SUMMARY
The Government of United Kingdom operates a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; King Charles III has been head of state since 2022 but the monarch has limited powers in practice. The state is governed by the Prime Minister, who has been a member of the more left-leaning Labour party or more right-leaning Conservative party since the end of the Second World War in 1945.
From 1945 to 1951, the prime minister was Labour party leader Clement Attlee. He was superseded by a succession of Conservative prime ministers (Winston Churchill, 1951 – 55; Sir Anthony Eden, 1955 – 57; Harold Macmillan, 1957 – 63; Sir Alec Douglas-Home, 1963 – 64) before Labour leader Harold Wilson took over in 1964. Conservative leader Edward Heath became prime minister for one term between 1970 and 1974, before the Labour party returned to power (Harold Wilson, 1974 – 76; James Callaghan, 1976 – 79). Eighteen years of Conservative party leadership followed under Margaret Thatcher (1979 – 90) and John Major (1990 – 97). Subsequently, thirteen years of Labour party leadership followed under Tony Blair (1997 – 2007) and Gordon Brown (2007 – 10). From 2010, the Conservative party led the government (David Cameron, 2010 – 16; Theresa May, 2016-2019; Boris Johnson 2019-2022; Liz Truss, 2022; Rishi Sunak, 2022-2024).
As of 2024, Keir Starmer became Prime Minister bringing the Labor party back in the governing seat.
The United Kingdom has an armed military force comprised of an army, navy and air force. In 1985, it had 348 000 active military personnel, which decreased relatively steadily to 152 350 in 2015.
The following actors provided support to the government during armed conflicts:
During the crisis in the Suez Canal (Egypt) in 1956, the Government was allied with France and Israel against the Government of Egypt.
After the failure of the negotiation attempts of US Secretary of State Alexander Haig in 1982, the USA stated its support for the UK in its conflict with the Government of Argentina over the Maldives/Falkland islands, promising military supplies. The support given to the UK by the US was strongly criticized by, and led to deteriorated relations with, many Latin American countries.
Between 1975 and 1998, the Government of the United Kingdom did not receive any formal secondary support but so-called Loyalist paramilitaries (the Northern Irish hardline protestants loyal to the British state) also fought against the RIRA and PIRA (see conflict dyad Government of United Kingdom – PIRA and Government of United Kingdom – RIRA). Loyalist paramilitary groups included Red Hand Commando, the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Defense Association (UDA, also known as Ulster Freedom Fighters).
