime minister being less than truthful about his actions emerged, which was the final straw for MPs. The deputy chief whip (a ministerial post responsible for party discipline, see key term 1.6), Chris Pincher MP, resigned on 1 July after not denying the allegation that he had groped two young men at the Carlton Club. No further action by the Conservative party was taken. The problem emerged that Johnson knew much more about previous incidents relating to Pincher, but ministers had not been briefed. Lord McDonald, a former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, revealed that Johnson had known about a previous incident in 2019 when he was Foreign Secretary. Showing the importance of the Cabinet (discussed in section 2.6.3), two key members of the cabinet, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (see section 2.6.2), Rishi Sunak, and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid, resigned at about the same time on 5 July. Johnson tried to support his government by appointing Nadhim Zahawi as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Steve Barclay as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. But this did not stop the meltdown of the government. From the viewpoint of the course, it is useful to note that members of the Cabinet stayed in place, while the resignations took place at more junior levels. In December 1990, the Cabinet played a critical role in encouraging the prime minister to stand down (see section 2.6.5); in July 2022 it was the resignations of junior ministers that were critical in showing to Johnson that he could not carry on. He reluctantly resigned as party leader on 7 July. He carried on as prime minister until a new leader of the Conservative party was found. There ensued a leadership contest whereby Conservative MPs put themselves forward as candidates with their fellow party MPs voting for them in successive rounds until the list reduced to the two top-placed candidates, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss. Under party rules, ordinary members choose the new leader from the final two selected by MPs. After a long campaign, Liz Truss emerged on 5 September as the winner with 57.4 per cent of the members’ votes. In line with the British constitution (see section 1.3.3), the prime minister needs to resign and then the new one is appointed by the monarch, which happened the next day, September 7. At the time of writing, a new government is being put into place through the PM using her power of appointment (section 2.4.2).

The British Response to the War in Ukraine

On 24 February 2022 Russia invaded the independent state of Ukraine. The invasion was fiercely resisted by the Ukrainian government, leading to sanctions on Russia from governments across Europe, then a desperate military fight by Ukrainian forces. The UK was an early supporter and identified the danger before the invasion, supporting Ukraine with weapons and training, as well as working with the US over sanctions, making earlier and stronger calls for action than many other countries, such as France and Germany. Johnson claimed credit for the UK response. As chapter ten discusses, the UK is still an international player and has key roles in international organisations, but it depends on the US for support, which it had in this case. Due to Britain’s exit from the European Union (Brexit: see section 10.4.8), Britain no longer had a voice in the EU, which has been slower to offer support. It has been possible for Britain to influence EU countries (though many of the same tensions over the EU’s response to Ukraine would be there with or without UK membership). The crisis illustrates both the opportunities and limitations of the UK’s international role discussed in chapter ten. It also shows how projecting a strong external role can be helpful to incumbent governments, if the crisis is going relatively well in relation to the UK’s stance. As the autumn is going to be dominated by an energy price crisis (see below), the UK faces the challenge of seeking to lead the West’s support for Ukraine in a very difficult period.

The Cost-Of-Living Crisis

The Ukraine war is connected to the cost-of-living crisis, which has become one of the dominant problems in British politics. The invasion has cut international grain supplies, swelling prices. Uncertainty about the supply of energy has rapidly increased prices, exacerbated by Russia’s cut to the supply of gas through its pipelines to Europe. Rising costs, particularly of fuel and food, are affecting all families, but are more significant to poorer families, where these goods make up a large share of their costs. A right-of-centre government does not like to intervene in the market, though often does in practice. The Conservative government had already embraced intervention over the Covid-19 crisis and with the levelling-up agenda, the latter designed to address long-term inequalities across the UK. Whatever its preferences, in the end it was forced to act, first in February 2022 with a limited package of measures. A much larger package was introduced in late May, including a tax on the profits of energy companies. The government is vulnerable because voters may blame it for the failure to act, amid the many stories in the media. How to help families is the Truss government’s biggest challenge.

Ongoing Irish Protocol issues

Brexit remains a topic in British politics, particularly over the Irish Protocol, which is a separate treaty between Ireland and the UK agreed in 2019. It implements a single market for Ireland, both South and North, with no border check between North and South, but checks between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. Currently there are no checks implemented on goods coming from Northern Ireland, but checks going from the rest of the UK to comply with single market rules. The Protestant parties, in particular the Democratic Unionists, are pushing against this as it breaks up the territorial identity of the UK. After the election of 2022, when it ceased to be the largest party in Northern Ireland Assembly, the DUP would not join the Northern Ireland Executive unless something was done to address these rules. The UK government has been trying to negotiate with the EU to overcome the difficulties of exporting goods to Northern Ireland, but has decided to introduce legislation to overcome part of the treaty. This amounts to breaking the treaty, which will sour relations with the EU, who agreed to the original protocol. This illustrates the difficulty Brexit causes for British politics and Britain’s relative weakness when negotiating with the EU, discussed in chapter ten.

Overall, the topics of Ukraine, the cost-of-living crisis, and the Irish protocol, show how the interdependence of the UK on the international arena is key to explain much of what is going on in British politics.

Peter John
September 2022