In Pictures: Boris Johnson ends 2021 on back foot after year of ups and downs
Boris Johnson began the year with hopes that the vaccines that had come online in December would soon cast coronavirus if not into oblivion then at least into a place where normal life could resume for most Britons.
Little would he have imagined that a year on it would be his own staff’s behaviour in the build-up to last Christmas that would be dominating headlines, with the emergence of the Omicron variant raising the spectre of more emergency provisions and the deja vu decision of whether to lock down for a second festive period.
Mr Johnson at least got to resume face-to-face meetings with world leaders with a visit to the UN General Assembly following his hosting of the G7 in Cornwall.
That would be the last G7 appearance of Angela Merkel whose marathon stint as German chancellor began when Tony Blair was prime minister and encompassed the premierships of Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May and Mr Johnson before ending in December.
The year started with a promotion for Kwasi Kwarteng to Business Secretary with Alok Sharma taking responsibility for November’s Cop26 summit, while a new party appeared in Scotland in the form of Alba, fronted by former first minister Alex Salmond following a spectacular falling out with Nicola Sturgeon, his successor as SNP First Minister of Scotland.
The “blink and you missed it” moment of 2021 came with Edwin Poots ousting Arlene Foster as DUP leader before himself being shown the door by party rival Sir Jeffrey Donaldson just three weeks later amid unionist disquiet over Northern Ireland’s status in the Brexit agreement.
In June, health secretary Matt Hancock quit the role when footage of him in a clinch with an aide emerged at a time when Britons were required to socially distance – it spelled the end of Mr Hancock’s marriage but also the return to the Cabinet of former chancellor Sajid Javid, who took on the mantle of tackling the pandemic.
Labour was thought to be vulnerable to a Tory challenge at Batley and Spen while a strong campaign by George Galloway of the Workers Party also spelled danger but Kim Leadbeater, the sister of the late Ms Cox, kept the seat in the Labour column after an eventful campaign.
Mr Johnson met world leaders again and other power brokers in New York, the city of his birth, at the UN while Sir Keir was determined to show the public that Labour was forging a new era as his party held its conference in Brighton.
The tone in politics changed when Sir David was murdered while meeting constituents at a surgery in Leigh-on-Sea.
Much of the year had seen a build-up to the Cop26 meeting in Glasgow which had been billed as an attempt to save the planet from environmental disaster.
As the festive season approached, the detection in South Africa of the Omicron variant of coronavirus sparked a new wave of concern that the NHS might be overwhelmed.
Some new measures were announced, although many Tory rebels voiced anger at suggestions of a vaccine passport and voted with their feet in a Commons votes won by Mr Johnson only because Labour decided to support it.
It was the second seat taken by the Lib Dems after they won Chesham and Amersham in June following the death of Tory MP Dame Cheryl Gillan.
Amid some suggestions that the Prime Minister could face a leadership challenge in the new year, the festive break will give Mr Johnson time to take stock.
Although 2021 brought a new marriage and baby for the Prime Minister, he will be hoping for a brighter prospect on the political front in 2022.