Politicians like Liz Truss, Donald Trump, Zia Yusuf, Nigel Farage, Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner have all caused a stir this year 2025 was nothing short of an assault on the senses, with government U-turns giving voters whiplash and international politicians making even more jaw-dropping statements than usual. You might be forgiven for deliberately trying many of these outrageous moments from your memory over the year. But, on the off-chance you might want to remember them again, here’s an incomplete list of some of the weirder political incidents from the last 12 months... 1. Liz Truss Gets Her Lawyers On Starmer The former prime minister started the year off by setting her legal team on Starmer with a “cease and desist” letter, calling on him to stop saying she had “crashed the economy”. Truss alleged it was a “false and defamatory” claim which impacted her in the run-up to her losing her South West Norfolk in the July 2024 general election. The PM’s spokesperson hit back by claiming she should apologise to the millions of people across the UK for her actions. The former prime minister – who holds the title for the shortest premiership in UK history – has popped up repeatedly ever since, calling for “Trump Revolution” in Britain. She also launched her own YouTube show earlier this month, about trying to “save our country from the doom loop” it is in. 2. Elon Musk’s ‘Nazi Salute’ Musk, who started the year off as Trump’s right-hand man and leader of DOGE (department of government efficiency), appeared to make the Nazi salute at a Trump rally in January. He denied it, of course, claiming: “The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.” It was around this time that Musk amped up his attacks on the UK government, alleging senior Labour politicians were covering up the grooming gangs scandal and suggesting Starmer should go to prison. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during the inaugural parade inside Capitol One Arena, in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. 3. Reform UK Takes The Lead In The Polls Yes, a party which had five MPs elected for the first time in July 2024 swept to the top of the polls earlier this year , tearing up the UK’s long-running two-party political system. It has kept up the momentum, too – as of December, Reform claims to be the largest party in UK politics with 270,000 members. 4. Trump’s Bust-Up With Zelenskyy In The Oval Office The US president had an extraordinary showdown with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office in February. Although the US has been a keen ally to Ukraine throughout Russia’s invasion, Trump turned this friendship on its head when he and his vice-president JD Vance accused Zelenskyy of being “disrespectful” and of not holding “the cards” in the war. The Ukrainian president ended up leaving the White House early. 5. Starmer Woos Trump With ‘Special’ Royal Letter In bizarre attempt to win over the US president, the PM offered him a letter directly from King Charles , in front of the cameras, inviting Trump for an unprecedented second state visit. Starmer reminded the president: “This is really special. This has never happened before!” Keen royal fan Trump made the official trip across the pond in September – and decided to trash talk the UK jus days later, falsely accusing London mayor Sadiq Khan of trying to bring Sharia law into the country. 6. Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ Shock The US president unveiled a comically large board of all the levies he was slapping on almost all foreign goods being sold in America in April. That included a 10% tax on British goods being sold into the US, matching the tariff the UK puts on imports from America. He also caused a trade war with China after it was slapped with a 34% tariff and a global market crash. 7. Singing Ex-Tory Minister Becomes Reform’s First Mayor Andrea Jenkyns – known for putting her middle finger up at a furious crowd outside Downing Street during Boris Johnson’s premiership – was elected as the mayor of Greater Lincolnshire in May. She started the new job by suggesting putting up asylum seekers in tents rather than hotels. Jenkyns, a trained opera singer, caused a stir again at Reform’s annual conference in September when she strode onto the stage in a sparkling jumpsuit to a recording of a her self-penned song ,“I’m An Insomniac”. *sound on* This is Andrea Jenkyns's ACTUAL singing entrance to the Reform UK conference. Utter crackpots. And anyone who thinks this kind of idiotic look-at-me amateurs are how this country will "rediscover its pride" needs to have a lie-down. pic.twitter.com/uI8c1pwTAF — Alex Andreou (@sturdyAlex) September 5, 2025 8. Starmer’s ‘Island of Strangers’ Warning The prime minister caused alarm across the country with his controversial attempt to justify the government’s crackdown on immigration. He said in May that countries rely on “fair rules”, adding: “In a diverse nation like ours, and I celebrate that, these rules become even more important. “Without them, we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together.” Critics compared the wording to former Tory MP Enoch