2024 Political Year in Review

As has become a tradition at Study Politics, we are wrapping up the year with a look back at the biggest political stories of 2024.

January

7th January: Rishi Sunak calls the Post Office scandal “an appalling miscarriage of justice”, and announces emergency legislation to exonerate them.
11th January: US and UK forces conduct air strikes in Yemen in response to Houthi threats.
25^th January: UK-Canada trade talks are cancelled after negotiations stalled.
29^th January: The DUP approves a deal to restart the Northern Ireland Assembly, ending two years of stalemate in the country.

3^rd February: The Northern Ireland Assembly meets for the first time in nearly two years.
12^th February: Rishi Sunak appears on an hour-logns special on GB News answering questions from the audience. The channel is later fined by Ofcom for breaching impartiality rules.
15^th February: Two by-elections in Wellingborough and Kingswood result in Labour taking both seats from the Conservatives.
19^th February: Birmingham City Council announces at 21% increase in Council Tax.
21^st February: King Charles III meets with PM Rishi Sunak for the first time since his cancer diagnosis.
29^th February: The Rochdale by-elections results in a gain for the Workers Party of Britain and the brief return to Parliament of George Galloway.

6^th March: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announces the budget. It includes the removal of the non-dom tax status and reduction of employers’ national insurance by 2%.
11^th March: Lee Anderson defects from the Conservatives to Reform UK, becoming the party’s first MP.
14^th March: It is announced that MPs annual salaries will increase by 5% to £91,346 from April.
16^th March: Vaughan Gething becomes the new Welsh First Minister, and first black leader of the country.
29^th March: Sir Jeffrey Donaldson resigns as the leader of the DUP after being accused of rape and sexual offenses.

4^th April: Conservative MP William Wragg admits sharing MPs’ contact details to someone he met on an online dating app after sharing explicit photos of himself.
25^th April: The SNP-Green coalition in Scotland comes to an end, resulting in a minority SNP government in Scotland.
29^th April: Humza Yousef announces he will resign as SNP leader and First Minister of Scotland.

2^nd May: Local elections across England result in a collapse in support for the Conservatives, and gains for Labour and the Lib Dems.
3^rd May: Ben Houchen is announced as the only remaining Conservative metro mayor, in Tees Valley.
4^th May: Sadiq Khan and Andy Burham are re-elected as Mayors of London and Manchester respectively. Andy Street is defeated in his re-election attempt in the West Midlands.
8^th May: John Swinney becomes the new Scottish First Minister.
8^th May: Natalie Elphick MP defects from the Conservatives to Labour.
15^th May: Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico survives an assassination attempt.
22^nd May: Conservative MP Craig Mackinley returns to Parliament after having his arms and legs amputated as a result of a sepsis diagnosis.
22^nd May: Rishi Sunak calls a general election to be held on 4^th July.

3^rd June: Nigel Farage announces he is the new leader of Reform UK, and will stand for the party in Clacton.
4^th June: The first debate between Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak is broadcast on ITV.
7^th June: Rishi Sunak apologises for leaving a D-Day memorial service early after veterans expressed offence.
9^th June: The Euroepan Parliament elections are held. Anti-EU populist parties made gains, while environmentalist and social democratic parties lost.
10^th June: Douglas Ross announces his resignation as leader of the Scottish Conservatives.

3^rd July: The Sun endorses Labour in the general election.
4^th July: The 2024 UK general election is held, resulting in a Labour landslide, huge losses for the Conservatives, gains for the Lib Dems, Greens and Reform UK, and losses for the SNP. Jeremy Corbyn is re-elected as an independent in Islington North.
10^th July: Keir Starmer makes his first foreign trip as Prime Minister, to a meeting of NATO leaders.
13^th July: An assassination attempt on US Presidential candidate Donald Trump occurs at a rally in Pennsylvania.
16^th July: Vaughan Gething resigns as Welsh First Minister, leading the country for just 4 months.
17^th July: State Opening of Parliament, the first for Labour in over 14 years.
19^th July: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the new Labour cabinet.
21^st July: US President Joe Biden announces he will not stand for re-election.
24^th July: Keir Starmer answers his first PMQs. Eluned Morgan is elected unopposed as the new leader of Welsh Labour, and is the new Welsh First Minister.
29^th July: Rachel Reeves announces the axing of the Winter Fuel Payment.
30^th July: Riots break out across the UK in response to a shooting in the northern English town of Southport.

9^th August: Councillor Ricky Jones is charged in connection with the summer riots.
19^th August: The UK government announces Operation Early Dawn, releasing thousands of prisoners early.

10^th September: The removal of the Winter Fuel Payment passes the House of Commons.
24^th September: Keir Starmer addresses the Labour Party Conference for the first time as Prime Minister.
27^th September: Russell Findlay is elected Scottish Conservatives Leader.
28^th September: MP Rosie Duffield resigns from the Labour Party over Keir Starmer’s gift controversies.
29^th September: The Austrian general election is held, with the far-right FPO party winning the most votes and seats.

3^rd October: The UK announces it will give up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands/British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius.
6^th October: Sue Gray resigns as Downing Street Chief of Staff.
12^th October: Former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond dies suddenly at a conference in North Macedonia.
30^th October: Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivers the first Labour budget in over 14 years. It includes tax increases on stamp duty, inheritance tax and employers’ national insurance, with increased spending on the NHS.

2^nd November: Kemi Badenoch is elected the new leader of the Conservative Party.
6^th November: Donald Trump is elected as President of the United States.
7^th November: German government collapses after Chancellor Scholz fires a key minister.
13^th November: The Electoral Commission reports that over half of the 2024 general election candidates received some form of abuse.
29^th November: Louise Haigh resigns as Transport Secretary, the first in Starmer’s government.

8^th December: the Assad regime in Syria falls.
13^th December: French Prime Minister Michel Barnier is defeated in a no-confidence vote.
20^th December: Peter Mandelson is announced as the new UK ambassador to the US. Keir Starmer appoints 30 new peers, including former Chief of Staff Sue Gray.
26^th December: Reform UK surpasses the membership of the Conservative Party.
30^th December: Former US President Jimmy Carter dies at the age of 100.

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