Democracy and Participation

• 25 May 2020

  Dominic Cummings refuses to resign or apologise after the Guardian and Mirror reveal his lockdown-busting trips to north-east England at the height of Covid-19. Johnson stands by his chief aide despite fury from the public, MPs and scientists
• 30 July 2020

  Charlie Elphicke is found guilty of three counts of sexual assault against two women, less than a year after resigning as the Conservative MP for Dover. Elphicke had denied the three charges, two of which related to a parliamentary worker. He was later sentenced to two years in prison. His wife, Natalie Elphicke, succeeded him as MP for Dover in December 2019.
• 25 May 2021

  Rob Roberts, the Conservative MP for Delyn in north Wales, is found by parliament’s independent expert panel to have made “significant” repeated unwanted sexual advances towards a former member of staff, as well as inappropriate comments of a sexual nature. He is suspended for 12 weeks by the Conservatives but allowed to rejoin the party in October 2021.
• 28 May 2021

  Johnson “unwisely” embarked on a £112,000 refurbishment of his official Downing Street flat without knowing how it would be paid for, according to a report by the ethics adviser Christopher Geidt. However, it later emerges that Geidt was not given crucial text messages between Johnson and the Conservative donor David Brownlow, prompting an apology from the prime minister.
• 26 June 2021

  Matt Hancock resigns as health secretary after it emerged he broke social distancing rules by kissing his longtime friend and close aide, Gina Coladangelo, in his ministerial office. The resignation is a huge blow to the authority of Johnson, who had stood by Hancock when the story broke 24 hours earlier.
• 8 July 2021

  Johnson is reprimanded by parliament’s committee on standards for failing to “establish the full facts” about a free holiday to a luxury villa in Mustique. The accommodation was organised by David Ross, the Tory donor and co-founder of Carphone Warehouse, after Johnson “sought and was offered” the use of Ross’s villa, the report found.
• 26 October 2021

  The former Tory minister Owen Paterson is found by parliament’s standards watchdog to have committed an “egregious” breach of lobbying rules. Paterson repeatedly lobbied the government on behalf of two companies that were paying him more than £100,000 a year, the watchdog found. The MP, who maintained his innocence, resigns as the Conservative representative for North Shropshire in November 2021. The subsequent byelection is won by the Liberal Democrats on 16 December 2021.
• 10 December 2021

  The former Conservative minister Andrew Griffiths is found by a high court judge to have raped his wife and subjected her to coercive control. Griffiths, who denied the allegations, had stepped down as an MP in November 2019 after a series of claims about his conduct. His wife, Kate Griffiths, who left him when the original stories broke, succeeds him as MP for Burton in Staffordshire.
• 18 December 2021

  Simon Case, the UK’s most senior civil servant, steps down from chairing the investigation into lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street after claims emerged he had hosted an event himself over the same period. The senior civil servant Sue Gray takes over.
• 6 January 2022

  Johnson is revealed to have sought funds to help cover a £112,000 makeover of his Downing Street flat from a Conservative donor while promising to consider plans for a “great exhibition”. Labour accuses the prime minister of corruption, while Johnson apologises for failing to disclose crucial WhatsApp messages to his ethics adviser, Lord Geidt, the previous spring.
• 2 April 2022

  David Warburton, the Conservative MP for Somerton and Frome, is suspended from the Tory parliamentary party after a series of allegations relating to sexual harassment and cocaine use. A investigation by Westminster’s independent complaints and grievance scheme is ongoing as of 1 July.
• 11 April 2022

  Imran Ahmad Khan, the Conservative MP for Wakefield, is found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy after plying him with alcohol at a party in 2008. He resigns as an MP on 28 April, triggering a byelection that Labour wins on 23 June.
• 29 April 2022

  Neil Parish, the Conservative MP for Tiverton and Honiton, resigns his seat after admitting he twice watched pornography in the House of Commons chamber. His resignation prompts a byelection that results in a decisive Liberal Democrat victory on 23 June.
• 17 May 2022

  An unnamed Conservative MP is arrested on suspicion of rape and other sexual offences. The MP, who has not been publicly named, is ordered to stay away from Westminster while under investigation by the Metropolitan police. He remains on bail as of 1 July.
• 25 May 2022

  Sue Gray publishes a damning report into lockdown-busting parties across Whitehall, revealing that government staff had drunken brawls, vomited and sang karaoke until dawn while the UK observed strict Covid-19 restrictions on socialising. The prime minister says he is “humbled” and “appalled” but critics doubt his contrition and calls for his resignation grow louder.
• 30 June 2022

  Chris Pincher, the Conservative deputy chief whip, resigns after admitting he had “embarrassed myself and other people” following reports that he drunkenly groped two men at a private club. It is the second time Pincher has resigned from the whips’ office, having previously stood down in 2017 after he was reported to have made an unwanted pass at a Tory activist.
• Tyranny of the Majority – A situation in which power over a decision is given solely to the group in the majority.
• ‘hyperpluralism’ depicts the difficulty a government may encounter when it is perplexed by a multitude of pressure groups blocking their legitimate actions. 
• Approximately 30% of MPs are privately educated which is 10% more than the general population
• The biggest donation ever recorded on the Electoral Commission register by a corporation was £2.1 million by International Motors Limited to the Conservative Party in 2006.
• In Britain the Electoral Commission regulate political donations and all donations have to be on a public register. However, there are undoubtedly concerns over the influence of corporations in British politics
• ‘Bigotgate’ was an ‘open mic’ event during the 2010 General Election campaign. It was damaging to Gordon Brown, most notably because it reinforced an image of him that voters already possessed. It was made possible due to the prevalence of 24/7 media – that is why he was miked up in the first place. 24/7 media has changed the nature of the news cycle and made events like this more likely.
• Democratic Deficit

  • Unelected House of Lords
  • Unproportinal FPTP
  • Disparity within Devolution
  • Unentrenched Rights
  • Police, Crime and Sentencing Act
  • Illegal Migration Act
  • Participation Crisis
  • Influence of the media