1988 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1988 in the United Kingdom. The year saw the merger in March of the SDP and the Liberals to form the Liberal Democrats. There were also two notable disasters this year: the Piper Alpha oil rig explosion and the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.

Incumbents

Monarch – Elizabeth II
Prime Minister – Margaret Thatcher

Events

January

January – Elizabeth Butler-Sloss becomes the first woman to be appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal.
3 January – Margaret Thatcher becomes the longest-serving UK Prime Minister this century, having been in power for eight years and 244 days.
4 January – Sir Robin Butler replaces Sir Robert Armstrong as Cabinet Secretary, on the same day that Margaret Thatcher makes her first state visit to Africa when she arrives in Kenya.
5 January – Actor Rowan Atkinson launches the new Comic Relief charity appeal.
7 January – Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock calls for a further £1,300,000,000 to be made available for the National Health Service.
8 January – The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders reveals that new car sales in Britain last year exceeded 2,000,000 for the first time. The Ford Escort was Britain's best-selling car for the sixth year running.
11 January – The government announces that inflammable foam furniture will be banned from March next year.
14 January – Unemployment figures are released for the end of 1987, showing the eighteenth-successive monthly decrease. Just over 2,600,000 people are now unemployed in the United Kingdom – the lowest figure for seven years. More than 500,000 of those unemployed, found jobs in 1987.
22 January
* Colin Pitchfork is sentenced to life imprisonment after admitting the rape and murder of two girls in Leicestershire in 1983 and 1986, the first conviction for murder in the UK based on DNA fingerprinting evidence.
* Peugeot's British-built 405 saloon, winner of the European Car of the Year award, goes on sale in Britain. A five-door estate model is due later this year.
23 January – David Steel announces that he will not stand for the leadership of the new Social and Liberal Democratic Party.
24 January – Arthur Scargill is re-elected as Leader of the National Union of Mineworkers by a narrow majority.
28 January – The Birmingham Six lose an appeal against their convictions.

February

1 February – Victor Miller, a 33-year-old warehouse worker from Wolverhampton, confesses to the murder of 14-year-old Stuart Gough, who was found dead in Worcestershire last month.
3 February – Nurses throughout the UK strike for higher pay and more funding for the National Health Service.
4 February – Nearly 7,000 ferry workers go on strike in Britain, paralysing the nation's seaports.
5 February – The first BBC Red Nose Day raises £15,000,000 for charity.
7 February – It is reported that more than 50% of men and 80% of women working full-time in London, are earning less than the lowest sum needed to buy the cheapest houses in the capital.
9 February – Helen McCourt, a 22-year-old insurance clerk from Lancashire, disappeared after getting off a bus less than 500 yards from her home in the village of Billinge. Her body has never been found.
13 – 28 February – Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, but do not win any medals.
15 February – Norman Fowler, Secretary of State for Employment, announces plans for a new training scheme which the government hopes will give jobs to up to 600,000 people who are currently unemployed.
16 February – Thousands of nurses and co-workers form picket lines outside British hospitals as they go on strike in protest against what they see as inadequate NHS funding.
26 February – Multiple rapist and murderer John Duffy is sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommendation that he should never be released.

March

1 March – British Aerospace launches a takeover bid for the government-owned Rover Group, the largest British-owned carmaker.
3 March – The SDP amalgamates with the Liberal Party to form the Social and Liberal Democratic Party. Its interim leaders are David Steel and Robert Maclennan. The merger means that the Liberal Party has ceased to exist after 129 years.
4 March – Halifax Building Society reveals that year-on-year house prices rose by 16.9% last month.
6 March – Operation Flavius: a Special Air Service team of the British Army shoots dead three unarmed members of a Provisional Irish Republican Army Active Service Unit in Gibraltar.
7 March – Margaret Thatcher announces a £3,000,000,000 regeneration scheme to improve a series of inner city areas by the year 2000.
9 March – It is revealed that the average price of a house in Britain reached £60,000 at the end of last year, compared to £47,000 in December 1986.
10 March – The Prince of Wales narrowly avoids death in an avalanche while on a skiing holiday in Switzerland. Major Hugh Lindsay, former equerry to the Queen, is killed.
11 March – The Bank of England £1 note ceases to be legal tender.
15 March – In the 1988 budget, Chancellor Nigel Lawson announces that the standard rate of income tax will be cut to 25p in the pound, while the maximum rate of income tax will be cut to 40p from 60p in the pound.
16 March – Milltown Cemetery attack: three men are killed and 70 are wounded by loyalist paramilitary Michael Stone at Milltown Cemetery in Belfast during the funerals of the three IRA members killed in Gibraltar.
17 March – The fall in unemployment continues, with just over 2,500,000 people now registered as unemployed in the UK. However, there is a blow for the city of Dundee, when Ford Motor Company scraps plans to build a new electronics plant in the city – a move which ends hopes of 1,000 new jobs being created for this city which has high unemployment.
19 March – Corporals killings in Belfast: British Army corporals Woods and Howes are abducted, beaten and shot dead by Irish republicans after driving into the funeral cortege of an IRA member killed in the Milltown Cemetery attack.
29 March – Plans are unveiled for Europe's tallest skyscraper to be built at Canary Wharf. The office complex will cost around £3,000,000,000 to build, and is set to open in 1992.

