2022 was a totally bonkers year in British politics. And that’s saying a lot considering it came hot on the heels of Brexit and a global pandemic.
Members of Parliament found themselves caught up in porn scandals, Spice Girl beef and jungle life. And that’s just the Tories.
Boris Johnson’s government crumbled, Liz Truss had a disastrous takeover and Rishi Sunak was left with an economic mess.
It was a year in which once-in-a-decade events took place in the space of weeks.
But how much can you remember from this parliamentary palaver? Take HuffPost UK’s political quiz 2022 to find out. We’ve compiled 40 questions with a possible total of 48 points. Answers are at the bottom.
Questions
1) Can you name the MP shaking Keir Starmer’s hand?
2) In February, Boris Johnson’s policy chief quit over the PM’s slur that Keir Starmer personally failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile. What was the aide’s name?
3) Following the death of Labour MP Jack Dromey, a former nurse won the by-election for his Birmingham Erdington seat. What is her name?
4) Tory MP Neil Parish was caught by female colleagues watching porn in the Commons’ chamber. What did he claim he had been searching for?
5) How many seats did the Conservatives lose in the May 2022 elections.
- Was it: A) 387 B) 487 C) 587
6) Which party became the largest on the Northern Ireland Assembly in May 2022?
7) Can you name people who were fined over the lockdown-busting Partygate scandal? (point for each)
8) Can you name this woman?
9) In May, the then chancellor Rishi Sunak imposed a one-time charge on North Sea oil and gas producers. What is this tax commonly known as?
10) Claims emerged in The Times that Boris Johnson wanted to build a treehouse in the grounds of Chequers for his children. How much was it supposed to cost:
- Was it: A) £50,000 B) £100,000 C) £150,000
11) Chairman of the 1922 committee Graham Brady announced a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson in June. Tory MPs backed the prime minister but how many voted against him?
- Was it: A) 108 B) 128 C) 148
12) By-elections were triggered in two seats held by Tory MPs. In Wakefield MP Imran Ahmad Khan was sentenced to 18 months in prison for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy. In Tiverton and Honiton MP Neil Parish stood down after admitting he watched porn twice in parliament.
- A) Which party won each seat? (point for each)
- B) Can you name the two new MPs? (point for each)
13) Boris and Carrie’s wedding party was held in the Cotswolds home of a Tory donor. Where were the couple originally due to marry before there was a backlash?
14) Which Tory MP was accused of winking at Angela Rayner across the despatch box?
15) Chris Pincher resigned as the deputy chief whip in June 2022 saying he had “embarrassed himself”. What had he done?
16) Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid resigned from Boris Johnson’s government within minutes of each other, kicking off the PM’s downfall. Which one resigned first?
17) Who is this man?
18) A Tory MP likened Rishi Sunak to a small furry mammal during the bitter leadership contest.
- Was it: A) a moody rat B) a pissed-off panda C) a wounded stoat
19) Which British prime minister offended French president Emmanuel Macron by saying the “jury’s out” on whether he was a friend or foe?
20) Why was Labour MP Sam Tarry sacked from his role as a shadow transport minister?
21) An MP from the Scottish National Party pleaded guilty to breaching Covid-19 restrictions at the height of the pandemic. What was her name?
22) During a tour of the House of Commons in September, members of Extinction Rebellion staged a protest. What did they do?
23) Who was prime minister of the United Kingdom when it was announced that the Queen had died?
- Was it: A) Boris Johnson B) Liz Truss C) Rishi Sunak
24) Which political party had to cancel their annual conference due to the Queen’s funeral?
25) Which senior Labour MP celebrated their 60th birthday this year?
Is it A) Ed Miliband B) John Healey C) Keir Starmer
26) History was made in 2022 when Jamie Wallis came out as parliament’s first openly transgender MP. Which political party are they in?
27) What is former prime minister Liz Truss’s real first name?
Is it: A) Deborah B) Jane C) Mary
28) Which Roman general did Boris Johnson refer to in his final speech as prime minister?
29) Kwasi Kwarteng announced the disastrous “mini budget” that triggered the downfall of Liz Truss’s government. But which game show did he appear on at the age of 19 that saw him make headlines in the tabloid press?
30) Name the title and artist of the song that Liz Truss walked out to at the Tory Party conference? (point for each)
31) In his speech to Labour Party conference, Keir Starmer promised to create a publicly owned energy company. What would he call it?
32) Which Labour MP had to apologise to Jeremy Corbyn after joking that he was “senile” in the Commons.
- Was it: A) Jess Phillips B) Wes Streeting C) Siobhain McDonagh
33) Tory MP Conor Burns was the subject of a barbed tweet from which Spice Girl?
34) Therese Coffey sparked a flood of memes when her phone blared out rap music in the middle of an interview with LBC. Name the artist and song. (point for each)
35) What magazine did Nicola Sturgeon claim Liz Truss asked her for advice on how to get into?
36) For how long was Michelle Donelan the United Kingdom’s education secretary?
- Was it: A) 36 hours B) 48 hours C) 72 hours
37) In Liz Truss’s short-lived government who was the justice secretary?
38) Home secretary Suella Braverman upset the Albanian prime minister by bad-mouthing migrants. What is the capital of Albania?
39) Former health secretary Matt Hancock had the whip withdrawn for going on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity show. Critics said he just went in to promote his new book - what is the book title?
40) Which cabinet minister resigned from Rishi Sunak’s cabinet amid a series of bullying allegations - including the claim that they told a civil servant to “slit your throat”?
