United Kingdom in September 2026: the most important developments in politics
In September 2026 British politics opened with a change of leadership. Keir Starmer, who had resigned as prime minister earlier, announced on September 1 that he was giving up his seat in Parliament, which set a by-election in his London constituency. The Green Party chose Zack Polanski as its candidate on September 11. Andy Burnham, now prime minister, held his first meetings with Emmanuel Macron on September 3 and with Donald Trump in New York on September 22. At that meeting Trump called the Chagos Islands agreement a "terrible deal", and the UK said the next day it would review it. At the Labour conference on September 29 Burnham blamed Brexit for decline and said rejoining the European Union was among the options.
Reform UK was the second major theme. Its conference opened on September 4 under scrutiny over alleged foreign donations, Labour reported claims to the police, the Metropolitan Police opened an inquiry on September 9, and two senior officials resigned on September 5. The party then reported record donations: £36 million from a cryptocurrency investor and a second £36 million from Ben Delo, £72 million within about two days. Nigel Farage said Reform would halve the civil service, and an analysis reported on September 25 said it could win a large majority.
Relations with Israel changed sharply. On September 8 the UK announced a ban on dealings with Israeli settlements, and Israel responded by closing the British consulate in East Jerusalem and banning 12 British officials. Eight Muslim states welcomed the measures, US officials criticised Ed Miliband, and the UK backed a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly. On September 28 Miliband said Labour had been wrong on Gaza.
The UK, Argentina and Trump were linked on the Falkland Islands. Javier Milei escalated his claim on September 4, after Trump suggested he would not help Britain in another conflict, and on September 29 he gave London a two-week deadline, threatening legal action over oil exploration. The UK said its commitment to the islands was unshakeable.
On September 14 the first ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland signed a memorandum in Cardiff affirming the right of their nations to leave the UK. Trump said he would love to see a united Ireland, which Burnham's office said did not change its position. Russia repeatedly criticised London, and the Foreign Ministry said on September 24 that Britain might become a party to the Ukraine conflict.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
Click a day in the chart above for that day's brief.