ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the UK government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. The first section sets out a timeline of the restrictions and support measures that the government implemented up to October 2020. The second part places these actions in the context of the shift that the UK state has undertaken post-1979 from social democracy towards the competition state. It explores the development of the legacy of Margaret Thatcher by subsequent UK governments. The third part examines the ideological roots of the UK government’s coronavirus policies, highlighting the libertarian instincts of Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his followers, the government’s belief in the UK’s national superiority and Johnson’s associated attempt to style himself as a political heir to Winston Churchill, and the effects of the Brexit process on the UK government’s response to the pandemic. The chapter concludes by highlighting the continuing resilience of many UK institutions both within and outside the state, which act as partial counter-weights to the questionable competence of the UK government in this crucial area.
