1980 to 1997 On 18 April 1980, Zimbabwe was formally granted independence from the United Kingdom.
Robert Mugabe became the first
Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. Mugabe kept several British advisors around him during the early part of his rule, including
Lord Soames who he formed a friendship with. Throughout the 1980s Mugabe surprised many by maintaining a close relationship with the United Kingdom while scorning the Soviet Union. He allowed Britain to maintain military bases in the country. Throughout the 1980s, Mugabe described himself as "an Anglophile" and was frequently seen to wear British-made Savile Row suits. Mugabe also heavily promoted cricket in Zimbabwe, saying "Cricket civilizes people and creates good gentlemen," he declared. "I want everyone to play cricket in Zimbabwe. I want ours to be a nation of gentlemen." After independence Zimbabwe became a member of the
Commonwealth of Nations. Mugabe also formed a "genuine friendship" and political alliance with British Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher. In 1986, Mugabe and Thatcher got into a heated argument about
sanctions on South Africa, when Thatcher refused to budge Mugabe described her as "racist" to the press. However, shortly thereafter the two leaders resumed their close partnership. When white South African mercenaries were sent by the government of
Apartheid South Africa to sabotage equipment in Zimbabwe and effect a breakout of prisoners at a Zimbabwean prison, Thatcher shared crucial intelligence with Mugabe which allowed the Zimbabwean authorities to apprehend the offenders and thwart their efforts. later in 1988, Mugabe was hosted by Thatcher at
Chequers, where the two had talks described as "almost gossipy" in what was called an “excellent atmosphere"; both leaders were actively determined to repair relations from that point forward. Thatcher visited Zimbabwe in 1989 and was given a tour of rural communes. The communes had formerly been farms owned by white Zimbabweans, but which had been purchased from those farmers, by the Zimbabwean government with money provided for this purpose by the British government. About these communities Thatcher commented "The land settlement scheme we saw this morning seemed to us extremely good in every way, not only for the variety of agriculture and the kind of village and rural life they were having, but also the education they were giving in the schools and the health service which they received." Writing for theguardian about that visit, Richard Dowden (director of the Royal African Society) said "she visited Mugabe in Zimbabwe, where British troops were training Mozambicans to fight off the South African-backed Renamo movement. A mock attack was organised and she sat between Mugabe and Joachim Chissano to observe. The "bushes" right in front of them suddenly sprang to life and started shooting. The noise was deafening and nobody had warned the watchers that tracer bullets fired away somehow look as if they are coming towards you. I saw Mugabe and Chissano duck and some of the officials flung themselves down. Thatcher didn't blink." On another occasion, "a call came through to Downing Street on a Sunday afternoon from a public phone. It was Mugabe. He had come to London privately with his then wife, Sally, who needed regular dialysis for diabetes. He asked if he could come to visit Thatcher. She agreed and on a Sunday evening at Downing Street the two sat and talked informally about the world and life like old friends – she sipping whisky and he water. It was not the only time that happened." Recently declassified files show that throughout the 1980s Mugabe would visit Thatcher every single time he was in London, which was eleven times in ten years. The England cricket team played Zimbabwe in Harare in 1996 in a match attended by Mugabe.
1997 to 2017 In 1997, the new British government led by
Tony Blair withdrew British funding for land reform in Zimbabwe. The previous prime ministers of
Margaret Thatcher and
John Major had both supported helping Zimbabwe financially to redress colonial era imbalances in landownership, however the government of Tony Blair disagreed with this approach and withdrew the funding. Then, after the
2000 Zimbabwean parliamentary election was marred with extreme amounts of state sanctioned violence and political oppression, the government of Tony Blair openly criticized human rights abuses being committed by Mugabe's government. After this Mugabe engaged in his controversial land-reform program, in which the predominantly white farm owners were forced off their lands along with their workers, who were typically of regional descent. This was often done violently and without compensation. In this first wave of farm invasions, a total of 110,000 square kilometres of land had been seized. Several million black farm workers were excluded from the redistribution, leaving them without employment. According to
Human Rights Watch, by 2002 the War Veterans Association had "killed white farm owners in the course of occupying commercial farms" on at least seven occasions, in addition to "several tens of [black] farm workers". This increased criticism from Tony Blair's government. In response Mugabe said "Blair, keep your England and let me keep my Zimbabwe!" at a summit in Johannesburg. Mugabe also told a crowd at his 90th birthday "The British, we don't hate you, we only love our country better." Extreme state-sanctioned violence during the
2008 Zimbabwean general election only added to the gap between the British government and the government of Robert Mugabe. British Prime Minister
Gordon Brown said the violence was "a new low" for Zimbabwe.
Mnangagwa Era Zimbabwe's new president
Emmerson Mnangagwa began a process of attempting to reconcile with the UK. He welcomed politicians and business leaders from the UK to engage with Zimbabwe saying "Our quarrel with Britain is over" and that "we have opened our doors to old and new friends." Mnangagwa visited Britain in November 2021 where he met face to face with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. President Mnangagwa wrote on Twitter that evening that:"Thank you to PM @BorisJohnson and @antonioguterres for welcoming me to #COP26. As the first President of Zimbabwe to visit the United Kingdom in a quarter of a century, it is clear that re-engagement is working!" Prime Minister Johnson wrote on Twitter that evening that it was "Great meeting with ministers from across #ourCommonwealth this morning for talks with Minister Sibusiso Moyo on how Britain, the Commonwealth & the wider international community will do everything it can in supporting Zimbabwe on its path of reform." The first British minister to visit Zimbabwe since the early 2000s was
Rory Stewart who was "warmly welcomed" by the government of President Mnangagwa when he visited the country in late 2017. ==Economic relations==