April

9 April – The house price boom is reported to have boosted wealth in London and the South-East by £39,000,000,000 over the last four years, compared with an £18,000,000,000 slump in Scotland and the North-West of England.
10 April – Golfer Sandy Lyle becomes the first British winner of the Masters.
21 April – The government announces that nurses will receive a 15% pay rise, at a cost of £794,000,000 which will be funded by the Treasury.
24 April – Luton Town FC beat Arsenal in the Littlewoods Cup final at Wembley 3–2. The match was won in the 92nd minute with a goal by Brian Stein after Luton had come back from being 2–1 down and goalkeeper Andy Dibble saving a penalty in the 79th minute. Luton scorers Brian Stein and Danny Wilson. 96,000 fans were in attendance.

May

May – The first group of sixteen-year-olds sit General Certificate of Secondary Education examinations, replacing both the O-level and CSE. The new qualifications are marked against objective standards rather than relatively.
2 May – Three off-duty British servicemen are killed in the Netherlands by the IRA.
6 May – Graeme Hick makes English cricket history by scoring 405 runs in a county championship match.
7 May – The proposed Poll tax, which is expected to come into force next year, will see the average house rise in value by around 20%, according to a study.
14 May – Wimbledon F.C., who have been Football League members for just eleven seasons and First Division members for two, win the FA Cup with a 1–0 win over league champions Liverpool at Wembley. Lawrie Sanchez scored the winning goal in the first half, while Liverpool's John Aldridge missed a penalty in the second half. In Scotland, Celtic beat Dundee United 2–1 in the Scottish Cup final with two late goals from Frank McAvennie to complete the Scottish double.
19 May
* Unemployment is now below 2,500,000 for the first time since early-1981.
* House prices in Norwich, one of the key beneficiaries of the current economic boom, have risen by 50% in the last year.
24 May
* Local Government Act becomes law. The controversial Section 28 prevents local authorities from "promoting homosexuality". Local authorities are also obliged to outsource more services, and dog licences are abolished.
* Albert Dock in Liverpool reopened by Prince Charles as a leisure and business centre including the Tate Liverpool art museum.
31 May – The controversial BBC film Tumbledown is broadcast despite Ministry of Defence concern.

June

2 June – U.S. President Ronald Reagan makes a visit to the UK.
11 June – Some 80,000 people attend a concert at Wembley Stadium in honour of Nelson Mandela, the South African anti-apartheid campaigner who has been imprisoned since 1964.
15 June – Six British soldiers are killed by the IRA in Lisburn.
16 June – More than one hundred English football fans are arrested in West Germany in connection with incidents of football hooliganism during the European Championships.
18 June – England's participation in the European Football Championships ended when they finished bottom of their group having lost all three games.
21 June – The Poole explosion of 1988 causes 3,500 people to be evacuated from Poole town centre in the biggest peacetime evacuation in the United Kingdom since World War II.
23 June – Three gay rights activists invade the BBC television studios during the six o'clock bulletin of the BBC News.

July

July – The Freeze art exhibition is held at Surrey Docks in London Docklands. It is organised by Damien Hirst, and is considered significant in the development of the Young British Artists.
5 July – The Church of England announces that it will allow the ordination of female priests from 1992.
6 July
* Piper Alpha disaster: the Piper Alpha oil rig in the North Sea explodes and results in the death of 167 workers.
* A contractor's relief driver pours twenty tonnes of aluminium sulphate into the wrong tank at a water treatment plant near Camelford in Cornwall, causing extensive pollution to the local water supply.
8 July – The final large stationary steam engine in use in a British factory is shut down at a tannery in Otley.
14 July – The Kensington by-election, caused by the death of the sitting Conservative MP Sir Brandon Rhys-Williams on 18 May, takes place. Dudley Fishburn manages to hold the seat for the Conservatives by a narrow margin.
18 July – Paul Gascoigne, 21-year-old midfielder, becomes the first £2,000,000 footballer signed by a British club when he leaves Newcastle United and joins Tottenham Hotspur.
28 July – Paddy Ashdown, MP for Yeovil in Somerset, is elected as the first Leader of the Social and Liberal Democratic Party.
29 July – Most provisions of the Education Reform Act come into effect in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Act introduces Grant-maintained schools and Local Management of Schools, allowing schools to be taken out of the direct control of local government; a National Curriculum with Key Stages; an element of parental preference in the choice of schools; published league tables of school examination results; controls on the use of the word 'degree' by UK institutions; and abolition of tenure for new academics.
31 July – Economists warn that the house price boom is likely to end next year.

