1986 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1986 in the United Kingdom. It is particularly noted for the "Big Bang" deregulation of the financial markets.

Incumbents

Monarch – Elizabeth II
Prime Minister – Margaret Thatcher

Events

January

January – The Vauxhall Belmont compact saloon goes on sale, giving buyers a traditional saloon alternative to the Astra hatchback and estate models. The car would remain in production until September 1991.
9 January – Michael Heseltine resigns as Defence Secretary over the Westland affair.
12 January – The game show Catchphrase begins on ITV hosted by Roy Walker along with the computer generated character Mr. Chips. It concludes in 2002, but is revived in 2013.
14 January – The Salafi jihadist group al-Muhajiroun begins to operate in the UK.
20 January – The United Kingdom and France announce plans to construct the Channel Tunnel, which they hope to open by the early-1990s.
24 January – Leon Brittan resigns as Trade and Industry Secretary over the Westland affair.
31 January – Unemployment for this month has increased to 3,204,900 – a postwar high which accounts for 14.4% of the workforce.

February

February
*Heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures affect most of Britain during the month.
*The British-built Peugeot 309 goes on sale in Britain, four months after its continental launch. It is built at the former Rootes/Chrysler factory at Ryton, near Coventry which is also set to produce a larger Peugeot saloon model from next year.
6 February – The UK Government scraps plans to sell Austin Rover to Ford.
12 February – The Franco-British Channel Fixed Link Treaty is signed at Canterbury as the Channel Tunnel plans move forward.
15 February – In the Wapping dispute, fifty-eight people are arrested by police at a demonstration.
17 February – The UK signs the Single European Act.

March

March – Ford launches a new generation of its big-selling Escort and Orion ranges.
4 March – The national tabloid newspaper Today launches from Wapping. It pioneers the use of computer photo typesetting and full-colour offset printing at a time when British national newspapers are still using Linotype machines and letterpress.
5 March – The High Court disqualifies and fines 81 Labour councillors for failing to set a rate.
13 March – The Sun newspaper alleges that comedian Freddie Starr ate a live hamster.
18 March – Inheritance tax replaces Capital Transfer Tax.
19 March – Buckingham Palace announces the engagement of Prince Andrew to Sarah Ferguson; they will be married later this year.
23 March – Chelsea are the first winners of the Football League's new Full Members' Cup, beating Manchester City 5–4 in the final at Wembley, although Manchester City clawed the deficit to a single goal in the last five minutes after being 5–1 down.
29 March – The first high-speed catamaran ferry is introduced into service in the British Isles, HSC Our Lady Patricia on Sealink British Ferries' Portsmouth–Ryde passage.
31 March
* The Greater London Council is abolished, as are the metropolitan county councils of West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Tyne and Wear, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire.
* A fire causes extensive damage at Hampton Court Palace in Surrey.
* The Haig Pit, Whitehaven, Cumbria closes.

April

April – Hanson Trust concludes its takeover of the Imperial Group for £2.5 billion.
1 April
*The extension of London Underground's Piccadilly line to Heathrow Terminal 4 is opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales. Trains do not stop at the station until 12 April.
*Establishment of National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside group of institutions, funded through national government.
7 April – Clive Sinclair sells rights to ZX Spectrum and other inventions to Amstrad.
10 April – The Fulham by-election, caused by the death of the sitting Conservative MP Martin Stevens on 10 January, is held. The seat is lost to Labour, under Nick Raynsford.
15 April – The Shops Bill 1986, which would have liberalised Sunday shopping, is defeated in the House of Commons on its second reading, the last time that a government bill will fall at this stage, one of only four defeats in the Commons for Mrs Thatcher and the only time an entire government bill is defeated during her tenure.
17 April
* Journalist John McCarthy is kidnapped in Beirut, where three other hostages are found dead. The Revolutionary Cells (RZ) claims responsibility as revenge for the recent American bombing of Libya. McCarthy will be held for more than 5 years.
* A treaty is signed to end the supposed Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly.
20 April – Oxford United F.C., who joined the Football League only in 1962 and are in the First Division for the first time, win the Football League Cup with a 3–0 win over Queens Park Rangers at Wembley.
24 April – Wallis, Duchess of Windsor dies in her home in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris, aged 89, outliving her husband by fourteen years.
28 April – The first phase of the MetroCentre, Europe's largest indoor shopping centre, in Gateshead, is opened. The remainder of the centre is set to open this autumn.
29 April – The Duchess of Windsor is buried at Frogmore.
30 April – Rioting erupts overnight in prisons across Britain. Dozens of prisoners escape, while prisoners at Stafford Prison set the prison canteen alight by smashing windows and dumping a burning mattress onto the roof. The worst disturbances come at Northeye Prison in Sussex, where a 70-strong mob of prisoners takes over the jail and sets fire to the canteen, hospital wing and sports hall.

May

May – The last Talbot badged passenger cars are built in Britain and France by Peugeot who will continue making their own cars at the former Rootes Group plant near Coventry and the former Simca production facilities in France. Peugeot is to continue the Talbot brand for commercial vehicles and production of the Horizon range will continue in Spain and Finland until next year.
5 May – Liverpool win the Football League First Division title for a record 16th time after winning 1–0 at Chelsea. Kenny Dalglish, in his first season as the club's player-manager, scores the goal which gives Liverpool the title.
8 May
* Labour makes large gains in local council elections, collecting 37% of the votes nationally compared to the Conservatives on 34% and the Alliance on 26%. These are the first national elections to be held since the recent abolition of the metropolitan councils.
* By-elections are held in [1986 1986 West Derbyshire by-election|West Derbyshire by-election|West Derbyshire] and [1986 1986 Ryedale by-election|Ryedale by-election|Ryedale], caused by the resignation of Matthew Parris and the death of John Spence, both Conservative MPs, respectively. The Conservatives hold West Derbyshire under Patrick McLoughlin but lose Ryedale to the Liberals.
* Former Labour MP and life peer Manny Shinwell, Baron Shinwell dies at the age of 101, making him the second longest-lived British MP until 2008.
10 May – The first all-Merseyside FA Cup final ends in a 3–1 win for Liverpool over Everton, who become only the third team this century to win the double, having already secured the Football League First Division title.
20 May – The Marriage Act revises the prohibited degree of kinship for marriage.
21 May – The Harrison Birtwistle opera The Mask of Orpheus premieres in London.

