CINXE.COM

<!doctype html> <html lang="en" class="topic-desktop ui-ie7 ui-ie"> <head prefix="og: https://ogp.me/ns# fb: https://ogp.me/ns/fb#"> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" /> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130"> <link rel="preconnect" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130"> <link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js" /> <link rel="icon" href="/favicon.png" /> <meta name="description" content="United Kingdom - The “Brexit” referendum: On December 2, 2015, in the wake of the attacks by Islamist terrorists in Paris on November 13, the House of Commons authorized air strikes by the British military on ISIL targets in Syria. The vote on the measure came after some 10 hours of debate. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn freed members of his party to vote their conscience, and dozens of them broke ranks to join the Conservatives and others in voting for authorization, which passed 397–223. At a summit meeting of the leaders of the member countries of the EU in Brussels in February 2016, the European Council" /> <meta name="keywords" content="United Kingdom, encyclopedia, encyclopeadia, britannica, article" /> <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum" /> <title>United Kingdom - The “Brexit” referendum | Britannica</title> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel"> window.$UI = {}; window.Constants = {"LICENSE_URL": "/bps/license","DEFAULT_TEST_VERSION": "A","DEFAULT_STATE": "XX","QUIZ_URL": "/quiz","SPOTLIGHT_BROWSE_URL": "/stories/spotlight","CONTENT_TYPE_TEXT": "text/plain;charset=UTF-8","TOPIC_FACTS_DATA_URL": "/facts","QUIZ_BROWSE_IMAGE_QUIZZES": "images","TOPIC_MEDIA_PATH": "/images-videos","USER_PROFILE_URL": "/user","DEBUG_URL": "/debug","ONE_GOOD_FACT_URL": "/one-good-fact","ERROR_404_URL": "/error404","PROCON_CITED_IN_THE_NEWS_URL": "/procon/ProCon-in-the-News","PROCON_URL": "/procon","TOPIC_PAGE_CONTENT_AJAX_URL": "/topic-content/page","INFINITE_SCROLL_PREFIX_URL": "/scroll","TOPIC_TOP_QUESTION_BROWSE_URL": "/questions","CC_USD": "USD","domain": "britannica.com","SURVEY_URL": "/survey","CATEGORY_BROWSE_URL": "/browse","STORY_BROWSE_URL": "/stories","COUNTRY_US": "US","OPEN_MEDIA_OVERLAY_PARAMETER": "/media","NEWSLETTER_SUBSCRIPTION_URL": "/newsletter-subscription","MAINTENANCE_ERROR_URL": "https://maintenance.eb.com","IMARS_EDITOR_ID": "12365882","PROFILE_EB_EDITOR_URL": "/editor","WEB_INF_RESOURCES_PATH": "WEB-INF/resources","AI_ABOUT_PAGE_URL": "/about-britannica-ai","TOPIC_ADDITIONAL_INFO_PATH": "/additional-info","SUDOKU_GAME_URL": "/games/sudoku","CC_INR": "INR","ARTICLE_PRINT_URL": "/print/article","FIRST_EDITION_URL": "/subscriber/firstedition","WW1_PORTAL_URL": "/discover/World-War-I","MENDEL_COOKIE": "__mendel","DEMYSTIFIED_BROWSE_URL": "/stories/demystified","LIST_BROWSE_URL": "/list/browse","PROFILE_EXPERT_URL": "/contributor","ASSEMBLY_IMAGE_URL": "/image/assembly","DAY_IN_HISTORY_URL": "/on-this-day","DEFAULT_CURRENCY": "USD","CONTENT_TYPE_XML": "text/xml;charset=UTF-8","PORTAL_FINANCE_BROWSE_URL_PREFIX": "/money/browse","MONEY_IMARS_CATEGORY": "13000","AJAX_PREFIX_URL": "/ajax","TOPIC_BROWSE_URL": "/topic-browse","MARKETING_CONTENT": "/marketing-content","ENV_RUNTIME": "runtime","GALLERY_URL": "/gallery","topicUrlClassesList": "topic|animal|art|biography|event|place|plant|science|sports|technology|procon","CONTENT_TYPE_HTML": "text/html;charset=UTF-8","ENV_LOCAL": "override","MEDIA_OVERLAY_URL": "/media-overlay","CHATBOT_PAGE_URL": "/chatbot","NEWSLETTER_PAGE_URL": "/newsletters","ENV_DEV": "development","MEDIA_URL": "/media","TOPIC_TOP_QUESTION_URL": "/question","PORTAL_FINANCE_URL_PREFIX": "/money","PODCASTS_URL": "/podcasts","STAND_ALONE_VIDEO_URL": "/video","MORE_ON_THIS_DAY_URL": "/more-on-this-day","TOPIC_QUOTES_URL": "/quotes","SEARCH_PAGE_URL": "/search","PROCON_CLASS": "PROCON","KUSTOM_MENDEL_APPLICATION_ID": "1","TOPIC_CONTENT_AJAX_URL": "/topic-content/topic","ENV_BRANCH": "branch","ERROR_URL": "/error","MAIN_VERSION": "mainVersion","DEFAULT_S3_REGION": "US_EAST_1","TOPIC_COLLECTION_URL": "/summary","LOGINBOX_URL": "/auth/loginbox","ONE_GOOD_FACT_BROWSE_URL": "/one-good-fact/all-good-facts","QUIZ_BROWSE_URL": "/quiz/browse","BIO_BROWSE_URL": "/browse/biographies","LIST_URL": "/list","TIGHTROPE_QUIZ_URL": "/quiz/tightrope","ALPHA_BROWSE_URL": "/sitemap","CONTENT_TYPE_JSON": "application/json","DICTIONARY_URL": "/dictionary","COBRAND_IMAGE_URL": "/image/cobrand","PROCON_IN_THE_NEWS_URL": "/procon/pro-and-con-issues-in-the-news","PROCON_BROWSE_URL": "/procon","QUIZ_BROWSE_VOCAB_QUIZZES": "vocabulary-quizzes","SUBMISSION_URL": "/submission","EB_LOG_OUT": "/auth2/logout","ENV_PRODUCTION": "production","EXPLORE_PORTAL_URL": "/explore","TOPIC_AJAX_URL": "/ajax/topic","TOPIC_SUMMARY_BROWSE_URL": "/summaries","WTFACT_BROWSE_URL": "/stories/wtfact","VIDEO_CHANNEL_URL": "/videos","GALLERY_BROWSE_URL": "/gallery/browse","CACHE_URL": "/cache","PROCON_ABOUT_URL": "/procon/About-ProCon","COMPANION_BROWSE_URL": "/stories/companion","MEDIA_FOLDER": "/eb-media","SHOW_ALL_CONTRIBUTORS": "/additional-info#contributors","BRITANNICA_EDITORS_ID": "4419","ENV_CACHE_DISABLED": "mendelCache","CALCULATORS_BROWSE_URL": "/calculators","STORY_URL": "/story","DEFAULT_COUNTRY": "US","NAVBAR_URL": "/ajax/navbar","EB_LOGIN_URL": "/auth/eb-login","NEW_ARTICLES_URL": "/new-articles",}; window.CDN = "https://cdn.britannica.com"; window.CAM_LOGIN_URL = "https://cam.britannica.com"; window.CAM_SIGN_UP_URL = "https://cam.britannica.com/registration" window.Mendel = { "config" : { "domain": "britannica.com", "page": "Topic", "videoPlayerId": "UyMCoK2v", "sharedUrl": "https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum", "amuselabsUrl": "https://cdn3.amuselabs.com", "resourcesPrefixUrl": "https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/[url]?v=3.130.14", "date": 20241125, "userInfo": { "type": "ANONYMOUS" ,"currency": "AUUS" ,"country": "SG" ,"state": "XX" ,"timezone": "Asia/Singapore" ,"bcomId": "-5953156706093628962" ,"hasAds": true ,"testVersion": "C" ,"adsTestVersion": "C" ,"consumerId": "" ,"instId": "" ,"consumerUserName": "" ,"instUserName": "" ,"cognito": null }, "tvs":{ "r":[25,25,25,25], "a": [25,25,25,25]}, "isLoggedInAsUser": false, "isPhone": false, "isDesktop": true, "logoutUrl": "/auth2/logout", "selfServiceUrl": "https://myaccount.britannica.com", "cdnUrl": "https://cdn.britannica.com", "chatbotApi": "https://www.britannica.com/chat-api", "fetchOffset": 800, "mendelCookieName": "__mendel", "mendelCookie": {"surveyShown":false,"visitedTopicId":615557,"currentDate":20241125}, "autocompleteToSearchPage": false,"topicUrl": "https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom" ,"freeTopicReason": "PERMANENT_FREE_TOPIC" ,"topicId": 615557 ,"template": "DESKTOP" ,"type": "CORE" ,"hasToc": true ,"chatbotApi": "https://www.britannica.com/chat-api" ,"showPreview": false ,"infiniteScrollList": [{"p":66,"t":615557},{"p":1,"t":1856932},{"p":2,"t":133481},{"p":9,"t":188048},{"p":18,"t":346821},{"p":36,"t":188217},{"p":19,"t":329791},{"p":1,"t":1452363},{"p":1,"t":346913},{"p":1,"t":184870}] ,"sequence": 63 ,"topics": {} }, "GA": {"leg":"C","adLeg":"C","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","articleTemplateType":"COUNTRY_PAGINATED","gisted":false,"pageNumber":63,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} }; </script> <meta property="fb:app_id" content="1887621861548296"/ <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" /> <meta name="twitter:site" content="@britannica" /> <meta name="twitter:image" content="https://cdn.britannica.com/25/4825-050-977D8C5E/Flag-United-Kingdom.jpg" /> <meta name="twitter:description" content="United Kingdom - The “Brexit” referendum: On December 2, 2015, in the wake of the attacks by Islamist terrorists in Paris on November 13, the House of Commons authorized air strikes by the British military on ISIL targets in Syria. The vote on the measure came after some 10 hours of debate. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn freed members of his party to vote their conscience, and dozens of them broke ranks to join the Conservatives and others in voting for authorization, which passed 397–223. At a summit meeting of the leaders of the member countries of the EU in Brussels in February 2016, the European Council"/> <meta property="og:type" content="ARTICLE"/> <meta property="og:title" content="United Kingdom - The “Brexit” referendum | Britannica"/> <meta property="og:description" content="United Kingdom - The “Brexit” referendum: On December 2, 2015, in the wake of the attacks by Islamist terrorists in Paris on November 13, the House of Commons authorized air strikes by the British military on ISIL targets in Syria. The vote on the measure came after some 10 hours of debate. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn freed members of his party to vote their conscience, and dozens of them broke ranks to join the Conservatives and others in voting for authorization, which passed 397–223. At a summit meeting of the leaders of the member countries of the EU in Brussels in February 2016, the European Council"/> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Encyclopedia Britannica" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom"/> <meta property="og:image" content="https://cdn.britannica.com/25/4825-050-977D8C5E/Flag-United-Kingdom.jpg" /> <meta property="og:image:type" content="image/jpeg" /> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="init opengraph"> Mendel.openGraph = {"type":"ARTICLE","title":"United Kingdom - The “Brexit” referendum","description":"United Kingdom - The “Brexit” referendum: On December 2, 2015, in the wake of the attacks by Islamist terrorists in Paris on November 13, the House of Commons authorized air strikes by the British military on ISIL targets in Syria. The vote on the measure came after some 10 hours of debate. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn freed members of his party to vote their conscience, and dozens of them broke ranks to join the Conservatives and others in voting for authorization, which passed 397–223. At a summit meeting of the leaders of the member countries of the EU in Brussels in February 2016, the European Council","imageUrl":"https://cdn.britannica.com/25/4825-050-977D8C5E/Flag-United-Kingdom.jpg","imageType":"image/jpeg","pageUrl":"https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom"}</script> <link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/"> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/" > <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/icon?family=Material+Icons"> <link href="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/vendor-bundle.css?v=3.130.14" rel="stylesheet" /> <link href="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/mendel-css.css?v=3.130.14" rel="stylesheet" /> <link href="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.css?v=3.130.14" rel="stylesheet" /> <script type="text/javascript"> if (self !== top) { top.location = self.location; } // if ('scrollRestoration' in history) { history.scrollRestoration = 'manual'; } </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/at.js?v=3.130.14" async ></script> <script> dataLayer = []; </script> <script type="text/javascript">(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start': new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src= '//www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f); })(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-5W6NC8'); </script> <meta name="last-modified" content="2024-11-25" /> <script type="application/ld+json"> {"headline":"United Kingdom | History, Population, Map, Flag, Capital, & Facts","image":{"url":"https://cdn.britannica.com/25/4825-050-977D8C5E/Flag-United-Kingdom.jpg","@type":"ImageObject"},"author":[{"name":"Linda J. Colley","url":"https://www.britannica.com/contributor/Linda-J-Colley/3505","@type":"Person"},{"name":"Ulric M. Spencer","url":"https://www.britannica.com/contributor/Ulric-M-Spencer/3633","@type":"Person"}],"keywords":"United Kingdom","wordcount":146887,"url":"https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom","datePublished":"1998-08-05T00:00:00Z","dateModified":"2024-11-25T00:00:00Z","description":"United Kingdom, island country located off the northwestern coast of mainland Europe. It comprises the whole of the island of Great Britain—which contains England, Wales, and Scotland—as well as the northern portion of the island of Ireland. Its capital is London.","publisher":{"logo":{"url":"https://corporate.britannica.com/wp-content/themes/eb-corporate/_img/logo.png","@type":"ImageObject"},"name":"Encyclopedia Britannica","@type":"Organization"},"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"article"} </script></head> <body data-leg="C" class="new-topic topic-desktop first-page-false user-ANONYMOUS user-ads md-desktop leg-cb-ie">  <script>Mendel.config.adProvider='ay';</script> <script async src="https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/tag/js/gpt.js"></script> <script> window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.defineSlot('/15510053/CMP_1x1', [1, 1], 'div-gpt-ad-1709766812090-0').addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); googletag.enableServices(); }); </script> <script async defer src="https://launchpad-wrapper.privacymanager.io/0ccc6fe8-1870-4ad8-b47b-6d029ac116fc/launchpad-liveramp.js"></script> <script async src="https://JRyhoywLYXNLYMAhs.ay.delivery/manager/JRyhoywLYXNLYMAhs" type="text/javascript" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" ></script><div class="ie-warning d-flex align-items-center align-self-center justify-content-center site-alert bg-orange"> <div> You are using an <strong>outdated</strong> browser. Please <a class="text-white text-underscore" href="https://browsehappy.com/">upgrade your browser</a> to improve your experience and security. </div> </div> <script id="json-navbar-info" type="application/json"> {"topSectionLinks":[{"title":"Ask the Chatbot","url":"/chatbot","navbarId":"CHATBOT"},{"title":"Games & Quizzes","url":"/quiz/browse","navbarId":"QUIZZES"},{"title":"ProCon","url":"/procon","navbarId":"PROCON"},{"title":"History & Society","url":"/History-Society","navbarId":"HISTORY"},{"title":"Science & Tech","url":"/Science-Tech","navbarId":"SCIENCE"},{"title":"Biographies","url":"/Biographies","navbarId":"BIOS"},{"title":"Animals & Nature","url":"/Animals-Nature","navbarId":"ANIMALS"},{"title":"Geography & Travel","url":"/Geography-Travel","selected":true,"navbarId":"GEOGRAPHY"},{"title":"Arts & Culture","url":"/Arts-Culture","navbarId":"ART"},{"title":"Money","url":"/money","navbarId":"MONEY"},{"title":"Videos","url":"/videos","navbarId":"VIDEOS"}],"selectedSuperCategory":{"id":4,"title":"Geography & Travel","url":"Geography-Travel","description":"Explore geography and travel; geographic regions; historical places; people of the world; countries, states, provinces, cities, and towns; languages; deserts, islands, mountains, plateaus; lakes, oceans, seas, rivers; national parks, tourist attractions","keywords":"geographic regions; historical places; people of the world; countries, states, provinces, cities, and towns; languages; deserts, islands, mountains, plateaus; lakes, oceans, seas, rivers; national parks, tourist attractions ","classId":"GEOGRAPHY","sortOrder":5},"selectedNavbarLink":{"title":"Geography & Travel","url":"/Geography-Travel","selected":true,"navbarId":"GEOGRAPHY"}} </script> <script id="json-hamburger-menu" type="application/json"> {"britannicaMenu1":[{"title":"Home","url":"/"},{"title":"ProCon","url":"/procon"},{"title":"History & Society","url":"/History-Society"},{"title":"Science & Tech","url":"/Science-Tech"},{"title":"Biographies","url":"/Biographies"},{"title":"Animals & Nature","url":"/Animals-Nature"},{"title":"Geography & Travel","url":"/Geography-Travel"},{"title":"Arts & Culture","url":"/Arts-Culture"},{"title":"Money","url":"/money"}],"britannicaMenu2":[{"title":"Games & Quizzes","url":"/quiz/browse"},{"title":"Videos","url":"/videos"},{"title":"On This Day","url":"/on-this-day"},{"title":"One Good Fact","url":"/one-good-fact"},{"title":"Dictionary","url":"/dictionary"},{"title":"New Articles","url":"/new-articles"}],"browseByCategory":[{"title":{"id":5,"title":"History & Society","url":"/History-Society"},"links":[{"title":"Lifestyles & Social Issues","url":"/browse/Lifestyles-Social-Issues"},{"title":"Philosophy & Religion","url":"/browse/Philosophy-Religion"},{"title":"Politics, Law & Government","url":"/browse/Politics-Law-Government"},{"title":"World History","url":"/browse/World-History"}]},{"title":{"id":6,"title":"Science & Tech","url":"/Science-Tech"},"links":[{"title":"Health & Medicine","url":"/browse/Health-Medicine"},{"title":"Science","url":"/browse/Science"},{"title":"Technology","url":"/browse/Technology"}]},{"title":{"id":3,"title":"Biographies","url":"/Biographies"},"links":[{"title":"Browse Biographies","url":"/browse/biographies"}]},{"title":{"id":1,"title":"Animals & Nature","url":"/Animals-Nature"},"links":[{"title":"Birds, Reptiles & Other Vertebrates","url":"/browse/Birds-Reptiles-Vertebrates"},{"title":"Bugs, Mollusks & Other Invertebrates","url":"/browse/Bugs-Mollusks-Invertebrates"},{"title":"Environment","url":"/browse/Environment"},{"title":"Fossils & Geologic Time","url":"/browse/Fossil-Geologic-Time"},{"title":"Mammals","url":"/browse/Mammals"},{"title":"Plants","url":"/browse/Plants"}]},{"title":{"id":4,"title":"Geography & Travel","url":"/Geography-Travel"},"links":[{"title":"Geography & Travel","url":"/browse/Geography-Travel"}]},{"title":{"id":2,"title":"Arts & Culture","url":"/Arts-Culture"},"links":[{"title":"Entertainment & Pop Culture","url":"/browse/Entertainment-Pop-Culture"},{"title":"Literature","url":"/browse/Literature"},{"title":"Sports & Recreation","url":"/browse/Sports-Recreation"},{"title":"Visual Arts","url":"/browse/Visual-Arts"}]}],"browseByFeature":[{"title":"Companions","url":"/stories/companion"},{"title":"Demystified","url":"/stories/demystified"},{"title":"Image Galleries","url":"/gallery/browse"},{"title":"Lists","url":"/list/browse"},{"title":"Podcasts","url":"/podcasts"},{"title":"Spotlight","url":"/stories/spotlight"},{"title":"Summaries","url":"/summary"},{"title":"The Forum","url":"/stories/the-forum"},{"title":"Top Questions","url":"/question"},{"title":"#WTFact","url":"/stories/wtfact"}],"moreFromBritannica":[{"title":"Britannica Kids","url":"https://kids.britannica.com/","newTab":true}],"menuType":"DEFAULT"} </script> <header id="header" class="bg-navy-dark"> <div class="global-nav-top-bar"> <div class="grid gx-0 h-100 justify-content-between align-items-center container-lg mx-auto p-0 position-relative"> <div class="d-flex align-items-center"> <button class="d-flex align-items-center justify-self-start js-toggle js-toggle-hamburger btn btn-link link-white btn-sm rounded-0 p-10"> <div class="hamburger-tooltip"> <em class="material-icons d-inline-block font-24" id="nav-toggle" data-icon="menu"></em> </div> <em class="material-icons d-inline-block font-24 global-nav-search-icon" id="nav-search-icon" data-icon="search" ></em> </button> <a href="/" class="d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center ml-10"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel/eb-logo/MendelNewThistleLogo.png" alt="Encyclopedia Britannica" class="global-nav-logo global-nav-logo-left" /> </a> <div class="global-nav-top-search-bar global-nav-top-search-container global-nav-search-container" id="global-nav-top-search-bar"> <form method="get" action="/search" id="global-nav-search" class="md-search-form m-0 global-nav-search-bar-small"> <div class="search-box position-relative col-100"> <label class="sr-only" for="global-nav-search-query">Search Britannica</label> <input name="query" id="global-nav-search-query" placeholder="Search Britannica..." class="form-control form-control-lg rounded-lg font-16 search-query pl-20 pr-70 shadow-sm" maxlength="200" autocomplete="off" aria-label="Search Britannica" /> <button class="search-reset-btn btn btn-link px-10 position-absolute top-0 h-100 d-none" type="reset"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="close"></em> </button> <button class="search-submit btn btn-link text-blue px-10 position-absolute top-0 right-0 h-100" type="submit" disabled> <span class="sr-only">Click here to search</span> <em class="material-icons search-icon" data-icon="search"></em> </button> </div> </form> </div> </div> <a href="/" class="d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel/eb-logo/MendelNewThistleLogo.png" alt="Encyclopedia Britannica" class="global-nav-center global-nav-logo non-homepage-logo" /> </a> <form method="get" action="/search" id="global-nav-search" class="md-search-form m-0 global-nav-search-bar-small global-nav-center search global-nav-center-search-container"> <div class="search-box position-relative col-100"> <label class="sr-only" for="global-nav-search-query">Search Britannica</label> <input name="query" id="global-nav-search-query" placeholder="Search Britannica..." class="form-control form-control-lg rounded-lg font-16 search-query pl-20 pr-70 shadow-sm" maxlength="200" autocomplete="off" aria-label="Search Britannica" /> <button class="search-reset-btn btn btn-link px-10 position-absolute top-0 h-100 d-none" type="reset"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="close"></em> </button> <button class="search-submit btn btn-link text-blue px-10 position-absolute top-0 right-0 h-100" type="submit" disabled> <span class="sr-only">Click here to search</span> <em class="material-icons search-icon" data-icon="search"></em> </button> </div> </form> <div class="col-35 col-sm-auto text-right order-3 mr-lg-15 align-items-center d-flex justify-content-end"> <div class="d-none d-md-inline-block"> <SPAN class="marketing-HEADER_SUBSCRIPTION_DESKTOP2 marketing-content" data-marketing-id="HEADER_SUBSCRIPTION_DESKTOP2"><a href="https://subscription.britannica.com/subscribe?partnerCode=BP_Black_Friday_AUUS" class="subscribe-link btn btn-sm btn-outline-white-orange py-5 mr-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Subscribe </a></SPAN></div> <div class="d-inline-block d-md-none mr-5 mr-sm-10"> <SPAN class="marketing-HEADER_SUBSCRIPTION_MOBILE marketing-content" data-marketing-id="HEADER_SUBSCRIPTION_MOBILE"><a href="https://subscription.britannica.com/subscribe?partnerCode=BP_Black_Friday_AUUS" class="subscribe-link btn btn-xs btn-orange-dark p-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Subscribe </a></SPAN></div> <button class="js-toggle-user-dropdown js-toggle btn btn-sm btn-link link-white rounded-0 px-md-15 pl-5 pr-5"> <span class="d-none d-md-inline-block mr-5">Login</span> <em class="material-icons d-inline-block d-md-none font-16 font-sm-20" data-icon="account_circle"></em> <div class="d-none dropdown-menu-subscription-link">https://subscription.britannica.com/subscribe?partnerCode=BP_Black_Friday_AUUS</div> <em class="material-icons inactive-icon d-inline-block font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_down"></em> <em class="material-icons active-icon d-inline-block font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_up"></em> </button> </div> </div> </div> <div class="d-none hamburger-menu-subscription-link"><DIV class="marketing-HAMBURGER_MENU_CTA