August

1 August – A soldier is killed and Inglis Barracks in London is damaged in a bombing.
2 August – Everton F.C. pay £2,300,000 for West Ham United striker Tony Cottee, 22, breaking the national record set six weeks ago by Paul Gascoigne's transfer.
8 August –Princess Beatrice daughter of TRH The Duke and Duchess of York is born at Portland Hospital in London. She is fifth in line to the throne until the birth of Prince George on 22 July 2013 and later ninth in line.
14 August – Scunthorpe United F.C.'s Glanford Park is opened; the first new stadium to be built by a Football League club since the 1950s. Their last game at their original ground, Old Showground, was on 18 May.
18 August – Ian Rush becomes the most expensive player to join a British club when he returns to Liverpool F.C. for £2,700,000 after a year at Juventus in Italy.
20 August – Ballygawley bus bombing: Six British soldiers are killed by an IRA bomb near Belfast; twenty-eight others are injured.
22 August
* New licensing laws allow pubs to stay open all day in England and Wales.
* The Duke and Duchess of York's fourteen-day-old daughter is named Beatrice Elizabeth Mary.
29 August – Fourteen-year-old Matthew Sadler becomes Britain's youngest international chess master.
31 August – Postal workers walk out on strike over a dispute concerning bonuses paid to recruit new workers in London and the South East.

September

3 September – Economic experts warn that the recent economic upturn for most of the developed world is almost over, and that these countries – including Britain – face a recession in the near future.
9 September – The England cricket team's tour to India is cancelled after Captain Graham Gooch and seven other players are refused visas because of involvement in South African cricket during the apartheid boycott.
10 September – Teenager Lee Boxell disappears in South London whilst out shopping with a friend and is never found.
13 September – Royal Mail managers and Union of Communication Workers representatives agree a settlement to end the postal workers strike.
17 September – Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, and win 5 gold, 10 silver and 9 bronze medals.
20 September - Margaret Thatcher gives her "Bruges speech", opposing moves to transition the European Economic Community into a federal Europe.
24 September – The house price boom is reported to be slowing as a result of increased mortgage rates.
30 September – Operation Flavius: A Gibraltar jury decides that the IRA members killed in March were killed "lawfully".

October

9 October – Labour MP and Shadow Chancellor John Smith, 50, is hospitalised due to a heart attack in Edinburgh.
12 October – As Pope John Paul II addresses the European Parliament, Ian Paisley heckles and denounces him as the Antichrist.
13 October – The Law Lords rule that extracts from the book Spycatcher, banned in England and Wales, can be published in the media.
14 October – Vauxhall launches the third and final generation of its popular Cavalier hatchback and saloon which will be built by General Motors in European factories including the Luton plant and sold outside the UK as the Opel Vectra. A Cavalier-based coupe will be launched next year.
18 October – Jaguar unveils its new Jaguar XJ220 supercar at the Motor Show. It is set to go into production in 1990, costing £350,000 and being the world's fastest production car with a top speed of 220mph.
19 October – The United Kingdom bans broadcast interviews with IRA members. The BBC gets around this stricture through the use of professional actors.
20 October – Nikola Štedul, a Croatian nationalist from Yugoslavia, is shot in Kirkcaldy but survives. The shooter, Vinko Sindičić, also a Yugoslav, is later arrested at Heathrow Airport.
27 October – Three IRA supporters are found guilty of conspiracy to murder in connection with a plot to kill Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Tom King.
28 October – British Rail announces a 21% increase in the cost of long distance season tickets.

November

2 November – Victor Miller is sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of 14-year-old Stuart Gough in Worcestershire earlier this year, with a recommendation by the trial judge that he is not considered for parole for at least thirty years.
4 November – Margaret Thatcher presses for freedom for the people of Poland on her visit to Gdańsk.
9 November – The government unveils plans for a new identity card scheme in an attempt to clamp down on football hooliganism.
10 November
* The Govan by-election in Glasgow, caused by the resignation of Labour MP Bruce Millan on 18 October, takes place. Labour is defeated by the Scottish National Party under Jim Sillars.
* The Post is launched as a national newspaper by Eddy Shah. Although produced using advanced techniques, it survives for just five weeks.
15 November
* The Education Secretary, Kenneth Baker, says that the national testing will place greater emphasis on grammar.
* Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 prohibits civilian ownership of virtually all semi-automatic firearms from January 1989, in response to the Hungerford massacre of 1987.
30 November
* A government report reveals that up to 50,000 people in Britain may be HIV positive, and that by the end of 1992, up to 17,000 people may have died from AIDS.
* A bronze statue of former Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee is unveiled in London by another former Labour Prime Minister, Harold Wilson.

December

3 December – Salmonella-in-eggs controversy: Health Minister Edwina Currie provokes outrage among suppliers by stating that most of Britain's egg production is infected with the salmonella bacteria, causing an immediate and lasting nationwide decrease in egg sales.
6 December – The last shipbuilding facilities on Wearside, once the largest shipbuilding area in the world, are to close with the loss of 2,400 jobs.
10 December – James W. Black wins the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with Gertrude B. Elion and George H. Hitchings "for their discoveries of important principles for drug treatment".
12 December – 35 people are killed in the Clapham Junction rail crash.
15 December
* Unemployment is now only just over 2,100,000 – the lowest level for almost eight years.
* The Epping Forest by-election, caused by the death of the sitting Conservative MP Sir John Biggs-Davison on 17 September, takes place. Steven Norris holds the seat for the Conservatives.
16 December
* Edwina Currie resigns as Health Minister.
* A series of burglaries take place and a man is murdered during the early hours around the M25 motorway, leading to conviction, subsequently ruled unsafe, of the 'M25 Three'.
19 December
* The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors publishes its house price survey, revealing a deep recession in the housing market.
* PC Gavin Carlton, 29, is shot dead in Coventry in a siege by two armed bank robbers. His colleague DC Leonard Jakeman is also shot but survives. One of the gunmen gives himself up to police, while the other shoots himself dead.
20 December – The three-month-old daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York is christened Beatrice Elizabeth Mary.
21 December – Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over the town of Lockerbie due to a Libyan terrorist bomb, killing a total of 270 people – all 259 on board and 11 on the ground.

