2004 in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
Events from the year 2004 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents
- Monarch - HM Queen Elizabeth II
- Prime Minister - Tony BlairTony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
January
- 1 January - Papers released under the Thirty Year RuleThirty year ruleThe "thirty year rule" is the popular name given to a law in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and Australia that provides that the yearly cabinet papers of a government will be released publicly thirty years after they were created....
reveal that, contrary to what was believed at the time, Princess Margaret would not have lost her title nor Civil ListCivil list-United Kingdom:In the United Kingdom, the Civil List is the name given to the annual grant that covers some expenses associated with the Sovereign performing their official duties, including those for staff salaries, State Visits, public engagements, ceremonial functions and the upkeep of the...
payments had she married Group Captain Peter Townsend, a divorced War hero, in the 1950s. - 3 January - The BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
cancels the appearance of Coca Cola sponsorship credits in the music charts in its BBC OneBBC OneBBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
Top of the PopsTop of the PopsTop of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
show, after criticism from politicians and health campaigners that it would be promoting junk foodJunk foodJunk food is an informal term applied to some foods that are perceived to have little or no nutritional value ; to products with nutritional value, but which also have ingredients considered unhealthy when regularly eaten; or to those considered unhealthy to consume at all...
and unhealthy drink products to teenagers. - 6 January
- The coroner's inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
and her lover Dodi Al-FayedDodi Al-FayedEmad El-Din Mohamed Abdel Moneim Fayed , known as Dodi Fayed , was an Egyptian film producer. He was best known internationally as the boyfriend of Diana, Princess of Wales, with whom he died in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris along with driver Henri Paul on 31 August...
is officially opened. - The Daily Mirror publishes the blacked out portion of a letter wherein Diana, Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
alleged that someone was trying to kill her.
- The coroner's inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales
- 7 January - It is announced that a record of nearly 2,600,000 new cars were sold in the United Kingdom during 2003.
- 8 January - The Queen Mary 2RMS Queen Mary 2RMS Queen Mary 2 is a transatlantic ocean liner. She was the first major ocean liner built since in 1969, the vessel she succeeded as flagship of the Cunard Line....
is christened by Queen Elizabeth IIElizabeth II of the United KingdomElizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
. - 13 January
- Robin CookRobin CookRobert Finlayson Cook was a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Livingston from 1983 until his death, and notably served in the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary from 1997 to 2001....
says that the British MuseumBritish MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
's Parthenon MarblesElgin MarblesThe Parthenon Marbles, forming a part of the collection known as the Elgin Marbles , are a collection of classical Greek marble sculptures , inscriptions and architectural members that originally were part of the Parthenon and other buildings on the Acropolis of Athens...
must be returned to Greece. - Serial killerSerial killerA serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
Dr. Harold ShipmanHarold ShipmanHarold Fredrick Shipman was an English doctor and one of the most prolific serial killers in recorded history with 218 murders being positively ascribed to him....
is found dead in his cell; suicide is suspected. - The Bichard Inquiry into events preceding the Soham murdersSoham murdersThe Soham murders was an English murder case in 2002 of two 10-year-old girls in the village of Soham, Cambridgeshire.The victims were Holly Marie Wells and Jessica Aimee Chapman...
formally opens.
- Robin Cook
- 14 January - A 45-year old SudanSudanSudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
ese man travelling from Washington Dulles International AirportWashington Dulles International AirportWashington Dulles International Airport is a public airport in Dulles, Virginia, 26 miles west of downtown Washington, D.C. The airport serves the Baltimore-Washington-Northern Virginia metropolitan area centered on the District of Columbia. It is named after John Foster Dulles, Secretary of...
to airport DubaiDubaiDubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
is arrested en route at London's Heathrow Airport on suspicion of carrying 5 bullets in his coat pocket. - 19 January - The English Court of Appeal calls for an end to the prosecution of parents whose babies may have died of Sudden Infant Death SyndromeSudden infant death syndromeSudden infant death syndrome is marked by the sudden death of an infant that is unexpected by medical history, and remains unexplained after a thorough forensic autopsy and a detailed death scene investigation. An infant is at the highest risk for SIDS during sleep, which is why it is sometimes...
(cot death) in cases where the only evidence is contended expert testimony. - 27 January - Prime Minister Tony BlairTony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
narrowly defeats a rebellion in his own party over the Higher Education BillHigher Education Act 2004The Higher Education Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which introduced several changes to the higher education system in the United Kingdom, the most important and controversial being a major change to the funding of universities, and the operation of tuition fees, which...
- a highly controversial bill to reform higher educationHigher educationHigher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
funding, including the introduction of increased and variable tuitionTuitionTuition payments, known primarily as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in British English, Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English and Indian English, refers to a fee charged for educational instruction during higher education.Tuition payments are charged by...
fees - in the House of CommonsBritish House of CommonsThe House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
by 316 votes to 311. - 28 January - The Hutton InquiryHutton InquiryThe Hutton Inquiry was a 2003 judicial inquiry in the UK chaired by Lord Hutton, who was appointed by the Labour government to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of David Kelly, a biological warfare expert and former UN weapons inspector in Iraq.On 18 July 2003, Kelly, an employee...
into the circumstances of the death of Dr. David Kelly is published. This is taken by most of the press to strongly condemn the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's handling of the David Kelly affair and to exonerate the government; the BBC's Director-General, Greg DykeGreg DykeGregory "Greg" Dyke is a British media executive, journalist and broadcaster. Since the 1960s, Dyke has a long career in the UK in print and then broadcast journalism. He is credited with introducing 'tabloid' television to British broadcasting, and reviving the ratings of TV-am...
, chairman of the Board of Governors, Gavyn DaviesGavyn DaviesGavyn Davies, OBE was the chairman of the BBC from 2001 until 2004, a former Goldman Sachs banker and a former economic advisor to the British Government...
, and the journalist at the centre of the controversy, Andrew GilliganAndrew GilliganAndrew Paul Gilligan is a British journalist best known for a 2003 report on BBC Radio 4's The Today Programme in which he said a British government briefing paper on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction had been 'sexed up', a claim that ultimately led to a public inquiry that criticised Gilligan...
