UK Political Crisis History: From Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak to Britain’s New Political Era

The Day Britain Got Another Prime Minister

On October 24, 2022, Britain woke up to an extraordinary political moment.

Rishi Sunak was declared the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

The important word was declared.

He had not just won a nationwide general election. Millions of British voters had not gone to the polls to choose him. Instead, after the resignation of Liz Truss, Sunak emerged as the only Conservative Party candidate who could secure enough parliamentary support to take the leadership.

Britain had already watched Boris Johnson fall from power. Then Liz Truss became prime minister and lasted only 44 days. Now, just weeks later, another Conservative politician was moving into 10 Downing Street.

For many people, it felt like Britain was changing prime ministers at an unbelievable speed.

But the story did not end with Rishi Sunak.

In many ways, his arrival was the final chapter of one crisis and the beginning of another.

What followed over the next four years would completely transform British politics. The Conservative Party, which had won a huge parliamentary majority in 2019, would suffer a historic electoral collapse in 2024. Labour would return to power after 14 years in opposition. Keir Starmer would become prime minister.

And by July 2026, Britain would once again have a new prime minister: Andy Burnham.

So how did one of the world’s oldest democracies move from Boris Johnson’s enormous 2019 victory to years of scandal, economic turmoil, leadership changes and political realignment?

The answer begins in 2019.

2019: Boris Johnson’s Huge Victory

The United Kingdom held a general election in December 2019.

The two major parties were the Conservative Party and the Labour Party.

The Conservatives, often called the Tories, were led by Boris Johnson. Labour was led by Jeremy Corbyn.

There are 650 seats in the House of Commons. The party that can command a majority of MPs is normally able to form the government.

Boris Johnson’s Conservatives won a huge victory.

They secured 365 seats, giving Johnson a strong parliamentary majority. Labour won 203 seats.

Johnson entered 10 Downing Street with something many British prime ministers dream of: a large electoral mandate and a comfortable majority in Parliament.

His central political promise was simple.

Get Brexit done.

Britain had voted in 2016 to leave the European Union. But the country had spent years arguing about how Brexit should actually happen.

Johnson promised to break the political deadlock.

In 2019, millions of voters gave him the power to do it.

At that moment, the Conservatives appeared politically dominant.

Only a few years later, that dominance would almost completely disappear.

The Beginning of Boris Johnson’s Political Decline

Boris Johnson’s downfall did not happen because of one single scandal.

It happened because several controversies gradually destroyed trust.

One early controversy involved Conservative MP Owen Paterson and accusations surrounding lobbying rules. The government’s attempt to change the disciplinary process created a major public backlash.

But a much bigger crisis was about to arrive.

It became known as Partygate.

Partygate: The Scandal That Changed Everything

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Britain imposed some of the strictest restrictions in its modern history.

Families were separated.

Businesses closed.

People were told not to meet friends and relatives.

Funerals were restricted.

Millions of people followed rules that dramatically changed their daily lives.

Then reports emerged that gatherings had taken place inside Downing Street while many of those restrictions were in force.

The scandal became known as Partygate.

What made the controversy particularly damaging was not simply the existence of parties or gatherings.

It was the apparent contradiction.

The government had imposed rules on the country.

Yet people working at the centre of government appeared to have broken those rules.

A leaked video involving Downing Street staff added to the political damage.

More reports emerged.

Then an email became public showing that staff had been invited to a Downing Street gathering.

Boris Johnson initially faced intense questions about what he knew and whether he had attended events himself.

The scandal became impossible to contain.

Police investigated.

In 2022, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, who was then Chancellor of the Exchequer, were fined for breaches of COVID regulations connected to a gathering.

It was an extraordinary moment in British political history.

The sitting prime minister had been fined by police over a breach of the rules imposed during the pandemic.

Public confidence suffered heavily.

And within the Conservative Party, doubts about Johnson continued to grow.

The Sue Gray Report and the Collapse of Trust

The crisis deepened when senior civil servant Sue Gray investigated gatherings in government buildings.

Her report described serious failures of leadership and judgment surrounding the culture that had developed inside Downing Street.

The political problem for Johnson was no longer just the opposition.

Members of his own party were beginning to turn against him.

A Conservative confidence vote showed the scale of internal dissatisfaction.

Johnson survived the vote.

But surviving was not the same as recovering.

The damage had already been done.

Then another controversy pushed his government closer to collapse.