Undated

Inflation remains low for the seventh year running, now standing at 4.9%.
The Communist Party of Britain is founded by a Marxist–Leninist faction of the Communist Party of Great Britain after the latter's leadership embraces Eurocommunism.
TAT-8, the first transatlantic telephone cable to use optical fibers, is completed, coming ashore in Cornwall.
Diggers of the foundations of the new Art Gallery at the Guildhall in the City of London accidentally discover the remains of a Roman amphitheatre, now on public display.
York City Levy, living-history group is founded.

Publications

17 May – Hello! magazine launched in the UK.
Iain M. Banks' novel The Player of Games.
Bruce Chatwin's novel Utz.
Roald Dahl's children's novel Matilda
Physicist Stephen Hawking's book A Brief History of Time.
David Lodge's novel Nice Work.
Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels Sourcery and Wyrd Sisters.

Births

January

6 January - Nathan Catt, rugby player
7 January - Alan Lowing, footballer
9 January - Jodie Broughton, rugby player
10 January
* Michael McIlorum, rugby league footballer
* Rachel Williams, footballer
12 January - Chris Casement, footballer
13 January - Adam Bailey, footballer
14 January
* Mark Bradley, footballer
* Ross Chisholm, footballer
* Kacey Clarke, actress
* Tom Rosenthal, actor and comedian
16 January - FKA Twigs, singer/songwriter, record producer, director, and dancer
17 January - Will Bayley, Paralympic table tennis player
18 January - Ironik, musician, DJ and rapper
19 January - Danny Haynes, footballer
24 January - Jade Ewen, singer with Sugababes, songwriter, and actress
26 January - Mia Rose, singer/songwriter
30 January - Edward Abel, cricketer

February

2 February - Richard Beaumont, rugby player
3 February - Rikki Bains, footballer
4 February - Jake Abbott, rugby player
6 February - Tom Bonner, footballer
13 February
* Luke Cutts, Olympic pole vaulter
* Aston Merrygold, singer and member of JLS
17 February - Adil Rashid, cricketer
18 February
* Simon Ainge, footballer
* The Blossom Twins, twin wrestlers
21 February - Edward Corrie, tennis player
27 February - Emily Collinge, cross country runner
28 February - Ben Cahn, football manager and coach
29 February - Hannah Mills, sports sailor

March

1 March
* Brian Clark, footballer
* Jack Clarke, racing driver
2 March - James Arthur, singer/songwriter
4 March
* Josh Bowman, actor
* Steven Burke, Olympic cyclist
5 March
* Lizzie Broughton, canoeist
* Trevor Carson, footballer
6 March - Matthew Cox, rugby player
7 March - Sam Barlow, rugby player
8 March - Laura Unsworth, field hockey player
10 March - Ben Barker, speedway rider
17 March - Carrie Johnson, media consultant and activist
19 March - Charlie Cawood, musician and composer
21 March - Lee Cattermole, footballer
22 March
* Kayleigh Barton, footballer
* Gaz Beadle, television personality
23 March
* Rose Anderson, basketball player
* Jason Kenny, track cyclist
24 March - Finn Jones, actor
27 March
* Holliday Grainger, actress
* Jessie J, singer/songwriter
28 March - Lacey Turner, actress
31 March - Noah Cato, rugby player

April

1 April
* James Campbell, javelin thrower
* Ed Drewett, pop singer/songwriter
2 April - Louis Briscoe, footballer
3 April
* Ruby Bentall, actress
* Michael Carvill, footballer
4 April - Michael Coulson, footballer
6 April
* Mike Bailey, actor
* Fabrice Muamba, Congolese-born footballer
7 April
* Leroy Cudjoe, rugby player
* Ed Speleers, actor
8 April
* Sam Beasant, footballer
9 April - Amplify Dot, rapper and DJ
10 April
* Danielle Brown, Paralympic archer
* Greg Cameron, footballer
* Emma Cattle, Paralympic swimmer
12 April - Stephen Brogan, footballer
13 April
* Luke Barnatt, mixed martial artist
* Will Bratt, racing driver
14 April - Ben Lloyd-Hughes, actor
18 April - Vanessa Kirby, actress
19 April - Paul Caddis, footballer and coach
21 April - Sophie Rundle, actress
22 April
* John Brake, rugby player
* Jamie Courtney, motorcycle racer
23 April
* Alistair Brownlee, Olympic triathlete
* Sasha Corbin, netball player
* Steph Houghton, footballer
25 April - Jonathan Bailey, actor
26 April - S. E. Lister, novelist

