The business of Brexit: a dramatic year in Westminster

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Republican Donald Trump goes into 2017 as President-elect of the United States but his comments on the campaign trail angered many - and a petition to Parliament called for him to be banned from the UK for "hate speech".

It followed Mr Trump's call for a "total and complete" shutdown on Muslims entering the US, after a Muslim couple, believed to have been radicalised, opened fire and killed 14 people at a health centre in San Bernardino, California.

Petitions with over 100,000 signatures are eligible to be debated in Parliament. The petition to ban Mr Trump attracted a record 586,932 signatures by the time it closed and MPs debated it in the Commons' second chamber, Westminster Hall.

Veteran Labour MP Paul Flynn, who led the debate, said he did not want to see Mr Trump banned from the UK as it would hand the Republican candidate a publicity coup. More than 40,000 people signed a counter-petition, arguing that it would be "totally illogical" to ban him.

The government called Mr Trump's remarks about Muslims "divisive, unhelpful and wrong" but declined to bar him from the UK. In November, Downing Street said a state visit by the US President-elect could be on the cards.

Remember the "long-term economic plan"? That was still the government's mantra as Chancellor George Osborne delivered his Budget speech to Parliament in March, committing to a surplus in the public finances by 2020.

Mr Osborne was upbeat about the economy amid discussions of his chances of replacing his boss, David Cameron, as Conservative leader. However, events played out very differently as the fallout from the EU referendum in June toppled both men.

By the autumn, new Chancellor Philip Hammond had dropped his predecessor's deficit target, telling MPs that government finances could be £122bn worse off than previously expected by 2020.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn attacked Mr Osborne for making cuts in personal independence payments for people with disabilities while corporation tax was being cut, and said austerity was a "political choice".

However, some of Mr Corbyn's own MPs were less than impressed with their leader's performance, as rumours of a possible challenge to his position did the rounds at Westminster.

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Peers inflicted a number of defeats on the government in 2016, including backing the so-called "Dubs amendment" to the Immigration Bill.

Labour peer Lord Dubs, who arrived in the UK in 1939 as a six-year-old refugee fleeing the persecution of Jews in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, tabled amendments to require the UK to accept unaccompanied child refugees in continental Europe.

The Lords backed the first version of the amendment, to accept 3,000 unaccompanied children, on 21 March but the Commons later overturned the result of the vote. In April a revised amendment, saying the number of children was to be agreed between the government and local authorities, was successful.

In October Home Secretary Amber Rudd committed the UK to accepting "several hundred" children as French authorities cleared the "Jungle" camp in Calais.

May saw the traditional State Opening of Parliament as the Queen set out the government's legislative programme for the forthcoming parliamentary session.

Planned new laws included the biggest prison shake-up in England and Wales "since Victorian times", plus support for a spaceport and driverless cars - but a planned British Bill of Rights was put on hold.

Prime Minister David Cameron told MPs: "This is a Queen's Speech that combines economic security with extending life chances for all, it's the Queen's Speech of a progressive, one nation Conservative government."

But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told the Commons: "This government is failing to deliver an economy that meets the needs and aspirations of the people that sent us here."

And SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson said: "When the prime minister talks about this being a one nation Queen's Speech, we on these benches know which nation he's talking about."

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There were 20 new bills announced in the 2016 Queen's Speech. Less than two months later, David Cameron was gone and Theresa May was in charge.

Some of the bills announced are still making their way through Parliament, such as the Digital Economy Bill, which includes restrictions on access to online pornography, and the Wales Bill, which devolves more powers to the Welsh Assembly.

However, the mainly England-only Education for All Bill was one of the casualties of the change of PM. The bill had the goal of converting every school in England into an academy (education is devolved in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).

However, widespread opposition to plans for primary schools to become academies, including in Tory ranks, led to the policy being dropped. By October, the government had ditched the bill, as Theresa May raised the possibility of new grammar schools instead.

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On 16 June 2016, the Labour MP for Batley and Spen, Jo Cox, died after she was shot and stabbed in her constituency.

She was the first sitting MP to be killed since 1990, when Conservative MP Ian Gow was the last in a string of politicians to die at the hands of Northern Irish terror groups.

Vote Leave and Remain both suspended campaigning in the EU referendum in light of the attack and MPs returned from a campaign recess to pay tribute in the Commons on 20 June.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the country had "lost one of our very best" and Prime Minister David Cameron said Jo Cox was a "loving, determined, passionate and progressive politician".

And BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg wrote that "the day was always improved if you bumped into her". 

You can read Jo Cox's obituary here.

