This is a list of British political scandals, real or alleged: A political scandal is a scandal in which politicians engage in various illegal or unethical practices. ...

• 1700s
  • South Sea Bubble (1720)
• 1910s
  • Marconi scandal of insider trading by Rufus Isaacs and others (1912)
• 1920s
  • Zinoviev Letter (1924)
• 1930s
  • Jimmy Thomas budget leak (1936)
• 1940s
  • Hugh Dalton budget leak (1947)
  • John Belcher corruptly influenced - led to Lynskey Tribunal
• 1950s
  • Crichel Down and the resignation of Thomas Dugdale (1954)
  • Suez Crisis (1956)
• 1960s
  • Soviet agent John Vassall working for Minister Thomas Galbraith (1962)
  • Profumo Affair (1963)
• 1970s
  • Corrupt Architect John Poulson and links to Reginald Maudling, T. Dan Smith and others (1972-4)
  • Earl Jellicoe and Lord Lambton sex scandal (1973)
  • John Stonehouse's faked suicide (1974)
  • Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe's affair with Norman Scott and shooting of Scott's dog (1976) and later acquittal on charges of conspiracy to murder (1979)
• 1980s
  • Cecil Parkinson and Flora Keays (1983)
  • Al Yamamah contract alleged to have been obtained by bribery (1985)
  • Westland affair (1986)
  • Jeffrey Archer and the prostitute allegations (1986), and his subsequent conviction for perjury (2001)
  • Dame Shirley Porter's "homes-for-votes" gerrymandering scandal (1987-1989)
  • BSE (1989)
• 1990s
  • Nicholas Ridley comparing the EU to the Third Reich (1990)
  • Arms-to-Iraq and the closely connected Iraqi Supergun affair (1990)
  • David Mellor resignation after press disclose his affair with Antonia de Sancha (1992)
  • Squidgygate, the covert leaking of a bugged phone call between the Princess of Wales and a male admirer, although the phrase originally referred to the exposure of the Princess's extra-marital affair (1992)
  • Michael Mates gift of watch to Asil Nadir (1993)
  • "Back to Basics", a succession of sex scandals in John Major's government which led to the resignation of Tim Yeo and the Earl of Caithness, among others (1994)
  • Cash-for-questions affair involving Neil Hamilton, Tim Smith and Mohamed Al-Fayed (1994)
  • Jonathan Aitken and the hotel bill allegations, and subsequent conviction for perjury (1995)
  • Double resignation rocks government. Peter Mandelson, Trade and Industry Secretary, resigns after failing to disclose £373,000 loan from Paymaster General Geoffrey Robinson. (1998)
  • Ron Davies resigns from the cabinet after being robbed by a man he met at Clapham Common and then lying about it (1998)
• 2000s
  • Officegate (2001). Henry McLeish, Labour First Minister of Scotland, failed to refund the House of Commons for income he had received from the sub-let of his constituency office in Glenrothes while still a Westminster MP.
  • Keith Vaz, Peter Mandelson and the Hinduja brothers. Mandelson forced to resign again due to misleading statements. (2001)
  • In 2002 Edwina Currie revealed that she had had an affair, beginning in 1984, with John Major before he became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. This was criticised more harshly than may otherwise have been the case as Major had frequently pushed his Back To Basics agenda, which was taken by the media as a form of moral absolutism.
  • The Burrell affair - allegations about the behavior of the British Royal Family and their servants with possible constitutional implications. (2002)
  • Ron Davies stands down from Welsh assembly after he goes "badger-watching". (2003)
  • Death of Dr David Kelly. Under pressure after being misquoted by BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan as saying Tony Blair's Labour government had knowingly "sexed up" a report into Iraq's weapons of mass destruction — the "September Dossier", Dr David Kelly killed himself on 17 July 2003. The Government was cleared, and the BBC heavily criticised in the ensuing Hutton Inquiry, leading to the resignations of the BBC's chairman and director-general.