, resign. The UK media in general condemns the report as a whitewash.
February
- 1 February - Media sources and victim support groups across Britain condemn the £11,000 payouts to the families of the two girls who were murdered at SohamSoham murdersThe Soham murders was an English murder case in 2002 of two 10-year-old girls in the village of Soham, Cambridgeshire.The victims were Holly Marie Wells and Jessica Aimee Chapman...
in August 2002 as a "pittance". The compensation was paid out by the Criminal Injuries Compensation AuthorityCriminal Injuries Compensation AuthorityThe Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. The Authority administers a compensation scheme for injuries caused to victims of violent crime in Great Britain and is funded by the Ministry of Justice in England and Wales and the devolved...
. - 3 February - Foreign SecretarySecretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth AffairsThe Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a senior member of Her Majesty's Government heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and regarded as one of the Great Offices of State...
Jack StrawJack Straw (politician)John Whitaker Straw is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Blackburn since 1979. He served as Home Secretary from 1997 to 2001, Foreign Secretary from 2001 to 2006 and Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons from 2006 to 2007 under Tony Blair...
announces an independent inquiry, to be chaired by Lord Butler, to examine the reliability of intelligence on weapons of mass destructionWeapons of mass destructionA weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
in IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. - 5 February/6 February - A party of ChineseBritish ChineseBritish Chinese , including British-born Chinese are people of Chinese ancestry who were born in, or have migrated to, the United Kingdom. They are part of the Chinese diaspora, or overseas Chinese...
cockleCockle (bivalve)Cockle is the common name for a group of small, edible, saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Cardiidae.Various species of cockles live in sandy sheltered beaches throughout the world....
pickers is caught by the tides at night in Morecambe Bay, LancashireLancashireLancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, drowning 23 people. 21 bodies are recovered. - 6 February - The Home OfficeHome OfficeThe Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
confirms that Maxine Carr, convicted with Ian Huntley concerning the Soham murdersSoham murdersThe Soham murders was an English murder case in 2002 of two 10-year-old girls in the village of Soham, Cambridgeshire.The victims were Holly Marie Wells and Jessica Aimee Chapman...
of 2001, could be released from prison in the next few days. - 11 February - Richard DesmondRichard DesmondRichard Clive Desmond is an English publisher and businessman. He is the owner of Express Newspapers and founder in 1974 of Northern & Shell, which publishes various celebrity magazines, such as OK! and New!, and British national newspapers Daily Star and Daily Express...
, the owner of the Daily ExpressDaily ExpressThe Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
and Daily Star tabloids, confirms that he has made a bid for the troubled Daily Telegraph. - 15 February - The government are reported to have drawn up plans to break up the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in the wake of the Hutton inquiryHutton InquiryThe Hutton Inquiry was a 2003 judicial inquiry in the UK chaired by Lord Hutton, who was appointed by the Labour government to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of David Kelly, a biological warfare expert and former UN weapons inspector in Iraq.On 18 July 2003, Kelly, an employee...
. - 19 February - Foreign SecretarySecretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth AffairsThe Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a senior member of Her Majesty's Government heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and regarded as one of the Great Offices of State...
Jack StrawJack Straw (politician)John Whitaker Straw is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Blackburn since 1979. He served as Home Secretary from 1997 to 2001, Foreign Secretary from 2001 to 2006 and Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons from 2006 to 2007 under Tony Blair...
announces that five of the nine Britons held without trial as terror suspects at the Guantanamo BayGuantanamo Bay detainment campThe Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a detainment and interrogation facility of the United States located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. The facility was established in 2002 by the Bush Administration to hold detainees from the war in Afghanistan and later Iraq...
prison camp in CubaCubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, along with a DaneDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, are to be released. - 21 February - Prime MinisterPrime Minister of the United KingdomThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Tony BlairTony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
comes under pressure from British human rightsHuman rightsHuman rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
groups and MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
s because of the government's sweeping powers under the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act, which have allowed the detention of 14 foreign terroristTerrorismTerrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
suspects in the UK at what has been described as 'Britain's Guantanamo Bay'. - 24 February - The British Olympic AssociationBritish Olympic AssociationThe British Olympic Association is the national Olympic committee for Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It was formed in 1905 in the House of Commons, and at that time consisted of seven national governing body members from the following sports: fencing, life-saving, cycling, skating, rowing,...
bans European 100 meter championAthletics (track and field)Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
Dwain ChambersDwain ChambersDwain Anthony Chambers is an English sprinter of Afro-Caribbean descent. He has won medals on the international stage numerous times and is one of the fastest European sprinters in the history of recorded athletics. His primary event is the 100 metres sprint, in which he has the second...
from competing in the Olympic GamesOlympic GamesThe Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
for life for a positive test for the designer steroidSteroidA steroid is a type of organic compound that contains a characteristic arrangement of four cycloalkane rings that are joined to each other. Examples of steroids include the dietary fat cholesterol, the sex hormones estradiol and testosterone, and the anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone.The core...
THGTetrahydrogestrinoneTetrahydrogestrinone is an anabolic steroid developed by Patrick Arnold. It has affinity to the androgen receptor and the progesterone receptor, but not to the estrogen receptor...
. - 25 February - Katharine GunKatharine GunKatharine Teresa Gun is a former translator for Government Communications Headquarters , a British intelligence agency...
, formerly an employee of British spy agency GCHQ, has a charge of breaching the Official Secrets Act dropped after prosecutors offered no evidence, apparently on the advice of the Attorney General for England and WalesAttorney General for England and WalesHer Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
. Gun had admitted leaking American plans to bug UN delegates to a newspaper. - 26 February - Clare ShortClare ShortClare Short is a British politician, and a member of the Labour Party. She was the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Ladywood from 1983 to 2010; for most of this period she was a Labour Party MP, but she resigned the party whip in 2006 and served the remainder of her term as an Independent. She...
