Britain's decade of self-harm: some lessons for South Africans

Britain's past 10 years of political upheaval and economic underperformance offer an important perspective on the fragility of institutions and the illusion of certainty

- Natale Labia

From left: Nick Clegg, Theresa May, Nigel Farage, David Cameron, Jeremy Corbyn, Gordon Brown and Boris Johnson.

(Photo: Sky News)

A decade ago this week, David Cameron, then the prime minister of the UK, announced the date of what he said would be a "very simple" referendum on membership of the EU. It was intended to settle a question that had divided his Conservative Party. Instead, it detonated a chain reaction from which Westminster has yet to recover.

The eventual vote to leave the EU toppled Cameron and ushered in an era of political instability unprecedented in modern Britain. Since then, no prime minister has managed to complete a full parliamentary term.

His successor, Theresa May, inherited the unenviable task of delivering Brexit. Seeking authority, she called an election in 2017, only to lose her majority, with the electorate seemingly set on giving the establishment a bloody nose. The next incumbent, a blustering Boris Johnson, finally managed to ram Brexit through, only to be undone in a series of Covid-related scandals.

Liz Truss was next, her ill-fated fiscal experiment a byword for amateurish self-harm. She triggered a market rout in sterling and UK government bonds that forced her resignation after just 45 days, a lettuce famously outliving her government.

Rishi Sunak tried to restore calm, but he failed to convince voters the Tories deserved another chance. Labour returned to power with a commanding majority under Keir Starmer, even if he won barely 30% of the popular vote. According to approval ratings, his government has gone from merely unloved to one of the most unpopular in history.