June

10 June – Patrick Joseph Magee is found guilty of the 1984 Brighton hotel bombing and sentenced to life imprisonment.
12 June
* Derek Hatton, leader of Liverpool council, is expelled from the Labour Party for belonging to the entryist Militant group.
* Austin Rover is renamed the Rover Group four years after the name change from British Leyland.
14 June – The Queen rides to Trooping the Colour on horseback for the last time.
23 June – Patrick Magee is jailed for life for the 1984 Brighton hotel bombing as well as other IRA bombings.
24 June – Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party stage protest at dissolution of Northern Ireland Assembly.
29 June
* Richard Branson beats the speed record for a transatlantic crossing by boat in Virgin Atlantic Challenger II but is denied the Blue Riband award.
* The Association football World Cup ends in Mexico with Argentina as winners and West Germany runners-up, but England's Gary Lineker wins the Golden Boot, having finished as the competition's leading scorer with six goals. Lineker, who has been at Everton for the last year and is the First Division's top scorer, is reported to be on the verge of a transfer to FC Barcelona of Spain.

July

July – Nissan begins production of the Bluebird at its landmark factory near Sunderland.
1 July – Gary Lineker becomes the most expensive British footballer ever in a £2.75 million move from Everton to FC Barcelona.
2 July – 24 hours after Gary Lineker's transfer, Ian Rush sets a new transfer record for a British footballer when he agrees a £3.2 million move from Liverpool to Juventus of Italy, but is loaned back to Liverpool for a season and will not play his first game for Juventus until at least August 1987.
4 July – A policeman is cleared of the manslaughter of five-year-old John Shorthouse, who was killed in an armed raid on a house in Birmingham in August last year.
10 July – Austin Rover launches its new Honda-based Rover 800 executive car, which replaces the decade-old Rover SD1 and is part of a joint venture with Japanese carmaker Honda. The car will also be sold in the United States under the Sterling marque. The Honda version will be badged as the Honda Legend.
12 July – Rioting breaks out at Portadown in Northern Ireland between Protestants and Catholics.
17 July
*It is announced that unemployment rose to 3,220,400 in June. It has now exceeded 3 million for nearly five years.
*The Newcastle-under-Lyme by-election, caused by the resignation of the sitting Labour MP John Golding on 24 June, is held. His wife Llin Golding is elected the new Labour MP.
23 July – Prince Andrew, Duke of York, marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey in London.
24 July–2 August – The Commonwealth Games are held in Edinburgh.
25 July
*Building Societies Act allows building societies to offer the same personal finance services as banks. The Bank of England withdraws its guidance on mortgage loans.
*Social Security Act introduces Family Credit, a tax credit for low-paid workers with children.
26 July – A passenger train collides with a van in the Lockington rail accident in East Yorkshire; nine people are killed, eight on the train and one in the van.
28 July – Estate agent Suzy Lamplugh vanishes after a viewing in London. She is declared legally dead in 1994, but what happened will remain unknown, her body will still not have been found and no-one will have been formally charged with her murder.
30 July – A MORI poll shows that Labour are now nine points ahead of the Conservatives with 41% of the vote, with Liberal/SDP Alliance support now at 25%.

August

4 August – Mathematician Simon Donaldson is awarded a Fields Medal.
8 August – Rival gangs of Manchester United and West Ham United fans clash on a Sealink ferry bound for Amsterdam where the two clubs are playing pre-season friendlies. The UEFA ban on English clubs in European competitions is continuing for a second season, and there are now fears that English clubs may not even be able to play friendlies overseas.
13 August – The Eurotunnel Group is formed to operate the Channel Tunnel.
15 August – The latest MORI poll shows that the Conservatives have eliminated Labour's nine-point lead and drawn level with them by gaining 37% in the latest opinion poll, in the space of just over two weeks.
16 August – Figures released by the government reveal that a record of nearly 3,100,000 people claimed Unemployment Benefit last month, although the official total of unemployed people in Britain is still short of the record of nearly 3,300,000 which was set two years ago.
19 August – The privatisation of the National Bus Company begins with the first sale of a bus operating subsidiary, Devon General, in a management buyout.
22 August – John Stalker, deputy chief constable of Greater Manchester police, is cleared of misconduct over allegations of associating with criminals.
24–25 August – The inaugural Birmingham Superprix, the first street race to be held in mainland Britain, takes place in Birmingham city centre. It will run annually on August Bank Holiday weekend until 1990.
25 August – Economists warn that a global recession is imminent, barely five years after the previous recession.
29 August
*Britain's oldest twins, May and Marjorie Chavasse, celebrate their one-hundredth birthday.
*Highest national average 24-hour total rainfall until 2020.
c. August – The one-millionth council house in the United Kingdom is sold to its tenants in Scotland, seven years after the Right To Buy scheme was launched.

September

September – GCSE examination courses replace both GCE 'O' Level and CSE courses for 14-year-olds.
6 September – First episode of medical drama serial Casualty airs on BBC One. It will still be running on television almost forty years later.
8 September – Margaret Thatcher officially opens the first phase of the Nissan car factory at Sunderland, which has been in use for two months. It is the first car factory to be built in Europe by a Japanese carmaker.
13 September – Motorcyclist Neil Robinson, 24, dies after his motorcycle crashes on the Oliver's Mount racing circuit in Scarborough during a practice session.
14 September – Fears of another recession in Britain are eased by economists at Liverpool University predicting 3.1% economic growth next year.
18 September – It is announced that unemployment rose to 3,280,106 in July.
19 September – One man, a train driver, is killed and 79 people are injured in the Colwich railway accident.
24 September – The flotation of the Trustee Savings Banks attracts a record of more than 4 million applications for shares.