marketing-content" data-marketing-id="HAMBURGER_MENU_CTA"><a href="https://premium.britannica.com/premium-membership/?utm_source=premium&utm_medium=hamburger-menu&utm_campaign=black-friday-2024" class="subscribe-link btn btn-sm btn-orange py-5" target="_blank"> Subscribe <span class="d-none d-md-inline"> Now</span> </a></DIV></div> <div id="global-nav-react"> <div class="d-none"> <ul> <li><a href="/">Home</a></li> <li><a href="/procon">ProCon</a></li> <li><a href="/History-Society">History & Society</a></li> <li><a href="/Science-Tech">Science & Tech</a></li> <li><a href="/Biographies">Biographies</a></li> <li><a href="/Animals-Nature">Animals & Nature</a></li> <li><a href="/Geography-Travel">Geography & Travel</a></li> <li><a href="/Arts-Culture">Arts & Culture</a></li> <li><a href="/money">Money</a></li> </ul> <ul> <li><a href="/quiz/browse">Games & Quizzes</a></li> <li><a href="/videos">Videos</a></li> <li><a href="/on-this-day">On This Day</a></li> <li><a href="/one-good-fact">One Good Fact</a></li> <li><a href="/dictionary">Dictionary</a></li> <li><a href="/new-articles">New Articles</a></li> </ul> <a href="/History-Society">History & Society</a> <ul> <li><a href="/browse/Lifestyles-Social-Issues">Lifestyles & Social Issues</a></li> <li><a href="/browse/Philosophy-Religion">Philosophy & Religion</a></li> <li><a href="/browse/Politics-Law-Government">Politics, Law & Government</a></li> <li><a href="/browse/World-History">World History</a></li> </ul> <a href="/Science-Tech">Science & Tech</a> <ul> <li><a href="/browse/Health-Medicine">Health & Medicine</a></li> <li><a href="/browse/Science">Science</a></li> <li><a href="/browse/Technology">Technology</a></li> </ul> <a href="/Biographies">Biographies</a> <ul> <li><a href="/browse/biographies">Browse Biographies</a></li> </ul> <a href="/Animals-Nature">Animals & Nature</a> <ul> <li><a href="/browse/Birds-Reptiles-Vertebrates">Birds, Reptiles & Other Vertebrates</a></li> <li><a href="/browse/Bugs-Mollusks-Invertebrates">Bugs, Mollusks & Other Invertebrates</a></li> <li><a href="/browse/Environment">Environment</a></li> <li><a href="/browse/Fossil-Geologic-Time">Fossils & Geologic Time</a></li> <li><a href="/browse/Mammals">Mammals</a></li> <li><a href="/browse/Plants">Plants</a></li> </ul> <a href="/Geography-Travel">Geography & Travel</a> <ul> <li><a href="/browse/Geography-Travel">Geography & Travel</a></li> </ul> <a href="/Arts-Culture">Arts & Culture</a> <ul> <li><a href="/browse/Entertainment-Pop-Culture">Entertainment & Pop Culture</a></li> <li><a href="/browse/Literature">Literature</a></li> <li><a href="/browse/Sports-Recreation">Sports & Recreation</a></li> <li><a href="/browse/Visual-Arts">Visual Arts</a></li> </ul> <ul> <li><a href="/stories/companion">Companions</a></li> <li><a href="/stories/demystified">Demystified</a></li> <li><a href="/gallery/browse">Image Galleries</a></li> <li><a href="/list/browse">Lists</a></li> <li><a href="/podcasts">Podcasts</a></li> <li><a href="/stories/spotlight">Spotlight</a></li> <li><a href="/summary">Summaries</a></li> <li><a href="/stories/the-forum">The Forum</a></li> <li><a href="/question">Top Questions</a></li> <li><a href="/stories/wtfact">#WTFact</a></li> </ul> <ul> <li><a href="https://kids.britannica.com/">Britannica Kids</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </header> <div class="bg-navy-dark"> <div class="container-lg p-0 d-flex justify-content-center global-nav-categories-bar overflow-hidden"> <div class="slider js-slider position-relative d-inline-flex align-items-center mw-100 global-nav-slider category-snap-slider"> <div class="slider-container js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex font-14 overflow-hidden text-nowrap mx-5"> <a class="nav-bar-category mx-5 category-link-CHATBOT " href="/chatbot">Ask the Chatbot</a> <a class="nav-bar-category mx-5 category-link-QUIZZES " href="/quiz/browse">Games & Quizzes</a> <a class="nav-bar-category mx-5 category-link-PROCON " href="/procon">ProCon</a> <a class="nav-bar-category mx-5 category-link-HISTORY " href="/History-Society">History & Society</a> <a class="nav-bar-category mx-5 category-link-SCIENCE " href="/Science-Tech">Science & Tech</a> <a class="nav-bar-category mx-5 category-link-BIOS " href="/Biographies">Biographies</a> <a class="nav-bar-category mx-5 category-link-ANIMALS " href="/Animals-Nature">Animals & Nature</a> <a class="nav-bar-category mx-5 category-link-GEOGRAPHY selected selected" href="/Geography-Travel">Geography & Travel</a> <a class="nav-bar-category mx-5 category-link-ART " href="/Arts-Culture">Arts & Culture</a> <a class="nav-bar-category mx-5 category-link-MONEY " href="/money">Money</a> <a class="nav-bar-category mx-5 category-link-VIDEOS " href="/videos">Videos</a> </div> <button disabled class="prev-button js-prev-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-blue " aria-label="Previous"> <span class="material-icons md-24" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_left"></span> </button> <button disabled class="next-button js-next-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-blue " aria-label="Next"> <span class="material-icons md-24" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></span> </button> </div> </div> </div> <main> <div class="md-page-wrapper"> <div id="content" class="md-content"> <div class="md-article-container template-desktop infinite-pagination"> <div class="infinite-scroll-container article last"> <article class="article-content container-lg qa-content px-0 pt-0 pb-40 py-lg-20 content md-expanded" data-topic-id="615557"> <div class="grid gx-0"> <div class="col-auto"> <div class="topic-left-rail md-article-drawer position-relative d-flex border-right-sm border-left-sm open"> <div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom">United Kingdom</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <ul class="list-unstyled my-0" data-level="h1"><li data-target="#ref1"><div class="pl-25"><a class="link-gray-900 w-100" href="/place/United-Kingdom">Introduction & Quick Facts</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref44671"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom#ref44671">Land</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44672"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom#ref44672">Relief</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44673"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-highland-zone">The highland zone</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44674"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-lowland-zone">The lowland zone</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44675"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-lowland-zone#ref44675">Drainage</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44676"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-lowland-zone#ref44676">Soils</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44677"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-lowland-zone#ref44677">Climate</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44678"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Plant-and-animal-life">Plant and animal life</a></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref44682"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Plant-and-animal-life#ref44682">People</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44683"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Plant-and-animal-life#ref44683">Ethnic groups</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44684"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Plant-and-animal-life#ref44684">Languages</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44685"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Religion">Religion</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref225229"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Religion#ref225229">Settlement patterns</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref225230"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Religion#ref225230">Rural settlement</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref225231"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Urban-settlement">Urban settlement</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44686"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Urban-settlement#ref44686">Demographic trends</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44687"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Urban-settlement#ref44687">Population growth</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44688"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Urban-settlement#ref44688">Migration patterns</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref44689"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy">Economy</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44691"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44691">Agriculture, forestry, and fishing</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44692"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44692">Agriculture</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44693"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44693">Forestry</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44694"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44694">Fishing</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44690"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44690">Resources and power</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref225232"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref225232">Minerals</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref225233"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref225233">Energy</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44695"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44695">Manufacturing</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44699"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44699">Finance</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44700"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Trade">Trade</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref215040"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref215040">Services</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref225234"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref225234">Labour and taxation</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44701"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref44701">Transportation and telecommunications</a></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref44702"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref44702">Government and society</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref225235"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref225235">Constitutional framework</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref215041"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref215041">Regional government</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44705"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Local-government">Local government</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44709"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Local-government#ref44709">Justice</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44706"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Local-government#ref44706">Political process</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44710"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Local-government#ref44710">Security</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44716"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare">Health and welfare</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44717"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44717">The National Health Service</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44718"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44718">Cash benefits</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44719"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44719">Housing</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44712"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44712">Education</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44713"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44713">Primary and secondary education</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44714"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44714">Private schools</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44715"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Higher-education">Higher education</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref44720"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Higher-education#ref44720">Cultural life</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref225236"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Higher-education#ref225236">Daily life and social customs</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref225237"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Higher-education#ref225237">The arts</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref225238"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Higher-education#ref225238">Cultural institutions</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref215039"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation">Sports and recreation</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44722"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation#ref44722">Media and publishing</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44723"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation#ref44723">Newspapers</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44724"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation#ref44724">Broadcasting</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref214519"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation#ref214519">History</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44730"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Ancient-Britain">Ancient Britain</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44731" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Ancient-Britain#ref44731">Pre-Roman Britain</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44732"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Ancient-Britain#ref44732">Neolithic Period</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44733"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Ancient-Britain#ref44733">Bronze Age</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44734"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Ancient-Britain#ref44734">Iron Age</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44735" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-Britain">Roman Britain</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44736"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-Britain#ref44736">The conquest</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44737"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-Britain#ref44737">Condition of the province</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44738"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-Britain#ref44738">Army and frontier</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44739"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-Britain#ref44739">Administration</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44740"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society">Roman society</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44741"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society#ref44741">Economy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44742"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society#ref44742">Towns</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44743"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society#ref44743">Villas</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44744"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society#ref44744">Religion and culture</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44745"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society#ref44745">The decline of Roman rule</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44746"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anglo-Saxon-England">Anglo-Saxon England</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44747" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anglo-Saxon-England#ref44747">The invaders and their early settlements</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44748"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anglo-Saxon-England#ref44748">The social system</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44749"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anglo-Saxon-England#ref44749">The conversion to Christianity</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44750"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anglo-Saxon-England#ref44750">The golden age of Bede</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44751" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-heptarchy">The heptarchy</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44752"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-heptarchy#ref44752">The supremacy of Northumbria and the rise of Mercia</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44753"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-heptarchy#ref44753">The great age of Mercia</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44754"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-heptarchy#ref44754">The church and scholarship in Offa’s time</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44755"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-heptarchy#ref44755">The decline of Mercia and the rise of Wessex</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44756" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions">The period of the Scandinavian invasions</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44757"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44757">Viking invasions and settlements</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44758"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44758">Alfred’s government and his revival of learning</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44759" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44759">The achievement of political unity</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44760"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44760">The reconquest of the Danelaw</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44761"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44761">The kingdom of England</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44762"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-church-and-the-monastic-revival">The church and the monastic revival</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44763" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-church-and-the-monastic-revival#ref44763">The Anglo-Danish state</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44764"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-church-and-the-monastic-revival#ref44764">The Danish conquest and the reigns of the Danish kings</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44765"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-church-and-the-monastic-revival#ref44765">The reign of Edward the Confessor and the Norman Conquest</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44766"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154">The Normans (1066–1154)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44767" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44767">William I (1066–87)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44768"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44768">Resistance and rebellion</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44769"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44769">The introduction of feudalism</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44770"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44770">Government and justice</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44771"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44771">Church–state relations</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44772"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44772">William’s accomplishments</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44773" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I">The sons of William I</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44774"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44774">William II Rufus (1087–1100)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44775"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44775">Henry I (1100–35)</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44776" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44776">The period of anarchy (1135–54)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44777"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44777">Matilda and Stephen</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44778"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44778">Civil war</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44779"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44779">England in the Norman period</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44780"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets">The early Plantagenets</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44781" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44781">Henry II (1154–89)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44782"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44782">Government of England</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44783"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44783">Struggle with Thomas Becket</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44784"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44784">Rebellion of Henry’s sons and Eleanor of Aquitaine</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44785"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44785">Richard I (1189–99)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44786" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216">John (1199–1216)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44787"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216#ref44787">Loss of French possessions</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44788"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216#ref44788">Struggle with the papacy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44789"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216#ref44789">Revolt of the barons and Magna Carta</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44790"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216#ref44790">Economy