May

4 May - Lewis Calder, rugby player
5 May - Adele, singer/songwriter
6 May - James Brown, rugby player
9 May - Jillie Cooper, badminton player
10 May
* Daniel Charge, footballer
* Thomas Coyle, rugby player
* Adam Lallana, footballer
11 May - Miles Benjamin, rugby player
15 May - Marcus Collins, singer
17 May
* Karl Brown, cricketer
* Freddie Hogan, actor
20 May - Scott Askham, mixed martial artist
21 May - Claire Cashmore, Paralympic swimmer
22 May - Joe Coffey, wrestler
23 May
* Ian Cameron, footballer
* Gavin Free, cinematographer
24 May - Paul Borrington, cricketer
27 May - Jonathan Broom-Edwards, Paralympic high jumper
30 May - Bradley Bubb, footballer

June

2 June - Axel Blake, comedian
3 June - Oliver Cheshire, fashion designer, model, and entrepreneur
5 June - Sam Slocombe, footballer
7 June - Lewis Coult, footballer
10 June - Samantha Bayley, gymnast
12 June - JHart, English-born American singer/songwriter and record producer
15 June - Jack Broadbent, blues musician
17 June - Sam Baird, snooker player
18 June - Alaa al-Siddiq, Emirati-born poet
20 June - Shefali Chowdhury, actress
22 June
* Daniel Awde, Olympic decathlete
* Laura Bartlett, field hockey player
* Karla Crome, actress and writer
23 June
* Brian Allison, footballer
* Bobby Barr, footballer
* Kev Coghlan, motorcycle racer
24 June
* Michael Barnes, footballer
* Micah Richards, footballer and pundit
25 June - Mark Haskins, wrestler
26 June
* Scott Carpenter, British-born Australian water polo player
* Samanda, twin acting duo
28 June
* Leon Balogun, footballer
* Craig Braham-Barrett, footballer

July

1 July - Phil Burgess, rugby player
2 July - Edward Randell, musician and actor
3 July - Akbar Ansari, cricketer
4 July
* Jake Cody, poker player
* Conor MacNeill, actor
5 July - Joe Lycett, comedian and presenter
7 July - Jack Whitehall, comedian
8 July - Shazad Latif, actor
9 July - Brett Carter, rugby player
11 July
* James Castle, wrestler
* Eddie Charlton, squash player
12 July - Scott Baldwin, rugby player
13 July
* Luke Blakely, English-born Antiguan footballer
* Jonnie Craig, photographer
* Tulisa, recording artist
14 July - Jethro Compton, playwright
15 July
* Korede Aiyegbusi, footballer
* Riki Christodoulou, racing driver
17 July - Alan Cope, cricketer
19 July - Joe Tracini, actor and presenter
20 July - Chris Basham, footballer
21 July - Rory Boulding, footballer
22 July
* William Buick, Norwegian-born jockey
* Paul Coutts, footballer
23 July
* Paul Anderson, footballer
* Stuart Baggs, businessman and entrepreneur
* Pippa Bennett-Warner, actress
27 July - Liam Smith, boxer
29 July - Adam Buckingham, gymnast

August

2 August
* Philip Ashton, cricketer
* Joe Copcutt, bassist for ZOAX and AxeWound
* Chris Quick, editor and producer
3 August - Michael Balac, cricketer
4 August - Tom Parker, singer
5 August
* Giles Barnes, footballer
* Andrew Cave-Brown, footballer
6 August
* Wayne Brown, footballer
* Freddie Cowan, musician, songwriter, and guitarist
8 August
* Laura Beveridge, golfer
* Princess Beatrice, daughter of The Duke and Duchess of York
9 August
* Tommy Bridewell, racing driver
11 August - Rachael Cairns, actress and model
12 August - Tyson Fury, boxer
16 August
* Tomi Ameobi, footballer
* James Cole, racing driver
21 August - Kenny Adamson, footballer
22 August - Hannah Beard, footballer
24 August - Rupert Grint, actor
25 August
* Alexandra Burke, singer
* Ray Quinn, singer and actor
27 August - Andy Carter, cricketer
29 August - Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, Olympic sprinter
30 August
* Lewis Christie, ice hockey player
* Alex Corbisiero, rugby player
31 August
* Dolly Alderton, author and screenwriter
* Sofia Barclay, actress
* Tom Hunt, politician

September

1 September - Richard Coughtrie, cricketer
2 September - Jack Compton, footballer
3 September - Lauren Benton, activist and founder of BODY Charity
4 September - James Bennett, footballer
6 September
* Luis Cumbers, footballer
* Max George, singer
7 September
* Kevin Bryce, rugby player
* Mark Cook, footballer
* Jack Crawford, British-born American football player
9 September - Gareth Allen, snooker player
11 September - Jamie Clarke, footballer
12 September - Kirsty Barr, Olympic trap shooter
13 September - Sam Beeton, singer/songwriter
14 September
* Tommy Amphlett, footballer
* Michael Burn, footballer
* Hosea Burton, boxer
15 September
* John Bradley, English actor
* Michael Cooper, rugby league player
* Clare Maguire, singer/songwriter
17 September
* Stephen Chukwumah, Nigerian-born advocate and strategist
* Ryan Crowther, footballer
18 September - James Bailey, footballer
19 September - Charlie Barnett, footballer
21 September - Neil Carroll, footballer
22 September - Dami Bakare, Nigerian-born volleyball player
23 September
* Don Armand, Zimbabwean-born rugby player
* Samuel Brooksworth, businessman and Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Remoteli
24 September - James Cannon, rugby player
26 September - James Blake, singer/songwriter and record producer
27 September
* Frankie Artus, footballer
* Sam Craven, footballer
28 September - Lee Collins, footballer