October

7 October – The first edition of The Independent national morning newspaper is published in London.
9 October
*"Babes in the Wood" murders: two girls, Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway, are reported missing in Moulsecoomb, Brighton.
*Musical The Phantom of the Opera opens at Her Majesty's Theatre in London.
10 October – "Babes in the Wood" murders: two bodies found in Wild Park, Brighton, are identified as those of the two girls reported missing yesterday and a murder investigation is launched.
12 October – Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visit the People's Republic of China, the first ever visit to the country by a British monarch.
14 October – The MetroCentre, a shopping complex built on the Tyneside Enterprise Zone, is opened. It is similar in concept to the Merry Hill Shopping Centre that is being developed near Dudley in the West Midlands. The MetroCentre is officially the largest shopping complex in Europe. Among the MetroCentre's tenants is Marks & Spencer, whose department store there is its first out of town outlet.
24 October – The UK breaks off diplomatic relations with Syria over links to the Hindawi affair.
26 October
*Bus deregulation begins in the United Kingdom, except Greater London and Northern Ireland.
*Jeffrey Archer resigns as Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party over allegations concerning prostitutes.
27 October
*"Big Bang Day": London Stock Exchange is computerised, and opens to foreign companies.
*BBC1 starts a full daytime television service, including the UK launch of Australian soap Neighbours, more than a year after debuting in its native country.
28 October – Jeremy Bamber is found guilty of the 1985 "White House Farm murders" of his parents, sister and twin nephews in Essex, and is sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended minimum of 25 years and as of 2025 is still in prison.
29 October – Margaret Thatcher opens the completed M25 London Orbital Motorway, the first section of which opened in 1975. It covers a distance of 122 miles and features 31 junctions, although there are no service stations yet.
30 October – Children and young people's telephone counselling charity Childline begins taking calls.

November

November
*First UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the U.K. designated: Giant's Causeway and the Causeway Coast ; Durham Castle and Cathedral; Ironbridge Gorge; Studley Royal Park ; Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites; and Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd.
* Launch of the second generation Vauxhall Carlton, largest model in the Vauxhall range. It will be sold as the Opel Omega on the continent, and all European versions of the car will be built in West Germany.
3 November – The Conservatives top a MORI poll for the first time this year, coming one point ahead of Labour with 40% of the vote. Liberal/SDP Alliance support has slumped to 18%.
6 November
* 45 oil platform workers and flight crew are killed in the 1986 British International Helicopters Chinook crash on the approach to Sumburgh Airport in Shetland, with just 2 survivors.
* Chancellor Nigel Lawson announces a £4.6 billion rise in public spending.
* Alex Ferguson is appointed manager of Manchester United football club following the dismissal of Ron Atkinson after more than five years in charge. United won two FA Cups under the management of Atkinson but have not won the league title since 1967 and are now second from bottom in the Football League First Division. Ferguson will hold the post for 26 years.
7 November
*Sir James Goldsmith's £5 billion bid for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company is rejected.
*Education (No. 2) Act 1986 requires increased representation of parents in the governance of schools, abolishes school corporal punishment in the state sector, and gives universities a duty to protect freedom of speech.
13 November
*It is announced that unemployment fell by 96,000 in October.
*The Knowsley North by-election, caused by the departure of the sitting Labour MP Robert Kilroy-Silk on 1 October, is held. The seat is held by Labour under George Howarth.
13 November – Michael Lush falls to his death on the set of The Late, Late Breakfast Show, leading to the show's cancellation.
18 November – Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, who are both still in prison 20 years after their Moors Murders convictions, confess to the murders of two missing children – Pauline Reade, who vanished in July 1963 at the age of 16, and Keith Bennett, who was last seen in June 1964 at the age of 12.
20 November – Greater Manchester Police begin their search for the two newly identified Moors Murders victims.
21 November – The Government launches a £20 million campaign to warn members of the public about the dangers of AIDS.

December

December – The first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy is diagnosed in British cattle.
1 December – The government launches an inquiry into financial irregularities at Guinness.
3 December – 4 million people apply for shares in British Gas in anticipation of flotation next week.
4 December – 20-year-old roofer Russell Bishop is charged with the "Babes in the Wood" murders in Brighton two months ago but will not be convicted until a second trial in 2018.
8 December – British Gas shares are floated on the Stock Exchange. The initial public offering of 135p per share values the company at £9 billion, the highest equity offering ever at this time.
17 December – The world's first heart, lung and liver transplant is carried out at Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire.
18 December – It is announced that unemployment fell to a four-year low of less than 3,100,000 in November. On 15 January 1987 it is announced that unemployment has fallen in December 1986 for the fifth month in succession.
22 December – David Penhaligon, a leading Liberal Party MP, dies in a car crash near Truro in his Cornwall constituency at the age of 42.
25 December – The highest audience of all time for a British television drama is attracted by the Christmas Day episode of EastEnders, the BBC 1 soap opera, in which Den Watts serves the divorce papers on his wife Angie after discovering that she had feigned a terminal illness to try to stop him from leaving her in an episode aired in October this year. More than 30 million viewers tune in for the episode of the TV series which first went on air in February 1985.
29 December – Harold Macmillan, Earl of Stockton and former Prime Minister, dies at his home, Birch Grove in East Sussex, aged 92, the oldest former Prime Minister until 2005.

Undated

Inflation reaches a 19-year low of 3.4%.

Publications

Janet and Allan Ahlberg's children's book The Jolly Postman.
Kingsley Amis's novel The Old Devils.
Jeffrey Archer's novel A Matter of Honour.
Iain Banks' novel The Bridge.
John le Carré's novel A Perfect Spy.
Richard Dawkins' book The Blind Watchmaker.
Brian Jacques' children's fantasy novel Redwall, first in the eponymous series.
Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel The Light Fantastic.