and society</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44791"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216#ref44791">The 13th century</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44792" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72">Henry III (1216–72)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44793"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44793">Minority</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44794"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44794">Early reign</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44795"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44795">The county communities</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44796"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44796">Simon de Montfort and the Barons’ War</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44797"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44797">Later reign</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44798" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307">Edward I (1272–1307)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44799"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44799">Law and government</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44800"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44800">Finance</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44801"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44801">The growth of Parliament</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44802"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44802">Edward’s wars</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44803"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44803">Domestic difficulties</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44804"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Social-economic-and-cultural-change">Social, economic, and cultural change</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44805"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Social-economic-and-cultural-change#ref44805">The 14th century</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44806"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Social-economic-and-cultural-change#ref44806">Edward II (1307–27)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44807" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-III-1327-77">Edward III (1327–77)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44808"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-III-1327-77#ref44808">The Hundred Years’ War to 1360</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44809"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-III-1327-77#ref44809">Domestic achievements</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44810"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-III-1327-77#ref44810">Law and order</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44811"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-III-1327-77#ref44811">The crises of Edward’s later years</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44812" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Richard-II-1377-99">Richard II (1377–99)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44813"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Richard-II-1377-99#ref44813">The Peasants’ Revolt (1381)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44814"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Richard-II-1377-99#ref44814">John Wycliffe</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44815"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Richard-II-1377-99#ref44815">Political struggles and Richard’s deposition</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44816"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Richard-II-1377-99#ref44816">Economic crisis and cultural change</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44817"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York">Lancaster and York</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44818" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44818">Henry IV (1399–1413)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44819"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44819">The rebellions</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44820"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44820">Henry and Parliament</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44821" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44821">Henry V (1413–22)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44822"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44822">The French war</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44823"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44823">Domestic affairs</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44824" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44824">Henry VI (1422–61 and 1470–71)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44825"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44825">Domestic rivalries and the loss of France</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44826"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44826">Cade’s rebellion</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44827"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-beginning-of-the-Wars-of-the-Roses">The beginning of the Wars of the Roses</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44828"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-beginning-of-the-Wars-of-the-Roses#ref44828">Edward IV (1461–70 and 1471–83)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44829"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-beginning-of-the-Wars-of-the-Roses#ref44829">Richard III (1483–85)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44830"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/England-in-the-15th-century">England in the 15th century</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44831"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/England-in-the-15th-century#ref44831">England under the Tudors</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44832" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/England-in-the-15th-century#ref44832">Henry VII (1485–1509)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44833"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/England-in-the-15th-century#ref44833">Economy and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44834"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Dynastic-threats">Dynastic threats</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44835"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Dynastic-threats#ref44835">Financial policy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44836"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Dynastic-threats#ref44836">The administration of justice</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44837" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-VIII-1509-47">Henry VIII (1509–47)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44838"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-VIII-1509-47#ref44838">Cardinal Wolsey</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44839"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-VIII-1509-47#ref44839">The king’s “Great Matter”</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44840"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-VIII-1509-47#ref44840">The Reformation background</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44841"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-break-with-Rome">The break with Rome</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44842"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-break-with-Rome#ref44842">The consolidation of the Reformation</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref275884"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-break-with-Rome#ref275884">The expansion of the English state</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44843"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-break-with-Rome#ref44843">Henry’s last years</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44844"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-VI-1547-53">Edward VI (1547–53)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44845"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-VI-1547-53#ref44845">Mary I (1553–58)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44846" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-VI-1547-53#ref44846">Elizabeth I (1558–1603)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44847"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-VI-1547-53#ref44847">The Tudor ideal of government</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44848"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Elizabethan-society">Elizabethan society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44849"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Elizabethan-society#ref44849">Mary, Queen of Scots</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44850"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-clash-with-Spain">The clash with Spain</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44851"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-clash-with-Spain#ref44851">Internal discontent</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44852"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Stuarts-and-the-Commonwealth">The early Stuarts and the Commonwealth</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44853" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Stuarts-and-the-Commonwealth#ref44853">England in 1603</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44854"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Stuarts-and-the-Commonwealth#ref44854">Economy and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44855"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Stuarts-and-the-Commonwealth#ref44855">Government and society</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44856" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/James-I-1603-25">James I (1603–25)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref275885"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/James-I-1603-25#ref275885">Triple monarchy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44857"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/James-I-1603-25#ref44857">Religious policy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44858"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/James-I-1603-25#ref44858">Finance and politics</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44859"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/James-I-1603-25#ref44859">Factions and favourites</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44860" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Charles-I-1625-49">Charles I (1625–49)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44861"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Charles-I-1625-49#ref44861">The politics of war</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44862"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Charles-I-1625-49#ref44862">Peace and reform</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44863"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Charles-I-1625-49#ref44863">Religious reform</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44864"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Long-Parliament">The Long Parliament</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44865"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Long-Parliament#ref44865">Civil war and revolution</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44866"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Commonwealth-and-Protectorate">Commonwealth and Protectorate</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44867"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts">The later Stuarts</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44868" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44868">Charles II (1660–85)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44869"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44869">The Restoration</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44870"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44870">War and government</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44871"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44871">The Popish Plot</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44872"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44872">The exclusion crisis and the Tory reaction</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44873" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44873">James II (1685–88)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44874"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44874">Church and king</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44875"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Revolution-of-1688">The Revolution of 1688</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44876" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Revolution-of-1688#ref44876">William III (1689–1702) and Mary II (1689–94)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44877"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Revolution-of-1688#ref44877">The revolution settlement</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref275886"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Revolution-of-1688#ref275886">A new society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44878"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Revolution-of-1688#ref44878">The sinews of war</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44879" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anne-1702-14">Anne (1702–14)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44880"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anne-1702-14#ref44880">Whigs and Tories</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44881"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anne-1702-14#ref44881">Tories and Jacobites</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44882"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815">18th-century Britain, 1714–1815</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44883"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44883">The state of Britain in 1714</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44884" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44884">Britain from 1715 to 1742</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44885"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44885">The supremacy of the Whigs</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44886"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44886">Robert Walpole</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44887"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44887">George II and Walpole</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44888"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44888">Foreign policy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44889"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44889">Religious policy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44890"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44890">Economic policies</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44891"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44891">The electoral system</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44892"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Walpoles-loss-of-power">Walpole’s loss of power</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44893" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Walpoles-loss-of-power#ref44893">Britain from 1742 to 1754</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44894"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Walpoles-loss-of-power#ref44894">The Jacobite rebellion</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44895"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Walpoles-loss-of-power#ref44895">The rule of the Pelhams</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44896"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Walpoles-loss-of-power#ref44896">Domestic reforms</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44897" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century">British society by the mid-18th century</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44898"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century#ref44898">Joseph Massie’s categories</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44899"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century#ref44899">Urban development</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44900"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century#ref44900">Change and continuity</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44901"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century#ref44901">The revolution in communications</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44902" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783">Britain from 1754 to 1783</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44903"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44903">Conflict abroad</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44904"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44904">Political instability in Britain</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44905"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44905">The American Revolution</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44906"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44906">Domestic responses to the American Revolution</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44907" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44907">Britain from 1783 to 1815</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44908"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/William-Pitt-the-Younger">William Pitt the Younger</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44909"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/William-Pitt-the-Younger#ref44909">Economic growth and prosperity</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44910"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/William-Pitt-the-Younger#ref44910">The Industrial Revolution</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44911"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/William-Pitt-the-Younger#ref44911">Britain during the French Revolution</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44912"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars">The Napoleonic Wars</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44913"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref44913">Imperial expansion</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44914"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref44914">Great Britain, 1815–1914</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44915" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref44915">Britain after the Napoleonic Wars</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274567"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref274567">State and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274568"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref274568">The political situation</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44919" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain">Early and mid-Victorian Britain</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274569"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274569">State and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274570"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274570">The political situation</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274571"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274571">Whig reforms</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274572"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274572">Chartism and the Anti-Corn Law League</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274573"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274573">Peel and the Peelite heritage</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274574"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274574">Palmerston</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274575"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Gladstone-and-Disraeli">Gladstone and Disraeli</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44926"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Gladstone-and-Disraeli#ref44926">Economy and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44928"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Cultural-change">Cultural change</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274576"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Cultural-change#ref274576">The development of private life</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274577"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Cultural-change#ref274577">Religion</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274578"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Cultural-change#ref274578">Leisure</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref274579" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain">Late Victorian Britain</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274580"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274580">State and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274581"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274581">The political situation</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274582"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274582">Gladstone and Chamberlain</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274583"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274583">The Irish question</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274584"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274584">Split of the Liberal Party</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274585"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274585">Imperialism and British politics</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274586"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-return-of-the-Liberals">The return of the Liberals</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274587"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-return-of-the-Liberals#ref274587">The international