1998 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1998 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

Monarch – Elizabeth II
Prime Minister – Tony Blair

Events

January

5 January – The UK takes over the Presidency of the EC's Council of Ministers until 30 June.
8 January – The notable composer Sir Michael Tippett dies in London following a stroke shortly after his ninety-third birthday.

February

3 February – Stamps commemorating the late Diana, Princess of Wales, go on sale in the UK.
7–22 February – Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, and win one bronze medal.
8 February – Former Conservative Cabinet Minister Enoch Powell dies in hospital in London aged 85.
12 February – Mohamed Al Fayed, the father of Dodi Fayed, says that he is "99.9% certain" that his son's death in the car crash that also claimed the life of Diana, Princess of Wales on 31 August 1997 was a conspiracy to kill rather than an accident. He also claims that his son had purchased an engagement ring just before the crash and had been preparing to propose marriage to Diana. A lawyer in Mr Al Fayed's native Egypt was planning to sue the Queen and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair on the grounds that they had conspired to kill Diana because her love for a Muslim would embarrass the country.
24 February – The conviction of Somali sailor Mahmood Mattan, hanged in 1952 at Cardiff Prison for the murder of pawnbroker Lily Volpert, is overturned by the Court of Appeal, with Mr Justice Rose describing the original conviction as "demonstrably flawed". The Mattan case is the first to be referred by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
28 February – Lancet MMR autism fraud: A study by Andrew Wakefield published in The Lancet suggests a link between MMR vaccine and autism; although subsequently discredited and retracted, it is widely influential on vaccination rates.

March

6 March – Closure of South Crofty, the last working tin mine in Cornwall.
31 March – The Rolls-Royce Motors brand is acquired by German car manufacturer BMW.

April

April – Vauxhall launches its fourth generation Astra small family car range. The initial range consists of hatchbacks, saloons and estates, with coupe and cabriolet models arriving in two years.
1 April – The historic counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire are reestablished, 24 years after they merged to form Hereford and Worcester. Berkshire County Council is abolished and replaced by unitary authorities.
5 April – Rock drummer Cozy Powell, 50, is killed in a car accident on the M4 near Bristol.
10 April – The Good Friday Agreement, an agreement between the UK and Irish governments and the main political parties in Northern Ireland is signed.
27 April – Kevin Lloyd, who was best known for playing the character of Tosh Lines in The Bill, is dismissed from the role after ten years by ITV due to his alcoholism. He dies, the following week, aged 49.

May

2 May – Police in Maryland, United States, reveal that they have arrested and bailed former English footballer Justin Fashanu over an allegation of sexual assault against a seventeen-year-old male, and they believe he has now breached his bail conditions and fled the country; he commits suicide in London.
9 May – The Eurovision Song Contest held in Birmingham at the National Indoor Arena.
15 May – 24th G8 summit held in Birmingham.
20 May – Nurses Deborah Parry and Lucille McLauchlan, who had been convicted in Saudi Arabia for the murder of Yvonne Gilford the previous year, have their sentences commuted by the order of King Fahd and are returned to the UK.
23 May – Referendums on the Good Friday Agreement are held in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland with 95% and 71% support respectively.

June

June – The DVD format is released onto the UK market for the first time. Among the first set of titles released on the new format is Jumanji. The format will sell just over 6,000 discs by the end of the year.
15 June – First general-circulation issue of a two pound coin, with a bi-metallic design.
23 June – The Heathrow Express rail link begins operation.
27 June – The Diana, Princess of Wales Tribute Concert is held at Althorp Park in Northamptonshire, and attended by 15,000 people.

July

12 July – Drumcree conflict: Three young children are killed in a loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force arson attack in Ballymoney, Northern Ireland.
31 July
* Crime and Disorder Act receives Royal Assent. It introduces Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, Sex Offender Orders, Parenting Orders, and 'racially aggravated' offences. It makes it possible for a young person between ten and fourteen to be presumed capable of committing an offence and formally abolishes capital punishment for treason and piracy, the last civilian offences for which the death penalty remained theoretically available.
* The Government of Wales Act 1998, which will establish a devolved Welsh Assembly, receives Royal Assent.
* The UK Government announces a total ban on the use of land mines by the British military.