, former CabinetCabinet (government)A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
Minister, alleges on the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Today radio programme that British spiesSecret Intelligence ServiceThe Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
regularly intercept UN communications, including those of Kofi AnnanKofi AnnanKofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
, its Secretary-General. - 29 February - Middlesbrough F.C.Middlesbrough F.C.Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
win their first trophy in their 128 year history by defeating Bolton Wanderers F.C.Bolton Wanderers F.C.Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....
in the Football League Cup Final2004 Football League Cup FinalThe 2004 Football League Cup Final was played between Bolton Wanderers and Middlesbrough at the Millennium Stadium on 29 February 2004. Middlesbrough won the game 2-1 to clinch their first major trophy...
.
March
- VauxhallVauxhall MotorsVauxhall Motors is a British automotive company owned by General Motors and headquartered in Luton. It was founded in 1857 as a pump and marine engine manufacturer, began manufacturing cars in 1903 and was acquired by GM in 1925. It has been the second-largest selling car brand in the UK for...
launches the fifth generation of its popular AstraVauxhall AstraAstra is a model name which has been used by Vauxhall, the British subsidiary of General Motors , on their small family car ranges since 1979. Astras are technically essentially identical with similar vehicles offered by GM's German subsidiary Opel in most other European countries...
family hatchback. It is initially just available as a five-door hatchback, with a three-door "Sporthatch" and a five-door estate due later this year. - 11 March - Tory and Labour support is equal on 35% for the second time in nine months, raising the sceptre of a hung parliament at the next general election which is expected within a year. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8280050.stm
- 16 March - Fifteen year old boy Kriss Donald abducted and murdered by Pakistani gang in racially motivated attack in GlasgowGlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. - 21 March - Architect Zaha HadidZaha HadidZaha Hadid, CBE is an Iraqi-British architect.-Life and career:Hadid was born in 1950 in Baghdad, Iraq. She received a degree in mathematics from the American University of Beirut before moving to study at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.After graduating she worked...
becomes the first female recipient of the Pritzker PrizePritzker PrizeThe Pritzker Architecture Prize is awarded annually by the Hyatt Foundation to honour "a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built...
.
April
- 19 April - Tony BlairTony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
announces a change in government policy: there is to be a referendum on the proposed EU ConstitutionTreaty establishing a Constitution for EuropeThe Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe , , was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European Union...
. - 28 April - Landmark office building 30 St Mary Axe30 St Mary Axe30 St Mary Axe, the Swiss Re Building , is a skyscraper in London's main financial district, the City of London, completed in December 2003 and opened at the end of May 2004...
("The Gherkin") in the City of LondonCity of LondonThe City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, designed by Norman Foster, opens.
May
- 10 May - Maxine Carr is released from prison with a new identity after serving half of her sentence for perverting the course of justice.
- 11 May - Stockline Plastics factory explosionStockline Plastics factory explosionOn May 11, 2004, the ICL Plastics factory , in the Woodside district of Glasgow in western Scotland, exploded. Nine people were killed, including two company directors, and 33 injured, 15 seriously...
: four people die in an explosion at a factory in GlasgowGlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. - 14 May - Piers MorganPiers MorganPiers Stefan Pughe-Morgan , known professionally as Piers Morgan, is a British journalist and television presenter. He is editorial director of First News, a national newspaper for children....
is dismissed as editor of the Daily Mirror after the newspaper published fake pictures of Iraqi prisoner abuse. - 19 May - Fathers 4 JusticeFathers 4 JusticeFathers 4 Justice began as a fathers’ rights organisation in the United Kingdom. It became prominent and frequently discussed in the media following a series of high-visibility stunts and protests often in costume. It was temporarily disbanded in January 2006, following allegations of a plot by...
stage a protest in the House of CommonsBritish House of CommonsThe House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
at Prime Minister's Question Time by throwing purple powder at Tony BlairTony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
. See Fathers 4 Justice House of Commons protest. - 22 May - Manchester UnitedManchester United F.C.Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
beat MillwallMillwall F.C.Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
3-0 in the FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
final. - 27 May - The Member of ParliamentMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Leicester South, Jim MarshallJim Marshall (UK politician)James Marshall was a British Labour Party politician.-Education:Marshall was born into a working class family in the Attercliffe district of Sheffield...
dies, triggering a by-electionBy-electionA by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
.
June
- 2 June - Jose MourinhoJosé MourinhoJosé Mário dos Santos Félix Mourinho is a Portuguese football manager and the current manager of Real Madrid. He is commonly known as "The Special One".Mourinho is regarded by some players, coaches and critics as the best ever coach in football....
, the PortugesePortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
coach who led FC Porto to European Cup glory on 26 May, is named as the new manager of Chelsea F.C.Chelsea F.C.Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
on a three-year contract. - 6 June - Sixtieth anniversary of D-DayD-DayD-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
. Last minute pressure forces First Minister of ScotlandFirst Minister of ScotlandThe First Minister of Scotland is the political leader of Scotland and head of the Scottish Government. The First Minister chairs the Scottish Cabinet and is primarily responsible for the formulation, development and presentation of Scottish Government policy...
Jack McConnellJack McConnellJack Wilson McConnell, Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale is a British Labour life peer in the House of Lords. He was third First Minister of Scotland from 2001 to 2007, making him the longest serving First Minister in the history of the Scottish Parliament...
to attend commemorations. Rhodri MorganRhodri MorganHywel Rhodri Morgan is a Welsh Labour politician who, as First Secretary for Wales, and subsequently First Minister, was leader of the Welsh Assembly Government from 2000 to 2009. A former leader of Welsh Labour, he was the Assembly Member for Cardiff West from 1999 to 2011...
, the First Minister of Wales takes flak for not doing the same. - 10 June
- European, local and regional elections take place. LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
lose many council seats. - A rebranding of the Football League sees Division OneFootball League First DivisionThe First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
become the Football League ChampionshipFootball League ChampionshipThe Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...
, Division TwoFootball League Second DivisionFrom 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
become League One and Division ThreeFootball League Third DivisionThe Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...
become League Two.