Chris Pincher and the Wave of Resignations

In 2022, allegations involving Conservative MP Chris Pincher created another major crisis.

Questions quickly emerged about what Boris Johnson and his team had known about previous allegations concerning Pincher.

The government’s explanations changed.

Public pressure increased.

Then the rebellion inside Johnson’s own government exploded.

On July 5, 2022, two of his most important ministers resigned.

Rishi Sunak resigned as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Sajid Javid resigned as Health Secretary.

The resignations triggered a political chain reaction.

Over the following days, dozens of ministers and government officials left their positions.

The government was collapsing from within.

Eventually, Boris Johnson had little choice.

On July 7, 2022, he announced that he would resign as Conservative Party leader.

The man who had won one of the Conservatives’ biggest victories in decades was finished as prime minister.

But Britain’s political instability was only beginning.

Liz Truss and the Economic Experiment That Collapsed

The Conservative Party held a leadership contest to choose Johnson’s replacement.

The final contest was between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss.

Sunak warned about the dangers facing the British economy.

Liz Truss presented a different vision.

She argued for major tax cuts and a strategy focused on economic growth.

The Conservative Party membership chose Truss.

She became prime minister in September 2022.

But her government faced enormous challenges from the beginning.

Britain was dealing with:

• High inflation.
• Rising energy prices.
• The economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The continuing effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• Pressure on public finances.
• Political divisions following Brexit.

Then came the decision that would define her entire premiership.

The Mini-Budget Crisis

On September 23, 2022, the Truss government announced a dramatic package of tax cuts.

The plan became widely known as the mini-budget.

The government argued that tax reductions would stimulate economic growth.

But financial markets reacted badly.

The value of the British pound fell sharply.

Government borrowing costs increased.

Financial institutions became deeply concerned.

The crisis became so serious that the Bank of England had to intervene to stabilise parts of the government bond market.

The political consequences were immediate.

Kwasi Kwarteng, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was dismissed.

Jeremy Hunt replaced him.

Many of the policies announced only weeks earlier were reversed.

For the public, the situation created an embarrassing image.

The government appeared to be abandoning its own economic programme almost immediately after announcing it.

Liz Truss lost political authority at astonishing speed.

Her premiership lasted just 44 days.

She remains the shortest-serving prime minister in British history.

When she resigned in October 2022, the Conservative Party faced another leadership crisis.

Rishi Sunak Becomes Prime Minister

After Liz Truss resigned, the Conservative Party needed another leader.

But this time, the party wanted to avoid another long and damaging leadership contest.

Candidates needed substantial support from Conservative MPs.

Rishi Sunak quickly crossed the required threshold.

Boris Johnson briefly considered a return to the leadership race but withdrew.

Penny Mordaunt also withdrew.

Sunak became the only remaining candidate.

On October 24, 2022, Rishi Sunak became Britain’s new prime minister.

He made history as Britain’s first British Asian prime minister and the first person of Indian heritage to hold the position.

But the celebrations were limited.

Sunak had inherited an extremely difficult situation.

The economy was weak.

Inflation had become a major problem.

The cost of living had risen sharply.

The Conservative Party was deeply divided.

And after years of scandal, public trust had fallen.

Sunak’s main challenge was not to create a political revolution.

It was to restore stability.

Could Rishi Sunak Save the Conservative Party?

Sunak’s government brought more stability than the final months of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

Financial markets calmed compared with the chaos following the mini-budget.

But political stability did not automatically restore public confidence.

Britain still faced major problems.

The National Health Service was under enormous pressure.

The cost-of-living crisis affected households across the country.

Immigration became one of the most politically divisive issues.

Economic growth remained weak.

Public services faced pressure after years of financial constraints.

And perhaps most importantly, the Conservative Party was struggling to escape the legacy of the previous years.

The public had watched three Conservative prime ministers come and go.

Johnson had fallen amid scandals.

Truss had presided over an economic crisis.

Sunak now had to convince voters that the same party could still be trusted.

It would prove extremely difficult.

Brexit: The Problem That Never Completely Disappeared

Brexit remained one of the most important background forces in Britain’s political and economic story.

The UK formally left the European Union’s institutions and later left the EU single market and customs union.

Brexit did not create every economic problem Britain faced.

The country was also affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, global inflation and long-standing problems with productivity.

But Brexit changed Britain’s relationship with its largest trading partner.

New barriers affected trade between Britain and the European Union.

