Since the early 1990s there have been increasing calls to enhance the ‘coherence’ of political and humanitarian responses to conflict induced emergencies. These calls have been driven by geopolitical factors, as well as by trends in aid policy and domestic public policy in donorcountries. This paper summarises the UK-specific findings of a study that examined the changing relationship between humanitarian and political responses to complex political emergencies (CPEs). The study focussed on two donor governments – the UK and the Netherlands – and on the United Nations. In addition, it looked at attempts to operationalise coherent humanitarian programming in Serbia, Macedonia and Afghanistan.