- European, local and regional elections take place. Labour
- 11 June - The incumbent Ken LivingstoneKen LivingstoneKenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
is announced as the winner of the election for Mayor of LondonMayor of LondonThe Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008...
. - 14 June - Results of the European electionsEuropean Parliament election, 2004Elections to the European Parliament were held from 10 June 2004 to 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom...
are announced. United Kingdom Independence PartyUnited Kingdom Independence PartyThe United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP...
(UKIP) are the main gainers, increasing from 3 to 12 MEPs. - 16 June - Liverpool F.C.Liverpool F.C.Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
appoint the SpaniardSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Rafael BenitezRafael BenítezRafael "Rafa" Benítez Maudes is a football manager, and former player. He is currently unemployed, after leaving as manager of Internazionale in December 2010....
as their new manager. - 21 June - The Football League club WimbledonWimbledon F.C.Wimbledon Football Club was an English professional association football club from Wimbledon, south-west London. Founded in 1889 as Wimbledon Old Central Football Club, the club spent most of its history in amateur and semi-professional non-League football before being elected to the Football...
, who relocated to Milton KeynesMilton KeynesMilton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
from South LondonSouth LondonSouth London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
last autumn, are renamed Milton Keynes DonsMilton Keynes Dons F.C..Milton Keynes Dons Football Club is an English professional football club founded in 2004 and based since 2007 at Stadium mk, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire...
to reflect their new location. - 24 June - EnglandEngland national football teamThe England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
are knocked out of Euro 2004 by PortugalPortugal national football teamThe Portugal national football team represents Portugal in association football and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the governing body for football in Portugal. Portugal's home ground is Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, and their head coach is Paulo Bento...
, on penalties. - 28 June - the Coalition Provisional AuthorityCoalition Provisional AuthorityThe Coalition Provisional Authority was established as a transitional government following the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies, members of the Multi-National Force – Iraq which was formed to oust the government of Saddam Hussein in 2003...
hands sovereignty of IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
over to the Iraqi Interim GovernmentIraqi Interim GovernmentThe Iraqi Interim Government was created by the United States and its coalition allies as a caretaker government to govern Iraq until the Iraqi Transitional Government was installed following the Iraqi National Assembly election conducted on January 30, 2005...
, two days ahead of schedule.
July
- 2 July
- An openly gay cleric, Jeffrey JohnJeffrey JohnJeffrey Philip Hywel John SCP is a Church of England priest and the current Dean of St Albans. He made headlines in 2003 when he was the first person to have openly been in a same-sex relationship to be nominated as a Church of England bishop...
is installed as the DeanDean (religion)A dean, in a church context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.-Anglican Communion:...
of St AlbansSt AlbansSt Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. It is a historic market town, and is now a sought-after dormitory town within the London commuter belt...
. - A court rules that Humberside Police Authority must suspend the Chief Constable, David WestwoodDavid WestwoodDavid Westwood, QPM, is a British former police officer. He was Chief Constable of Humberside Police from March 1999 until March 2005. In 2004, he was suspended from July until September as a result of the Bichard inquiry into the Soham murders....
, in accordance with the Home SecretaryHome SecretaryThe Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
(David BlunkettDavid BlunkettDavid Blunkett is a British Labour Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, having represented Sheffield Brightside from 1987 to 2010...
)'s demands.
- An openly gay cleric, Jeffrey John
- 6 July - Her Majesty The QueenElizabeth II of the United KingdomElizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
unveils a memorial fountain to Diana, Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
. - 8 July - Marks and Spencer overheads turn down a takeover bid by retail tycoon Philip GreenPhilip GreenSir Philip Green is a British businessman. Green was born into a Jewish family in 1952, beginning as a businessman at the age of 15. The first and last quoted company Green took lead of was "Amber Day", from which he stepped down as CEO and Chairman in 1992...
. - 12 July - Chancellor of the ExchequerChancellor of the ExchequerThe Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
Gordon BrownGordon BrownJames Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
announces the massive loss of 100,000 civil serviceCivil serviceThe term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
jobs in the UK; the savings to be put into front-line services such as Health and Education. - 13 July
- The Public Administration Committee of the House of CommonsBritish House of CommonsThe House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
recommends massive changes to the British Honours SystemBritish honours systemThe British honours system is a means of rewarding individuals' personal bravery, achievement, or service to the United Kingdom and the British Overseas Territories...
including scrapping knighthoods and renaming the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
to the 'Order of British Excellence'. - The Countryside AgencyCountryside AgencyThe Countryside Agency in England was a statutory body set up in 1999 with the task of improving the quality of the rural environment and the lives of those living in it. The Agency was formed by merging the Countryside Commission and the Rural Development Commission...
publicises a new Countryside CodeThe Country CodeThe Country Code, The Countryside Code and The Scottish Outdoor Access Code are sets of rules for visitors to rural, and especially agricultural, regions of the United Kingdom...
in advance of the 'Right to Roam' coming into effect in September across England and Wales. - The House of LordsHouse of LordsThe House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
makes a hostile amendment to the Constitutional Reform Bill that would retain the name of the office of Lord ChancellorLord ChancellorThe Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
.
- The Public Administration Committee of the House of Commons
- 14 July - The Butler InquiryButler ReviewOn February 3, 2004, the British Government announced an inquiry into the intelligence relating to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction which played a key part in the Government's decision to invade Iraq in 2003. A similar investigation was set up in the USA...
releases its report, mildly criticising the government in their use of intelligence relating to Weapons of Mass DestructionWeapons of mass destructionA weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
in IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. - 15 July - Leicester SouthLeicester South by-election, 2004A by-election was held in Leicester South on 15 July, the same day as the Birmingham Hodge Hill by-election. It was won by Parmjit Singh Gill of the Liberal Democrats, over-turning a Labour majority of 13,243 votes at the 2001 General Election....
and Birmingham Hodge Hill by-elections held. The Hodge Hill by-election is a Labour hold, but the party loses the Leicester South seat to 37-year-old Liberal DemocratLiberal DemocratsThe Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
Parmjit Singh GillParmjit Singh GillParmjit Singh Gill is a British Liberal Democrat politician. As Member of Parliament for Leicester South from 2004 to 2005, he is the only ever ethnic-minority Liberal Democrat MP....