Births

January

1 January
* Anna Brewster, actress and model
* James Cottriall, English-born Austrian singer and musician
* Colin Morgan, actor
2 January - Rob Beckett, comedian, narrator, and presenter
3 January - Liam Treadwell, National Hunt jockey
4 January
* Russell Martin, football player and manager
* James Milner, footballer
6 January - Alex Turner, musician
7 January - Liam Fontaine, footballer
8 January - Emika, electronic musician
9 January - Craig Davies, footballer
10 January - Abbey Clancy, model and television personality
11 January
* Kamara Bacchus, actress and radio personality
* Kelly Chambers, footballer
* Liam Coleman, footballer
* Terry Etim, mixed martial artist
* Jackmaster, disc jockey and record producer
* Rachel Riley, television presenter
12 January
* Edward Drake, Olympic skier
* Chris Evangelou, actor and boxer
* Kieron Richardson, actor
13 January - Rosalind Canter, equestrian
17 January
* Nicholas D. Cooper, actor
* Lucy Evangelista, model and pageant winner
18 January - John Farnworth, football freestyler, entertainer, actor, and World Record holder
20 January - Hannah Daniel, actress
22 January - Ella Edmondson, singer/songwriter
23 January - Anne Foy, children's television presenter
24 January
* Mischa Barton, British-born American actress
* Oliver Brennand, rugby player
* Montell Douglas, Olympic sprinter and bobsleigher
26 January
* Luke Bowen, speedway rider
* Danny Crow, footballer
28 January
* Jessica Ennis-Hill, Olympic heptathlete
* Ashley Lilley, actress and singer
29 January - Mark Howard, footballer

February

1 February
* Kerry Blewett, lifeguard and canoe sprinter
* Joe Connor, footballer
* Tom Deacon, comedian
2 February - Gemma Arterton, actress
3 February
* Donald Barrell, rugby player
* James DeGale, boxer
* David Edwards, footballer
4 February - Lewis Chalmers, footballer
5 February - Billy Sharp, footballer
6 February - Jon-Allan Butterworth, Paralympic cyclist
7 February - Ben Batt, actor
8 February - James Collins, rugby player
11 February
* Bim Afolami, politician
* Tom Bartram, cricketer
* Mark Coulson, footballer
19 February
* Duncan Bradshaw, cricketer
* Ophelia Lovibond, actress
21 February - Charlotte Church, singer/songwriter
22 February - Mark Allen, snooker player
23 February
* Darren Cheesman, hockey player
* Laura Coleman, model, social media influencer, and actress
25 February
* Andrew Dick, footballer
* James and Oliver Phelps, identical twin actors
27 February - Adam Bartlett, footballer
28 February - Kingsley Ben-Adir, actor

March

1 March
* Joanna Blair, javelin thrower
* Aaron Bramwell, rugby player
* Alec Utgoff, Ukrainian-born actor
2 March
* James Ashmore, footballer
* Jay Conroy, footballer
3 March
* Iwan Brown, rugby player
* Tom Curle, footballer
5 March - Matty Fryatt, footballer and coach
6 March
* Danny Jones, rugby league footballer
* Charlie Mulgrew, footballer
7 March - Geraint Davies, rugby player
8 March - Emma Cousin, artist
11 March
* Peter Bissell, cyclist
* Tom Clarke, musician and frontman for The Enemy
* Will Dobson, cricketer
12 March
* Mat Bailey, footballer
* Danny Jones, musician, singer/songwriter, vocalist and guitarist for McFly
13 March
* Hannah Claydon, model
* Kat Driscoll, Olympic trampoline gymnast
14 March - Jamie Bell, actor
16 March
* Dave Coupland, golfer
* Joe Denly, cricketer
17 March - Will Chudley, rugby player
19 March - Kane Ashcroft, footballer
20 March - Kirsty Blackman, politician
21 March
*Samantha Bowen, Iraqi War veteran and Paralympic sitting volleyball player
*Sam Nixon, singer and TV presenter
22 March
* Tom Cheeseman, footballer
* Eddie Dennis, wrestler
24 March
* Tom Davies, rugby player
25 March
* Ashleigh Ball, hockey player
* Bob Davidson, footballer
26 March - Luc Bernard, video game designer and artist
28 March
* Jay Curtis, television & radio broadcaster and actor
* Bolu Fagborun, Nigerian-born rugby player
29 March - Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, footballer
31 March
* Scott Baker, darts player
* Matty Collins, footballer

April

1 April - Fardad Farahzad, Iranian-born journalist
3 April - Coleen Rooney, media personality
6 April - David Avery, actor
7 April - Andi Fraggs, singer/songwriter and music producer
8 April - Liam Scarlett, choreographer
9 April
* Doctor P, dubstep producer and DJ
* Leilani Franco, contortionist
10 April
* Sam Attwater, actor
* Adam Connolly, footballer
* Martin Drury, footballer and coach
12 April - Nick Crumpton, zoologist and children's author
13 April - Michael Bingham, Olympic track-and-field athlete
14 April - Matt Derbyshire, footballer
15 April
* Chris Dagnall, footballer
* Tom Heaton, footballer
16 April
* Darren Campbell, footballer
* Paul Di Resta, racing driver
17 April - Brett Ferres, rugby player
18 April
* Jordan Brookes, comedian
* Gavin Cadwallader, footballer
* James Dabill, motorcycle trials rider
* Gareth Evans, Olympic weightlifter
20 April - Phil Clifton, television and radio presenter
21 April - Blair Cowan, rugby player
22 April - Stuart Anderson, footballer
23 April - Stuart Fleetwood, footballer
25 April - Daniel Sharman, actor
27 April - Jenna Coleman, actress
29 April - Donna Etiebet, rower
30 April - Michael Collins, footballer

