Doctors assessing people for signs of dementia have traditionally asked their patients: “Who is the prime minister?” Some health professionals report that they stopped using that question this year. There has been so much manic mayhem at the apex of politics that it has been a struggle to keep up even for those in full possession of their faculties.
2022 was the year of two leadership coups, three prime ministers, four chancellors, five education secretaries, six fiscal events and more than 30 exits from the cabinet. The doors of Whitehall revolved so fast that ministers barely had time to hang up their coats before it was time to leave the building. The only certainty was chaos. I would call it laughable were not the consequences so dismal. A year of cascading scandals and whipsawing policies has also been 12 months in which vital public services have come dangerously close to collapse and food banks haven’t been able to cope with the demand for their help.
