Historians and political commentators are currently debating whether “Britain is broken”. Since 2010, successive British Prime Ministers, both Conservative and Labour, have found it difficult to offer coherent responses to frequent questions about immigration, racism and discrimination, violent crime, the cost of living crises and the deterioration of the NHS. Brexit 2015-2016 and the Covid 19 pandemic of 2020-2022 disrupted the economy and contributed to the fracturing of social cohesion. The two far right parties, Reform led by Nigel Farage and Restore Britain led by Rupert Lowe (financed by Elon Musk) are gaining confidence with disaffected British voters. Reform was originally the Brexit Party renamed in 2022 with its sights on seats in parliament. Boris Johnson was forced to resign by his own Conservative Party in 2022. Sir Keir Starmer won a landslide victory for Labour in 2024 but in under two years, he failed to retain the confidence of voters. His resignation in June 2026 means that his successor will become the eighth PM since 2010.

DELIVERY MODE

• Face-to-Face

SUGGESTED READING

• James O Brien, How They Broke Britain, Virgin Digital, 2023
• Anthony Jones, Britain Isnt Broken So Why Does it Feel Like It is, Independent, 2026
• Tom Baldwin, Keir Starmer, The Biography, Harper Collins, 2026
• Paul Holden, The Fraud, Keir Starmer Morgan McSweeney and the Crisis of British Labour, OR Books, 2026
• Sebastian Payne, The Fall of Boris Johnson, MacMillan, 2023.

COURSE OUTLINE

• Legacy of World War II and the disintegration of the British Empire 1950s and 1960s on British politics
• Class divisions in Britain and its impact on elections with non compulsory voting since the GFC in 2008
• Impact of both Brexit and Covid 19 on British economy, society and political culture and leadership
• Seven PMs from Gordon Brown to Sir Keir Starmer 2010- 2026 and failure to find solutions to severe social and economic issues
• Failure of Sir Keir Starmer to retain the confidence of voters 2024-2026 despite promises to restore stability
  to government.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Gain an understanding of the toxic nature of British politics in recent years and the historical factors which have influenced this instability from 1945
2. Discuss the nature of British politics since 2010 including the onset of Covid19 in 2020 and the fallout from the Brexit decision of 2016 and the failure of successive PMs to govern for full 5 year terms.