crisis</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274588"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-return-of-the-Liberals#ref274588">Economy and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274589"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-return-of-the-Liberals#ref274589">Family and gender</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274590"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-return-of-the-Liberals#ref274590">Mass culture</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44948"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present">Britain from 1914 to the present</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref274520" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274520">The political situation</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274521"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274521">World War I</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274522"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274522">The Asquith coalition</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274523"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274523">Lloyd George</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274524"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274524">Between the wars</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274525"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274525">The election of 1918</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274526"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274526">Harsh peace and hard times</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274527"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274527">Ireland and the return of the Conservatives</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274528"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274528">The Baldwin era</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274529"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis">Baldwin and the abdication crisis</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274530"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis#ref274530">Foreign policy and appeasement</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274531"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis#ref274531">World War II</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274532"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis#ref274532">The phases of war</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274533"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis#ref274533">Political developments</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274534"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945">Britain since 1945</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274535"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274535">Labour and the welfare state (1945–51)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274536"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274536">Economic crisis and relief (1947)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274537"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274537">Withdrawal from the empire</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274538"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274538">Conservative government (1951–64)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274539"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274539">Labour interlude (1964–70)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274540"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274540">The return of the Conservatives (1970–74)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274541"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274541">Labour back in power (1974–79)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274542"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90">The Margaret Thatcher government (1979–90)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342384"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342384">The Falkland Islands War, the 1983 election, and privatization</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342385"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342385">Racial discrimination and the 1981 England riots</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342386"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342386">The 2001 England riots</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342387"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342387">The “Troubles” in Northern Ireland</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342388"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342388">“Thatcherism”</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274543"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref274543">The government of John Major (1990–97)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342389"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342389">“Black Wednesday,” epidemic scandals, and Major’s “Citizens Charter”</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342390"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342390">“Mad cow disease”</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref342391"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007">The Tony Blair government (1997–2007)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342392"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342392">The struggle for control of Labour</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342393"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342393">New Labour, the repeal of Clause IV, and the “third way”</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342394"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342394">Navigating the European monetary system and the EU Social Chapter</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342395"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342395">The Good Friday Agreement</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342396"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342396">London’s local government, House of Lords reform, and devolution for Scotland and Wales</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342397"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342397">The royal family’s “annus horribilis,” the death of Princess Diana, and the Millennium Dome</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342398"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342398">The battle for the soul of the Conservative Party</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342399"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342399">Response to the September 11 attacks</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342400"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342400">Weapons of mass destruction and the Iraq War</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274544"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref274544">The Gordon Brown government (2007–10)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref332804"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15">Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition rule (2010–15)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342401"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342401">The U.K. general election of 2010</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342402"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342402">First-past-the-post referendum</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342403"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342403">Intervention in Libya</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342404"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342404"><em>News of the World</em> hacking scandal</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342405"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342405">The 2011 riots, the European sovereign debt crisis, and Cameron’s veto of changes to the Lisbon Treaty</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342406"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342406">The 2012 London Olympics, Julian Assange’s embassy refuge, and the emergence of UKIP</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342407"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342407">The birth of George, rejection of intervention in Syria, and regulation of GCHQ</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342408"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342408">Euroskepticism</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342409"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342409">Scottish independence referendum</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342410"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342410">Economic recovery</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref332805"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref332805">David Cameron on his own (2015–16)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342411"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342411">The U.K. general election of 2015</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342412"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum">The “Brexit” referendum</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref337649"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref337649">The premiership of Theresa May (2016–19)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342413"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342413">The resignation of Cameron, the rise of May, and a challenge to Corbyn’s leadership of Labour</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342414"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342414">Triggering Article 50</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342415"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342415">The Manchester arena bombing and London bridge attacks</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342416"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342416">The snap election campaign</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342417"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342417">The 2017 U.K. general election</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342418"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342418">The Grenfell Tower fire, a novichok attack in Salisbury, and air strikes on Syria</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342419"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342419">The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Chequers plan, and Boris Johnson’s resignation</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342420"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342420">EU agreement and Parliamentary opposition to May’s Brexit plan</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342421"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342421">Objections to the Irish backstop and a challenge to May’s leadership</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342422"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342422">Parliamentary rejection of May’s plan, May’s survival of a confidence vote, and the Independent Group of breakaway MPs</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342423"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342423">Parliament rejects May’s plan again</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342486"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342486">“Indicative votes,” May’s pledge to resign, a third defeat for her plan, and a new deadline</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref350369"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref350369">The Boris Johnson government</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref344342"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref344342">Boris Johnson’s ascent, the December 2019 snap election, and Brexit</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref347309"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref347309">The coronavirus pandemic</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref350370"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref350370">“Partygate”</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref351071"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref351071">Further scandal and Johnson’s resignation</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref351684"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref351684">The premiership of Liz Truss</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref352183"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref352183">Ascent to office</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref352184"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref352184">The death of Elizabeth II</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref352772"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref352772">Abrupt resignation</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref352803"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref352803">The premiership of Rishi Sunak</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref274545" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Society-state-and-economy">Society, state, and economy</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274546"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Society-state-and-economy#ref274546">State and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274547"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Society-state-and-economy#ref274547">Economy and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274548"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Family-and-gender">Family and gender</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274549"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Family-and-gender#ref274549">Mass culture</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref276898"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Sovereigns-of-Britain">Sovereigns of Britain</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref276899"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Sovereigns-of-Britain#ref276899">Prime ministers of Great Britain and the United Kingdom</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li></ul> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/United-Kingdom">Facts & Stats</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header link-gray-900 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mb-10 mx-10" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/images-videos">Images, Videos & Interactives</a> <div class="slider js-slider position-relative d-inline-flex align-items-center mw-100 "> <div class="slider-container js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex overflow-hidden text-nowrap ml-15"> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/25/4825-050-977D8C5E/Flag-United-Kingdom.jpg" data-href="/media/1/615557/61890" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/25/4825-004-F1975B92/Flag-United-Kingdom.jpg" alt="United Kingdom" height="50" /> </a> <a href="" data-href="/media/1/615557/151510" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <em class="material-icons md-48" data-icon="volume_up"></em> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/26/4826-050-915ED74D/United-Kingdom.jpg" data-href="/media/1/615557/3806" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/26/4826-004-4994700F/United-Kingdom.jpg" alt="United Kingdom" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/84/183784-050-9C0C8C6B/World-Data-Locator-Map-United-Kingdom.jpg" data-href="/media/1/615557/224159" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/84/183784-004-A1E621A9/World-Data-Locator-Map-United-Kingdom.jpg" alt="United Kingdom" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/13/99613-050-13B8A7D2/Big-Ben-London.jpg" data-href="/media/1/615557/96003" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/13/99613-004-31B3604B/Big-Ben-London.jpg" alt="Big Ben, London" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/41/193441-050-13CCA6B5/Terminology-British-Isles-United-Kingdom-Ireland-Great.jpg" data-href="/media/1/615557/223620" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/41/193441-004-F59FCB25/Terminology-British-Isles-United-Kingdom-Ireland-Great.jpg" alt="British Isles terminology" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/12/60112-050-E856C922/Stonehenge-earthwork-site-Wiltshire-England-Early-Bronze.jpg" data-href="/media/1/615557/57235" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/12/60112-004-97372343/Stonehenge-earthwork-site-Wiltshire-England-Early-Bronze.jpg" alt="Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/27/1927-050-7DCB5384/Ravenscraig-Castle-Kirkcaldy-Scotland.jpg" data-href="/media/1/615557/24057" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/27/1927-004-308BD790/Ravenscraig-Castle-Kirkcaldy-Scotland.jpg" alt="Ravenscraig Castle, Kirkcaldy, Scotland" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/07/20307-050-A2FAB763/Windermere-Cumbria-England.jpg" data-href="/media/1/615557/15244" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/07/20307-004-44AEB441/Windermere-Cumbria-England.jpg" alt="Windermere, Cumbria, England" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/19/25419-004-F1E2CCD1/coast-North-Channel-Northern-Ireland-Torr-Head.jpg" data-href="/media/1/615557/13249" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/19/25419-004-F1E2CCD1/coast-North-Channel-Northern-Ireland-Torr-Head.jpg" alt="North Channel coast, Northern Ireland" height="50" /> </a> </div> <button disabled class="prev-button js-prev-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-blue " aria-label="Previous"> <span class="material-icons md-24" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_left"></span> </button> <button disabled class="next-button js-next-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-blue " aria-label="Next"> <span class="material-icons md-24" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></span> </button> </div> </div> <div class="mb-30 tlr-student-links"> <div class="text-gray-900 p-5 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-10 mb-10"> For Students </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/summary/United-Kingdom"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/images/shared/default3.png?v=3.130.14" class="default " height="200" width="200"/> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/summary/United-Kingdom" >United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland summary</a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="mb-30 tlr-related-quizzes"> <div class="text-gray-900 p-5 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-10 mb-10"> Quizzes </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/quiz/the-country-quiz"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/40/129640-131-0EB20858/Flags-countries-world-flags-Country-blog-geography-2009.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Flags of all countries of the world. Flags of the world. National flags. Country flags. Hompepage blog 2009, history and society, geography and travel, explore discovery" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/quiz/the-country-quiz" >The Country Quiz</a> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/quiz/which-country-is-larger-by-area-quiz"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/95/168695-131-11055CC5/Geography-Something-globe-Europe-Eurasia-Africa.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="7:023 Geography: Think of Something Big, globe showing Africa, Europe, and Eurasia" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/quiz/which-country-is-larger-by-area-quiz" >Which Country Is Larger By Area? Quiz</a> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/quiz/which-country-is-larger-by-population-quiz"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/91/142291-131-1FF39F2D/Flags-world-blue-sky-Countries-Globalization-relations-2010.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Flags of the world against blue sky. Countries, International. Globalization, global relations, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Poland, Palestine, Japan. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/quiz/which-country-is-larger-by-population-quiz" >Which Country Is Larger By Population? Quiz</a> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/quiz/fit-for-a-king-or-queen-the-british-royalty-quiz"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/06/235406-131-17CB8E3D/Queen-Elizabeth-II-Buckingham-Palace-Platinum-Jubilee-London-England-June-5-2022.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Britain's Queen Elizabeth II smiles to the crowd from Buckingham Palace (London, England) balcony at the end of the Platinum Pageant in London on June 5, 2022 as part of Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee celebrations. The curtain comes down on four days of momentous nationwide celebrations to honor Queen Elizabeth II's historic Platinum Jubilee with a day-long pageant lauding the 96 year old monarch's record seven decades on the throne. (British royalty)" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/quiz/fit-for-a-king-or-queen-the-british-royalty-quiz" >Fit for a King (or Queen): the British Royalty Quiz</a> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/quiz/a-royal-vocabulary-quiz"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/09/242809-131-AAC5D871/British-crown-flag.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Royal golden crown with jewels on British flag. Symbols of United Kingdom. (British royalty, British monarchy)" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/quiz/a-royal-vocabulary-quiz" >A Royal Vocabulary Quiz</a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="mb-30 tlr-related-questions"> <div class="text-gray-900 p-5 pb-0 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-10 mb-15"> Related Questions </div> <ul> <li class="link-gray-900 mb-15"><a class="" href="/question/What-is-Charles-Darwin-famous-for">What is Charles Darwin famous for?</a> </li> <li class="link-gray-900 mb-15"><a class="" href="/question/What-is-evolution-as-Charles-Darwin-understood-it">What is evolution, as Charles Darwin understood it?</a> </li> <li class="link-gray-900 mb-15"><a class="" href="/question/What-was-Charles-Darwins-educational-background">What was Charles Darwin’s educational background? </a> </li> <li class="link-gray-900 mb-15"><a class="" href="/question/What-was-Charles-Darwins-family-life-like">What was Charles Darwin’s family life like?</a> </li> <li class="link-gray-900 mb-15"><a class="" href="/question/What-were-the-social-impacts-of-Charles-Darwins-work">What were the social impacts of Charles Darwin’s work?