October

2 October
* Matthew Cassidy, footballer
* Jack Collison, footballer, coach, and manager
3 October
* Gavin Baker, cricketer
* Alex Dowsett, racing cyclist
4 October
* Charlotte Awbery, singer/songwriter
* Ashley Banjo, choreographer
6 October - Mike Burnett, rugby player
8 October - Will Beer, cricketer
10 October - Amy Bagshaw, gymnast
11 October
* Lee Butcher, footballer
* Alex Campana, footballer
12 October
* Wes Baynes, footballer
* Ryan Burge, footballer
* Nic Cudd, rugby player
* Calum Scott, singer/songwriter
13 October
* Jy-mel Coleman, rugby player and coach
* George Crook, rugby player
* Stephen Flynn, politician
14 October
* Will Atkinson, footballer
* James Craven, rugby player
16 October
* Tom Ballard, rock climber
* Cameron Belford, footballer
17 October
* Alex Cheesman, rugby player
* Will Cliff, rugby player
18 October - Sam Quek, field hockey player and television presenter
19 October
* Scott Barrow, footballer
* James Creaney, footballer and coach
22 October - Jamie N. Commons, singer/songwriter
23 October - Gavin Bilton, strongman
25 October - Rylan Clark-Neal, television personality
26 October - Richard Charlesworth, Olympic swimmer
28 October - Edd Gould, flash animator and creator of Eddsworld
31 October
* Ben Bruce, guitarist and vocalist for Asking Alexandria
* Danielle Bowman, footballer and coach
* Ben Bruce, vocalist and guitarist for Asking Alexandria
* Lizzy Yarnold, skeleton Olympic skeleton racer

November

1 November
* Scott Arfield, footballer
* Jamie Annerson, footballer
2 November
* Andy Allen, politician
* Lisa Bowman, netball player
* Joe Chandler, rugby player
3 November - Rachel Cawthorn, Olympic canoeist
4 November
* Cleo., rapper
* Troy Archibald-Henville, footballer
7 November - Tinie Tempah, rapper
8 November - James Craig, rugby player
11 November - Paul Butler, boxer
12 November - Alistair Brammer, actor and singer
15 November
* Ricky Norwood, actor
* Billy Twelvetrees, rugby player
18 November
* Adam J. Bernard, actor and singer
* Christopher D. Cook, composer and conductor
20 November - Matty Blythe, rugby player
22 November
* Johnathan Akinyemi, British-born Nigerian Olympic canoeist
* Jodie Aysha, singer/songwriter
* Jamie Campbell Bower, actor and singer
23 November
* Ben Brown, cricketer
* John Campbell, footballer
25 November - James Campbell, cricketer
26 November
* Chris Ashling, cricketer and coach
* Luke Boden, footballer
* Tamsin Egerton, actress and model
28 November - Joe Cole, actor
29 November - Jonny Arr, rugby player
30 November - Grant Basey, footballer

December

1 December - Kylie Cockburn, football official
2 December
* Alfred Enoch, British-born Brazilian actor
* Edward Windsor, Lord Downpatrick, travel consultant, fashion designer, and financial analyst
5 December - Joanna Rowsell, cyclist
7 December - Benjamin Clementine, singer/songwriter
9 December - Ryan Bevington, rugby player
12 December
* Benbrick, songwriter, producer, and composer
* Adrian Clifton, footballer
13 December
* Meji Alabi, British-born Nigerian filmmaker
* Darcy Blake, footballer
* Charles Cousins, Olympic rower
* Paul Johnston, cricketer
14 December - Sam Burgess, rugby player and coach
15 December
* Gregg Chillin, actor, director, and writer
* Emily Head, actress
16 December
* Paul Bennett, Olympic rower
* Anna Popplewell, actress
17 December - Callum Beaumont, bagpipe player
18 December
* Lizzie Armitstead, racing cyclist
* Elliott Bennett, footballer
* Francoise Boufhal, model, actress, and presenter
* Helen H. Carr, writer and historian
22 December
* Ed Asafu-Adjaye, footballer
* Matt Bush, Paralympic taekwondo practitioner
23 December - Brooke Burfitt, actress and radio presenter
24 December - Matty Askin, boxer
25 December - Matthew Ahmet, kung fu practitioner
26 December - Bassam Beidas, British-born Lebanese tennis player
27 December - Sarvi Kalhor, singer and recording artist
28 December
* Ched Evans, footballer
* Elfyn Evans, rally driver
* Florrie, pop singer
30 December
* Kirsty-Leigh Porter, actress
* Leon Jackson, singer

Full Date Unknown

Jovan Adepo, British-born American actor
John Alexander, politician
James Allenby-Kirk, actor, comedian, and writer
Andy Balcon, singer, guitarist, and composer
Simon Barrett, cricketer
Danny Beales, politician
Jay Bernard, writer
Kaliane Bradley, writer and editor
Oyinkan Braithwaite, Nigerian-born novelist and writer
Lewis Bush, photographer
Claire Calvert, ballerina
Tom Coult, composer
Lucy Cox, artist and curator