Powell’s infamous anti-immigration “Rivers of Blood” speech from 1968. Starmer later expressed regret over that wording, adding: “I wouldn’t have used those words if I had known they were, or even would be interpreted as an echo of Powell. “I had no idea – and my speechwriters didn’t know either. But that particular phrase – no – it wasn’t right. I’ll give you the honest truth: I deeply regret using it.” 9. Farage Claims Labour Leader Wants ‘South Asians To Take Over’ Reform UK leader Nigel Farage sparked a row after wrongly claiming Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar once said he wants the South Asian community to “take over the world”. It came as the party faced criticism over a “racist” election video which falsely accused Sarwar of wanting to “prioritise” Pakistanis over other people. 10. Zia Yusuf’s 48-Hour Resignation The unelected politician quit as Reform’s chairman in June after saying it was “dumb” of one of the party’s new MPs to ask the PM if he would ban the burqa. His sudden resignation caused a major stir in Westminster –  but no sooner had he quit than he announced his return. He became the head of Reform’s Doge unit, inspired by the US’s “department of government efficiency”, and became a spokesperson. As of September 2025, he had moved jobs again to become the party’s head of policy. Britain's Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage reacts standing beside Andrea Jenkyns , left, and Zia Yusuf during the Reform party's annual conference at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. 11. Trump-Musk’s Remarkable Breakup Less than six months after the world’s richest man took on an advisory role with the world’s most powerful man – and the pair seemed inseparable – Musk suddenly quit in the spring. It came after he criticised Trump’s sweeping budget bill and began to distance himself from the president’s trade war. Their relationship soured further in June, when the president’s claimed Musk had “Trump derangement syndrome” – and the SpaceX boss claimed without evidence that the president was in the “Epstein files”. Though his department was meant to continue without Musk, Doge officially closed in November, less than a year old. 12. Homelessness Minister Quits After Evicting Tenants Labour MP Rushanara Ali told the four tenants who lived in her east London house they would not have their lease renewed last November, giving them four months notice to leave. It was then re-listed with an extra £700 added to the rent. She quickly left government in August, saying staying in her role “will be a distraction from the ambitious work of the government”. It was a major blow to Labour’s promise to improve renters’ rights and critics quickly accused her of hypocrisy. 13. Peter Mandelson Sacked As Ambassador To Washington Starmer faced even more headaches when, shortly after Ali’s scandal, another emerged. Labour peer Mandelson was removed from his post as US ambassador over a row about his links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. It came after the House Oversight Committee in the States revealed Mandelson told Epstein in an email that “your friends stay with you and love you” even as he was facing child underage sex charges in 2008. The PM initially insisted he still had “confidence” in Mandelson, but sacked him than 24 hours later. The Foreign Office explained: “The emails show that the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment.” The government is still on the hunt for his replacement. The UK's former Ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, speaks during a welcome reception for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, at the ambassador's residence on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025 in Washington, DC. 14. Angela Rayner Resigns Over Stamp Duty Scandal More chaos ensued when, just days later, the deputy prime minister quit. The PM’s ethics adviser found Rayner had breached the ministerial code by underpaying on a staggering £40,000 of stamp duty when purchasing a new home. Rayner also left her role as housing, communities and local government secretary as well as her job as deputy Labour leader over the scandal which left a huge hole at the top of government. Rayner said she “deeply regretted” that the error had been made, and Starmer has made it clear he would like her to return to government. 15. Reform Platform Anti-Vaxxer Dr Aseem Malhotra, an adviser to US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, used the Reform UK conference to openly speculate about a line between the Covid vaccine and the King’s cancer in September. Reform insists it is not a home to conspiracy theorists, but Malhotra was allowed to suggest vaccines “created havoc” in the human body on a Reform platform. Reform deputy leader Richard Tice insisted this was all part of “free speech”, while a spokesperson told the BBC: “Reform UK does not endorse what he said but does believe in free speech.” 