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After an often bitter campaign, on 23 June voters finally had their say on whether the UK remains in the European Union or leaves.

With his party divided, David Cameron had promised a referendum on EU membership in the Conservatives' 2015 election manifesto.

Mr Cameron campaigned for a Remain vote, but by the wee hours of 24 June 2016, it became clear that the result had not gone the PM's way. The UK as a whole voted 52% to 48% to leave the EU, despite London, Scotland and Northern Ireland backing staying in.

Speaking outside 10 Downing Street, Mr Cameron said "fresh leadership" was needed.

Events now began to move at dizzying speed. Bear with us...

UKIP leader Nigel Farage hailed it as the UK's "independence day", while Boris Johnson, who had campaigned for Leave, said the result would not mean "pulling up the drawbridge".

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she was "absolutely determined" to keep Scotland in the EU so a second Scottish independence referendum was now "highly likely".

Sinn Fein called for vote on a united Ireland amid concern over the future of the land border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. And Spain called for joint sovereignty over Gibraltar, which voted heavily for Remain.

Also moving at dizzying speed were events in the Labour Party.

Within days of the EU referendum result, many senior Labour MPs were in open revolt against their leader, who faced a vote of no confidence over claims he was "lacklustre" in campaigning for Remain.

It began early on Sunday 26 June, when shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn told Jeremy Corbyn in a phone call that he "had lost confidence in his ability to lead the party". Mr Corbyn promptly sacked him - and a wave of resignations from the front bench team followed.

Jeremy Corbyn lost 12 of his shadow cabinet on Sunday, another on Monday, and several shadow ministers. Most criticised his EU referendum campaign input.

However, by Monday he had begun to unveil a new top team, including Emily Thornberry, who replaced Mr Benn as shadow foreign secretary, and Diane Abbott, who became shadow home secretary.

Amidst the fallout from the EU referendum, the Iraq War inquiry published its long-awaited report on the 2003 invasion.

Chairman Sir John Chilcot made some damning comments about former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair, saying he overstated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein, sent ill-prepared troops into battle and had "wholly inadequate" plans for the aftermath.

Sir John also said the 2003 invasion was not the "last resort" action presented to MPs and the public. There was no "imminent threat" from Saddam - and the intelligence case was "not justified", he said.

The report, which was 2.6 million words, did not make a judgement on whether Mr Blair or his ministers were in breach of international law.  

While his successors debated the report in the Commons, Mr Blair made an appearance before the media. He apologised for any mistakes made but not the decision to go to war.

You can read the full report on the inquiry's website.

Things had changed at the top of Labour since Tony Blair's time. Jeremy Corbyn, a staunch opponent of the war and who voted against the invasion when a backbench MP, responded for the opposition in the Commons.

He said the invasion was "an act of military aggression, launched on a false pretext... and has long been regarded as illegal by the overwhelming weight of international legal opinion".

During his speech, the Labour leader was heckled by some on his own side.

SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson, whose party had opposed the invasion in 2003, called it "the UK’s most shameful foreign policy action in decades".

They followed Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, who said the UK must "learn the lessons" of the Iraq War inquiry - but there were times when it was right to intervene in a foreign country and the UK would "not shrink from the world stage".

While Jeremy Corbyn battled on against his Labour critics, David Cameron found the end of his leadership of the Conservative Party arrived more quickly than he expected.

Get ready for more dizziness...

Many thought the result of the EU referendum put Boris Johnson in pole position to become the next prime minister, but he ruled himself out of the race, after fellow Brexit campaigner Michael Gove's equally surprising announcement that he too fancied the top job.

Many Conservatives saw Mr Gove's move as treachery and he later withdrew, as did other contenders: former Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb and former cabinet minister Liam Fox.

It came down to a straight fight between Home Secretary Theresa May and Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom, whose profile had been raised by a prominent role in the EU Leave campaign. They were to face a run-off vote of Conservative Party members, with a winner expected at the end of the summer.

But by Monday 11 June, Mrs Leadsom had also pulled out, having apologised to Mrs May after suggesting in a weekend newspaper interview that being a mother made her a better candidate for the job. A source close to the energy minister told BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg "the abuse has been too great" for Mrs Leadsom during the contest.

So, two days later, David Cameron made his final appearance at Prime Minister's Questions and by the close of the day, Theresa May was installed in 10 Downing Street.

One week after becoming Prime Minister, Theresa May made her PMQs debut, going head to head with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

As the two leaders clashed on workers' rights, Mrs May likened the Labour leader to an "unscrupulous boss", suggesting Labour frontbenchers had to "double their workload" while Mr Corbyn "exploits the rules to further his own career".