, an IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n SikhSikhA Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
who is the party's first ethnic minority MP. - 18 July - North YorkshireNorth YorkshireNorth Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
police launch a murder hunt after 27-year-old twin sisters Claire and Diane Sanderson are found dead in a flat in CamblesforthCamblesforthCamblesforth is a village and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,526...
, near SelbySelbySelby is a town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Situated south of the city of York, along the course of the River Ouse, Selby is the largest and, with a population of 13,012, most populous settlement of the wider Selby local government district.Historically a part of the West Riding...
. - 19 July - The Government announces backing for the CrossrailCrossrailCrossrail is a project to build a major new railway link under central London. The name refers to the first of two routes which are the responsibility of Crossrail Ltd. It is based on an entirely new east-west tunnel with a central section from to Liverpool Street station...
project. - 20 July - Government to publish results of review into Council TaxCouncil taxCouncil Tax is the system of local taxation used in England, Scotland and Wales to part fund the services provided by local government in each country. It was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as a successor to the unpopular Community Charge...
in England. - 23 July - Tony BlairTony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
announces that Peter MandelsonPeter MandelsonPeter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, PC is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Hartlepool from 1992 to 2004, served in a number of Cabinet positions under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and was a European Commissioner...
is to become Britain'sUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
new European CommissionerEuropean CommissionerA European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each Member within the college holds a specific portfolio and are led by the President of the European Commission...
.
August
- 9 August - West Bromwich AlbionWest Bromwich Albion F.C.West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...
terminate the contract of striker Lee HughesLee HughesLee Hughes is an English Footballer who plays for Notts County as a striker.-Non-League and West Bromwich Albion:On leaving Bristnall Hall High School, Oldbury in 1992 Hughes started playing semi-professionally in non-League football with Kidderminster Harriers in the Football Conference, as well...
as he is sentenced to six years in prison after being found guilty causing death by dangerous driving, having killed a 56-year-old man in a collision near CoventryCoventryCoventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
on 22 November 2003. - 13 August–29 August - Great Britain participates in the 2004 Summer Olympics2004 Summer OlympicsThe 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
in AthensAthensAthens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
winning a total of 9 gold, 9 silver and 12 bronze medals. - 16 August - Boscastle flood of 2004Boscastle flood of 2004The Boscastle flood of 2004 occurred on Monday, 16 August 2004 in the two villages of Boscastle and Crackington Haven in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The villages suffered extensive damage after flash floods caused by an exceptional amount of rain that fell over eight hours that afternoon...
: flash floods destroy buildings and wash cars out to sea in CornwallCornwallCornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
. - 28 August - Kelly HolmesKelly HolmesDame Kelly Holmes, DBE, MBE is a retired British middle distance athlete. She specialised in the 800 metres and 1500 metres events and won a gold medal for both distances at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens...
wins her second gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
September
- 13 September - A Fathers 4 JusticeFathers 4 JusticeFathers 4 Justice began as a fathers’ rights organisation in the United Kingdom. It became prominent and frequently discussed in the media following a series of high-visibility stunts and protests often in costume. It was temporarily disbanded in January 2006, following allegations of a plot by...
campaigner dressed as BatmanBatmanBatman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
breaches security at Buckingham PalaceBuckingham PalaceBuckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
. - 15 September - ParliamentParliament of the United KingdomThe Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
is suspended after pro-hunt campaigners break into the House of CommonsBritish House of CommonsThe House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
.
October
- 1 October - Tony BlairTony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
announces his intention to resign as Prime Minister of the United KingdomPrime Minister of the United KingdomThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
if LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
win the next General ElectionUnited Kingdom general election, 2005The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
, so he will not have to stand for a possible fourth term in the position. - 7 October - British hostage Ken Bigley, of LiverpoolLiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, is beheaded by militants in IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. - 9 October - Scottish Parliament BuildingScottish Parliament BuildingThe Scottish Parliament Building is the home of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, within the UNESCO World Heritage Site in central Edinburgh. Construction of the building commenced in June 1999 and the Members of the Scottish Parliament held their first debate in the new building on 7...
in EdinburghEdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, designed by Enric MirallesEnric MirallesEnric Miralles Moya was a Spanish Catalan architect. He graduated from the School of Architecture of Barcelona at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in 1978. After establishing his reputation with a number of collaborations with his first wife Carme Pinós, the couple separated in 1991...
, is opened. - 19 October - British aid worker Margaret HassanMargaret HassanMargaret Hassan was an Irish aid worker who had worked in Iraq for many years until she was abducted and murdered by unidentified kidnappers in Iraq in 2004, at the age of 59...
is taken hostage in IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
.
November
- 4 November - A referendumNorthern England referendums, 2004The Northern England devolution referendums were referendums starting with the North East region of England, in the United Kingdom, on 4 November 2004. Dubbed by the government the Great North Vote, the referendum proposed that the region should have an elected regional assembly...
is held in North East EnglandNorth East EnglandNorth East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...
on the establishment of elected regional assembliesRegional Assemblies in EnglandThe Regional Assemblies of England were a group of indirectly elected regional bodies established originally under the name Regional Chambers by the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998. They were abolished on 31 March 2010 and replaced by Local Authority Leaders’ Boards...
. The majority of voters said "no" to the plans. - 6 November - Ufton Nervet rail crashUfton Nervet rail crashThe Ufton Nervet rail crash was a railway accident between a train and car near Ufton Nervet, Berkshire, England that caused seven deaths.-Collision:...
: Seven people are killed when a train is derailed by a car deliberately left on a level crossing in BerkshireBerkshireBerkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
. - 15 November - Children ActChildren Act 2004The Children Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.The Act amended the Children Act 1989, largely in consequence of the Victoria Climbié inquiry....
clarifies most official responsibilities for children, notably bringing all local government functions for children's welfare and education under the authority of local Directors of Children's Services. - 16 November
- The government announces plans to prohibit smoking in most enclosed public places (including workplaces) within the next three years.
