January
Downing Street said Rachel Reeves would remain in her role as Chancellor of the Exchequer ‘for the whole of this parliament’. She made a speech standing behind a placard saying: ‘Kickstart economic growth.’ Axel Rudakubana, 18, was sentenced to at least 52 years in prison for the murder of three girls in a knife attack at Southport. Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, announced a ‘rapid audit’ of grooming gangs by Baroness Casey of Blackstock. Wildfires raged around Los Angeles. Luke Littler, 17, became world darts champion.
February
President Donald Trump of the United States and the Vice-President, J. D. Vance, berated President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine at a press conference in the Oval Office. President Emmanuel Macron of France said peace ‘must not mean a surrender of Ukraine’; he was speaking at a press conference with Mr Trump, who placed a rebuffed hand on his knee. Luis Rubiales, the former head of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, was fined £8,942 for kissing the player Jenni Hermoso after the women’s World Cup victory in 2023. Tractors blocked Whitehall as farmers protested against extra inheritance tax. The Chiltern Firehouse hotel in Marylebone burnt down.
March
Mark Carney was elected leader of the Liberals in Canada, succeeding Justin Trudeau as prime minister. Reform UK suspended Rupert Lowe MP. Rats enjoyed a strike by dustmen in Birmingham. Marine Le Pen was barred from standing for office for five years, after being convicted of using EU parliamentary money for salaries for the National Rally. A ceasefire in Gaza broke down. Denmark’s postal service announced the end of letter deliveries at the end of 2025. The price of gold touched $3,000 an ounce.
April
The UK Supreme Court ruled that a woman is defined by biological sex in equalities law. Parliament sat on a Saturday to take control of British Steel. The number of people to cross the Channel on small boats this year exceeded 10,000. Marks & Spencer was hit by a cyber attack. Mr Trump imposed tariffs on countries including the uninhabited McDonald Islands. Yoon Suk Yeol was deposed as president of South Korea after his attempt to impose martial law. The King and Queen visited Pope Francis before he died, aged 88. In St Peter’s before the funeral, Mr Trump, on a little red and goldy chair, spoke to Mr Zelensky, on another. Shareholders in Royal Mail’s parent company approved its sale to Daniel Kretinsky, the Czech billionaire. Gold reached $3,500.
May
Reform won the Runcorn by-election by six votes. In local elections, Reform won 677 of 1,641 seats contested. Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister of Britain, agreed to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Carney met Mr Trump, who felt his knee, at the White House. Mr Trump said farewell to Elon Musk after 130 days as a ‘special government employee’. Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected Pope Leo XIV.
June
MPs gave a third reading to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. Everyone in England and Wales over state pension age with an income under £35,000 would after all receive winter fuel allowances, Rachel Reeves said. Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation. Sir Keir announced a national statutory inquiry into grooming gangs, on the recommendation of Baroness Casey. MPs voted to decriminalise abortion at any stage. Israel launched strikes on long-range missile sites in Iran; the United States bombed three nuclear sites there. The King asked Mr Zelensky to lunch at Windsor. A London Underground driver was sacked after knitting while operating a train. Luke Littler was appointed MBE.
July
The government got its Universal Credit Bill through only after concessions to backbench rebels. Rachel Reeves sat weeping behind Sir Keir all through Prime Minister’s Questions. Hundreds protested outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, which was housing asylum seekers; an asylum seeker had been charged with sexual assaults in the town. Zarah Sultana, an independent MP since losing the Labour whip, said she was founding a new party with the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Ukraine suffered its biggest aerial attack from Russia. Two men who cut down the sycamore next to Hadrian’s Wall were jailed for four years and three months.
August
A treaty with France provided for a few small-boat migrants a week to be sent to France in exchange for asylum seekers from France. Mr Trump and Vladimir Putin met in Alaska. Mr Trump threw more tariffs around. An injunction stopping the Bell Hotel, Epping, from housing asylum seekers was overturned by the Court of Appeal. A craze spread for flying Union flags and crosses of St George from lamp-posts. A cyber attack halted Jaguar Land Rover production.
September
Sir Keir said: ‘We are now into phase two of the government, which is where we focus on delivery, delivery, delivery.’ Angela Rayner resigned as housing secretary, deputy prime minister and deputy Labour leader, having paid £40,000 too little stamp duty on a new flat. Lord Mandelson resigned as ambassador to Washington after the publication of emails of support he sent to Jeffrey Epstein. Shabana Mahmood was made Home Secretary. More than 110,000 people joined Tommy Robinson’s ‘Unite the Kingdom’ demonstration. Danny Kruger, the Conservative MP, joined Reform. Mr Trump, on a state visit, was taken for a carriage ride round Windsor Great Park, away from the people. Charlie Kirk, an American promoter of conservative ideas, was shot dead. Israel launched a ground offensive in Gaza City. Sir Keir announced that Britain had recognised a Palestinian state. Carlo Acutis, a British-born Italian who died in 2006, aged 15, was canonised.
October
Two men at a synagogue in Manchester were killed and an assailant was shot dead by police. Hamit Coskun, fined £240 for burning a Quran in London, won his appeal. The last 20 living hostages held by Hamas in Gaza were returned to Israel. At Sharm el-Sheikh Mr Trump enjoyed the signing ceremony for a peace agreement over Gaza. An Iranian man who had arrived on a small boat and was deported to France in September returned to England on a small boat. An Ethiopian man convicted of sexual assault (which provoked protests outside the Bell Hotel) was mistakenly let out of prison, recaptured and deported. A former member of the Parachute Regiment was found not guilty of murder in Londonderry on Bloody Sunday 1972. Prince Andrew had all titles and honours removed, making him Mr Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French president, began a five-year jail sentence. Luke Littler lost a darts match to a woman, Beau Greaves. Gold rose above $4,000.
November
Tim Davie resigned as director-general of the BBC after a speech by President Trump had been edited to make it look as though he was urging people to attack the Capitol in 2021. The United States demanded that Ukraine should relinquish Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk to Russia. The Budget increased the tax burden to a record 38.3 per cent of GDP by the end of the decade. Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, proposed that refugees would only be granted a temporary right to stay. The High Court ruled the Bell Hotel could continue to house asylum seekers. The socialist Democrat Zohran Mamdani, 34, was elected mayor of New York. Fire tore through seven tower blocks in Hong Kong. Mr Sarkozy was let out of jail. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was allowed a hyphen.
December
Rachel Reeves, asked if she had lied about the economy before the Budget, said: ‘No, of course I didn’t.’ Sir Keir declared: ‘We do need to get closer to the EU.’ David Lammy, the Justice Secretary, said that defendants facing less than three years in prison would no longer be entitled to trial by jury. Girlguiding said that biological boys who identify as girls would no longer be able to join. Mr Putin said: ‘If Europe starts a war, Russia is ready right now.’ Prada bought Versace. A small earthquake shook Carnforth, Lancashire. CSH
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