  • Taxigate (2005). David McLetchie, leader of the Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party is forced to resign after claiming taxi expenses for personal journeys, journeys related solely with his second job as a solicitor, and on Conservative Party business, for example travel to Conservative conferences. Conservative backbench MSP Brian Monteith has the whip withdrawn for briefing against his leader to the Scotland on Sunday newspaper.

Events and trends The Bonneville Slide blocks the Columbia River near the site of present-day Cascade Locks, Oregon with a land bridge 200 feet (60 m) high. ... Hogarthian image of the South Sea Bubble by Edward Matthew Ward, Tate Gallery More well known than The South Sea Company is perhaps the South Sea Bubble (1711 - September 1720) which is the name given to the economic bubble that occurred through overheated speculation in the company shares during 1720. ... // Events January 6 - The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings February 11 - Sweden and Prussia sign the (2nd Treaty of Stockholm) declaring peace. ... // Events and trends The 1910s represent the culmination of European militarism which had its beginings during the second half of the 19th Century. ... The Marconi scandal was a British political scandal that broke in the summer of 1912, and ran on for about a year. ... Rufus Daniel Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading (10 October 1860 - 30 December 1935) was a British politician and jurist. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday. ... Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America and in Australia as the Roaring Twenties . In Europe it is sometimes refered to as the Golden Twenties. ... The Zinoviev Letter is thought to have been instrumental in the Conservative Partys victory in the British general election of October 29, 1924, which ended the countrys first Labour government. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... // Events and trends A public speach by Benito Mussolini, founder of the Fascist movement The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the global depression. ... James (Jimmy) Henry Thomas, (October 3, 1874 - January 21, 1949) was a British trade unionist and Labour politician. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... // Events and trends World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrination, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atomic bomb. ... Edward Hugh John Neale Dalton, Baron Dalton, generally known as Hugh Dalton (1887-1962) was a British Labour Party politician, and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1945 to 1947. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... // Events and trends This map shows two essential global spheres during the Cold War in 1959. ... Sir Thomas Lionel Dugdale, 1st Baron Crathorne, PC (20 July 1897-26 March 1977) was a British Conservative politician. ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Combatants Israel, France, United Kingdom Egypt Commanders Moshe Dayan (CoS of the IDF) General Sir Charles Keightley (C-in-C), Vice-Admiral Pierre Barjot (Deputy) Gamal Abdel Nasser Strength 45,000 British, 34,000 French, 175,000 Israeli 300,000 Egyptians Casualties 200 Israelis, 107 British, 43 French dead or... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... John Vassall (1925 - 1996) was a British military who, having been blackmailed, spied for the Soviet Union. ... Multiple figures have had the name Thomas Galbraith: The British politicians Thomas Dunlop Galbraith, 1st Baron Strathclyde (1891–1985) Lord Thomas Galloway Dunlop Galbraith Strathclyde (1917–1982) Thomas Galloway Dunlop du Roy de Blicquy Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde (born 1960) The American politician Thomas J. Galbraith (lived mid-19th century... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Profumo Affair was a political scandal of 1963 in the United Kingdom. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The 1970s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1970 and 1979. ... John Garlick Llewellyn Poulson (April 14, 1910 - January 31, 1993) was a British architect who caused a major political scandal when his use of bribery and connections to senior politicians were disclosed in 1972. ... Rt. ... Thomas Daniel Smith (May 11, 1915 - July 27, 1993) was a British politician who was Leader of Newcastle upon Tyne City Council from 1960 to 1965 and a prominent figure in the Labour Party in the north-east of England, such that he was nicknamed Mr. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... George Patrick John Rushworth Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, KBE, DSO, MC, PC (born April 4, 1918), is the longest serving member of the House of Lords, having succeeded his father as Earl Jellicoe in 1935 and come of age and taken his seat in 1939. ... Anthony Claud Frederick Lambton (born 10 July 1922) was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Berwick_upon_Tweed from 1951 until 1973, and a cousin of Sir Alec Douglas-Home, the former Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary, and. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... John Stonehouse (1926 - 1988) was a British politician and minister under Harold Wilson. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... The Right Honourable John Jeremy Thorpe (born April 29, 1929) is a British politician, former leader of the Liberal Party (1967-1976). ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ... Cecil Edward Parkinson, Baron Parkinson, PC (born September 1, 1931), is a British Conservative politician and former Cabinet minister. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... RSAF Tornado IDS Al Yamamah (The Dove) is the name of a series of massive arms sales by the United Kingdom to Saudi Arabia, which were paid for by the delivery of up to 600,000 barrels of oil per day over a period of many years to the U... This article is about the year. ... The Westland affair was a political crisis for the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher in 1986. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Right Honourable Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is the author of a number of books, is a former MP and was Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, and was later convicted of perjury. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Perjury is lying or making verifiably false statements under oath in a court of law. ... Dame Shirley Porter (born November 29, 1930) is a controversial British former local government leader. ... Redrawing electoral districts in this example creates a guaranteed 3-to-1 advantage for Party 1. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is a fatal, neurodegenerative disease of cattle, which infects by a mechanism that shocked biologists on its discovery in late 20th century and appears transmissible to humans. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive, the last decade of the 20th Century. ... Nicholas Ridley (February 17, 1929 - March 4, 1993) was a British politician. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... This article is about the year. ... The Arms-to-Iraq scandal contributed to the growing dissatisfaction with the administration of John Major and was a cause of the landslide for Tony Blair in 1997. ... This article is about the year. ... The Right Honourable David Mellor (born 12 March 1949) is a British Conservative politician and barrister. ... Antonia de Sancha (Born: September 14, 1961-) is an actress known to have had an British politician David Mellor. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Squidgygate - a name coined by the Sun newspaper - was the publication by tabloid newspapers in Britain in 1993 of taped phone conversations alleged to be between HRH The Princess of Wales and James Gilbey. ... Right Honourable Michael John Mates (born 9 June 1934) is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... The Right Honourable Sir John Major, KG, CH (born 29 March 1943) is a twat who served in the Cabinets of Margaret Thatcher as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer before succeeding Thatcher as Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom... Tim Yeo Timothy Stephen Kenneth Yeo MP (born March 20, 1945) is a British Conservative politician, Member of Parliament for South Suffolk. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... The cash-for-questions affair was a controversial political scandal in 1990s Britain. ... Mostyn Neil Hamilton (born March 13, 1949) is a former Conservative MP in the United Kingdom. ... Tim Smith Timothy Aiden Smith (born January 13, 1985 in Runaway Bay, Queensland) is an Australian Rugby League player for the Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League competition. ... Mohamed Abdel Moneim Fayed (Arabic: محمد الفايد ) (b. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Jonathan Aitken (born August 30, 1942) is a former Conservative minister, and convicted perjurer. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Rt Hon. ... Paymaster-General is a ministerial position in the UK. The portfolio consists of the workings of HM Revenue and Customs, formerly HM Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise, and reports to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. ... Geoffrey Robinson (born May 25, 1938 in Sheffield) has been a British Member of Parliament for Coventry North West, a safe Labour seat, since a by-election on 4 March 1976 caused by the death of former MP Maurice Edelman. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The Right Honourable Ron Davies (born August 6, 1946) is a Welsh politician, former Member of Parliament and former member of the Welsh Assembly. ... Clapham Common Clapham Common is a triangular area of grassland of about 200 acres (0. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Saddam Hussein shortly after his capture Major controversy over U. S. presidential election (November 7-December 13, 2000) September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on New Yorks World Trade Center and Virginias Pentagon killing almost 3000 people. ... The Officegate scandal was a controversy surrounding then Scottish First Minister Henry McLeish in 2001. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... The Right Honourable Henry McLeish (born June 15, 1948) is a Scottish politician. ... The First Minister (First Meinister in Scots; Prìomh Mhinistear in Scots Gaelic) is the leader of Scotlands national devolved government, the Scottish Executive, which was established in 1999 along with the reconvened Scottish Parliament. ... British House of Commons Canadian House of Commons In some bicameral parliaments of a Westminster System, the House of Commons has historically been the name of the elected lower house. ... A constituency is any cohesive corporate unit or body bound by shared structures, goals or loyalty. ... Glenrothes is one of the Scottish new towns, created in the post-war era circa 1948, from an amalgamation of small farming communities. ... Nigel Keith Anthony Standish Vaz known simply as Keith Vaz (born November 26, 1956) is a British politician, and MP for Leicester East for the Labour party. ... The Hinduja brothers (Srichand, Gopichand and Prakash) are an Indian business family. ... 2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Edwina Currie Edwina Currie (born 13 October 1946 in Liverpool) is a former British Member of Parliament. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Right Honourable Sir John Major, KG, CH (born 29 March 1943) is a twat who served in the Cabinets of Margaret Thatcher as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer before succeeding Thatcher as Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom... In the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister is the head of government, exercising many of the executive functions nominally vested in the Sovereign, who is head of state. ... ... The Burrell affair was a scandal in United Kingdom, as the Queen is the head of state of a constitutional monarchy and is theoretically the embodiment of the state in all legal proceedings, and any involvement of a reigning monarch in a law court would be unprecedented. ... Members of the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the Trooping the Colour ceremony The British Royal Family is a group of people closely related to the British monarch. ... 2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Right Honourable Ron Davies (born August 6, 1946) is a Welsh politician, former Member of Parliament and former member of the Welsh Assembly. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dr. David Christopher Kelly CMG (May 17, 1944 – July 17, 2003) was an employee of the British Ministry of Defence (MoD), an expert in biological warfare, and a former United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq. ... Corporate logo of the British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the national public service broadcaster of the United Kingdom (see British television). ... Andrew Gilligan Andrew Paul Gilligan (born 22 November 1968, Teddington, Middlesex, England) is a journalist best known for his report, while defence and diplomatic correspondent for BBC Radio 4s The Today Programme, about the British Governments dossier on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. ... The Right Honourable Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service. ... The Labour Party is the principal centre-left political party in the United Kingdom (see British politics). ... Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) generally include nuclear, biological, chemical and, increasingly, radiological weapons. ... The September Dossier is the name given to a document published by the British government on 24 September 2002. ... July 17 is the 198th day (199th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 167 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Corporate logo of the British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the national public service broadcaster of the United Kingdom (see British television). ... The Hutton Inquiry was a British judicial inquiry chaired by Lord Hutton, appointed by the British government to investigate the death of a government weapons expert, Dr. David Kelly. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... David McLetchie (born 6 August 1952) is a Scottish politician. ... ... The Conservative Party is the largest political party on the right-of-centre in the United Kingdom. ... The Scottish Unionist Party is a name of two organisations, one now subsumed into the UK Conservative Party, and the other being a recent creation in response to the Conservative Partys support of the Anglo-Irish Agreement. ... MSP is a three-letter abbreviation with several meanings: In computing, MSP is a mainframe operating system from Fujitsu Magic Solution Partner Malabar Special Police Maintenance Support Package Managed Service Provider Manic Street Preachers, a Welsh rock band Mass Storage Pedestal Master Sales Plan Medical Services Plan Medicare Secondary Payer... Brian Monteith, born on January 8, 1958 is an Independent Member of the Scottish Parliament. ... In politics, a whip is a member of a political party in a legislature whose task is to ensure that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires. ... The Scotsman is a Scottish newspaper published in Edinburgh. ...

See also

• List of British political defections