</a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="mb-30 tlr-read-next"> <div class="text-gray-900 p-5 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-10 mb-10"> Read Next </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/list/british-royal-line-of-succession"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/24/243624-131-B9802941/King-Charles-III-Queen-Camilla-wave-balcony-Buckingham-Palace-Coronation-May-6-2023.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="King Charles III and Queen Camilla (Camilla, Queen Consort) wave from the balcony of Buckingham Palace during the Coronation of King Charles in London, England on May 6, 2023" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/list/british-royal-line-of-succession" >British Royal Line of Succession</a> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/story/why-is-ireland-two-countries"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/43/148643-131-2B2237A6/example-landscape-Irish-Ireland-Sligo.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Rural Irish landscape, Sligo, Ireland." width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/story/why-is-ireland-two-countries" >Why Is Ireland Two Countries?</a> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/story/whats-the-difference-between-great-britain-and-the-united-kingdom"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/43/193443-131-17ABE1C9/Union-Jack-flag-Great-Britain-united-kingdom.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Union Jack flag of Great Britain, united kingdom" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/story/whats-the-difference-between-great-britain-and-the-united-kingdom" >What’s the Difference Between Great Britain and the United Kingdom?</a> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/story/70th-anniversary-of-v-e-day"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/70/135170-131-5C16D2CF/People-Times-Square-New-York-City-May-8-1945.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="People celebrate in Times Square in New York City, New York on V-E Day (Victory in Europe), May 8, 1945." width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/story/70th-anniversary-of-v-e-day" >70th Anniversary of V-E Day</a> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/story/timeline-of-the-dunkirk-evacuation"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/41/230941-131-484B9574/infographic-Dunkirk-Evacuation-World-War-II-1940.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Map/infographic of the Dunkirk Evacuation May 26-June 4, 1940. World War II. France. SPOTLIGHT VERSION." width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/story/timeline-of-the-dunkirk-evacuation" >Timeline of the Dunkirk Evacuation</a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="mb-30 tlr-discover"> <div class="text-gray-900 p-5 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-10 mb-10"> Discover </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/story/do-the-relics-of-saint-nicholas-really-emit-a-holy-substance"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/43/219343-131-10977916/Tomb-Saint-Nicholas-Basilica-di-San-Nicola-Italy.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="The tomb of Saint Nicholas in the crypt of the Basilica di San Nicola, Bari, Apulia, Italy" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/story/do-the-relics-of-saint-nicholas-really-emit-a-holy-substance" >Do the Relics of Saint Nicholas Really Emit a Holy Substance?</a> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/story/was-santa-claus-a-real-person"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/92/202092-131-ACFF5B40/Santa-Claus-sleigh.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Santa Claus flying in his sleigh, christmas, reindeer" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/story/was-santa-claus-a-real-person" >Was Santa Claus a Real Person?</a> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/list/7-of-the-worlds-deadliest-shipwrecks"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/41/182141-131-32BD2459/Lusitania-sinking-U-boat-German-May-1915.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Lusitania sinking, illustration from The War of the Nations (New York), December 31, 1919. World War I, WWI. This image is one of three on the page. (See source file for the other two.)" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/list/7-of-the-worlds-deadliest-shipwrecks" >7 of the World’s Deadliest Shipwrecks</a> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/list/americas-5-most-notorious-cold-cases-including-one-you-may-have-thought-was-already-solved"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/71/196471-131-8FEA8DDD/Daily-Police-Bulletin-Elizabeth-Short-Black-Dahlia-January-1947.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Los Angeles Police Department wanted flyer on Elizabeth Short, aka the "Black Dahlia," who was brutally murdered in January 1947. The FBI supported the Los Angeles Police Department in the case, including by identifying Short through her fingerprints that" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/list/americas-5-most-notorious-cold-cases-including-one-you-may-have-thought-was-already-solved" >America’s 5 Most Notorious Cold Cases (Including One You May Have Thought Was Already Solved)</a> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/story/why-is-ireland-two-countries"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/43/148643-131-2B2237A6/example-landscape-Irish-Ireland-Sligo.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Rural Irish landscape, Sligo, Ireland." width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/story/why-is-ireland-two-countries" >Why Is Ireland Two Countries?</a> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/story/why-is-the-mona-lisa-so-famous"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/24/189624-131-BAF1184D/Mona-Lisa-oil-wood-panel-Leonardo-da.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Mona Lisa, oil on wood panel by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1503-06; in the Louvre, Paris, France. 77 x 53 cm." width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/story/why-is-the-mona-lisa-so-famous" >Why Is the <em>Mona Lisa</em> So Famous?</a> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/list/all-119-references-in-we-didnt-start-the-fire-explained"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/04/79904-131-6DCAD337/Elizabeth-II-speech-throne-Parliament-state-opening-1958.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Queen Elizabeth II addresses at opening of Parliament. (Date unknown on photo, but may be 1958, the first time the opening of Parliament was filmed.)" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/list/all-119-references-in-we-didnt-start-the-fire-explained" >All 119 References in “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” Explained</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <button class="drawerToggle btn position-sticky border btn-xs btn-white btn-circle rounded-sm d-none d-lg-flex " type="button" aria-label="Toggle Drawer"> <em class="material-icons font-18 text-blue" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_left"></em> </button> </div> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="h-100 ml-0 pr-lg-0 "> <div class="h-100 grid gx-0 gx-lg-20"> <div class="h-100 col-sm"> <div class="h-100 infinite-pagination-container d-flex flex-column position-relative"> <div class="position-absolute top-0 h-100 w-100"> <div class="toc-sticky-header d-none d-lg-none bg-gray-50 px-10 px-sm-30 position-sticky w-100 "> <div class="toc-sticky-header-inner-container align-items-center d-flex mx-auto h-100 w-100"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-sm btn-white text-blue border-2 border-gray-100 gtm-mobile-toc-header-button js-sections-button d-lg-none p-10"> <em class="material-icons my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Contents </button> <div class="header-ai-ask-button-placeholder"></div> <div class="header-ai-summarize-button-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="grey-box w-100 grey-box-top"> <div class="grey-box-content mx-auto w-100"> <script type="application/ld+json"> { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement" : [ { "@type" : "ListItem", "position" : 1, "item" : { "@id" : "https://www.britannica.com/browse/Geography-Travel", "name": "Geography & Travel" } } , { "@type" : "ListItem", "position" : 2, "item" : { "@id" : "https://www.britannica.com/browse/Countries-of-the-World", "name": "Countries of the World" } } ] } </script> <nav class="breadcrumb mt-20"> <span class="breadcrumb-item "> <a class="link-gray-600" href="/browse/Geography-Travel">Geography & Travel</a> </span> <span class="breadcrumb-item "> <a class="link-gray-600" href="/browse/Countries-of-the-World">Countries of the World</a> </span> </nav> <div class="page2ref-true topic-content topic-type-COUNTRY" data-student-article="false"> <script class="page-description-json" type="application/json"> { "url": "/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum", "shareUrl": "https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom", "browserTitle": "United Kingdom - The \u201CBrexit\u201D referendum", "firstTopicPage": false, "topicId":615557 } </script> <div class="reading-channel"> <div class="topic-header"> <div class="d-flex align-items-top justify-content-between"> <div class="d-flex flex-column"> <div> <div> <h2 class="h6">The “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Brexit" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Brexit</a>” referendum</h2></div> <div class="in-container"> <em class="material-icons in-arrow" data-icon="subdirectory_arrow_right"></em> <span class="in-bc">in</span><a class="in-link" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom">United Kingdom</a> <span class="in-bc">in</span><a class="in-link" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation#ref214519">History</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="d-none d-sm-flex flex-row"> <div class="mr-10 mb-15"> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="d-none d-sm-block md-topic-tools qa-action-buttons mb-15" data-topic-id="615557"> <button class="js-tooltip btn btn-sm btn-outline-blue border pr-10 border-2" > <em class="material-icons md-icon ml-n10 my-n5 mr-5" data-icon="more_vert"></em> More Actions </button> <div class="md-more-popover popover popover-sm p-0 font-14 z-1"> <div> <button class="js-print-modal-button js-modal gtm-topic-tool btn btn-sm btn-link gtm-topic-tool font-weight-bold btn-link" data-modal="[data-topic-id=615557] .md-print-modal" > <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="print"></em> Print </button> <div class="md-print-modal size-lg d-none"> <div class="md-modal-body"> <div class="h2 font-serif d-flex align-items-center pb-15 border-bottom"> <em class="material-icons text-blue mr-10">print</em> Print </div> <div class="mt-20 mb-10"> Please select which sections you would like to print: </div> <form action="/print/article/615557" method="post" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> <div class="print-box-items"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> <li><label><input class="mr-10" type="checkbox" name="sequence[]" value="0">Table Of Contents</label></li> </ul> </div> <input type="submit" class="btn btn-blue md-disabled" value="Print" /> </form> </div> </div> </div> <div> <button class="js-modal qa-cite-modal-button btn btn-sm btn-link gtm-topic-tool font-weight-bold btn-link" data-modal="[data-topic-id=615557] .md-cite-modal"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="verified"></em> Cite </button> <div class="md-cite-modal size-lg d-none"> <div class="md-modal-body"> <div class="h2 font-serif d-flex align-items-center pb-15 border-bottom mb-15"> <em class="material-icons text-blue mr-10">verified</em>Cite </div> <div class="font-serif"> While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. </div> <div class="label mt-20 mb-10">Select Citation Style</div> <select class="js-citation-format-select form-select"> <option selected value="mla">MLA</option> <option value="apa">APA</option> <option value="chicago">Chicago Manual of Style</option> </select> <div class="citation font-serif border rounded p-15 mt-20" data-authors="Linda J. Colley, Ulric M. Spencer, William A. Chaney, Peter Kellner, Margaret Hastings, John S. Morrill, Patrick Joyce, William Ravenhill, Nicholas A. Barr, Mark A. Kishlansky, Ralph Charles Atkins, Asa Briggs, Michael Charles Prestwich, Sheppard Sunderland Frere, Bentley Brinkerhoff Gilbert, Lacey Baldwin Smith, Paul R. Josephson, Dorothy Whitelock" data-title="United Kingdom" data-published-date="25 Nov. 2024" data-url="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom" > <div class="citation-text"></div> </div> <button class="js-copy-citation-button mt-20 btn btn-xs btn-outline-blue border shadow-sm pr-10" > <em class="material-icons md-icon ml-n10 my-n5 mr-5" data-icon="file_copy"></em> <span class="js-citation-status-text">Copy Citation</span> </button> </div> </div> </div> <div> <button class="js-share-modal-button js-modal btn btn-sm btn-link gtm-topic-tool font-weight-bold btn-link" data-modal="[data-topic-id=615557] .md-share-modal"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="share"></em> Share </button> <div class="md-share-modal size-lg d-none qa-share-modal"> <div class="md-modal-body"> <div class="h2 font-serif d-flex align-items-center pb-15 border-bottom"> <em class="material-icons text-blue mr-10" data-icon="share"></em> Share </div> <div class="label my-20">Share to social media</div> <div class="md-social-toolbar-circle d-flex align-items-start inverted" data-value="share" title="United Kingdom" data-url="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom" > <a class="social-icon facebook justify-content-center d-flex align-items-center align-self-center" data-provider="facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/BRITANNICA/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span>Facebook</span></a> <a class="social-icon x justify-content-center d-flex align-items-center align-self-center" data-provider="x" href="https://x.com/britannica" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span>X</span></a> </div> <div class="label pt-20 mt-20 mb-5 border-top">URL</div> <a class="font-serif text-truncate d-inline-block" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom">https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom</a> </div> </div> </div> <div> <button class="js-feedback-modal-button js-modal btn btn-sm btn-link gtm-topic-tool font-weight-bold btn-link" data-modal=".md-feedback-modal"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="message"></em> Feedback </button> </div> <div> <button class="qa-external-website-modal-button js-modal btn btn-sm btn-link gtm-topic-tool font-weight-bold btn-link" data-modal="[data-topic-id=615557] .md-websites-modal"> <em class="material-icons md-icon ml-n10 mr-5" data-icon="link"></em> External Websites </button> </div> </div> <div class="md-feedback-modal size-lg d-none"> <div class="md-modal-body"> <div class="h2 font-serif pb-15 border-bottom"> Feedback </div> <form method="post" action="/submission/feedback/615557"> <div class="my-20"> Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). </div> <div class="type-menu"> <label for="feedback-type" class="label mb-10">Feedback Type</label> <select id="feedback-type" class="form-select mb-30" name="feedbackTypeId" required> <option value="" selected="selected">Select a type (Required)</option> <option value="1">Factual Correction</option> <option value="2">Spelling/Grammar Correction</option> <option value="3">Link Correction</option> <option value="4">Additional Information</option> <option value="5">Other</option> </select> </div> <label for="feedback" class="label mb-10">Your Feedback</label> <textarea id="feedback" class="form-control mb-30" name="feedback" maxlength="3000" rows="7" required></textarea> <button class="btn btn-blue" type="submit">Submit Feedback</button> </form> <div class="success-messaging d-none mt-30"> <div class="title">Thank you for your feedback</div> <p>Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="md-websites-modal size-lg d-none"> <div class="md-modal-body"> <div class="h2 font-serif pb-15 border-bottom font-weight-bold"> External Websites </div> <div class="pb-20"> <ul class="list-unstyled mt-20 lh-lg"> <li><a class="external" href="https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Historic-November/" target="_blank" rel="noopener ">Historic UK - Historic November</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/gb.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener ">CRW Flags - Flag of United Kingdom</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-kingdom/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Central Intelligence Agency - The World Factbook - United Kingdom</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="md-websites-ebk-title">Britannica Websites</div> <div class="md-websites-ebk-subtitle">Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.</div> <ul class="list-unstyled bps-topic-web-sites lh-lg"> <li><a class="external" href="https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/United-Kingdom/345811" target="_blank" rel="noopener">United Kingdom - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/United-Kingdom/277509" target="_blank" rel="noopener">United Kingdom - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="toc-header-marker"></div> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 js-header-ai-ask-button d-none btn-sm btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 mr-0 mr-lg-10 ml-5 ml-sm-10 ml-lg-0 p-10"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> <div class="caption alternate-titles">Also known as: Britain, Great Britain, U.K., United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland</div> <div class="md-byline module-spacing "> <div class="font-serif font-12"> <span class="written-by text-gray-700"> Written by </span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor" href="/contributor/Linda-J-Colley/3505" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">Linda J. Colley</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 clamp-description text-black">Shelby M. C. Davis 1958 Professor of History, Princeton University. Author of <i>In Defiance of Oligarchy: The Tory Party, 1714–60 </i>and others.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> Linda J. Colley</span>, <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor" href="/contributor/Ulric-M-Spencer/3633" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">Ulric M. Spencer</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 clamp-description text-black">Economic Statistician, Society of Business Economists, London. Coauthor of <i>Profit and Personality in Retailing.</i></div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> Ulric M. Spencer</span><span class="text-gray-700 mx-5">•</span><a class="see-all border-gray-700 gtm-byline" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/additional-info#contributors">All</a> </div> <div class="font-serif font-12 text-gray-700"> <span class="qa-fact-checked-by">Fact-checked by</span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 font-12" href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 text-black">Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link font-12 "> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <span class="text-gray-700"> Last Updated: <time datetime="2024-11-25T00:00:00CST" >Nov 25, 2024</time> •</span> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 ai-ask-button btn border-2 module-spacing btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="bg-gray-50 p-15 rounded module-spacing recent-news d-flex flex-column float-false"> <div> <h2 class="font-weight-bold font-14 m-0 d-inline"> News <span class="text-gray-600">•</span> </h2> <div class="recent-news-item first-recent-news-item d-inline"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/615557/f955134de835d1ff591c6be29325e656" rel="nofollow">Britain on alert after 2nd major storm of the season batters country, leaving at least 2 dead</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 25, 2024, 2:46 PM ET (AP) <button class="btn btn-link d-inline p-0 font-12 js-toggle-recent-news"> <span class="text-gray-500">...</span><span>(Show more)</span> </button> </span> </div> </div> <div class="rest-of-recent-news-items"> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/615557/fd81bf5b67aa438d0da37aa9078d5bdb" rel="nofollow">Britain targets Russia's 'shadow fleet' with new sanctions package</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 25, 2024, 9:30 AM ET (AP) </span> </div> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/615557/c734d3cf9cc04171a2ebc9f8a8509e83" rel="nofollow">Barbara Taylor Bradford, million-selling novelist known for 'A Woman of Substance,' has died at 91</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 25, 2024, 6:40 AM ET (AP) </span> </div> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/615557/e7fd8790cd151ff3b73a5edcc5e00bf5" rel="nofollow">Russia captures UK national fighting alongside Ukraine in the Kursk region, report says</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 25, 2024, 4:20 AM ET (AP) </span> </div> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/615557/81cd4097745b58ead8d47871ff62bae2" rel="nofollow">Overhauls of 'heritage brands' raise the question: How important are our products to our identities?</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 25, 2024, 12:05 AM ET (AP) </span> </div> <button class="js-toggle-recent-news d-flex btn btn-unstyled font-14 pr-10 rounded-sm mt-10" aria-label="Toggle additional news items"> Show less <em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_less"></em> </button> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="3"><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="4"><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="5"><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="6" id="ref342412">  <span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">On December 2, 2015, in the wake of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Paris-attacks-of-2015" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">attacks by Islamist terrorists in Paris on November 13</a>, the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Commons-British-government" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">House of Commons</a> authorized air strikes by the British <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/armed-force" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">military</a> on ISIL targets in Syria. The vote on the measure came after some 10 hours of debate. Labour leader <span id="ref1225211"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jeremy-Corbyn" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Jeremy Corbyn</a> freed members of his party to vote their <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="conscience" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conscience" data-type="MW">conscience</a>, and dozens of them broke ranks to join the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="Conservatives" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Conservatives" data-type="MW">Conservatives</a> and others in voting for authorization, which passed 397–223.