Mr Corbyn said Tories might find economic insecurity "funny" but millions of people did not.

The Labour leader said the government's economic plan had "failed".

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron put the last question to Theresa May, reminding her of the time the two of them stood as candidates in North West Durham at the 1992 election.

Mrs May replied that little did the voters there realise that two of the losing candidates would go on to be party leaders. She then ensured a light-hearted end to the session as she added that "my party's a little bit bigger than his".

• "It was as confident as David Cameron in his early days as prime minister... there were one or two notes that echoed of Margaret Thatcher back in the day - she was much more fluent than Margaret Thatcher was at the beginning of her premiership." John Pienaar, BBC deputy political editor
• "To me that performance showed we have picked the right person." Conservative MP and Daily Politics guest Gavin Barwell
• "Theresa May's style was actually quite refreshing, a move away from 'Flashman Cameron'." Labour MP and Daily Politics guest Cat Smith
• "She was chosen as Tory leader primarily for her competence and today it was on display. But she was not selected for her comedy skills, and that made her Thatcher moment rather odd." Andrew Sparrow, The Guardian
• "This was Maggie May. No wonder the Tory MPs were delighted at this competent debut and the Labour ones despondent. The Labour leader ploughs a worthy field but he must find a better way of presenting his case." Jason Beattie, Daily Mirror
• "So much for safe, sensible Mrs May. More like 'the bruiser from No 10'." Norman Smith, BBC assistant political editor

After a summer of Labour infighting, Jeremy Corbyn emerged victorious following a leadership challenge by former frontbencher Owen Smith.

Unlike the severely truncated Conservative leadership contest, Mr Corbyn and Mr Smith held a number of leadership debates before submitting to a vote of party members, trade unions and affiliates.

After Mr Corbyn won with 61.8% of the vote, Mr Smith congratulated his opponent on a "decisive" victory, adding: "Having won the party, he needs to win the country."

The divisions within Labour had been so great that many had predicted the party would split, as occurred in the early 1980s when the Social Democratic Party (SDP) broke away. Before the leadership election, former cabinet minister Ed Balls had warned that that course would be "disastrous".

As Labour's conference got under way in Liverpool, shadow chancellor and Corbyn ally John McDonnell said he thought an early general election was on the cards, despite Prime Minister Theresa May saying there would not be one before 2020.

MPs were visibly moved during a debate on baby loss in the Commons as Labour MP Vicky Foxcroft gave an emotional account of the death of her baby daughter.

The debate was led by Conservative Antoinette Sandbach, who said losing her son was the "most devastating" event a parent can suffer, and by fellow Tory MP Will Quince, who has also lost a child.

Both MPs had spoken in a previous Commons debate about their experiences, but Ms Foxcroft chose to speak for the first time in the chamber about something that she had not told some of her friends about.

She said she had struggled to decide whether to tell her story in the Commons but added: "Ever since I was elected I've always said I want to be the kind of politician who's willing to share my experiences, not for therapy but to empower others and seek to change things for the better."

Speaking about the death of five-day-old Veronica, her "little angel" 23 years ago, Ms Foxcroft said: "The pain does get easier over time, but it never, ever goes away."

She also said that two-to-four-month waiting lists for bereavement care in her London constituency were not good enough.

Another policy casualty of the handover from David Cameron to Theresa May was the government's plan to curb the powers of the House of Lords to block legislation.

The contentious measures would have covered statutory instruments, which enable ministers to change the law without introducing a new bill, subject to parliamentary scrutiny. In October 2015 the House of Lords voted to delay tax credit cuts and to compensate those affected in full.

Chancellor George Osborne, who later dropped the tax credit changes, criticised "unelected Labour and Lib Dem lords" for defying the will of the elected House of Commons. In fact, there were doubts about the policy on tax credits in Conservative ranks, including among the party's MPs, but many Tories were incensed at the actions of the Upper House.

The result was the Strathclyde review, led by a former Tory leader of the Lords, which recommended taking away the absolute veto the Lords had over statutory instruments and instead limiting them to sending the secondary (or delegated) legislation back to the Commons to "think again".

Two Lords committees attacked Lord Strathclyde's recommendations, while Labour called them a "massive over-reaction" to the tax credits defeat and accused ministers of "intimidating" the Lords, where the government does not have an overall majority.

By late 2016 the government had dropped the plans.

There was much analysis of the reasons why, ranging from Theresa May striking a less confrontation note with the Lords to the simple fact that looming Brexit negotiations overshadowed most other matters.