- It is reported that Margaret Hassan is dead after her family receive a video recording supposedly showing her being killed.
- 18 November - ParliamentParliament of the United KingdomThe Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
passes the Hunting Act 2004Hunting Act 2004The Hunting Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The effect of the Act is to outlaw hunting with dogs in England and Wales from 18 February 2005...
banning fox huntingFox huntingFox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.Fox hunting originated in its current...
in England and Wales. - 20 November - Launch of the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst MissionSwift Gamma-Ray Burst MissionThe Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission consists of a robotic spacecraft called Swift, which was launched into orbit on 20 November 2004, 17:16:00 UTC on a Delta II 7320-10C expendable launch vehicle. Swift is managed by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and was developed by an international...
, a joint United States, UK and Italian developed spacecraft, designed to study gamma-ray bursts. - 28 November - Wales Millennium CentreWales Millennium CentreWales Millennium Centre is an arts centre located in the Cardiff Bay area of Cardiff, Wales. The site covers a total area of . Phase 1 of the building was opened during the weekend of the 26–28 November 2004 and phase 2 opened on 22 January 2009 with an inaugural concert...
in CardiffCardiffCardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
is opened.
December
- FordFord Motor CompanyFord Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
launches the second generation of its bestselling Focus family car that was originally launched in September 1998. - 2 December - David BieberDavid BieberDavid Francis Bieber also known under the alias Nathan Wayne Coleman is an American convicted murderer. A fugitive from the United States, he murdered PC Ian Broadhurst and attempted to murder PCs Neil Roper and James Banks on 26 December 2003 in Leeds, England, sparking a nationwide search...
, a 38-year-old former United States marine, is found guilty of murdering PC Ian Broadhurst in LeedsLeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
on Boxing DayBoxing DayBoxing Day is a bank or public holiday that occurs on 26 December, or the first or second weekday after Christmas Day, depending on national or regional laws. It is observed in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth nations. In Ireland, it is recognized as...
last year. He is sentenced to life imprisonment and the trial judge recommends that he should never be released from prison. After his conviction, it is revealed that Bieber was wanted in connection with a 1995 murder in FloridaFloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. It is also revealed that he had entered Britain by using the name Nathan Wayne Coleman — who was really a child who had died in infancy in 1968. - 14 December - Millau ViaductMillau ViaductThe Millau Viaduct is a cable-stayed road-bridge that spans the valley of the river Tarn near Millau in southern France. Designed by the British architect Norman Foster and French structural engineer Michel Virlogeux, it is the tallest bridge in the world, with one mast's summit at . It is the...
in FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, designed by British architect Norman FosterNorman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames BankNorman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, OM is a British architect whose company maintains an international design practice, Foster + Partners....
, is opened. - 15 December - David BlunkettDavid BlunkettDavid Blunkett is a British Labour Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, having represented Sheffield Brightside from 1987 to 2010...
resigns as Home SecretaryHome SecretaryThe Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
after three-and-a-half years in the role. - 20 December - Northern Bank robberyNorthern Bank robberyThe Northern Bank robbery was a large robbery of cash from the Donegall Square West headquarters of Northern Bank in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Carried out by a large, proficient group on 20 December 2004, the gang seized the equivalent of £26.5 million in pounds sterling and small amounts of...
in BelfastBelfastBelfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, £26.5 million is stolen. - 26 December - A significant number of BritonsUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
are among the thousands of people killed by a tsunamiTsunamiA tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
in the Indian OceanIndian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
. The victims are killed in countries including IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and ThailandThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
.
Publications
- Iain M. Banks' novel The AlgebraistThe AlgebraistThe Algebraist, a science fiction novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks, first appeared in print in 2004. It was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2005....
. - Louis de BernièresLouis de BernièresLouis de Bernières is a British novelist most famous for his fourth novel, Captain Corelli's Mandolin. In 1993 de Bernières was selected as one of the "20 Best of Young British Novelists", part of a promotion in Granta magazine...
' novel Birds Without WingsBirds Without Wings (novel)Birds Without Wings is a novel by Louis de Bernières, written in 2004. Narrated by various characters, it tells the tragic love story of Philothei and Ibrahim. It also chronicles the rise of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the 'Father of the Turkish Nation'...
. - Alan HollinghurstAlan HollinghurstAlan Hollinghurst is a British novelist, and winner of the 2004 Man Booker Prize for The Line of Beauty.-Biography:Hollinghurst was born on 26 May 1954 in Stroud, Gloucestershire, the only child of James Hollinghurst, a bank manager, and his wife, Elizabeth...
's novel The Line of BeautyThe Line of BeautyThe Line of Beauty is a 2004 Booker Prize-winning novel by Alan Hollinghurst.-Plot introduction:Set in Britain in the early to mid-1980s, the story surrounds the post-Oxford life of the young gay protagonist, Nick Guest....
. - Terry PratchettTerry PratchettSir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
's DiscworldDiscworldDiscworld is a comic fantasy book series by English author Sir Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle, Great A'Tuin. The books frequently parody, or at least take inspiration from, J. R. R....
novels A Hat Full of SkyA Hat Full of SkyA Hat Full of Sky is a novel written by Terry Pratchett set on the Discworld, written with younger readers in mind. First published in 2004, it is set two years after The Wee Free Men, and features an 11-year old Tiffany Aching....
and Going PostalGoing PostalGoing Postal is Terry Pratchett's 33rd Discworld novel, released in the United Kingdom on September 25, 2004. Unlike most of Pratchett's Discworld novels, Going Postal is divided into chapters, a feature previously seen only in Pratchett's children's books and the Science of Discworld series...
. - The Liberal DemocratLiberal DemocratsThe Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
tract The Orange Book: Reclaiming Liberalism edited by Paul MarshallPaul Marshall (financier)Paul Roderick Clucas Marshall is a British investor and philanthropist.He was educated at St John's College, Oxford, and holds an MBA from INSEAD Business School....
and David LawsDavid LawsDavid Anthony Laws is a British politician. He is Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Yeovil and former Chief Secretary to the Treasury....