May

3 May
* Kell Brook, boxer
* Poppy Delevingne, model
* Jon-Lewis Dickinson, boxer
5 May - Brett Domino, musician and comedian
6 May - David Buchanan, footballer
7 May - Jamie Day, footballer
10 May - Liam Davies, rugby player
11 May - Marc Fitzpatrick, footballer
12 May - Luke Douglas, Australian-born rugby player
13 May
* Mark Bott, cricketer
* Robert Pattinson, actor
14 May - Richard Huckle, convicted sex offender
15 May - Tom Champion, footballer
16 May - Charlie Fink, songwriter, producer and filmmaker
17 May - Jodie Taylor, footballer
19 May - Christian Begg, cricketer
20 May
* Dexter Blackstock, footballer
* Robert Emms, actor
23 May - Matthew Crampton, cyclist
24 May - Charlie Casely-Hayford, fashion designer
25 May - Lauren Crace, actress and radio presenter
26 May
* Fern Brady, comedian and writer
* James Cockle, speedway rider
* Martin Paul Eve, academic, writer, and disability rights campaigner
27 May - Conor Cummins, motorcycle racer
28 May - Laura Dockrill, author and performance poet
29 May
* Anthony Barry, footballer
* Danny Fox, footballer
31 May - Chris Brooker, rugby player

June

1 June - Skream, DJ and producer
3 June
* Amar Chadha-Patel, actor, filmmaker, and musician
* Jordan Crane, rugby player
* Mike Dodds, football coach
4 June
* Scott Boyd, footballer
* Oona Chaplin, Spanish-born actress and dancer
* Nicole Emmanuel, footballer
* Shelly Woods, Paralympic wheelchair racer
5 June - Charlotte Dobson, Olympic sailor
8 June - Michelle Cooper, bowler
9 June - Luis Felber, British-born Peruvian musician
10 June - Zara Dampney, Olympic beach volleyball player
12 June
* Gary Buckland, boxer
* Scott Flinders, footballer
* Luke Youngblood, actor
13 June - Mark D. Ferguson, film director, screenwriter and camera operator
14 June - Jonathan Clare, cricketer
15 June
* Jordan Andrews, composer, musician and producer
* Dean Bowditch, footballer
17 June
* Steven Davies, cricketer
* Helen Glover, rower
18 June
* Kevin Bradley, footballer
* Gareth Duke, Paralympic swimmer
* Ian Field, cyclo-cross cyclist
* Richard Madden, actor
20 June - Alex Davies, rugby player
21 June - Stuart Abbot, footballer
23 June - Colin Ryan, actor
24 June - Stuart Broad, cricketer
25 June
* Megan Burns, musician and actress
* Sean Crombie, rugby player
26 June - Paddy Coupar, rugby player
27 June - Sam Claflin, actor

July

1 July - Sonoya Mizuno, Japanese-born actress, model, and ballerina
3 July - Chris Bush, playwright and artistic director
4 July
* Marvin Bartley, footballer
* Julia Beckett, Olympic swimmer
10 July
* Tom Richards, squash player
* Scott Westgarth, boxer
11 July
* Derek Carcary, footballer
* Ian Cathro, football coach
14 July - Dan Smith, singer
16 July - James Drury, English-born Virgin Islands footballer
17 July - William Easton, footballer
21 July
* Michael Collins, rugby player
* Rebecca Ferguson, soul singer/songwriter
22 July - Robert Campbell, footballer
24 July - Alissa Firsova, Russian-born classical composer, pianist, and conductor
25 July
* Kate Butters, basketball player
* Alan Clyne, squash player
26 July - Mathew Birley, footballer
29 July - FuntCase, DJ and dubstep producer
31 July - Charlie Clemmow, actress

August

1 August
* Damien Allen, footballer
* Daisy May Cooper, actress and writer
3 August - Rebekah Cook, motorcycle trials rider
4 August - Leon Camier, motorcycle racer
5 August - Jamie Baker, tennis player
6 August - Nick Brodie, coxswain
9 August
* Robert Adcock, badminton player
* Aled Brew, rugby player
10 August - Ross Burkinshaw, boxer
15 August
* Teddy Sinclair, singer/songwriter
16 August
* Danny Ayres, speedway racer
* Niki Birrell, Paralympic sailor
19 August
* Rachael Burford, rugby player
* Zuby, rapper
20 August
* Grant Anderson, footballer
* Kerry Barr, curler
* Steven Campbell, footballer
* Andrew Surman, footballer
22 August
* James Frost, guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist for The Automatic
* Bobby Cole Norris, television personality
* PAC, wrestler
24 August
* Jonny Cocker, racing driver
* Jamie Cox, boxer
27 August - Laura Bates, feminist writer
28 August
* Stuart Bithell, Olympic sailor
* Paul Crook, rugby player
* Florence Welch, English singer/songwriter
30 August - Theo Hutchcraft, pop musician

September

6 September
* Daniel Dillon, footballer
* Phil Doughty, footballer
7 September
* Charlie Daniels, footballer
* Jodie Turner-Smith, actress and model
11 September - Adam Dixon, hockey player
12 September
* Alfie Allen, actor
* Akwasi Fobi-Edusei, footballer
* Dawn Foster, journalist, broadcaster, and author
13 September - Darren Daniel, rugby player
14 September
* Paul Brannigan, actor
* Joel Byrom, footballer
15 September - Jenna McCorkell, figure skater
16 September - Hasib Hussain, Islamic terrorist, murders 13 people during 7 July 2005 London bombings
17 September
* Jack Adams, rugby union player
* Rob Elvins, footballer
* Ashley Foyle, footballer
* Sophie, Scottish songwriter and record producer
18 September
* Cammy Bell, footballer and coach
* Keeley Hazell, model
22 September
* CASisDEAD, rapper and MC
* Ryan Dicker, footballer
* Steven Findlay, rugby player
23 September - Lisa Farnell, Canadian-born curler
25 September - Josh Bateman, rugby player
26 September - Martin Cranie, footballer
27 September
* Efe Echanomi, Nigerian-born footballer
* Greg Fleming, footballer
29 September - Cerith Flinn, actor

