To a large degree UK politics in 2012 was dominated by one thing – money.

Or, should that be, the lack of it. Here is my look at the year just past at Westminster

Money woes

Looking back at the political landscape, the key event that rises above all others from the distant high ground of Westminster was the Coalition's post-modern masterpiece of self-destruction: the "omnishambles" Budget.

From purely journalistic self-interest, it was the story that just kept giving. From the granny tax to the church tax and from the pasty tax to the caravan tax, as well as scrapping the 50p top income tax rate, George Osborne spawned a raft of negative headlines. Then, when MPs were on a mid-term break and not paying much attention, he quietly reversed the collection of unpopular tax hikes.

It was interesting to note that as soon as the Budget began to crumble in the Chancellor's hands, Liberal Democrat sources were ringing journalists to whisper how the tax hikes were nothing to do with them but the tax cut was, of course, their idea. This is a theme that will no doubt go on recurring until the 2015 General Election.

The omnishambles Budget also gave rise to the comical sight of politicians rushing into bakeries to munch on as many Cornish pasties as their mouths would allow.

Constitutional gamesmanship

2012 also saw months of three-dimensional constitutional chess between London and Edinburgh.

Alex Salmond's opening gambit was to declare autumn 2014 would be the timescale for the independence referendum and promoted his preferred question, which some pundits – shockingly – insisted was biased towards getting a yes answer.

David Cameron shamelessly held out the prospect of further powers for Holyrood if Scots voted no to independence, but insisted the time was not right to say what these could be.

There was a lot of games-manship over the so-called Section 30 Order and even threats that if Mr Salmond would not comply to a one question referendum, Westminster would do it anyway.

In May – at a Scotland Office reception to mark the passing of the Scotland Bill into law, giving Holyrood extra tax powers – Mr Cameron caused some of his colleagues to choke on their vol-au-vents. In an unexpected move, he blithely caved in to Mr Salmond's preferred autumn 2014 date for the independence referendum, saying, actually, he was "not fussy" about the timing. This was the Prime Minister, who only weeks earlier had urged the First Minister to stop dithering and get on and call the poll.

Clear yellow water

Differentiation was a key theme for the Coalition in 2012, certainly for the poll-challenged LibDems.

As they came under increasing pressure from within and without, the party leadership was adamant about creating clear yellow water from their Tory bedfellows.

The LibDems' constant theme was that while there were tough decisions to take, they would have been much tougher if Mr Clegg and his chums were not in Government and holding back the Tories' natural desire to cut, cut and cut some more.

Lords reform highlighted the Coalition tensions, with Tory rebels scuppering the enterprise. In a tit-for-tat move, the vexed Deputy Prime Minister threw his nose in the air and said, in that case, all bets were off on the review of constituency boundaries, which was expected to guarantee the Conservatives an extra 20 seats at the next election.

This differentiation drive continued through the party conference with Mr Clegg insisting well-off pensioners should not get universal benefits even though it was in the Coalition Agreement and even though the Tory leadership said nothing would change.

It reached its height when we had the unique occasion when the PM made a Commons statement on Leveson and then minutes later his deputy made a statement. So much for collective responsibility; we seem more and more to have a pick-and-mix government.

A year of personalities

For much of the year, as the LibDems slumped, UKIP – the anti-EU party led by the ebullient Nigel Farage – rose, becoming for many the favoured party of protest. However, in March the apple cart was upturned, not for the first time, in Bradford West when the indefatigable George Galloway, below, romped home.

The year also saw: Chris Huhne resigning as Energy Secretary to face trial over motoring charges; Falkirk MP Eric Joyce ending up in court after headbutting a Tory MP in a Commons bar; Steve Hilton, the PM's policy guru, deciding he had had enough of the Coalition and heading off to America; Boris Johnson getting re-elected London Mayor and position himself for a future Tory leadership bid.

Then there was Virgin Boss Sir Richard Branson crying foul over the West Coast Main Line bid, which led to the Department for Transport admitting it, er, had got its numbers wrong and eventually handing the franchise back to Virgin.

And then there was the intriguing drama of Plebgate. Andrew Mitchell resigned as Chief Whip for swearing at Downing Street police officers after losing the confidence of his Conservative colleagues at Westminster, only for events to lead to claims he was "stitched up" by a police conspiracy with parliamentary colleagues demanding he get his old job back.

The economy, stupid

AS the year unfolded it was the economic numbers which made the greatest impression: the national debt topped £1 trillion; almost £400 billion was pumped into the economy through quantitative easing; because revenue had fallen borrowing was up to £93bn by November – £8bn higher than last year –while inflation remained stubbornly above the UK Government's target.

Britain slumped into a double-dip recession and growth was as elusive as ever. The Office for Budget Responsibility predicted 2012 would see the economy shrink by -0.1%. Sharing the proceeds of growth has never looked such a distant prospect.

The Coalition can cling to the thought things are not as bad here as they are in many parts of Europe, where Mr Cameron pleased his Eurosceptic MPs by digging his heels in on extra spending on the Brussels budget and threatening the veto.

In his Autumn Statement, the Chancellor exploded the economic and political bombshell that it would now take another three years to balance the books and the age of austerity would grind on until 2018, well after the next General Election.

One seasoned parliamentarian told The Herald rather grimly that people should get used to the bleak economic outlook. "This," he intoned, "is the new normality."