In Pictures: Trump, tears and taxes feature in the best political images of 2025

Another year has passed in UK politics and the Press Association’s photographers were there to document it all with some remarkable images.

Donald Trump returned to the White House at the start of 2025 with a plan to implement a series of tariffs as part of his foreign trade policy.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, keen to minimise the effect of any tariffs on the UK economy and agree a trade deal with the US, jetted off to Washington DC in February armed with a letter from the King inviting Mr Trump to an unprecedented second state visit.

A UK-US trade deal was agreed a few months later in May and hailed as a success by the Government.

Sir Keir’s strategy in pursuit of the deal split opinion, with some calling for a more muscular approach to the US president. The optics of the Prime Minister picking up papers at the feet of Mr Trump after the president dropped them at the G7 in June added fuel to his critics’ fire.

The then-foreign secretary David Lammy did his bit for Anglo-American relations in 2025 too as he joined JD Vance for a spot of fishing during the US vice president’s holiday to the Cotswolds in August.

Mr Trump’s second full state visit to the UK went ahead in September. The highlights included a royal welcome and state banquet for the president and the signing of a technology and investment deal between the two countries.

Foreign diplomacy has been a key feature of Sir Keir’s time in Number 10 and he met on numerous occasions with world leaders during his first full year as Prime Minister.

Sir Keir convened a so-called coalition of the willing in 2025 made up of countries pledging strengthened support for Ukraine against Russian aggression.

Back home it has been a bruising year for the Prime Minister on a number of different fronts.

The Government U-turned on some policies such as the winter fuel allowance and welfare cuts after criticism from opposition MPs and some on the back benches. And Labour, as well as the Tories, suffered heavy losses during May’s local elections.

The Government rolled out a number of key policies during 2025 including more NHS funding to cut waiting lists, increasing the national minimum wage and free school breakfast clubs.

But September brought Angela Rayner’s resignation as both Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy leader of the Labour Party after she admitted to underpaying stamp duty on a seaside flat in Hove.

It has been a tough year for the Chancellor, too, who made headlines in July while appearing to cry on the front bench while sitting behind Sir Keir during Prime Minister’s Questions in July.

Rachel Reeves delivered her Budget towards the end of November, scrapping the two-child benefit cap and increasing the minimum wage while also laying out a series of tax rises.

Following changes to inheritance tax, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch was quick to capitalise on the Government’s unpopularity among farmers in 2025 with a strong photo opportunity.

The Tory leader also showed her support for British troops during a visit to an Army barracks in her constituency.

Another year meant more opportunities for eye-catching stunts from Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey.

The year ended with Reform UK riding high in the opinion polls. The party’s leader Nigel Farage celebrated adding another MP to his ranks in May when Sarah Pochin won a by-election in Runcorn and Helsby by six votes.

Reform UK also welcomed a number of high-profile defectors from the Conservative Party during 2025 including sitting MP Danny Kruger, former deputy Tory chairman Jonathan Gullis and ex-minister Nadine Dorries.

Dame Andrea Jenkyns defected to Reform UK in November 2024. The Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire made an eyebrow-raising appearance at the Reform UK conference in 2025 when she performed a song she’d self-penned in front of the party faithful.

The mind boggles at what lies ahead in 2026…