- Was it A) Dominic Raab B) Gavin Williamson C) Suella Braverman
Spoiler Alert! Here Come The Answers...
Answers
1) Christian Wakeford: He was the leave-voting Tory MP for Bury South - elected in 2019 - who dramatically switched to Labour in January 2022 over Partygate.
2) Munira Mirza: She resigned from her £145,000-a-year role after the PM failed to apologise for the Savile remark. She had been a longtime ally of Johnson.
3) Paulette Hamilton: She is a former district nurse who re-joined the NHS frontline during the pandemic to support the vaccine roll-out.
4) Farmer Neil Parish said he accidentally viewed one X-rated video when browsing for tractors before deliberately doing so on a second occasion.
5) The Tories lost 487 seats across Britain while Labour gained 108 seats and five councils. The Liberal Democrats gained the most seats at 223.
6) Sinn Fein made political history after emerging as the largest party in Northern Ireland and overtaking the Democratic Unionist Party.
7) Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, Carrie Johnson and former cabinet office ethics chief Helen MacNamara went public over their fines. The Met Police refused to publish any names.
8) Sue Gray: The senior civil servant tasked with leading an investigation into the Partygate affair.
9) Windfall tax: A one-time charge on a sector that has generated significant profits from an event for which they have no responsibility. Oil and gas companies saw their profits surge during 2022 amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
10) According to The Times Boris Johnson wanted to build a treehouse in the grounds of Chequers for worth £150,000.
11) 148 Tory MPs voted to oust Johnson. The prime minister won the support of 211 MPs but a whopping 41 per cent of his party voted to get rid of him.
12) Wakefield went to the Labour party with new MP Simon Lightwood. Tiverton & Honiton went to the Lib Dems with new MP Richard Foord.
13) Boris and Carrie were reportedly due to hold their wedding party at the PM’s country home at Chequers.
14) Dominic Raab was accused of winking at Rayner, however he later explained that the wink was aimed at another Labour MP Ian Murray.
15) Tory deputy chief whip Chris Pincher resigned after allegations that he groped two men at the private Carlton Club. In his resignation letter, he told the PM he “drank far too much” and “embarrassed myself and other people”.
16) Former health secretary Sajid Javid tweeted his resignation letter first at 6.02pm and ex-chancellor Rishi Sunak tweeted his just minutes later at 6.11pm.
17) Rehman Chishti: The Tory MP for Gillingham and Rainham announced he was running to be prime minister on July 10. The little known MP once represented Labour and prompted curiosity with ‘Who is Rehman Chishti?’ soon trending on Twitter.
18) A Tory MP likened Rishi Sunak to a wounded stoat.
19) Liz Truss said the “jury’s out” on Macron. The French president responded by saying the UK is a “friend” of France “in spite of its leaders”.
20) Sam Tarry was sacked from Labour’s front bench after giving broadcast interviews from an RMT picket line without permission. Starmer accused him of making up policy “on the hoof”.
21) Margaret Ferrier pleaded guilty to covid breaches at Glasgow Sheriff Court in August 2022. She spoke in parliament in September 2020 while awaiting the results of a Covid test. She then took the train home to Glasgow after being told she had tested positive.
22) Extinction Rebellion glued themselves together around the Speaker’s chair, leading to eight arrests and questions about security.
23) Liz Truss was prime minister when the Queen died on September 8, 2022. Truss had been appointed by the monarch just two days before she passed away, becoming the 15th prime minister to serve during Elizabeth’s reign.
24) The Liberal Democrats cancelled their party conference following the Queen’s death.
25) Keir Starmer turned 60 on September 2, 2022.
26) Jamie Wallis is a Conservative Party MP who came out as the first openly trans MP in a heartfelt post shared on Twitter.
27) “Liz Truss” was born “Mary Elizabeth Truss” on 26 July 1975 in Oxford.
28) Boris Johnson referred to Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus - a Roman general who was called upon to return to Rome as a dictator.
29) Kwarteng appeared on University Challenge, representing Cambridge, in 1995. He went to answer a question by Jeremy Paxman by buzzing before exclaiming: “Oh f***, I’ve forgotten”. His team from Trinity College went on to be crowned champions of University Challenge that year.
30) Liz Truss entered the main stage at Tory conference to M People’s 1993 “Moving On Up” hit. The son of lead singer Heather Small took the mickey out of the PM saying: “This tired and out of touch Tory government is indeed moving on out.”
31) Starmer said Labour would launch “Great British Energy”.
32) Wes Streeting apologised after calling Jeremy Corbyn “senile” in the House of Commons. Streeting insisted he made the comment “in jest”.
33) Mel B claimed Conor Burns had said something to her in the lift at Tory Party conference but she never revealed what he is alleged to have said. Burns also said he had never met her.
35) Truss demanded to know how to get into Vogue when she met Sturgeon at a climate conference, according to Scotland’s first minister.
36) Michelle Donelan was education secretary for just 36 hours during the crisis that brought down Boris Johnson.
37) Tory MP for Great Yarmouth Brandon Lewis served as justice secretary between 6 and 25 October 2022.
38) The capital of Albania is Tirana.
39) Matt Hancock’s new book is written with Isabel Oakshott and called “Pandemic Diaries” telling the inside story of Britain’s battle against Covid.
40) Gavin Williamson resigned from Sunak’s cabinet saying he was “becoming a distraction for the good work this government is doing”.
How Did You Score?
38 to 48: You are a bona fide political geek.
26 to 37: You are politically on the ball.
14 to 25: Well done. A good show.
1 to 13: Congratulations, you have a life.