.
Deaths
- 4 January - Joan AikenJoan AikenJoan Delano Aiken MBE was an English novelist. She was born in Rye, East Sussex, into a family of writers, including her father, American poet Conrad Aiken , her sister, Jane Aiken Hodge and her brother John Aiken Joan Delano Aiken MBE (4 September 1924 – 4 January 2004) was an English novelist....
, writer (born 19241924 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1924 in the United Kingdom. This is a General Election year.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - Stanley Baldwin, Conservative , Ramsay MacDonald, Labour , Stanley Baldwin, Conservative-Events:* 1 January - Meteorological Office issues its first broadcast...
) - 13 January - Harold ShipmanHarold ShipmanHarold Fredrick Shipman was an English doctor and one of the most prolific serial killers in recorded history with 218 murders being positively ascribed to him....
, serial killer (born 19461946 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1946 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - Clement Attlee, Labour-Events:* 1 January** The first international flight from London Heathrow Airport, to Buenos Aires....
) - 26 January - Hugh Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Putney, politician (born 19081908 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1908 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King Edward VII*Prime Minister - Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Liberal , H. H...
) - 27 January - Hugh ScanlonHugh ScanlonHugh Parr Scanlon, Baron Scanlon was a British trade union leader.Scanlon was born in Melbourne, Australia to parents who had emigrated from Britain...
, trade union leader (born 19131913 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1913 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - H. H. Asquith, Liberal-Events:* 1 January - British Board of Film Censors receives the authority to classify and censor films....
) - 29 January - M. M. KayeM. M. KayeMary Margaret Kaye was a British writer. Her most famous book was The Far Pavilions .-Life:M. M. Kaye was born in Simla, India, and spent her early childhood and much of her early-married life there...
, writer (born 19081908 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1908 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King Edward VII*Prime Minister - Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Liberal , H. H...
) - 1 February -
- - Ally MacLeodAlly MacLeodAlistair Reid MacLeod was a Scottish professional football player. He is perhaps better known for his time as a football manager, which included being in charge of Scotland at the 1978 FIFA World Cup....
, former manager of the Scotland national football teamScotland national football teamThe Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
(born 19311931 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1931 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - Ramsay MacDonald, Labour and national coalition-Events:* 6 January - Sadler's Wells Theatre opens in London....
) - - Bob StokoeBob StokoeRobert "Bob" Stokoe was an English footballer and manager who was able, almost uniquely, to transcend the traditional north-east rivalry between the region's footballing giants, Newcastle United and Sunderland....
, former footballer and football manager (born 19301930 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1930 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:* Monarch - King George V* Prime Minister - Ramsay MacDonald, Labour-Events:* 1 February - The Times publishes its first crossword....
)
- - Ally MacLeod
- 6 February - Humphry OsmondHumphry OsmondHumphry Fortescue Osmond was a British psychiatrist known for inventing the word psychedelic and for using psychedelic drugs in medical research...
, psychiatrist (born 19171917 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1917 in the United Kingdom. This year is dominated by World War I.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - David Lloyd George, coalition-Events:...
) - 15 March - John PopleJohn PopleSir John Anthony Pople, KBE, FRS, was a Nobel-Prize winning theoretical chemist. Born in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, England, he attended Bristol Grammar School. He won a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1943. He received his B. A. in 1946. Between 1945 and 1947 he worked at the Bristol...
, chemist, Nobel PrizeNobel Prize in ChemistryThe Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,...
laureate (born 19251925 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1925 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - Stanley Baldwin, Conservative-Events:...
) - 28 March - Peter UstinovPeter UstinovPeter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
, actor, writer, dramatist and raconteur (born 19211921 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1921 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - David Lloyd George, coalition-January to June:* 1 January - Car tax discs introduced....
) - 13 April - Caron KeatingCaron KeatingCaron Louisa Keating was a Northern Irish television presenter on British and Northern Irish television.-Early life and education:...
, television presenter (born 19621962 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1962 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch – Elizabeth II*Prime Minister – Harold Macmillan, Conservative Party-Events:...
) - 19 April - Norris McWhirterNorris McWhirterNorris Dewar McWhirter, CBE was a writer, political activist, co-founder of the Freedom Association, and a television presenter. He and his twin brother, Ross, were known internationally for the Guinness Book of Records, a book they wrote and annually updated together between 1955 and 1975...
, political activist and television presenter (born 19251925 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1925 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - Stanley Baldwin, Conservative-Events:...
) - 3 May - Anthony AinleyAnthony AinleyAnthony Ainley was an English actor best known for his work on British television and particularly for his role as the third Master in Doctor Who. He was the fourth actor to play the role of the Master, and the first actor to portray the Master as a recurring role after the death of Roger Delgado...
, actor (born 19321932 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1932 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - Ramsay MacDonald, national coalition-Events:* 8 January - The Archbishop of Canterbury forbids church remarriage of divorcees....
) - 14 May - Anna LeeAnna LeeAnna Lee, MBE was an English actress.-Career:Lee studied at the Royal Albert Hall, then debuted with a bit part in the film His Lordship...
, actress (born 19131913 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1913 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - H. H. Asquith, Liberal-Events:* 1 January - British Board of Film Censors receives the authority to classify and censor films....
) - 29 May - Jack RosenthalJack RosenthalJack Morris Rosenthal CBE was an English playwright, who wrote 129 early episodes of the ITV soap opera Coronation Street and over 150 screenplays, including original TV plays, feature films, and adaptations.-Biography:...
, playwright (born 19311931 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1931 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - Ramsay MacDonald, Labour and national coalition-Events:* 6 January - Sadler's Wells Theatre opens in London....
) - 1 July - Peter BarnesPeter BarnesPeter Barnes was an English Olivier Award-winning playwright and screenwriter. His most famous work is the play The Ruling Class, which was made into a 1972 film for which Peter O'Toole received an Oscar nomination....
, playwright and screenwriter (born 19311931 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1931 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - Ramsay MacDonald, Labour and national coalition-Events:* 6 January - Sadler's Wells Theatre opens in London....