16. Corbyn’s New Party Off To A Rocky Start The former Labour leader announced a new left-wing group with fellow ex-Labour MP, Zarah Sultana, in August – and called it Your Party. However it has lurched from crisis to crisis since, and it’s hard to choose just one standout moment from the entire saga. While at one stage it had six independent MPs signed up, two MPs quit within the same week in November over “infighting” and “false allegations”. That all came after separate disputes around opening a membership portal, handling party donations, claims it has become a “sexist boys club” and questions over who would lead the group. 17. Labour Take Flag-Waving Too Far In amidst the political takedowns and resignations, Labour also made headlines at the end of the summer for being a little too patriotic. The government was widely mocked after trying to reclaim the Union Jack and the St George’s Flag from the anti-refugee far-right riots in the summer. The home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “We actually have Union Jack bunting on our garden shed at the moment, I’ve got St George’s flags, I’ve got St George’s bunting, I’ve got the Yorkshire Rose bunting as well, I’ve got Union Jack flags and tablecloths... we’ve got the lot.” Starmer similarly insisted that he is the Labour leader who put the Union Jack on the party membership cards and that he has sat “in front of a Union Jack” for years. Critics naturally said it was a moment of surreal parody. Asked if she's got a flag on display in her home, the Home Secretary says she has Union Jack bunting, St Georges flags, St Georges bunting, and Union Jack flags and tablecloths. pic.twitter.com/gvYsfMqOrf — Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) September 2, 2025 18. Reform UK MP Gets Into Race Row Over Aderts Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin told TalkTV earlier this year: “It drives me mad when I see adverts full of black people, full of Asian people, you know people who are anything other than white.” Following intense backlash, she released a statement saying her comments were “phrased poorly”, adding: “I unreservedly apologise for any offence caused.” But, she insisted: “British TV adverts have gone DEI [diversity, equity, inclusion] mad.” Farage later defended her, admitting her comments were “ugly” but that he was not taking more action against her because he does not think the intention behind her words were “racist”. 19. Migrant Sex Offender Accidentally Released – Then Paid To Leave Hadush Kebatu was jailed earlier this year after sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman while living in an asylum hotel in Epping, Essex. However, he was mistakenly freed from prison in October – prompting nationwide outrage – and re-arrested two days later. In another comical twist, he was then paid £500 to leave quietly a few days later. It seems Kebatu threatened to disrupt his deportation so the removals teams accompanying him handed him a small sum to ensure he left the country rather than rack up legal fees fighting his case. 20. Rachel Reeves’ Property Saga The chancellor appeared to be roped into a scandal of her own in October when it emerged that she failed to obtain a rental licence before allowing tenants to move into her family home, thus breaking property law. It raised questions about whether the government could even follow its own rules. However, speculation that she might have to resign soon fizzled out after the PM’s independent watchdog Sir Laurie Magnus said there was no need for a probe. It later emerged that the estate agent Harvey and Wheeler had offered to apply for the necessary rental licence on the chancellor’s home but failed to do so. 21. Trump Threatens To Sue BBC Over Speech Edit Panorama was criticised after a leaked internal BBC memo found an episode from October 2024 had altered the US president’s speech to his supporters back in January 6, 2021. Critics said the edit implied Trump had incited a riot – and the US president quickly called for $1 billion in compensation. Two BBC executives quit and a board member resigned over the incident. The organisation then apologised and promised to never again show the episode in question, but has so far refused to pay any money over to the president. Trump responding by demanding up $5 billion. In December, he filed a lawsuit asking for $5bn in damages for defamation, as well as the same amount for a claim of violating trade practices. 22. The White House Issues Alarming Anti-Europe Message In its new national security plan released in December, the Trump administration warned about Europe becoming less white amid “civilisation erasure” in the continent amid a rise in immigration. Without evidence, the document claims that “within a few decades at the latest, certain Nato members will become majority non-European.” It also alleges: “Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognisable in 20 years or less.” What does this mean for 2026? Honestly? All bets are off when it comes to predicting the year ahead... Related... Angela Rayner Declines To Rule Out A Return To Frontline Politics As Chaos Continues In No.10 Tory Peer Ken Clarke Pinpoints Why The Public Are So Exasperated With Politics Right Now Why A Welsh Parliament By-Election Could Signal A Seismic Shift In UK Politics Ed Miliband Sends Stark Warning To Elon Musk: 'Get The Hell Out Of Our Politics'