2010: Britain's Defining Moments

Below are some of the major events which have affected Britain over the course of this year. A personal list to be sure; there are many other episodes and incidents which could have been included. Over the last few days I've been asking friends to put the list in order of importance; it's fun to see the variations. In no particular order, obviously, we have:

• The royal engagement

• Gordon Brown's "bigot" comment

• Engerland knocked out of the World Cup by Germany

• Tuition fees riots

• Closure of UK air space because of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano

• The first Coalition press conference

• Glen Miliband becoming leader of the Labour Party

• Engerland losing the 2018 World Cup bid

• The Pope's visit

• Cumbria's shootings

• Tony Bliar facing the Iraq War Inquiry

• George Osborne announcing huge spending cuts

• Our harsh winter weather

• The first televised political party leaders' debate

As for trends, the Pope's visit came in poorly; sport attracted much more interest. The bad weather, being current, was a strong performer but the royal wedding threatened to go negative, its very inclusion challenged more than once. And the winner? Iceland's disruptive volcano, even more memorable than Glen Miliband's unconvincing Labour leadership win.