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">At a summit meeting of the leaders of the member countries of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/European-Union" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">EU</a> in Brussels in February 2016, the European Council announced agreement on reforms to British membership that had been requested by Cameron in an attempt to forestall British withdrawal (“<span id="ref1229501"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Brexit" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Brexit</a>”) from the EU. Although Cameron did not get everything that he had asked for in the proposal that he submitted to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Donald-Tusk" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Donald Tusk</a>, the president of the European Council, in November 2015, he won enough <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="concessions" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/concessions" data-type="MW">concessions</a> to move forward on his promise of a referendum on continued British membership. In the face of considerable support within his own party for Brexit, Cameron nevertheless announced that he would campaign for remaining in the EU and scheduled the referendum for June 23, 2016.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="210885" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/21/190621-050-7418E53A/majority-vote-region-referendum-United-Kingdom-European-2016.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/615557/210885"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/21/190621-050-7418E53A/majority-vote-region-referendum-United-Kingdom-European-2016.jpg"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/21/190621-050-7418E53A/majority-vote-region-referendum-United-Kingdom-European-2016.jpg?w=300" alt="United Kingdom Brexit referendum" data-width="1363" data-height="1600" loading="eager"></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/21/190621-050-7418E53A/majority-vote-region-referendum-United-Kingdom-European-2016.jpg" data-href="/media/1/615557/210885">United Kingdom Brexit referendum</a><span>The majority vote by region in the 2016 referendum on whether the United Kingdom should remain in the European Union.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">Cameron was joined in the “Remain” effort by Corbyn. The “Leave” campaign was headed by former <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/London" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">London</a> mayor <span id="ref1234472"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Boris-Johnson" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Boris Johnson</a>, whom many saw as a rival for Cameron’s leadership of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Conservative-Party-political-party-United-Kingdom" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Conservative Party</a>, and <span id="ref1234473"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michael-Gove" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Michael Gove</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/lord-chancellor" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">lord chancellor</a> and secretary of state for <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="justice" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/justice" data-type="MW">justice</a> in Cameron’s cabinet. Opinion polling indicated that the two sides were fairly evenly divided as the referendum approached, but in the event 52 percent of voters opted to leave the EU, making the United Kingdom the first <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/nation-state" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">country</a> to ever do so. Cameron announced his intention to resign as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/prime-minister" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">prime minister</a> by the time of the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="Conservative" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Conservative" data-type="MW">Conservative</a> Party conference in October 2016 to allow his successor to negotiate the U.K. withdrawal under the terms of Article 50 of the<a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Lisbon-Treaty" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"> Lisbon Treaty</a>, which, when triggered, would open a two-year window for the exit process.</p><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span> </section> </section> <section data-level="5" id="ref337649"> <h2 class="h5">The premiership of Theresa May (2016–19)</h2> <section data-level="6" id="ref342413"> <h2 class="h6">The resignation of Cameron, the rise of May, and a challenge to Corbyn’s leadership of Labour</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Only days after the Brexit vote, the political drama surrounding Johnson’s pursuit of the Conservative leadership assumed what many observers identified as Shakespearean proportions as Gove removed his prominent support for Johnson’s candidacy, saying that Johnson was “not capable of…leading the party and the country in the way that I would have hoped.” In rapid fashion, a wounded Johnson removed himself from consideration. Gove then threw his hat into the small ring of leadership candidates that was then <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="winnowed" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/winnowed" data-type="EB">winnowed</a> by successive votes by parliamentary Conservatives in early July to Home Secretary <span id="ref1234475"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theresa-May" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Theresa May</a> and Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom, whose names were put to a vote by all party members with results due in September. Almost before that process started, Leadsom unexpectedly withdrew her name from consideration, and on July 11 the Conservative Party’s 1922 Committee, which had been steering the leadership contest, declared May the new party leader “with immediate effect.” On July 13 Cameron formally resigned, and May became the second woman in British history to serve as prime minister.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Meanwhile, Labour underwent its own leadership controversy as prominent party members, including Blair, took Corbyn to task for not mounting a more vigorous effort on behalf of the “Remain” campaign. No sooner had Blair made his <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="criticism" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/criticism" data-type="MW">criticism</a> than he found himself in the crosshairs, with the release on July 5 of the so-called <span id="ref1234477"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chilcot-Report" class="md-crosslink ">Chilcot Report</a>, the findings of a seven-year inquiry into Britain’s involvement in the <span id="ref1234478"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Iraq-War" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Iraq War</a>, which was scathing in its condemnation of Blair’s handling of the war from the initial decision to join the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">United States</a> in invading Iraq to the Blair government’s failure to plan and prepare for the postwar aftermath in Iraq. Nonetheless, a challenge was mounted to Corbyn’s leadership of the party that eventually resulted in a head-to-head contest between Corbyn and Owen Smith, the former shadow secretary of work and pensions. In an online vote of party faithful in September, Corbyn held on to the leadership by capturing some 62 percent of the vote against about 38 percent for Smith.</p><div class="module-spacing"> </div><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="6" id="ref342414"> <h2 class="h6">Triggering Article 50</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In the meantime, May, who had opposed Brexit but came into office promising to see it to completion, led her government in cautious movement toward triggering Article 50. Her efforts experienced a setback in January 2017, however, when the Supreme Court upheld a November 2016 High Court ruling that prevented the prime minister from triggering Article 50 without first having gained approval from <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Parliament" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Parliament</a> to do so. In February 2017 the House of Commons granted May that approval by a 498–114 vote, but the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Lords" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">House of Lords</a> created another roadblock in early March by adding a pair of <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="amendments" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amendments" data-type="MW">amendments</a> to the bill authorizing May to <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="invoke" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/invoke" data-type="MW">invoke</a> Article 50. One guaranteed that EU passport holders residing in Britain would be permitted to remain, and the other sought a greater role for Parliament in the negotiations. Both amendments were overturned by the House of Commons later in March, and, before the end of the month, May formally submitted a letter to European Council Pres. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Donald-Tusk" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Donald Tusk</a> requesting the opening of the two-year window for talks on the details of British separation from the EU.</p><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Against this backdrop, the Scottish Assembly backed First Minister <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nicola-Sturgeon" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Nicola Sturgeon</a>’s call for a new <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="referendum" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/referendum" data-type="EB">referendum</a> on independence for <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Scotland" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Scotland</a> to be held before spring 2019 (the majority of Scottish voters had opposed leaving the EU in the Brexit referendum).</p><span class="marker MOD7 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="6" id="ref342415"> <h2 class="h6">The Manchester arena bombing and London bridge attacks</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD8 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In mid-April 2017 May called for a snap parliamentary election, saying that its results would provide stability and certainty for Britain during its Brexit negotiations and transition out of the EU. To hold an election ahead of the 2020 date <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="mandated" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mandated" data-type="MW">mandated</a> by the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, May needed to win two-thirds majority approval in the House of Commons. Corbyn welcomed a return to the polls, despite opinion polling that predicted big gains for the Conservatives, and, by a vote of 522 to 13 (with <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Scottish-National-Party" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">SNP</a> members abstaining), the House of Commons approved a snap election for June 8.</p><span class="marker MOD8 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD9 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The election campaign was temporarily suspended after 22 people were killed and dozens injured in a terrorist attack on the night of May 22 at a 21,000-capacity arena in <span id="ref1246200"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Manchester-England" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Manchester</a> following a concert by U.S. singer <span id="ref1246199"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ariana-Grande" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Ariana Grande</a>. The attacker who detonated the homemade bomb that <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="wrought" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/wrought" data-type="EB">wrought</a> the destruction also was killed in the blast. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islamic-State-in-Iraq-and-the-Levant" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">ISIL</a> claimed responsibility for the attack, in which many of those who perished or were injured were children—teenaged and younger fans of the American pop star. It was the deadliest terrorist attack in Britain since the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/London-bombings-of-2005" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">London bombings of 2005</a>, in which more than 50 people were killed, and it followed an attack on Westminster Bridge in London on March 22 in which an attacker mowed down pedestrians with a car and then continued his assault on foot with a knife, taking five lives and injuring some 50 people before he was killed outside the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Houses-of-Parliament-buildings-London-United-Kingdom" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Houses of Parliament</a> by a security officer.</p><span class="marker MOD9 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD10 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">On June 3, five days before voters were to go to the polls, <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="yet" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/yet" data-type="EB">yet</a> another terrorist attack unfolded in London. This time it occurred on <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Old-London-Bridge" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">London Bridge</a>, where three attackers ran down victims with a vehicle before leaving it to menace others in nearby Borough Market with knives. Eight people were killed before police arrived, only eight minutes after the start of the incident, and shot and killed the attackers.</p><span class="marker MOD10 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="6" id="ref342416"> <h2 class="h6">The snap election campaign</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD11 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In addition to using the campaign to sell her version of “hard Brexit,” May sought to frame the election as a choice between her “strong and stable” leadership and that of Corbyn, who was characterized as an unreliable out-of-touch leftist extremist. However, Corbyn, once thought by many observers to be unelectable, proved to be an inspiring campaigner whose message of hope, <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="compassion" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/compassion" data-type="EB">compassion</a>, and inclusiveness energized a new generation of Labour voters. May, on the other hand, often appeared uncomfortable, stiff, and uncertain on the campaign trail. One element of her manifesto—a proposal to pay for in-home social care of the elderly with government sales of their homes after their deaths, a plan loudly condemned by many as a “dementia tax”—brought widespread outrage that prompted her to quickly alter the proposal. Rather than appearing “strong and stable,” May, in the eyes of some observers, looked to be “weak and wobbly.”</p><span class="marker MOD11 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="6" id="ref342417"> <h2 class="h6">The 2017 U.K. general election</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD12 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">When voters had their say on June 8, 2017, they handed the Conservatives a major setback. Rather than securing a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="mandate" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mandate" data-type="MW">mandate</a>, May watched her party’s legislative majority disappear as it lost at least 12 seats in the House of Commons to fall to 318 seats while Labour gained at least 29 seats to surpass 260 seats in total. Both parties garnered more than 40 percent of the popular vote each in an election that witnessed a return to dominance by the two major parties. Led by <span id="ref1246674"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tim-Farron" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Tim Farron</a>, the Liberal Democrats, who had fared badly in the 2015 election, sought to reverse their fortunes by advocating another referendum on Brexit, and, while this proposal did not <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="resonate" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/resonate" data-type="MW">resonate</a> for many voters, the party still gained four seats to reach a total of 12. Support for <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/United-Kingdom-Independence-Party" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">UKIP</a> largely evaporated. Having nearly realized the goal of Brexit, many of those who had supported UKIP in previous elections were expected to vote for the Conservatives, but, in the event, it appeared that they instead were swayed by Corbyn’s vision. The Conservatives did, however, make big gains in Scotland, where the Scottish National Party fell from 56 seats to 35, in what was widely interpreted as a rebuke to Sturgeon and the SNP’s call for another referendum on Scottish independence.</p><span class="marker MOD12 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD13 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Arguably the election’s biggest winner was Northern Ireland’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Democratic-Unionist-Party" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Democratic Unionist Party</a> (DUP). Having increased its representation in the House of Commons from 8 to 10 seats, it found itself in the role of kingmaker when May enlisted its support to cling to power by forming a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/minority" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">minority</a> government (rather than seeking a formal coalition arrangement). With the support of the DUP on key votes, the Conservatives would be able to just barely surpass the 326-vote bar for a legislative majority.</p><span class="marker MOD13 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD14 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The central task for May’s government remained arriving at a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="cohesive" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cohesive" data-type="MW">cohesive</a> approach for its Brexit negotiations with the EU. That task was a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="daunting" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/daunting" data-type="MW">daunting</a> one, however, because wide disagreement persisted even within the Conservative Party, not just on a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="myriad" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myriad" data-type="MW">myriad</a> of details related to the British proposal for separation but also on the broader issues involved.</p><span class="marker MOD14 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="6" id="ref342418"> <h2 class="h6">The Grenfell Tower fire, a novichok attack in Salisbury, and air strikes on Syria</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD15 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In June 2017 Brexit was pushed off the front pages by one of the worst disasters in recent British history: a fire in a multistory <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/public-housing" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">public housing</a> residence (<span id="ref1258659"></span>Grenfell Tower) in London claimed the lives of 72 individuals, many of whom were recent immigrants. The incident prompted a period of national soul-searching after it was revealed that months before the fire the building’s low-income residents had raised concerns about fire safety and complained that they were being treated like second-class citizens.</p><span class="marker MOD15 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD16 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In March 2018 British national outrage was focused on <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Russia" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Russia</a> when a former Russian intelligence officer, who had acted as double agent for Britain, and his daughter were found unconscious in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Salisbury-former-district-England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Salisbury</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">England</a>. It was determined that the pair had been victims of a “novichok,” a complex <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/nerve-gas" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">nerve agent</a> that had been developed by the Soviets. Although the Russian government denied having any involvement with the attack and British investigators were unable to prove that the nerve agent originated in Russia, the May government responded by expelling some two dozen Russian intelligence operatives who had been working in Britain under diplomatic cover.</p><span class="marker MOD16 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD17 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In April Britain joined <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/France" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">France</a> and the United States in launching air strikes against targets in Syria after it was revealed that the regime of Syrian Pres. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bashar-al-Assad" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Bashar al-Assad</a> had again used chemical weapons on its own people. Corbyn was critical of May for having ordered the strike without first consulting Parliament, but she countered that the action had to be undertaken without seeking parliamentary approval in order to protect the operation’s <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="integrity" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/integrity" data-type="MW">integrity</a>. May also said that the strike was intended to prevent further suffering, and she characterized the decision as both right and legal.