16 pictures that tell the story of five years of utter Brexit chaos
Brexit is happening.
Boris Johnson’s Withdrawal Agreement will clear its final hurdle on Wednesday when it is ratified by the European Parliament.
It will mean Britain is leaving the EU at 11pm on Friday, marking the (official) end of one of the most divisive periods in recent British history.
But how did we get here? Yahoo News UK takes you through the key moments of the past few years:
15 April, 2015
The day all the fun starts.
David Cameron, terrified at Nigel Farage’s Ukip posing a genuine electoral threat, launches the Conservative manifesto for the 2015 general election – and it contains a pledge to hold a referendum on EU membership by 2017.
7 May, 2015
The Tories unexpectedly win a majority in the election and are free of Lib Dem shackles from the previous coalition government.
12 September, 2015
A little-known backbench socialist named Jeremy Corbyn is elected the new Labour leader.
In the following years, his deep-seated Euroscepticism – contrasted with Labour’s natural pro-Europe position – causes chaos in the party and is ultimately exploited by Boris Johnson in the 2019 election.
20 February, 2016
Cameron, a staunch Remainer, announces the referendum is to be held on 23 June, 2016, keeping his manifesto promise.
Ministers in his government are free to campaign for Leave.
21 February, 2016
In a huge blow to Cameron, mayor of London Boris Johnson tells reporters outside his Islington townhouse that he’ll be campaigning against EU membership.
The Leave campaign has its figurehead.
23 June, 2016
In an unexpected result, Leave campaigners win the referendum by 52% of the vote to Remain’s 48%.
24 June, 2016
Cameron, humiliated by his failed referendum gamble, is left powerless and resigns outside 10 Downing Street.
30 June, 2016
At a press conference, frontrunner Johnson dramatically rules himself out of the subsequent Tory leadership race.
He is widely seen to have been “knifed in the back” by his supposed campaign ally Michael Gove, who decides to enter the contest at the last minute.
It ultimately paves the way for…
11 July, 2016
…Theresa May to take over as leader.
She doesn’t even need an election, after her one remaining rival Andrea Leadsom drops out of the race.
May, who campaigned for Remain, promises “Brexit means Brexit” and officially replaces Cameron as prime minister two days later.
29 March, 2017
May invokes Article 50, beginning the supposed two-year process to leave the EU on 29 March, 2019.
18 April, 2017
The PM stuns the country by calling a snap general election. It’s a plot to gain a bigger Tory majority in the Commons and get a deal over the line.
Brenda from Bristol isn’t happy.
8 June, 2017
Polling day. May has had a disastrous election campaign while Corbyn flourished.
The PM duly loses her majority.
She cobbles a government together by entering into a shaky-looking confidence-and-supply arrangement with the Democratic Unionist Party.
The government hobbles along until the real trouble starts one year later...
8 July, 2018
David Davis, May’s Brexit secretary, resigns in protest at her strategy following an infamous Chequers getaway of Cabinet members.
Foreign secretary Johnson quits soon after.
10 months of turmoil begins.
14 November, 2018
May’s Withdrawal Agreement is published. It is much-maligned, particularly by the hardline Brexiteer Tories on whom she is relying to get her deal through the Commons.
In another blow, Dominic Raab, who replaced Davis as Brexit secretary four months before, immediately quits.
15 January, 2019
Amid fervent scenes inside and outside of Parliament, the Withdrawal Agreement is put to a Commons vote for the first time.
May suffers unprecedented humiliation, losing by a massive 230 votes.
12 March, 2019
The bill is put to a second vote. She loses again, by 149 votes.
22 March, 2019
Brexit isn’t happening on 29 March. An Article 50 extension to 22 May is agreed.
29 March, 2019
On the day Brexit was supposed to happen, the bill is put to a third vote. May loses again, by 58 votes.
10 April, 2019
Article 50 is extended to 31 October.
24 May, 2019
The moment that felt inevitable for two years. A tearful May announces her resignation outside Number 10.
24 July, 2019
Johnson wins the subsequent Tory leadership contest, easily defeating Jeremy Hunt in the final ballot to become prime minister.
28 August, 2019
Johnson – whose aggressive approach to Brexit negotiations alienates scores of Tory MPs who either resign or are sacked for not towing the government line – sparks further uproar as he announces he will prorogue Parliament until 14 October.
The PM claims it is necessary to plot the government’s domestic agenda.
But with the scheduled return day just two weeks before the 31 October deadline, it is seen as a way of silencing Parliament and forcing a no-deal exit.
His move sparks massive protests on the streets of London three days later.
24 September, 2019
Supreme Court judges sensationally rule that Johnson’s prorogation was unlawful. MPs return to Parliament.
17 October, 2019
Johnson agrees a revised Withdrawal Agreement deal with the EU.
19 October, 2019
The PM fails to make progress in a special Saturday sitting of Parliament.
As Parliament hasn’t given its consent to the deal by this day, the “Benn Act” is activated and Johnson is forced to ask for another Brexit extension until January 31, 2020.
Johnson, who had previously said he would rather “die in a ditch” than request an extension, pointedly refuses to sign his name in the letter to European Council president Donald Tusk.
31 October, 2019
After yet more parliamentary deadlock, Johnson is finally granted his wish for a general election. The campaign starts the following week.
12 December, 2019
Johnson enjoys spectacular success in the poll, destroying Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour with a majority of 80 Tory MPs.
Brexit, to repeat the PM’s famous campaign motto, is officially “getting done”.
20 December, 2019
The first sign of Johnson’s new-found parliamentary muscle after years of Brexit deadlock.
With an army of Tory MPs behind him, the PM’s Withdrawal Agreement Bill sails through the Commons at its second reading with a majority of 124.
23 January, 2020
After easing through its nine remaining parliamentary processes, the bill receives royal assent and becomes law.
29 January, 2020
The Withdrawal Agreement is due to be ratified by the European Parliament, meaning Brexit is officially happening at 11pm on Friday 31 January.