The 2010s: A Decade In Business

With the economy in recession, Labour’s 13-year tenure in Government came to an end. Despite an initial surge in support for Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats, with some opinion polls briefly ranking them as the largest party, it was David Cameron’s Conservatives who gained the most seats in the General Election.

2011’s major story was the marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton on 29 April. The wedding, held in Westminster Abbey, was watched by billions worldwide and a public holiday was held in the UK to celebrate. The year wasn’t all good news as major rioting broke out across UK cities.

The summer of 2012 was ushered in with a four-day bank holiday weekend to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. But the nation was to be even more captivated in August. London became the first city to host the Olympic Games for the third time, and the hosts didn’t disappoint, finishing third in the overall medal table with 29 gold medals.

As with the previous year’s Olympics, the biggest story of the year was arguably from the world of sport. Andy Murray, whose own gold medal at the London Games was somewhat overshadowed by the achievements of Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis et al, finally captured the title craved above all others – the men’s singles championship at Wimbledon.

The Scottish Independence vote took place in September, with 55.3% voting ‘No’ to independence. Further plans for devolving powers were announced immediately afterwards. It wasn’t such a great year for the England football team. Roy Hodgson’s team crashed out of the World Cup in the group stages for the first time since 1958.

David Cameron’s Conservatives surprised many by enjoying an outright victory at the 2015 General Election. Not only did this put an end to the five-year coalition with the Liberal Democrats, but the election claimed three leadership scalps – those of Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, along with Labour’s Ed Milliband.

The EU Referendum result, declared the morning after Britons took to the polls in their thousands, dominated headlines not only during 2016 but in every year since. The markets didn’t respond well, however. London’s stock market plunged by more than 8% immediately with the pound falling to its lowest levels against the dollar since 1985.

Despite the fact a snap General Election backfired on Theresa May’s Conservatives, leaving them clinging to power by virtue of a ‘confidence and supply’ deal with the DUP, the year will mainly be remembered by a series of major terrorist attacks rocking both north and south England.