Scotsman's review of the year 2: Elections, Queen's jubilee, and Partygate intensifies

Continuing our look at 2022, we examine the main events from April to June

The Royal Family at the Platinum jubilee celebrations

APRIL

Clear signs began to emerge that Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was faltering. The Russian leader threatened to turn off Europe’s gas supplies if “unfriendly” foreign countries refused to pay in roubles.

The head of Britain’s armed forces, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, said Putin had been “misled” about the effectiveness of Russian forces, that his bid to take all of Ukraine had “fallen apart” and there were “early indications” Moscow was withdrawing troops from Kyiv.

Nicola Sturgeon meets candidates at the council election count in Glasgow on May 6 (Picture: Peter Summers/Getty Images)

Russia then faced further accusations of war crimes as withdrawing troops left behind a trail of destruction. In Bucha, north west of Kyiv, bodies of civilians were found with bound hands, close range gunshot wounds and signs of torture.

As the images from Bucha made their way around the world, US president Joe Biden described Putin as a “war criminal”.

Britain and Western allies unveiled a raft of new sanctions against Putin’s family and regime. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss announced the UK would end all imports of Russian coal and oil by the end of the year.

At Westminster the government unveiled a long-awaited energy strategy including plans to boost North Sea oil and gas production. However at Holyrood SNP ministers said the proposals were “bitterly disappointing” and that new nuclear power stations would not be “imposed” on Scotland.

Boris Johnson claimed to have no knowledge of parties at his house, or that he'd attended one

Labour leaders Sir Keir Starmer and Anas Sarwar warned Scotland risked “paying the price” of the SNP’s opposition to nuclear power in lost jobs and opportunities.

Meanwhile, councillors in Edinburgh voted for a ban on strip clubs in the city, despite warnings from workers in the industry that they would face legal action over the move.

Pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson continued to intensify as the Metropolitan Police announced he had been fined for attending his own birthday party in Downing Street in June 2020, making him the first sitting prime minister to have been found to have broken the law while in office. Chancellor Rishi Sunak was also fined.

A doctor who was awarded an MBE for services for medicine was convicted of abusing female patients for more than three decades. Krishna Singh was found guilty at the High Court in Glasgow of numerous sex offences against 48 victims.

The legal requirement to wear a face mask indoors ended as it emerged Nicola Sturgeon had been reported to police for breaching the rules on a campaign visit. The First Minister apologised and police said no further action would be taken.

French president Emmanuel Macron was re-elected, comfortably defeating nationalist Marine Le Pen.

Tennis star Boris Becker was jailed for two-and-a-half years for hiding £2.5 million in assets and loans to avoid paying debts.

MAY

Comedian Sir Billy Connolly was awarded the Bafta Fellowship. Sir Billy, who has Parkinson’s disease, retired from live performances in 2018.

As the cost-of-living crisis deepened, the Bank of England warned the UK economy could plunge into a slow-burn recession, with soaring inflation set to hit a 40-year high in the autumn. The bank hiked interest rates to a 13-year record of 1 per cent.

The Scottish Conservatives dropped from second to third behind Labour in the local elections, damaged by the Partygate scandal at Westminster. The SNP narrowly held on to Glasgow City Council but lost control of Edinburgh.

Russian forces continued to commit atrocities in Ukraine, where a bomb flattened a school sheltering around 90 people in Luhansk province.

John Swinney denied giving the “final nod” to the botched ferries fiasco contract but confirmed he did give it “budget approval” after further details emerged over the construction of two CalMac ferries. The vessels are more than five years late and are expected to have cost more than £300m when they are eventually completed - three times the initial contract.

ScotRail announced major cuts to services with last trains leaving hours earlier than normal because of unofficial action from drivers not volunteering to work overtime. The Scottish-Government-run operator was unable to guarantee a return to normal service in time for major events such as the Edinburgh festivals.

Monkeypox began spreading through community transmission, with 20 confirmed cases in the UK and nine countries outside of central and west Africa also reporting outbreaks.

Mr Johnson faces fresh allegations of misleading Parliament as photographs emerged of him raising a glass at a leaving party held in Downing Street in November 2020, eight days after the Prime Minister imposed England’s second coronavirus lockdown.

Two days later, a long-awaited report into the Partygate scandale revealed a culture of Covid law breaking at Downing Street.

Ms Sturgeon overtook her predecessor Alex Salmond to become Scotland’s longest-serving first minister.

Mr Sunak unveiled a £15bn package of emergency measures to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, including a £400 discount for millions of households on soaring energy bills.

JUNE

The Queen took centre stage at her Platinum Jubilee celebrations as she greeted crowds from the Buckingham Palace balcony surrounded by her family.

However she missed the National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral the following day after suffering what palace officials described as “some discomfort” and “episodic mobility issues”.

Mr Johnson was again fighting for his political survival over Partygate after he survived a rebellion of Tory MPs in a vote of no-confidence.

Ms Sturgeon, meanwhile, launched another drive for a second referendum on independence with the first in a series of papers “making afresh” the case for leaving the UK.

At a Bute House press conference, she conceded a trade border would be created with England if an independent Scotland joined the EU.

Swimming’s world governing body voted to stop transgender athletes competing in women’s elite races. Fina said it would aim to establish an “open” category for swimmers whose gender identity is different from their sex.

The victim at the centre of sexual harassment allegations against Patrick Grady, the SNP’s chief whip at Westminster, said he was considering taking legal action against the party. The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford faced calls to quit over his handling of the allegations.

Mr Grady was found by an independent panel to have behaved inappropriately towards a colleague 17 years younger than him at a social event in 2016. He was suspended from Westminster for two days and effectively resigned his party membership while police investigate.

There was anger as it emerged the Scottish Government had still not decided what to do with £41m it had received from the UK government to alleviate the cost-of-living crisis, almost a month after the funding was announced. Meanwhile, Downing Street announced it would be “reckless” to raise public sector pay in line with inflation, which continued to rise.

As the public sector continued to feel the squeeze, Police Scotland Chief Constable Sir Iain Livingstone warned officer numbers may have to be cut as the force faced a multimillion-pound funding gap.

The US Supreme Court ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place for 50 years, with the conservative majority overturning Roe versus Wade. The decision was expected to lead to bans in roughly half of US states.

Ms Sturgeon proposed her date for an independence referendum of October 19 2023. If Supreme Court judges rules it was outwith the competence of Holyrood to legislate for such a vote, she claimed the next general election would be a “de facto referendum” on independence.

The following day a poll found just 40 per cent backed the SNP leader’s preferred timeline.