October

1 October
* Paul Edwards, boxer
* Carl Finnigan, footballer
* Danny Francis, footballer
2 October - Tom Hudson, actor
3 October
* Alex Ball, cricketer
* Calum Forrester, rugby player
4 October - Gary Boyd, golfer
6 October - Michael Eilberg, dressage rider
8 October
* Louis Dodds, footballer
* George Flanagan, rugby player
9 October - Sam Ashton, footballer
10 October
* Jamie Conlan, boxer
* Matty Dale, rugby player
* Lucy Griffiths, actress
13 October
* Gabby Agbonlahor, footballer
* Beth Croft, Christian musician
14 October
* Matt Bulman, footballer
* Tom Craddock, footballer
15 October - Tommy Forecast, footballer
16 October - Craig Pickering, sprinter
17 October - Sam Foley, footballer
18 October - Aidan Collins, footballer
19 October - Anthony England, rugby player
20 October
* Charlie Brown, singer/songwriter
* Charlie Duffell, cricketer
* Ryan Esders, rugby player
21 October - Keith Barker, cricketer
22 October
* John Boyle, footballer
* Phil Burleigh, rugby player
* Dale Roberts, footballer
23 October
* Emilia Clarke, actress
* Lee Costello, motorcycle racer
24 October
* Will Bragg, cricketer
* Oliver Jackson-Cohen, actor
* John Ruddy, footballer

November

2 November - Cherrelle Fennell, Olympic gymnast
3 November
* Scott Armstrong, rugby player
* Antonia Thomas, actress
4 November - Seve Benson, golfer
6 November
* Nick Aldis, wrestler
* Craig Bryson, footballer
8 November
* Draft, electronic music producer, DJ and songwriter
* Jamie Roberts, rugby player
10 November - Travis Binnion, English-born Irish footballer and cricketer
13 November
* Kevin Bridges, stand-up comedian
* Adam Cox, gymnast
14 November
* Richard Buck, sprinter
* Matt Cook, rugby player
* Ashley Fuller, footballer
15 November
* Jamie Chestney, bowler
* Jared Hodgkiss, footballer
16 November
* Anthony Crolla, boxer
* Ayden Duffy, footballer
17 November
* Matt Barron, rugby player
* Greg Rutherford, Olympic track-and-field athlete
18 November - Richard Strachan, personal trainer and sprinter
19 November - Sam Betty, rugby player
20 November - Oliver Sykes, vocalist and frontman for Bring Me the Horizon
21 November
* Tom Cahill, footballer
* Sam Palladio, actor and musician
22 November
* Jack Blumenau, actor
* Paul Dixon, footballer
23 November - Liam Davis, footballer
25 November - Louise Alder, lyric soprano
26 November - Nathan Craze, hockey player
27 November
* Sammy Dobson, actress
* George Eaton, journalist
28 November
* Dan Carden, politician
* Helen Wood, TV personality
29 November - Joe Colbeck, footballer

December

1 December
* Michael Bakare, footballer
* Natasha O'Keeffe, actress
* Andrew Tate, internet personality
2 December - Adam Le Fondre, footballer
5 December - Leigh Alderson, ballet dancer
6 December - Sean Edwards, racing driver
8 December
* Lara Carroll, English-born Australian Olympic swimmer
* Amir Khan, boxer
9 December - Dale Appleby, cyclist
10 December - Matthew Bates, footballer
11 December
* Gary Carr, actor, dancer, and musician
* Kris Doolan, footballer
* Lee Peltier, footballer
12 December
* Sean Clohessy, footballer
* Ayden Faal, rugby player
* Jo Fraser, painter
13 December - Ben Evans, golfer
14 December
* Phil Boulton, rugby player
* Ryan Dickson, footballer
18 December
* Eku Edewor, actress, television presenter, and model
* Harry Fry, racehorse trainer
19 December - Calvin Andrew, footballer
20 December
* Ian Bibby, cyclist
* Benjamin Brierley, English-born German rugby player
* Chris Cornes, footballer
23 December - Tom Birchall, motorcycle-with-sidecar racer
26 December
* Josh Beech, English-born American singer/songwriter
* Nichola Burley, actress
* Emily Fleeshman, actress
* Kit Harington, actor
27 December - Liam Craig, footballer
28 December - Hannah Elsy, rower
30 December
* Nikki Brammeier, cyclist
* Ellie Goulding, singer
* Faye Marsay, actress

Date Unknown

Alice Birch, playwright and screenwriter
Caroline Bird, poet, playwright and author
Brian Blackwell, convicted murderer
Joe Borg, screenwriter
Millie Brown, performance artist
Hugh Brunt, music conductor
Jen Calleja, writer and literary translator
Poppy Corbett, playwright
Thomas Crowther, professor of ecology at ETH Zurich and co-chair of the advisory board for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
Deckscar, DJ and music producer
Ryan Edgar, footballer
Laura Evans, snooker player
Martin Paul Eve, academic, writer and disability rights campaigner
Floating Points, electronic music producer, DJ and musician
Katrina Forrester, political theorist and historian
Danny Fox, artist
Martha Spurrier, human rights lawyer