Deaths

January

1 January – Margot Bryant, actress
2 January – E. B. Ford, geneticist
3 January – Bill Gibb, fashion designer
6 January – L. P. Davies, novelist
7 January
* Trevor Howard, actor
* Michael Mills, television producer
13 January – Donald Healey, rally driver, automobile engineer and speed record holder
14 January – John Worrall, RAF vice marshal
16 January
* Ballard Berkeley, actor
* Bob Keegan, actor
17 January – Harry Jacobs, orchestral conductor
31 January – Thomas Forbes, poet and painter

February

1 February
* Gerald Butler, crime fiction writer
* Stephen Taylor, Baron Taylor, physician and civil servant
5 February – Emeric Pressburger, scriptwriter and producer
6 February – Marghanita Laski, journalist, novelist and niece of Harold Laski
7 February – Ray Martin, composer and orchestral conductor
9 February
* Marjorie May Bacon, painter and printmaker
* Helen McCourt, insurance clerk
* William Sackville, 10th Earl De La Warr, peer
11 February
* Marion Crawford, Scottish nanny of Elizabeth II
* Sir Arnold Ashley Miles, microbiologist
13 February – Léon Goossens, oboist
16 February – Madeleine Bingham, author and playwright, wife of John Bingham, 7th Baron Clanmorris
18 February – Michael Howard, actor and comedian
22 February
* Barrie Heath, pilot and Battle of Britain veteran
* Cecil Beresford Ramage, actor, politician and barrister
25 February – H. E. Todd, writer
27 February – Basil Boothroyd, humorous writer

March

2 March – Ronald Senior, Army brigadier
6 March – Joan Hassall, wood engraver and illustrator
7 March – Gordon Huntley, guitarist
10 March
* Andy Gibb, musician
* Hugh Lindsay, Army major and royal bodyguard
* Gerald Wilkinson, art historian
* William Wordsworth, composer
11 March
* Christianna Brand, crime fiction writer
* Nicholas Eliot, 9th Earl of St Germans, peer
12 March
* Arnold Bell, actor
* Martin Smellie, Scottish biochemist
13 March – Henry Johnson, railway executive
18 March – Percy Thrower, gardener and broadcaster
21 March – Patrick Steptoe, obstetrician and gynaecologist
26 March – George Miles, organist

April

4 April
* Eric A. Havelock, classical scholar
* Sir Archibald Southby, 2nd Baronet, cricketer and Army officer
5 April – Anthony Emery, Roman Catholic prelate
6 April – John Clements, actor
10 April – Francis Jones, physicist
12 April – Harry McShane, socialist
14 April – John Stonehouse, government minister noted for faking his own death
15 April – Kenneth Williams, comic actor
16 April – Bobby Thompson, comedian
17 April – Felicity Lane-Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox, disability rights campaigner
23 April – Michael Ramsey, Anglican prelate, Archbishop of Canterbury
25 April – Sir Hugh Rankin, 3rd Baronet, soldier and sheep farmer
26 April – William Fox-Pitt, Army major-general
27 April – David Scarboro, actor
28 April – Fenner Brockway, socialist politician and pacifist

May

2 May – Tom Walshaw, engineer and author
4 May – Stanley William Hayter, painter
5 May – George Rose, actor
11 May
* Isabella Gordon, marine biologist
* Kim Philby, spy
13 May
* Irene Manton, botanist
* Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 10th Baronet, soldier and landowner
* Dame Albertine Winner, physician
16 May
* Dan Frankel, Labour politician
* Charles Keeping, illustrator
* Bruce Watson, chemist and Scottish National Party politician
17 May – Harry Shepherd, speedway rider
18 May
* Anthony Forwood, actor
* Sir Brandon Rhys-Williams, Conservative Party MP
24 May – Freddie Frith, motorcycle racer
28 May – Sir Norman Skelhorn, barrister
29 May – Sheridan Dufferin, peer and patron of the arts

June

5 June – Michael Barrington, actor
8 June – Russell Harty, television presenter
10 June
* Rudolph Dunbar, musician and composer
* Willie Ross, Baron Ross of Marnock, politician
13 June – Thomas McKeown, physician and historian of medicine
15 June – George Ward, 1st Viscount Ward of Witley, politician
17 June – Elizabeth Lane, barrister, first woman High Court judge in England
18 June – Elizabeth Gardner, physicist
21 June – T. E. Utley, journalist and writer
22 June – Bramwell Fletcher, actor
24 June – Hugh Lockhart-Mummery, surgeon
28 June – Iris Origo, British-born Italian biographer and writer
30 June – Alan W. Bishop, geotechnical engineer who gave his name to Bishop's method

July

3 July – George Lloyd, composer
4 July – Elizabeth Cockayne, nurse, first Chief Nursing Officer of the NHS
7 July – Jimmy Edwards, comedy actor
8 July
* Sir Antony Fisher, businessman
* Freddie West, RAF Air Commodore and VC recipient
9 July
* Ian Allan, RAF air commodore and World War II flying ace
* Barbara Woodhouse, dog trainer
10 July
* Noel Barber, novelist
* Errol John, actor
11 July
* Janet Lacey, philanthropist
* Barbara Wootton, Baroness Wootton of Abinger, sociologist and life peer
12 July
* Josephine Douglas, actress
* Julian Trevelyan, artist and poet
20 July – Mark Boxer, magazine editor
22 July – Patrick Newell, actor
23 July – Stuart Legg, filmmaker
24 July – John Harris, footballer and manager
25 July
* Bob Currie, motorcyclist and author
* Douglas Hickox, film director
28 July – John Wheatley, Baron Wheatley, politician and judge
July – William Rolls, World War II air ace