</p><span class="marker MOD17 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="6" id="ref342419"> <h2 class="h6">The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Chequers plan, and Boris Johnson’s resignation</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD18 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In May 2018 Britain and much of the world stopped for a day to witness the <span id="ref1258660"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/British-Royal-Wedding-of-2018" class="md-crosslink ">royal wedding</a> of <span id="ref1258661"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Prince-Harry-of-Wales" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Prince Harry</a> to <span id="ref1258662"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Meghan-Markle" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Meghan Markle</a>—a divorced American actress, daughter of an African American mother and a white father—whose informal approachability and personal warmth recalled the much beloved “People’s Princess” <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Diana-princess-of-Wales" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Diana</a>. The newlywed couple’s union reflected the changing social landscape of an increasingly multicultural Britain. Moreover, they seemed determined to modernize the monarchy and to connect it with the lives of everyday Britons.</p><span class="marker MOD18 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD19 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In early July May summoned her cabinet to the prime minister’s country retreat, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chequers" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Chequers</a>, determined to forge a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="consensus" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consensus" data-type="MW">consensus</a> on the nuts and bolts of the government’s Brexit plan. Despite forceful opposition by the cabinet’s “hard” Brexiters, by the end of the marathon meeting a consensus seemed to have emerged around May’s “softer” approach, grounded in policies aimed at preserving economic ties with the EU. Just two days later, however, the government’s apparent harmony was disrupted by the resignation of Britain’s chief Brexit negotiator, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Davis" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">David Davis</a>, who complained that May’s plan gave up too much, too easily. The next day Johnson left his post as foreign secretary, writing in his letter of resignation that the dream of Brexit was dying, “suffocated by needless self-doubt.” Suddenly confronted with the possibility of a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/vote-of-confidence" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">vote of confidence</a> on her party leadership, May reportedly cautioned Conservatives to line up behind her Brexit plan or run the risk of losing power to a Corbyn-led Labour government.</p><span class="marker MOD19 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="6" id="ref342420"> <h2 class="h6">EU agreement and Parliamentary opposition to May’s Brexit plan</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD20 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">On November 25 the leaders of the EU’s 27 other member countries formally agreed to the terms of a withdrawal deal that May claimed “delivered for the British people” and set the United Kingdom “on course for a prosperous future.” Under the plan Britain was to pay some $50 billion to the EU to satisfy its long-term financial obligations. Britain’s departure from the EU was to come in March 2019, but, according to the agreement, the U.K. would continue to <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="abide" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abide" data-type="MW">abide</a> by EU rules and regulations until at least December 2020 while negotiations continued on the details of the long-term relationship between the EU and the U.K.</p><span class="marker MOD20 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD21 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The agreement, which was set to be debated and voted upon by the House of Commons in December, still faced strong opposition in Parliament, not only from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Plaid-Cymru" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Plaid Cymru</a>, and the DUP but also from dozens of Conservatives. At the same time, the call for holding another referendum on Brexit was growing louder, though May remained <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="adamant" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adamant" data-type="MW">adamant</a> that the will of the British people had already been expressed. A major sticking point for many of those who opposed the agreement was the so-called <span id="ref1262370"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Northern-Ireland-backstop-plan" class="md-crosslink ">Northern Ireland backstop plan</a>. Formulated to help maintain an open border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland after Brexit, the “backstop” <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="stipulated" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stipulated" data-type="MW">stipulated</a> that a legally binding customs arrangement between the EU and Northern Ireland would go into effect if the U.K. and the EU could not reach a long-term agreement by December 2020. Opponents of the backstop argued that it set up the potential for regulatory barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K., effectively establishing a customs border down the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Irish-Sea" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Irish Sea</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD21 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="6" id="ref342421"> <h2 class="h6">Objections to the Irish backstop and a challenge to May’s leadership</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD22 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The issue grew more heated in the first week of December after the government was forced to publish in full Attorney General <span id="ref1262371"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Geoffrey-Cox" class="md-crosslink ">Geoffrey Cox</a>’s legal advice for the government on the Brexit agreement, which had initially been reported to Parliament in overview only. According to Cox, without agreement between Britain and the EU, the terms of the backstop plan could endure “indefinitely,” with the U.K. legally blocked from terminating the agreement without EU approval. This <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="contentious" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contentious" data-type="MW">contentious</a> issue was front and centre as the House of Commons began five days of debate leading up to a vote on the Brexit agreement that was scheduled for December 11. Facing the likelihood of a humiliating rejection of the agreement by the House of Commons, May dramatically interrupted the debate after three days, on December 10, and postponed the vote, pledging to seek new <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="assurances" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assurances" data-type="MW">assurances</a> from the EU regarding the backstop. The opposition responded by threatening to hold a vote of confidence and to call for an early election.</p><span class="marker MOD22 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD23 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">A challenge to May’s leadership was quickly mounted within the Conservative Party, and, after more than the required 15 percent of the parliamentary party (48 of 317 MPs) requested a vote on her leadership of the party, a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Australian-ballot" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">secret ballot</a> vote was held on December 12, 2018. May received the votes of 200 MPs, more than the 159 votes she needed to survive as leader. Although, according to Conservative Party rules, she could not be challenged as leader for another year, it remained to be seen whether May would still face pressure to relinquish power.</p><span class="marker MOD23 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="6" id="ref342422"> <h2 class="h6">Parliamentary rejection of May’s plan, May’s survival of a confidence vote, and the Independent Group of breakaway MPs</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD24 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Responding to May in a joint letter, European Council Pres. <span id="ref1263428"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Donald-Tusk" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Donald Tusk</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/European-Commission" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">European Commission</a> Pres. <span id="ref1263427"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Claude-Juncker" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Jean-Claude Juncker</a> indicated that, if the backstop had to be <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="invoked" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/invoked" data-type="MW">invoked</a>, they would strive to limit its application to the “shortest possible period.” However, this pledge satisfied few of the agreement’s critics. When debate on the agreement resumed on January 9, Corbyn argued not only for rejection of the agreement but also for an early general election. On January 15 the agreement was overwhelmingly rejected by a vote of 432–202 (the worst defeat for a government <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="initiative" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/initiative" data-type="MW">initiative</a> in modern British parliamentary history), and Corbyn tabled a vote of confidence in the government, which May survived the next day, 325–306, having held onto the support of the DUP and many Conservatives who had deserted her in the agreement vote.</p><span class="marker MOD24 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD25 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The longer the issue of Brexit remained unsettled, the more it became the fulcrum on which British politics turned. Political pundits began to note that opinions on May’s proposed version of Brexit and Brexit in general cut across ideological lines. Both Labour and the Conservative Party were riven by internecine conflict over Brexit. In February eight MPs withdrew from the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Labour-Party-political-party" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Labour Party</a>, citing their disappointment in Corbyn’s leadership on the issue as well as concerns over <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="alleged" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alleged" data-type="MW">alleged</a> anti-Semitism within the party, a criticism that was at least partly tied to Corbyn’s sympathy for Palestinian concerns. Only days after their departure, three moderate Tories left the Conservative Party, protesting that it had been hijacked by the <span id="ref1265190"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/European-Research-Group" class="md-crosslink ">European Research Group</a>, a faction of right-wing hard-line Brexiters whom the departing MPs accused of acting as a party within the party. Joining together as the Independent Group, these breakaway MPs from both parties began taking steps toward formally <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="constituting" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constituting" data-type="MW">constituting</a> a new <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/political-party" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">political party</a>. Meanwhile, in early March, <span id="ref1265191"></span>Tom Watson, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="convened" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/convened" data-type="MW">convened</a> a meeting of Labour MPs and members of the House of Lords—many of whom felt that Corbyn had taken the party too far leftward—to consider an <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="alternative" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alternative" data-type="MW">alternative</a> vision for the party.</p><span class="marker MOD25 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="6" id="ref342423"> <h2 class="h6">Parliament rejects May’s plan again</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD26 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Against this backdrop, May continued negotiations with European leaders in an effort to win concessions that would garner wider support within Parliament than the terms of her earlier, shunned Brexit plan did. On the eve of a scheduled meaningful vote in the House of Commons on her revised plan, May secured new promises of cooperation on the backstop plan from EU leaders. A “joint legally binding instrument” was agreed to under which Britain could initiate a “formal dispute” with the EU if the EU were to attempt to keep Britain bound to the backstop plan indefinitely. A “joint statement” was also issued that committed the U.K. and the EU to arriving at a replacement for the backstop plan by December 2020. Finally, the U.K. put forth a “unilateral declaration” stressing that there was nothing to prevent Britain from abandoning the backstop if negotiations on an alternative arrangement with the EU were to collapse without the prospect of resolution.</p><span class="marker MOD26 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD27 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In advance of the vote in Parliament, Attorney General Cox issued his opinion that while the new <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="assurances" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/assurances" data-type="EB">assurances</a> reduced the risk of the U.K.’s being indefinitely confined by the backstop agreement, they did not fundamentally change the agreement’s legal status. In the vote on March 12, the House of Commons once again rejected May’s plan, though by a smaller margin than its earlier defeat, 391–242. The next day the House of Commons voted 312–308 against leaving the EU without a deal in place. On March 14, by just two votes, May survived a vote that would have taken control of Brexit away from her and handed it to Parliament. In a letter to EU leaders on March 20, she requested that the date of Britain’s departure from the EU be delayed until June 30. In response the EU announced its willingness to extend the Brexit deadline until May 22 but only if Parliament had accepted May’s withdrawal plan by the week of March 24.</p><span class="marker MOD27 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="6" id="ref342486"> <h2 class="h6">“Indicative votes,” May’s pledge to resign, a third defeat for her plan, and a new deadline</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD28 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of London on March 23 to demand that another referendum on Brexit be held. On March 25 the House of Commons voted 329–302 to usurp control of Parliament’s agenda from the government in order to hold “<span id="ref1265904"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/indicative-vote" class="md-crosslink ">indicative votes</a>” on alternative proposals to May’s plan. Eight of those proposals were put to a vote on March 27, but none was able to gain the support of the majority, though a plan to seek to create a “permanent and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="comprehensive" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comprehensive" data-type="MW">comprehensive</a> U.K.-wide <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/customs-union" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">customs union</a> with the EU” came close, falling sort by just six votes.</p><span class="marker MOD28 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD29 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Also on March 27, May pledged to resign as party leader and prime minister if the House of Commons were to approve her plan, a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="gambit" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gambit" data-type="MW">gambit</a> that won support from some “hard Brexit” opponents of the plan. On March 29, owing to an antique procedural rule invoked by Speaker of the House <span id="ref1265905"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Bercow" class="md-crosslink ">John Bercow</a>, only the withdrawal agreement portion of May’s plan was voted upon by the House of Commons (excluded was the “political declaration” that addressed what the U.K. and EU expected of their long-term relationship). Although the vote was closer than the previous two (286 in support, 344 in opposition), the plan once again went down in defeat. The U.K. now had until April 12 to decide whether it would leave the EU without an agreement on that day or request a longer <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="delay" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/delay" data-type="EB">delay</a> that would require it to participate in elections for the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/European-Parliament" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">European Parliament</a>. May asked the EU to push back the deadline for Brexit until June 30, and on April 11 the European Council announced that it was granting the U.K. a “flexible extension” until October 31.</p><span class="marker MOD29 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD30 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Shortly thereafter, in response to the Conservative Party’s seeming inability to position the country to leave the EU, <span id="ref1271941"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nigel-Farage" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Nigel Farage</a> launched the <span id="ref1271940"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Reform-UK" class="md-crosslink ">Brexit Party</a>. It proved to be a big winner in the elections for the European Parliament in May, capturing about 31 percent of the vote. The next closest finisher was the Liberal Democrats, with about 20 percent of the vote, while Labour claimed some 14 percent and the Conservatives only about 9 percent.</p><span class="marker MOD30 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD31 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Having failed to <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="garner" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/garner" data-type="EB">garner</a> sufficient support from Conservatives for her exit plan, May entered discussions with Labour leaders on a possible compromise, but these too proved fruitless. When May responded to that disappointment by proposing a new version of the plan that included a temporary customs relationship with the EU and a pledge to hold a parliamentary vote on whether to stage another referendum on Brexit, her cabinet revolted. Isolated as never before, the prime minister announced on May 24 that she would step down as leader of the Conservative Party on June 7 but would remain as caretaker premier until her party had chosen her successor.</p><span class="marker MOD31 mod-inline"></span> </section> </section> <section data-level="5" id="ref350369"> <h2 class="h5">The Boris Johnson government</h2> <section data-level="6" id="ref344342"> <h2 class="h6">Boris Johnson’s ascent, the December 2019 snap election, and Brexit</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD32 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">After a series of votes by the parliamentary Conservative Party winnowed a list of 10 candidates to 2, <span id="ref1271942"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Boris-Johnson" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Boris Johnson</a> and <span id="ref1271943"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jeremy-Hunt" class="md-crosslink ">Jeremy Hunt</a> stood in an election in which all of the party’s roughly 160,000 members were eligible to vote. Johnson took some 66 percent of that vote to assume the leadership. He officially replaced May as prime minister on July 24, 2019. Although he had promised to take the United Kingdom out of the EU without an exit agreement if the deal May had negotiated was not changed to his liking, Johnson faced widespread opposition (even within his own party) to his <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="advocacy" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/advocacy" data-type="MW">advocacy</a> of no-deal Brexit. Political maneuvering by the new prime minister (including proroguing Parliament just weeks before October 31, the revised departure deadline) was met with forceful legislative countermeasures by those opposed to leaving the EU without an agreement in place. A vote of the House of Commons in early September forced Johnson to request a delay of the British withdrawal from the EU until January 31, 2020, even though on October 22 the House approved, in principle, the agreement that Johnson had negotiated, replacing the backstop with a plan to keep Northern Ireland aligned with the EU for at least four years from the end of the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="transition" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/transition" data-type="EB">transition</a> period.</p><span class="marker MOD32 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD33 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Johnson repeatedly tried and failed to call a snap election that he hoped would secure a mandate for his vision of Brexit. Because the election would fall outside the five-year term stipulated by the Fixed Terms of Parliament Act, it required approval by two-thirds of the House of Commons to be held, meaning that it needed support from the opposition, which was denied. After no-deal Brexit was blocked, however, Corbyn was willing to let voters once again decide the fate of Brexit, and an election was scheduled for December 12, 2019. Preelection opinion polling indicated a likely win for the Conservatives, but when the results were in, Johnson’s party had recorded its most <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="decisive" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/decisive" data-type="EB">decisive</a> victory since 1987, adding 48 seats to secure a solid Parliamentary majority of 365 seats. The stage was set for the realization of Johnson’s version of Brexit, which was to take place at 11:00 <span class="text-smallcaps">pm</span> London time on January 31, when the United Kingdom formally would withdraw from the European Union. </p><span class="marker MOD33 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD34 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In April 2020 <span id="ref1297560"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Keir-Starmer" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Sir Keir Starmer</a>, the shadow Brexit secretary and a former director of public prosecutions, replaced Corbyn as Labour leader. At the end of October Corbyn was suspended from the party in response to his somewhat <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="dismissive" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/dismissive" data-type="EB">dismissive</a> reaction to the release of the greatly anticipated report on anti-Semitism within the Labour Party by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. His suspension immediately disrupted the Labour Party, prompting denunciations of that action by Corbyn’s leftist supporters.