Deaths

January

1 January
* Lord David Cecil, historian and biographer
* Kenneth de Burgh Codrington, archaeologist
2 January
* Sir John Howard, civil engineer
* Patrick Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone, 4th Baron Derwent, peer
3 January
* John Cronin, Labour politician
* Dustin Gee, comedian
4 January
* Christopher Isherwood, novelist
* Phil Lynott, Irish singer, Thin Lizzy frontman
5 January
* Sir John Barlow, 2nd Baronet, politician
* Thomas Heathcote, actor
8 January
* Basil Fitzherbert, 14th Baron Stafford, peer
* Sidney Harrison, composer and pianist
* Mansel Thomas, Welsh composer
9 January – W. S. Graham, Scottish poet
10 January – Martin Stevens, Conservative politician
11 January – Sid Chaplin, author and screenwriter
16 January
* Sir Bill Richardson, journalist
* Peter Waterman, boxer
20 January
* Sidney Barton, Labour politician
* Stanley George Browne, medical missionary
* Alex Munro, Scottish comedian
* Elizabeth Nickell-Lean, opera singer
21 January
* Sir Gordon MacMillan, Scottish Army general
* Gilbert Roberts, Royal Navy captain
22 January
* Scott Dobson, art critic and writer
* Thomas Baden Morris, author
24 January – John Vaughan Wilkes, educationalist
26 January – Nicholas Moore, poet
27 January
* Arthur Llewellyn Basham, historian and Indologist
* Robert Fraser, art dealer
* George Wade, potter

February

1 February – Dick James, singer and record producer
4 February – Herbert Smith, film producer
6 February – Frederick Coutts, Salvation Army officer
7 February – Dick Southwood, Olympic rower
10 February – Brian Aherne, actor
14 February – Edmund Rubbra, composer
15 February – Harry Hall, botanist
17 February – Nesta Wells, first woman police surgeon in the United Kingdom
21 February – Margaret Hunter, Scottish communist
22 February
* Tom Bradshaw, Scottish footballer
* Anthony Rawlinson, civil servant
23 February – Beatrix Thomson, actress
26 February – Charles Gibson Connell, Scottish ornithologist
27 February – Nancy Brysson Morrison, author
28 February – Sir Thomas Williams, Labour politician

March

1 March – Tommy Farr, Welsh boxer
4 March
* Edward MacLysaght, British-born Irish genealogist
* John Spence, Conservative politician
5 March – Basil McFarland, Northern Irish politician and businessman
6 March – Robert Bateson, RAF air marshal
10 March
* E. Gwyndaf Evans, Welsh poet
* Ray Milland, actor
* Elizabeth Monroe, historian
12 March – James Maurice Scott, explorer and writer
14 March
* John Fulton, Baron Fulton, civil servant
* Audrey Williamson, theatre critic
15 March – Martin Cooper, musicologist
16 March
* George Jackson, film animator
* Sir John Nicholson, 3rd Baronet, surgeon
* Sir Ouvry Lindfield Roberts, Army general
17 March – Sir John Bagot Glubb, general and author, leader of the Arab Legion
19 March
* Elisabeth Barker, journalist and civil servant
* Phil Rees, greyhound trainer
22 March – Jimmy Jones, tennis player
21 March – Derek Farr, actor
23 March – Sir Walter Merton, RAF air marshal
26 March – Andrew Freeth, artist
29 March – Elizabeth Williams, educationist
30 March – Beatrice White, scholar
31 March – Christopher Lloyd, naval historian

April

1 April – Margaret Masterman, linguist
3 April – Peter Pears, tenor
7 April – William Homan Thorpe, zoologist
11 April
* Lady Penelope Betjeman, travel writer and wife of Sir John Betjeman
* Sir Ronald Gould, trade unionist
* Ethel Haythornthwaite, environmental campaigner
15 April – Sir Edmund Hakewill-Smith, Army major-general
17 April – George Baillie-Hamilton, 12th Earl of Haddington, peer
19 April – James Carne, Army colonel
23 April
* Sir Charles Johnston, diplomat and translator
* Jim Laker, cricketer
24 April – Wallis, Duchess of Windsor
25 April – Sir Michael Creswell, diplomat
26 April
* Bessie Love, actress
* Richard Ernest Wycherley, archaeologist
28 April – Denis Arnold, musicologist
29 April – Glen Byam Shaw, actor and theatre director
30 April – Robert Stevenson, filmmaker

May

1 May
* Hylda Baker, actress
* Alastair McIntyre, film editor
4 May – C. H. V. Sutherland, numismatist
8 May
* Ernle Bradford, historian
* Manny Shinwell, Baron Shinwell, trade union official and Labour MP
* Sir Arthur Peterson, civil servant
14 May – William Lindsay, actor
18 May
* Robert Page Arnot, Communist journalist and politician
* James Phemister, geologist
21 May – Kenny Carter, motorcycle racer
23 May – Edward Hart, paediatrician
24 May – Robert Holmes, television scriptwriter
25 May
* Owen Hood Phillips, lawyer
* John Verney, 20th Baron Willoughby de Broke, peer
26 May
* Peggy Ann Clifford, actress
* Harold W. Fisher, philatelist
31 May – Dora Russell, author and campaigner, second wife of Bertrand Russell

June

2 June – Jimmy Grafton, radio and television producer
3 June
* Dame Anna Neagle, actress
* John Gilmour, botanist
4 June – Helen Gardner, literary critic
6 June
* Dick Rowe, record producer
* Tony Wright, actor
8 June – Thomas Burrow, Indologist
10 June – Reginald Lawson Waterfield, astronomer
11 June – Frank Cousins, Labour politician
12 June – John Steven Watson, historian
16 June – Lady Diana Cooper, aristocrat and actress
17 June – Joseph Stone, Baron Stone, physician
19 June – John Buxton Hilton, crime writer
23 June
* Sir Moses Finley, classical scholar
* Charles Ritchie Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen, judge
* Nigel Stock, actor
24 June – George Howe, actor
25 June
* Laurie Fishlock, cricketer and footballer
* Dame Mary Welsh, airwoman
26 June – William Lovelock, composer
29 June
* Sir Desmond Pond, psychiatrist
* Kenyon Taylor, inventor
* Cliff Townshend, jazz musician

