2024 brings new leaders at Westminster, Holyrood, the Senedd and Stormont

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The Labour landslide in July was a bigger victory than many in Sir Keir’s inner circle had dared to hope for, with a pack of Tory big beasts – including former prime minister Liz Truss – losing their seats as Rishi Sunak led the Conservatives to their worst election result. Her first Budget in October saw £40 billion of tax rises, with howls of protest from businesses and farmers over increases to employers’ national insurance contributions and changes to inheritance tax relief for agricultural property. After promising a return to high standards in office, Sir Keir and his ministers also faced questions over donations of clothes and concert tickets, while Labour’s huge parliamentary majority was eroded by Rosie Duffield’s resignation from the party, Mike Amesbury’s suspension over a late-night altercation and the decision to strip the whip from a group of left-wingers who rebelled on the King’s Speech. He was replaced as First Minister by John Swinney, but in a sign of the SNP’s wider difficulties, the party’s Westminster representation was cut to just nine in July from 48 in 2019.