) - 18 July - Paul FootPaul FootPaul Mackintosh Foot was a British investigative journalist, political campaigner, author, and long-time member of the Socialist Workers Party...
, journalist and nephew of former Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
leader Michael FootMichael FootMichael Mackintosh Foot, FRSL, PC was a British Labour Party politician, journalist and author, who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992...
(born 19371937 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1937 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King George VI*Prime Minister – Stanley Baldwin, national coalition , Neville Chamberlain, national coalition-Events:...
) - 28 July - Francis CrickFrancis CrickFrancis Harry Compton Crick OM FRS was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist, and most noted for being one of two co-discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953, together with James D. Watson...
, scientist, discoverer of the structure of DNADNADeoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
(born 19161916 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1916 in the United Kingdom. This year is dominated by World War I.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - H. H...
) - 12 August - Godfrey HounsfieldGodfrey HounsfieldSir Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield CBE, FRS, was an English electrical engineer who shared the 1979 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Allan McLeod Cormack for his part in developing the diagnostic technique of X-ray computed tomography .His name is immortalised in the Hounsfield scale, a...
, electrical engineer and inventor, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineNobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineThe Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
(born 19191919 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1919 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - David Lloyd George, coalition-Events:* 1 January - In Scotland, HMS Iolaire is wrecked on rocks: 205 die....
) - 13 October - Bernice RubensBernice RubensBernice Rubens was a Booker Prize-winning Welsh novelist.-Background:She was of Russian Jewish descent and born in Cardiff, Wales where she attended Cardiff High School. She came from a very musical family, both her brothers becoming well-known classical musicians. She was married to Rudi...
, novelist (born 19281928 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1928 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - Stanley Baldwin, Conservative-Events:...
) - 20 October - Lynda Lee-PotterLynda Lee-PotterLynda Lee-Potter OBE was a columnist for the British newspaper the Daily Mail.-Early years:...
Daily MailDaily MailThe Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
columnist (born 19351935 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1935 in the United Kingdom. This royal Silver Jubilee year sees a General Election and changes in the leadership of both the Conservative and Labour parties.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V...
) - 21 October - Vincent BromeVincent BromeVincent Brome was an English writer, who gradually established himself as a man of letters. He is best known for a series of biographies of politicians, writers and followers of Sigmund Freud. He also wrote numerous novels, and was a dramatist.He was born and brought up in London, and educated at...
, writer (born 19101910 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1910 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King Edward VII , King George V*Prime Minister - H. H...
) - 23 October - Bill NicholsonBill Nicholson (footballer)William Edward "Bill" Nicholson OBE was an English football player, coach, manager and scout who devoted his life to Tottenham Hotspur in North London.-Early life:...
, footballer and football manager (born 1919) - 25 October - John PeelJohn PeelJohn Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
, DJ and radio presenter (born 19391939 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1939 in the United Kingdom. This year sees the start of World War II.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King George VI*Prime Minister – Neville Chamberlain, national coalition-Events:...
) - 29 October - Princess Alice, Duchess of GloucesterPrincess Alice, Duchess of GloucesterPrincess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester was a member of the British Royal Family, the wife and then widow of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, the third son of George V and Queen Mary.The daughter of the 7th Duke of Buccleuch & Queensberry, Scotland’s largest landowner, her brothers Walter and...
, member of the Royal Family and aunt of the reigning Queen (born 19011901 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1901 in the United Kingdom. This year marks the transition from the Victorian to the Edwardian era.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria , King Edward VII...
) - 29 October - Peter TwinnPeter TwinnPeter Frank George Twinn was a British mathematician, World War II codebreaker and entomologist.-Education and codebreaking:...
, mathematician, World War II codebreaker and entomologist (born 19161916 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1916 in the United Kingdom. This year is dominated by World War I.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - H. H...
) - 6 November - Fred DibnahFred DibnahFrederick "Fred" Dibnah MBE , born in Bolton, was an English steeplejack and eccentric with a keen interest in mechanical engineering who became a cult television personality....
, steeplejack and television personality (born 19381938 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1938 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King George VI*Prime Minister – Neville Chamberlain, national coalition-Events:...
) - 9 November - Emlyn HughesEmlyn HughesEmlyn Walter Hughes, OBE was an English footballer who captained both the England national team and the much-decorated Liverpool F.C. team of the 1970s.- From Blackpool to Liverpool :...
, footballer, football manager and TV gameshow captain (born 19471947 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1947 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King George VI*Prime Minister – Clement Attlee, Labour-Events:* January – One of the most severe winters on record in the UK....
) - 19 November - John Robert VaneJohn Robert VaneSir John Robert Vane FRS was an English pharmacologist and Nobel Laureate, born in Tardebigg, Worcestershire. His father was the son of Russian immigrants and his mother came from a Worcestershire farming family. He was educated at King Edward's School in Edgbaston, Birmingham, and studied...
, pharmacologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineNobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineThe Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
(born 19271927 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1927 in the United Kingdom.1927 saw the renaming of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, recognising in name the Irish free state's independence, it having come into existence with the Anglo-Irish Treaty...
) - 2 December - Alicia MarkovaAlicia MarkovaDame Alicia Markova, DBE, DMus, was an English ballerina and a choreographer, director and teacher of classical ballet. Most noted for her career with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and touring internationally, she was widely considered to be one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of the...
, ballerina (born 19101910 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1910 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King Edward VII , King George V*Prime Minister - H. H...
) - 24 December - Anthony MeyerAnthony MeyerSir Anthony John Charles Meyer, 3rd Baronet was a British soldier, diplomat, and Conservative and later Liberal Democrat politician, best known for standing against Margaret Thatcher for the party leadership in 1989...
, former Conservative MP who unsuccessfully challenged Margaret Thatcher'sMargaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
leadership in 1989 (born 19201920 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1920 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - David Lloyd George, coalition-Events:* 10 January - The steamer Treveal is wrecked in the English Channel; 35 people lose their lives....
)