July

1 July
* E. E. Y. Hales, historian
* Iain Sutherland, diplomat
* Roger Cuthbert Wakefield, surveyor
5 July – Sir John Toothill, industrialist
9 July – Sir Percy Edward Kent, geologist
12 July – Dermod MacCarthy, paediatrician
16 July
* Robert Boothby, Baron Boothby, Conservative politician
* Stephen Coulter, novelist
* Dick Crawshaw, Baron Crawshaw of Aintree, politician
18 July – Sir Stanley Rous, president of FIFA and former secretary of the Football Association
23 July – Bryan Matthews, physiologist
25 July – John Coldham, cricketer and coach
27 July – Sir Osbert Lancaster, cartoonist
28 July – Sir Frank Simpson, Army general
29 July
* Richard David Barnett, archaeologist
* Gordon Mills, musician and songwriter
30 July – Sir Clarence Bird, Army lieutenant-general, oldest British general of World War II
31 July
* Diana King, actress
* Harold Woolley, Baron Woolley, farmer

August

1 August
* Susan Jellicoe, gardener and garden designer
* Lena Kennedy, novelist
3 August – Beryl Markham, British-born Kenyan pilot and author
9 August – Cyril Plant, trade unionist
12 August – Dame Adelaide Doughty, civil servant
15 August – John Trevelyan, film censor
16 August – Sonia Rosemary Keppel, socialite and grandmother of Queen Camilla
17 August – Sir Charles Loewen, Army general
18 August – Vivian Stuart, author
19 August
* Hermione Baddeley, actress
* Wilfred Beaver, World War I air ace
* James Broom Millar, media executive
21 August – Samuel Crooks, Northern Irish Anglican prelate
25 August
* Walter John Christie, civil servant in India
* Henry Neville Southern, ornithologist
26 August – Elsie M. Burrows, botanist and phycologist
29 August – Stuart Young, accountant
31 August – Henry Moore, sculptor

September

1 September
* Tina Cooper, paediatrician
* R. B. Freeman, zoologist
2 September
* Philip Herries Gregory, mycologist
* Philip Radcliffe, composer
3 September – Horace King, Baron Maybray-King, Labour politician
6 September – Fred Taggart, golfer
9 September – Robert Shackleton, philologist and librarian
10 September – Ronnie Shade, Scottish golfer
11 September – Noel Streatfeild, children's author
12 September
* Philip Ingress Bell, judge and Conservative politician
* Terence MacDonagh, oboist
* Harold Moody, athlete
13 September – Neil Robinson, Northern Irish motorcycle racer
15 September – William Goode, colonial administrator
17 September – Pat Phoenix, actress
18 September – Elwyn Davies, Welsh civil servant
20 September – Dennis Spooner, television scriptwriter
22 September – Janet Davies, actress
23 September – Vincent Lloyd-Jones, Welsh judge
24 September – Prudence Glynn, fashion designer
28 September – Denis Carey, actor
29 September – Sir Reg Goodwin, Labour politician

October

3 October – Terry Pitt, political advisor
5 October
* Timothy Creasey, Army general
* Mairin Mitchell, journalist, author and translator
* James H. Wilkinson, mathematician
10 October – Mary Cholmondeley, Lady Delamere, socialite
11 October – John Crockett, television director
13 October
* Maidie Andrews, actress
* Eunice Crowther, singer, dancer and choreographer
15 October – Marcus Samuel, 3rd Viscount Bearsted, peer and executive
16 October
* Jeanne MacKenzie, author
* Hugh Austin Windle Pilkington, philanthropist
* Ted Sagar, footballer
18 October
* Billy Bennington, dulcimer player
* Alan Little, sociologist
23 October
* Ronald Long, actor
* Conrad O'Brien-ffrench, Secret Intelligence officer
27 October – Alan Branscombe, jazz musician
28 October
* John Braine, novelist
* Sir Richard Elton Goodwin, Army officer
* Ian Marter, actor and writer

November

3 November – Sir William Lawrence, 4th Baronet, businessman
4 November – John Kelsall, composer
6 November – Howard Thomas, Welsh radio producer
7 November – Sir Dugald Baird, physician
8 November – Harry W. Holmes, Esperantist
10 November
* Alan Kennington, novelist
* Mark Lubbock, composer
11 November – Reginald Brettauer Fisher, biochemist
14 November – Arthur Duckworth, Conservative politician
17 November – Billy McLean, Scottish Conservative politician
19 November – Billy Dainty, actor, comedian and dancer
22 November – Malcolm Nokes, Olympic athlete
23 November
* Crawford Fairbrother, Scottish athlete
* Derek Hart, actor and radio presenter
27 November
* L. Harrison Matthews, zoologist
* Sir Hugh Stockwell, Army general in the Suez Crisis
29 November
* Ronald Baddiley, actor
* Cary Grant, actor

December

1 December – Robert Lee, actor
4 December – H. de C. Hastings, architect
7 December – Sir Terence Garvey, diplomat
8 December – John Melville, artist
10 December – Kenneth Hyde, historian
11 December – Geoffrey S. S. Ludford, mathematician
13 December
* Heather Angel, actress
* Glyn Daniel, Welsh archaeologist
15 December – David James, Conservative politician
17 December
* J. F. Hendry, poet
* Leonard Rochford, World War I air ace
18 December – James Smith, anaesthetist
19 December
* Verona Conway, botanist
* Archibald Gordon MacGregor, geologist
20 December
* Alexander Isserlis, civil servant
* Sir Harry Platt, surgeon
21 December
* Gilbert Laithwaite, diplomat
* Bill Simpson, actor
22 December – David Penhaligon, Liberal MP
24 December
* Guy Barnett, Labour politician
* Sir Eric Malcolm Jones, intelligence officer
* Arnold Kettle, literary critic
26 December – Elsa Lanchester, actress
27 December – George Dangerfield, historian
29 December – Harold Macmillan, former Prime Minister
31 December – Sir Geoffrey Audley Miles, senior Royal Navy admiral and veteran of both world wars

Date Unknown

Robina Addis, psychiatric social worker