England

Gender
Women made up 10% of the country's military force in 2015, but were not allowed to serve in units whose primary purpose was to engage with and kill enemies. In conjunction with the United States saying it would let women serve in all combat roles in December 2015, Prime Minister David Cameron stated that he wanted to see the rules changed when the review would deliver its findings in mid-2016.

European Union
Europe divided the Conservative Party for three decades and played a major part in the downfall of two of Cameron's two Conservative predecessors, Margaret Thatcher and John Major.

Prime Minister Cameron's trip to Brussels in mid-December 2015 exposed divisions in his party over Britain's relationship with the EU. Ahead of a 2017 referendum on whether to remain in the European Union, skeptical Conservatives underlined the challenge he faced to maintain his authority, in which the failure to manage the divisions within the party weakened Cameron's ability to persuade Britons to stay in the bloc. Conservative opponents proposed quitting the bloc and engaging in a top-level rebellion.

United States
Britain was a close ally of the United States, including in the Western military campaign targeting Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria. After the San Bernardino, California shooting in early December 2015, Donald Trump's call for a ban on all Muslims entering the U.S. prompted international outrage and sparked a debate on a petition signed by more than half a million to bar Trump from the country.

Law Enforcement and Crime
Unlike most forces around the world, British police were not routinely armed and by 2015, just over 2,000 of London's 31,000 officers were able to carry guns. On December 11, 2015, 28-year-old Jermaine Baker was killed by a British police officer during an alleged attempt to help two men escape from a prison van in north London; a week later, the officer was arrested in a case with marked parallels to that which sparked days of riots and looting across the country in 2011. The case sparked calls for police, even undercover ones, such as the officer involved in the incident, to wear body cameras.

Terrorism
Following the attacks by Islamic militants in Paris on November 13, 2015, which killed 130 people, London police looked to increase the number of armed officers on patrol and greater legal protection for shooting suspected criminals against prosecution.