August

10 August – Manchester United TV begins broadcasting, making Manchester United F.C. the world's second football team to have its own television channel, the first being Middlesbrough in 1997.
15 August – Omagh bombing: A car bomb explodes in the Northern Irish market town of Omagh, County Tyrone, killing 29 people – the worst terrorist atrocity in the history of The Troubles in Northern Ireland. It has been planted by the Real Irish Republican Army.
18 August – Mathematicians Richard Borcherds and Timothy Gowers are awarded Fields Medals.
22 August – Reading F.C. move into their new Madejski Stadium, named after chairman John Madejski, near junction 11 of the M4 motorway in the south of Reading. It seats more than 24,000 spectators.
24 August
* The Netherlands is selected as the venue for the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial of two Libyans who are charged with causing the explosion of an aircraft at Lockerbie that killed 270 people in December 1988.
* First RFID human implantation tested in the United Kingdom by Kevin Warwick at the University of Reading.

September

8 September – The Real IRA announces a ceasefire.
10 September – In Northern Ireland, David Trimble of the Ulster Unionist Party meets Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin – the first such meeting between republicans and unionists since 1922.
16 September – The Union Jack dress worn by the Spice Girl Geri Halliwell is sold at Sotheby's for £41,320
19 September – Sarah Ferguson's mother, Susan Barrantes, is killed in a car accident in Argentina aged 61.

October

October – Ford launches its new [Ford Ford Focus (International)|Focus (International)|Focus] range of small family hatchbacks, saloons and estates which will eventually replace the long-running Escort although that model would continue until the year 2000 and the van model lasting until 2002.
16 October – Indictment and arrest of Augusto Pinochet: Police place General Augusto Pinochet, the 83-year-old former dictator of Chile, into house arrest during his medical treatment in the UK at the request of Spain.
17 October – Actress Joan Hickson dies aged 92 of a stroke in a hospital at Colchester, Essex, six years after her final television appearance as Miss Marple.
27 October – Ron Davies resigns as Secretary of State for Wales, citing "an error of judgement" in agreeing to go for what he said was a meal with a man he had met while walking on Clapham Common in London, which is a well known gay meeting place, and subsequently being mugged.
28 October – The Poet Laureate Ted Hughes dies of cancer in a hospital in London, aged 68.

November

November – Peugeot launches the 206 supermini which is being built at the Ryton plant near Coventry.
9 November – Human Rights Act receives Royal Assent.
24 November – The Queen's Speech announces the government plan to abolish the rights of 700 hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords; unprecedentedly this is met with audible "hear hears".
25 November – Appointed Regional development agencies and Regional chambers in England are created under the Regional Development Agencies Act.
26 November – Tony Blair becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Oireachtas.

December

December – The Ford Focus is voted European Car of the Year.
10 December
* John Hume and David Trimble win the Nobel Peace Prize.
* John Pople wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his development of computational methods in quantum chemistry".
26 December – Great Boxing Day Storm: severe gale-force winds hit Ireland, southern Scotland and northern England. Roads, railways and electricity are disrupted.
29 December – Three British tourists are among those shot during a gun battle to free them from kidnappers in Yemen.

Date unknown

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Association is created.

Publications

Beryl Bainbridge's novel Master Georgie.
Iain M. Banks' novel Inversions.
Julian Barnes's novel :England, England.
Ted Hughes's poetry collection Birthday Letters.
Nigella Lawson's guide How to Eat: the pleasures and principles of good food.
Ian McEwan's novel Amsterdam.
John O'Farrell's political memoir Things Can Only Get Better.
Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels The Last Continent and Carpe Jugulum.
J. K. Rowling's novel Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Births

