Britain’s rollercoaster year in politics

Amina Taylor
Press TV, London

Britain’s rollercoaster political year has wrapped on a crest of strike action, a general cost of living crisis and economic and political uncertainty. But as Amina Taylor reminds us from London, the UK endured even more upheaval during 2022 - including the death of a monarch and a seemingly revolving prime ministerial door at Downing Street.  

Brits are still reeling from the impact of 2022. It’s hard to recall a political year that’s seen the country lurch from one crisis to the next – all book-ended, it seems, by the saga of which particular Conservative PM was in charge.

Boris Johnson had managed to cling on to power despite mounting evidence presented that his position had become untenable. His missteps during lockdown – dubbed Partygate, a faltering economy exacerbated by the outbreak of conflict in Ukraine made his departure an inevitability.

The race to replace him was brutal – exposing the divisions within the Conservatives. Party members chose Liz Truss over Rishi Sunak before but that was only the beginning of the saga.

Analyst Chris Bambery has followed events closely and reflects on that period of chaos. Ah, the blink and you miss it Truss era – seven weeks of chaos which saw the pound take a hit and the markets recoil at the sheer ineptitude on political display. There was a sense that the UK’s political landscape had now become a running joke. Not content with a topsy-turvy politics, the UK’s longest serving monarch Queen Elizabeth II passed away at age 96 leaving the UK contemplating its colonial legacy.

King Charles III with Camilla, Queen Consort by his side, it was a new era but one filled with old uncertainties.

Despite the passing of the baton, the impact of Brexit, the stalemate in the North of Ireland with the cost-of-living crisis biting, the PM’s in-tray was bulging.
2022 is also the year Britain saw a re-emergence of strike action across a multitude of sectors.

Rishi Sunak and the rest of his Conservative govt will be hoping that there is not a repeat of the past tumultuous year. A 12-month period that’s seen record number of Brits slide into poverty but analysts are warning that desperate changes need to happen because so far it seems the Tories are heavy on excuses and light on solutions.

On the cusp of a new year, there are many challenges awaiting the average British family.

Whoever is in charge in Downing Street, it is the most vulnerable continue to pay the heaviest price. Without firm solutions from the political class, it seems the upcoming period might hold still more pain for those who can ill afford it.

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