The UK’s own Office for Budget Responsibility continues to estimate that the post-Brexit trading relationship will reduce long-run productivity compared with remaining in the EU.

The European Union also remains Britain’s largest trading partner. In 2025, it accounted for around 41% of UK exports and roughly half of imports.

The political debate around Brexit changed over time.

The argument was no longer simply about whether Britain should leave.

Britain had already left.

The more difficult question became:

How should Britain live with Brexit?

The 2024 Election: The Conservatives Face the Voters

Eventually, Rishi Sunak could not avoid a general election.

On July 4, 2024, Britain went to the polls.

This was the moment when voters could finally give their verdict on the Conservative Party’s 14 years in government.

The result was devastating for the Conservatives.

Labour, led by Keir Starmer, won 411 seats.

The Conservatives won only 121 seats.

Compared with their 365 seats in 2019, the scale of the collapse was extraordinary. The result became the Conservatives’ worst general election performance in modern party history.

The Labour Party had returned to power after 14 years.

Rishi Sunak resigned as prime minister.

In his final speech outside Downing Street, he accepted responsibility for the defeat and acknowledged that voters had clearly demanded change.

The Conservative Party’s journey from its massive 2019 majority to its historic 2024 defeat had taken less than five years.

Keir Starmer and the Beginning of the Labour Era

On July 5, 2024, Keir Starmer became prime minister.

For Labour, the victory was enormous.

For Britain, however, changing governments did not magically solve the country’s problems.

The new Labour government inherited difficult economic and political challenges.

Among them were:

• Slow economic growth.
• Pressure on public finances.
• High housing costs.
• Problems in public services.
• Pressure on the National Health Service.
• Immigration debates.
• Regional inequality.
• The continuing impact of Brexit.
• International instability.

The central question changed.

For years, Britain had been asking whether the Conservatives could survive.

Now the question was whether Labour could deliver the change voters expected.

Britain’s Political Landscape Begins to Change Again

The 2024 election was not simply a victory for Labour.

It also showed that British politics was becoming more fragmented.

The Liberal Democrats increased their representation significantly.

Reform UK gained millions of votes and entered Parliament with five MPs.

The Green Party also increased its representation.

The Conservative Party faced a deeper problem than simply losing one election.

The political right was becoming divided.

The traditional two-party system was still dominant inside Parliament, but voters were increasingly looking beyond the two major parties.

The Conservatives now had to rebuild from one of the worst defeats in their history.

2025 and 2026: Britain’s Problems Did Not Disappear

Political change did not erase Britain’s economic challenges.

Growth remained a major concern.

The UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility projected relatively modest economic growth and continued to warn about long-term productivity problems. In its March 2026 outlook, it forecast real GDP growth of around 1.1% for 2026 before expecting a stronger average pace later in the forecast period.

Britain’s productivity problem remained particularly important.

Productivity growth had been weak for many years, long before the latest political crisis.

Brexit added another layer of difficulty to an already complicated economic picture.

At the same time, Britain continued to face pressure from international events, energy markets and global economic uncertainty.

The country was no longer experiencing the spectacular political chaos of the final Johnson and Truss years.

But stability did not mean that the deeper problems had disappeared.

July 2026: Britain Gets Another Prime Minister

Then, in July 2026, British politics entered another new phase.

Andy Burnham became Prime Minister on July 20, 2026.

His arrival made him another figure in a remarkable decade of leadership changes in British politics.

The story of Britain since the Brexit referendum had become a story not only about elections and ideology.

It had also become a story about political instability.

Prime ministers had changed.

Governments had changed.

Political parties had risen and fallen.

Yet many of the country’s fundamental challenges remained.

What Is Happening in Britain Now?

As of August 2026, Britain’s political story is still developing.

The country is dealing with familiar economic pressures.

Cost-of-living concerns remain important.

Inflation and energy prices continue to affect households.

Public finances remain under pressure.

The government faces difficult choices over spending, taxation and long-term investment.

At the same time, the British economy has shown some signs of resilience.

Recent economic data has suggested improvement in some areas, including services and business activity, even as inflation and fiscal pressures remain significant concerns.

Britain’s economic challenge is therefore not a simple story of collapse.

It is more complicated.

Some indicators have improved.

Others remain deeply concerning.

The bigger question is whether the country can finally solve the structural problems that have limited economic growth for years.

The Long Shadow of Brexit

A decade after the Brexit referendum, the argument has also changed.

Britain is not preparing to leave the European Union.