August

1 August – Steve Mills, footballer
4 August – Sir Allan Adair, 6th Baronet, Army major-general
6 August – John Bingham, 7th Baron Clanmorris, peer, spy and crime fiction writer, husband of Madeleine Bingham
8 August – Alan Napier, actor
9 August – Peggy Cochrane, musician and composer
12 August – R. N. Smith, veterinary surgeon
13 August – Sydney Jacobson, Baron Jacobson, journalist and political commentator
14 August
* Robert Calvert, writer and musician
* Michael Crowder, historian
17 August – Samuel Silkin, Baron Silkin, politician and cricketer
18 August
* Sir Frederick Ashton, choreographer
* Sir Michael Perrin, nuclear physicist
20 August – Joan G. Robinson, children's author and illustrator
23 August – C. Desmond Greaves, Marxist activist and historian
24 August – Kenneth Leighton, composer
25 August – Henry Joseph Gallagher, Korean War veteran
27 August – William Sargant, psychiatrist
28 August – Paul Grice, philosopher

September

3 September – John Goodison, musician and record producer
9 September – Mona Best, music club proprietor, mother of Pete Best
11 September – Roger Hargreaves, children's author
12 September – Stephen B. Grimes, production designer and art director
14 September
* Sir Donald Albery, theatre impresario
* Roy Dutton, World War II flying ace
15 September – Sir Frank Francis, librarian and curator of the British Museum
16 September – Dick Pym, footballer
17 September
* Nellie Beer, politician, Lord Mayor of Manchester
* Robert Hall, Baron Roberthall, economist and government advisor
* Nat Jackley, comic actor
18 September – John Elliot, railway manager
20 September – Roy Kinnear, actor
21 September
* Harold Balfour, 1st Baron Balfour of Inchrye, politician and World War I air ace
* Christine Norden, actress
23 September
* Mary Colvin, Army brigadier
* Arwel Hughes, Welsh orchestral conductor
25 September – Nipper Pat Daly, boxer
28 September – Frank Caplan, British-born American toy collector and manufacturer

October

1 October – Sir Sacheverell Sitwell, 6th Baronet, writer
2 October
* Robert Blucke, Royal Air Force officer
* Sir Peter Hunt, Army general
* Sir Alec Issigonis, car designer
4 October – Margaret Lacey, actress
7 October – Christian Herbert, 6th Earl of Powis, peer
8 October – Charles Beauclerk, 13th Duke of St Albans, peer
9 October – Jackie Milburn, footballer
11 October
* Roy Herrick, actor
* Hugh Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland, peer
14 October – Graham Hutton, economist and author
15 October – Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, composer, music critic, pianist, and writer
16 October – John Gwilym Jones, Welsh dramatist
18 October – Michael ffolkes, illustrator and cartoonist
19 October – Mildred Ratcliffe, painter
20 October – Sheila Scott, aviator
26 October – Ruth Gervis, illustrator
27 October – Charles Hawtrey, actor

November

2 November – George Scott, broadcaster
4 November
* Elinor Bellingham-Smith, painter
* Henry Pelham-Clinton-Hope, 9th Duke of Newcastle, peer
6 November – Donald Wade, Baron Wade, lawyer and politician
9 November – Rosemary Timperley, author
11 November – William Ifor Jones, Welsh composer
12 November – Ursula Graham Bower, anthropologist and World War II veteran
13 November – Geddes Hyslop, architect
15 November – Mona Washbourne, actress
16 November – Jennie Lee, Baroness Lee of Asheridge, Labour politician and wife of Aneurin Bevan
18 November – Janet Gladys Aitken, aristocrat and socialite
21 November – Tom Fraser, coal miner and trade unionist
23 November – Richard Lonsdale, Army lieutenant-colonel
24 November – Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, courtier and Mistress of the Robes
25 November – Jack Leslie, English footballer
30 November
* Pannonica de Koenigswarter, jazz patron and writer
* Margaret Mee, botanical artist

December

1 December – Alun Oldfield-Davies, Welsh broadcaster
6 December – Derek Senior, planning expert
7 December – John Addison, composer
10 December
*Johnny Lawrence, cricketer and coach
*Dorothy de Rothschild, philanthropist and activist
11 December
* Thomas Owen Beachcroft, writer
* Frank S. Pepper, writer of comics
13 December
* Brian Sinclair, veterinary surgeon
* Roy Urquhart, major-general and World War II veteran
18 December - Adelayo Adedayo, actress
21 December
* Theodora Llewelyn Davies, barrister and prison reform campaigner
* Paul Jeffreys, rock musician, victim of the Lockerbie bombing
24 December – Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, courtier
25 December – Edward Pelham-Clinton, 10th Duke of Newcastle, peer
26 December – John Loder, actor
29 December – Sir Ieuan Maddock, nuclear scientist