You don't know who Brian Johnson is?
The GBP has its own thing going, and has always been stronger than the USD.
In recent years, the UK gov't has been snipping away at its budget and privatizing at a clip that would make Hitler and Reagan blush (though both actually increased spending), and would make Trump pop a stiffy if only he could...
btw, "the lowest since 1985" those articles keep referring to? Guess who was PM then? That's right, none other than Ronny's soulmate, Margaret Thatcher.
Kind of lie there's almost a trend here, huh?