Britain has already left.

The question is how the country can make its post-Brexit economy work more effectively.

The OBR continues to assume that Brexit will create a long-term drag on productivity because of increased barriers to trade between the UK and the EU.

At the same time, Brexit is not the only explanation for Britain’s economic problems.

The country also faces:

• An ageing population.
• Weak productivity growth.
• Pressure on public services.
• Housing shortages.
• Regional inequality.
• High government debt.
• International economic uncertainty.

Brexit is therefore part of the story.

But it is not the entire story.

From Boris Johnson to Today: What Changed?

Looking back, the transformation is extraordinary.

In 2019, Boris Johnson led the Conservatives to a huge majority.

By 2022, he had resigned after scandals and a rebellion inside his own government.

Liz Truss then became prime minister but survived only 44 days after her economic programme triggered a market crisis.

Rishi Sunak attempted to restore stability.

But in 2024, the Conservatives suffered a historic electoral defeat.

Labour returned to power.

Keir Starmer became prime minister.

And by July 2026, Britain had entered yet another phase under Andy Burnham.

The political landscape that existed in 2019 is almost unrecognisable today.

Is Britain’s Political Crisis a Failure of Democracy?

This is one of the most interesting questions in the entire story.

At first glance, rapidly changing prime ministers can look like evidence of political failure.

And in some ways, it clearly reflected serious failures inside the Conservative Party.

But there is another side to the story.

Boris Johnson was challenged by the media, investigated by institutions and ultimately abandoned by ministers inside his own government.

Police investigated lockdown breaches.

Political parties faced internal rebellions.

Liz Truss lost support after her economic programme created a market crisis.

Rishi Sunak eventually faced voters in a nationwide election.

And in 2024, the British public delivered a clear verdict.

That is an important part of a functioning democracy.

Democracy does not guarantee that politicians will always behave well.

It does not guarantee that governments will make good economic decisions.

And it certainly does not guarantee political stability.

But democratic systems create institutions through which governments can be challenged, investigated, criticised and ultimately removed.

The British system has shown both its weaknesses and its strengths.

The Real Lesson From Britain’s Political Turmoil

Britain’s political crisis was never simply about one politician.

It was not only about Boris Johnson.

It was not only about Liz Truss.

And it was not only about Rishi Sunak.

The crisis emerged from several forces colliding at the same time.

Brexit created long-term political and economic challenges.

The COVID-19 pandemic created an enormous global shock.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine contributed to energy and inflation pressures.

Long-term productivity problems limited economic growth.

Public services faced increasing pressure.

And political scandals destroyed public trust.

When these problems combined, even a party that had won a huge majority in 2019 could collapse within five years.

Conclusion: Britain’s Story Is Still Being Written

The story that began with Boris Johnson’s huge 2019 victory did not end with Rishi Sunak becoming prime minister in 2022.

In fact, that was only the middle of the story.

Sunak could not reverse the Conservative Party’s decline.

The 2024 general election brought Labour back to power with a large parliamentary majority.

Britain then continued through another period of political change, leading to Andy Burnham becoming prime minister in July 2026.

Today, Britain faces a different political environment from the one that existed during the Brexit years.

But many of the country’s deepest problems remain unresolved.

How can Britain improve economic growth?

How can it repair public services?

How can it manage immigration and housing pressures?

How can it reduce the long-term economic consequences of political instability?

And perhaps the biggest question of all is this:

Can Britain finally move beyond the cycle of crisis that began years ago?

The answer is still unknown.

Because the history of Britain’s political turmoil is not finished.

It is still being written.

Why did Rishi Sunak become UK Prime Minister without a general election?

Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister after winning the Conservative Party leadership in October 2022. In the UK’s parliamentary system, a new general election is not always required when a governing party changes its leader.

What caused the Conservative Party’s defeat in the 2024 UK general election?

The Conservative Party faced years of political scandals, economic challenges, internal divisions and declining public trust, leading to a major defeat in the 2024 general election.

Sources & References

• UK Parliament and House of Commons Library: General Election 2024 results and analysis.
• UK Government: Rishi Sunak’s final speech as Prime Minister, July 5, 2024.
• UK Government: Current Prime Minister and official ministerial information.
• Office for Budget Responsibility: Brexit analysis and economic forecasts.
• Bank of England: Productivity and the economic effects associated with Brexit.
• House of Commons Library: UK-EU trade statistics.
• UK Parliament: General elections and the British electoral system.