</p><span class="marker MOD34 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD35 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Although Britain’s formal withdrawal from the EU had been accomplished, final details relating to a new trade deal between the U.K. and the EU remained to be resolved, and the December 31, 2020, deadline for that resolution was only barely met on December 24. The resultant 2,000-page agreement clarified that there would be no limits or taxes on goods sold between U.K. and EU parties; however, an extensive <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="regimen" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/regimen" data-type="MW">regimen</a> of paperwork for such transactions and transport of goods was put in place. The freedom to work and live between the U.K. and the EU became a thing of the past.</p><span class="marker MOD35 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="6" id="ref347309"> <h2 class="h6">The coronavirus pandemic</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD36 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">As it was in most of the rest of the world, life in the U.K. was turned upside down in 2020 by the onset of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/coronavirus-virus-group" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">coronavirus</a> SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic, which had originated in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/China" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">China</a>, where the first cases were reported in December 2019. Because the Johnson government’s key scientific advisers had embraced the controversial theory that the best way to limit the long-term effects of the pandemic was to allow the virus to spread naturally and thus generate “herd immunity,” Britain initially did not adopt the kind of aggressive measures to combat the pandemic that had been undertaken in much of the rest of the world. By mid-March 2020, however, the government had radically shifted gears as <span id="ref1297019"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/COVID-19" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">COVID-19</a>, the potentially deadly disease caused by the virus, began spreading rapidly in Britain. Social-distancing and mask-wearing requirements were imposed, as was a lockdown that included the closing of schools, pubs, restaurants, and other businesses.</p><span class="marker MOD36 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD37 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In late March Prime Minister Johnson contracted the virus and had to be hospitalized, spending three nights in an <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/intensive-care-unit" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">intensive care unit</a> when his life was in jeopardy. While he was incapacitated, Foreign Secretary <span id="ref1297561"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dominic-Raab" class="md-crosslink ">Dominic Raab</a> performed Johnson’s duties. Over the coming year, Johnson would initiate and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="rescind" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rescind" data-type="MW">rescind</a> stay-at-home orders that varied by region as the spread of the disease came in waves. Although the government’s initial response to the pandemic had been slow and unsteady, British scientists, aided by government funding, made historically rapid advances in developing an effective vaccine. Having become the first country to approve and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="deploy" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deploy" data-type="MW">deploy</a> the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Britain began rolling out a national immunization program in December 2020. Nevertheless, by March 2021 the U.K. had suffered about 126,000 COVID-related deaths, more than all but four other countries—the United States, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Brazil" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Brazil</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mexico" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Mexico</a>, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/India" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">India</a>. The British predicament had been complicated by the emergence in the U.K. of a new, more easily transmissible variant of the disease (B.1.1.7) in September 2020.</p><span class="marker MOD37 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="6" id="ref350370"> <h2 class="h6">“Partygate”</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD38 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In late November 2021 it began to be reported that members of Johnson’s cabinet and staff, as well as the prime minister himself, had <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="attended" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/attended" data-type="EB">attended</a> parties earlier in the pandemic that violated prohibitions on social gatherings established by the government. The resulting “Partygate” scandal involved both the alleged violations and Johnson’s initial insistence that the government’s pandemic-related guidelines had been “followed at all times.” After reports came to light of an increasing number of illegal social gatherings at Downing Street during the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, Johnson apologized for having attended one such party at which drinks were served. In addition to the alleged violations of pandemic-related rules, a picture of excessive workplace drinking in the prime minister’s orbit began to take shape. Moreover, it appeared that Johnson had misled Parliament with his claim that no pandemic-related rules had been broken. Historically, deceiving Parliament was an offense that called for resignation.</p><span class="marker MOD38 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD39 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">A report on the affair by senior civil servant Sue Gray was delivered to Parliament in late January 2022. Although it was truncated and heavily <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="redacted" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/redacted" data-type="MW">redacted</a> to avoid compromising the investigation that had been undertaken by the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Scotland-Yard" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">London Metropolitan Police</a> into a number of gatherings, the report said that “there were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No. 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times” and that “some of the events should not have been allowed to take place” whereas “other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did.” Despite a renewed apology to Parliament by Johnson, some Conservatives joined members of the opposition in calling for his resignation. Johnson’s grip on power would remain precarious—especially after the police investigation led to him being fined in April for his transgressions of pandemic-related rules. However, Russia’s invasion of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Ukraine" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Ukraine</a> on February 24 served to forestall efforts to remove Johnson from office. Many in Britain appeared to believe that the moment of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/existential-crisis" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">existential crisis</a> for <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Europe" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Europe</a> brought on by Russia’s aggression was not the time for a change of leadership.</p><span class="marker MOD39 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="6" id="ref351071"> <h2 class="h6">Further scandal and Johnson’s resignation</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD40 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Nevertheless, by early June a sufficient number of Conservative MPs had written to the party’s 1922 Committee requesting the prime minister’s resignation that a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="vote of confidence" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/vote of confidence" data-type="EB">vote of confidence</a> in his leadership of the party was forced. To retain his position, Johnson needed to have his leadership affirmed by at least 180 of the party’s 359 members of the House of Commons. When the secret ballots were counted, 211 MPs had voted in support of Johnson, but the 148 MPs who had voted against him represented a larger percentage of the party’s presence in the House of Commons than did the 133 MPs who had rejected Theresa May’s leadership in the 2018 vote of confidence that preceded her eventual resignation.</p><span class="marker MOD40 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD41 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Only weeks later Johnson’s <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="uncanny" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/uncanny" data-type="EB">uncanny</a> ability to survive scandal finally deserted him when his apparent prevarication regarding his awareness of allegations of sexual misconduct against a senior Conservative Party official shattered his support within the party and forced him to step down. Johnson tendered his immediate resignation as party leader on July 7, 2022. He announced that he would remain as prime minister until the Conservatives had chosen a new leader.</p><span class="marker MOD41 mod-inline"></span> </section> </section> <section data-level="5" id="ref351684"> <h2 class="h5">The premiership of Liz Truss</h2> <section data-level="6" id="ref352183"> <h2 class="h6">Ascent to office</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD42 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="269276" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/95/234995-050-4DEFAE08/British-Foreign-Secretary-Liz-Truss-attends-Conservative-Party-leadership-campaign-event-Marden-England-July-23-2022.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/615557/269276"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/95/234995-050-4DEFAE08/British-Foreign-Secretary-Liz-Truss-attends-Conservative-Party-leadership-campaign-event-Marden-England-July-23-2022.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/95/234995-050-4DEFAE08/British-Foreign-Secretary-Liz-Truss-attends-Conservative-Party-leadership-campaign-event-Marden-England-July-23-2022.jpg?w=300" alt="Liz Truss" data-width="1600" data-height="1230" loading="eager"></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/95/234995-050-4DEFAE08/British-Foreign-Secretary-Liz-Truss-attends-Conservative-Party-leadership-campaign-event-Marden-England-July-23-2022.jpg" data-href="/media/1/615557/269276">Liz Truss</a><span>Liz Truss (centre) attending a Conservative Party leadership campaign event in Marden, England, July 23, 2022.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">The parliamentary party (sitting Conservative MPs) then undertook a series of votes that incrementally winnowed the field of candidates for the leadership from eight to two, Foreign Secretary <span id="ref1305530"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Liz-Truss" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Liz Truss</a> and former chancellor of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/Exchequer" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Exchequer</a> <span id="ref1305531"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rishi-Sunak" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Rishi Sunak</a>, whose names were submitted for a vote by the party’s whole membership. When the results of that election were reported on September 5, Truss emerged as the winner. The next day she became the third woman ever to serve as Britain’s prime minister. In a break with tradition, Truss received her official appointment from <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elizabeth-II" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Elizabeth II</a> at <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Balmoral-Castle" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Balmoral Castle</a> rather than at <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Buckingham-Palace" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Buckingham Palace</a> out of concern for the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Queen-British-rock-group" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">queen’s</a> increasingly frail health, which had limited Elizabeth’s participation in June in the Platinum Jubilee, a four-day celebration of her 70-year reign.</p><span class="marker MOD42 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="6" id="ref352184"> <h2 class="h6">The death of Elizabeth II</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD43 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">On September 8 Britain and the world were shocked by the news of the queen’s death. Truss called Elizabeth “the rock on which modern Britain was built.” In an address to the nation the following day, the new king, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-III-king-of-the-United-Kingdom" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Charles III</a>, said:</p><span class="marker MOD43 mod-inline"></span> <blockquote> <p>Queen Elizabeth’s was a life well lived; a promise with destiny kept and she is mourned most deeply in her passing…. As the Queen herself did with such unswerving devotion, I too now solemnly pledge myself, throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="Constitutional" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Constitutional" data-type="MW">Constitutional</a> principles at the heart of our nation. And wherever you may live in the United Kingdom, or in the Realms and territories across the world, and whatever may be your background or beliefs, I shall endeavour to serve you with loyalty, respect and love, as I have throughout my life.</p> </blockquote> <span class="marker PREMOD45 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Some 10 days of national mourning followed that led to the queen lying in state in Westminster Hall. Mourners stood in a line that stretched for miles to view her coffin. A sombre funeral ceremony, attended by an estimated 100 heads of foreign governments, was held at <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Westminster-Abbey" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Westminster Abbey</a> on September 19.</p><span class="marker MOD45 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="6" id="ref352772"> <h2 class="h6">Abrupt resignation</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD46 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Liz Truss had come into office believing that she had a mandate to carry out a “low taxes, high growth” economic plan. However, the financial markets panicked at the prospect of the budget <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="deficit" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/deficit" data-type="EB">deficit</a> likely to result from Truss’s proposed combination of unfunded £45 billion ($50 billion) tax cuts and a two-year cap on energy prices (in response to high energy costs facing Britons as a result of sanctions imposed on <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/natural-gas" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">natural gas</a> supplier Russia). The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/Bank-of-England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Bank of England</a> was forced to intervene to stabilize the markets after the value of the pound nose-dived, mortgage rates rose, and the cost of U.K. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/deficit-financing" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">government borrowing</a> climbed. Responding to the furor that followed, on October 14 Truss sacked Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng, among her closest political allies, and replaced him with former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt. Almost immediately Hunt began undoing Truss’s signature economic plan, reducing the period for the energy price cap to six months and revoking the tax cuts. Truss apologized for the “mistakes” she had made, but a growing number of Conservative MPs called for her to resign, and, amid <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="withering" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/withering" data-type="EB">withering</a> support for her, on October 20 Truss announced that she was stepping down as party leader but would remain prime minister until the Conservatives will have chosen her successor.</p><span class="marker MOD46 mod-inline"></span> </section> </section> <section data-level="5" id="ref352803"> <h2 class="h5">The premiership of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rishi-Sunak" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Rishi Sunak</a></h2> <span class="marker PREMOD47 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The leadership selection process was more truncated this time around. Candidates were required to receive 100 nominations from Conservative MPs in order to come up for a vote. Given that there were 357 Conservative MPs, at most only three candidates could advance for consideration, and the party membership would choose between the two finalists. The House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt was the first to declare her candidacy, but Sunak, who still enjoyed broad support among MPs, was the favourite to replace Truss. Although there seemed to be significant support for a return to power by Johnson despite his fall from grace, the former prime minister <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="withdrew" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/withdrew" data-type="EB">withdrew</a> his name from consideration the day before the nominations were due. Struggling to gain adequate support for her candidacy, Mordaunt also stepped aside, and on October 24 the path was clear for Sunak, as the sole remaining candidate, to be confirmed as party leader without resorting to a vote of the broader party membership. The stage was set for him to become the first person of colour, the first person of South Asian descent, and the first Hindu to serve as prime minister of the United Kingdom.</p><span class="marker MOD47 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD48 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Sunak became the fourth consecutive prime minister to oppose conducting a second referendum on Scottish independence. In June 2022, on Johnson’s watch, Scottish First Minister <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nicola-Sturgeon" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Nicola Sturgeon</a> had announced her intention to hold a second referendum (dubbed indyref2) in October 2023. In pursuit of that goal, she asked the U.K. Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of Scotland’s holding the vote without the approval of the U.K. government. When the court ruled in November 2022 that Scotland was not empowered to conduct the referendum without Westminster’s approval, Sturgeon pledged to make the U.K. parliamentary election scheduled for 2025 a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/de-facto" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">de facto</a> referendum on Scottish independence.</p><span class="marker MOD48 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD49 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In January 2023, <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="invoking" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/invoking" data-type="MW">invoking</a> the powers of the Scotland Act of 1998, the British government blocked the promulgation of a law enacted in December 2022 by the Scottish Parliament that permitted <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/transgender" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">transgender</a> people in Scotland to change their legal gender by self-declaration without a medical <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="diagnosis" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diagnosis" data-type="MW">diagnosis</a>. The veto of the Scottish legislation—based on the argument that the law created inequalities because elsewhere in the United Kingdom a medical diagnosis was required for an individual to transition for legal purposes—marked the first time in the roughly 25 years since <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/devolution-government-and-politics" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">devolution</a> that the British government had overruled an action by Scotland’s Parliament. Sturgeon promised to take the matter to court; however, in February 2023 she announced her intention to resign as leader of the SNP and first minister, saying that she felt that she could no longer summon the energy that was necessary to perform her job. Sturgeon remained as leader of the SNP and first minister until late March, when the party chose her <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="successor" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/successor" data-type="EB">successor</a>, <span id="ref1311250"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Humza-Yousaf" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Humza Yousaf</a>, the health secretary, who became the first Muslim and first person of colour to head the Scottish government.</p><span class="marker MOD49 mod-inline"></span> <span class="md-signature"><a href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</a></span> </section> </section> </section> <span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":63,"pagesTotal":66,"pageId":615557,"pageLength":6297,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"C","adLeg":"C","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"COUNTRY_PAGINATED","gisted":false,"pageNumber":63,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>