had either never won before or had not produced a Tory majority in several decades. These results prompted observations from a number of political analysts in both the United Kingdom and abroad that the Conservatives under Johnson had widened their appeal to working class voters, particularly among those who had voted for Brexit. Having previously been split on the issue of British membership of the European Union since the premiership of John Major, the Conservatives adopted a clear pro-Brexit line under Johnson. In late December 2019, a number of far-right activists claimed to have joined the Conservatives, prompting criticism by David Lammy over entryism. On 20 December 2019, MPs passed an agreement for withdrawing from the EU, the United Kingdom formally left at 11pm on 31 January 2020. This began a transitional period, in which agreements between the UK and the EU would remain the same until 31 December 2020. Johnson presided over the UK's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Johnson initially held off on enacting lockdown measures, instead choosing to provide soft advice and protect vulnerable groups. With a rising death toll and hospital admission rate, Johnson later decided to enact a national lockdown on 23 March 2020. Johnson himself caught coronavirus during this period, and was moved to an intensive care unit on 7 April. Dominic Raab, who had been appointed First Secretary of State, deputised for Johnson whilst he was sick. Johnson later recovered from his illness, and returned to work on 27 April. Throughout May to July, COVID-19 restrictions began to ease in England. Johnson received criticism in May 2020 for his handling of the Dominic Cummings scandal, in which Johnson's chief advisor Dominic Cummings was accused of breaking lockdown rules by travelling from London to County Durham whilst experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. Johnson defended Cummings' actions and refused to fire him. With a significant increase in incidences of coronavirus during Winter 2020, Johnson enacted a system of tiered restrictions, in which areas across England would have varying levels of restrictions based on the number of cases in the area. The plan was criticised by some as ineffective, with some suggesting stricter lockdowns were being imposed on areas in northern England, increasing the north–south divide. Johnson again presided over a second strict lockdown, initially focusing on London and the south east on 20 December before increasing to the entire country two weeks later, due to the