2 January
* George Miller, footballer
* Ollie Pope, cricketer
4 January – Tia Rigg, murder victim
7 January – Ben Earl, rugby union player
18 January – Alfie McIlwain, actor
2 February – Chris Smith, footballer
3 February – Zak Crawley, cricketer
4 February – Scott Jones, athlete
15 February – George Russell, racing driver
21 February – Ella-Rae Smith, actress and model
27 February
* Sam Smith, footballer
* Theo Stevenson, actor
13 March – Oliver Stokes, actor
14 March – George Bartlett, cricketer
24 March – Isabel Suckling, singer
11 April – Oliver Dillon, actor
12 April – Tom Pearce, footballer
14 April – Arthur Bowen, actor
22 April – Jay Dasilva, footballer
8 May – Sam Field, footballer
14 May – Aaron Ramsdale, footballer
3 June – Sam Curran, cricketer.
4 June
*Jack Blatherwick, cricketer
*Central Cee, rapper
7 June – Graham Newberry, American-English figure skater
10 June – Johnny Bennett, actor
14 June – Julia Joyce, actress
21 June – Isabel Atkin, freestyle skier
30 June – Tom Davies, footballer
1 July – Hollie Steel, classical crossover singer
5 July - Georgie Aldous, british social activist, model and influencer
19 July
* Ronaldo Vieira, footballer
* Amar Virdi, cricketer
* Lil Woods, actress
20 July – Sinead Michael, actress
28 July – Sam Surridge, footballer
2 August – Giarnni Regini-Moran, artistic gymnast
6 August – Jack Scanlon, actor
8 August – Ronan Parke, pop singer
14 August – Amy Marren, swimmer
29 August- Sianna Trebicki, Icon/Legend
5 September – Helena Barlow, actress
9 September – Shannon Matthews, kidnapping victim
21 September – Prem Sisodiya, cricketer
2 October – Zack Morris, actor
7 October – Trent Alexander-Arnold, footballer
17 October – Erin Kellyman, actress
18 October – Jack Carroll, comic actor
20 October – Jordan Allan, footballer
22 October
* Georgina Anderson, pop singer
* Harry Souttar, footballer
29 October – Matthew Potts, cricketer
11 November – Tom Banton, cricketer
21 November – Will Jacks, cricketer
28 November – Ronan McKenzie, kart racing driver
1 December – Ollie Robinson, cricketer
3 December – Marcus Edwards, footballer
11 December – Gabz, singer-songwriter
14 December – Lukas Nmecha, footballer
17 December – Jasmine Armfield, actress
24 December – Declan McKenna, pop singer

Deaths

January

2 January – Frank Muir, actor, comedy writer and raconteur
4 January – Sally Purcell, poet and translator
5 January – David Bairstow, English cricketer ; suicide
6 January – Richard Clutterbuck, Army major-general and historian
7 January – Frank Roberts, diplomat
8 January – Sir Michael Tippett, composer
11 January – John Wells, writer and satirist
12 January
* Roger Clark, rally driver
* Ian Moores, former footballer
15 January
* James Ashley, suspected heroin dealer ; murdered
* George Pottinger, convicted fraudster
18 January – Monica Edwards, children's writer
21 January – Edward Carrick, art designer, writer and illustrator
23 January – Victor Pasmore, artist
24 January – Xenia Field, councillor, horticulturalist and author
25 January – Attia Hosain, novelist, journalist and actress
26 January – Lord Nicholas Hervey, aristocrat and political activist ; suicide
27 January – Geoffrey Trease, writer
30 January – Lesslie Newbigin, theologian and missionary

February

2 February – Robert McIntyre, Scottish politician
3 February – Davy Kaye, actor
5 February – Nick Webb, musician
8 February – Enoch Powell, politician
10 February – Peter Longbottom, cyclist ; road accident
14 February – Edgar Granville, Baron Granville of Eye, politician
15 February
* Samuel Curran, physicist
* Martha Gellhorn, war correspondent, suicide
16 February – Harry Hinsley, historian and cryptanalyst
17 February – Sheila Raynor, actress
18 February – Robbie James, Welsh footballer
20 February
* Francis Coulson, cook and hotelier
* Henry Livings, playwright and screenwriter
* David McClure, artist
24 February – Geoffrey Bush, composer and music scholar
27 February – Martin Hollis, philosopher

March

3 March – Hedley Mattingly, actor
6 March – Benjamin Bowden, designer
7 March – Bernarr Rainbow, historian of music education, organist, and choir master
8 March – Jack Donaldson, Baron Donaldson of Kingsbridge, politician and public servant
9 March – Colin Patterson, biologist
10 March
* Ian Dunn, gay and paedophile rights activist, founder of the Scottish Minorities Group
* Alberto Morrocco, artist
13 March – Judge Dread, reggae musician
16 March
* Sir Derek Barton, chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
* Noel Stephen Paynter, Royal Air Force commodore
20 March
* Beverley Cross, playwright, librettist and screenwriter
* Laddie Lucas, RAF officer and politician
25 March – Daniel Massey, actor
27 March – Joan Lestor, Baroness Lestor of Eccles, politician
29 March – David Hicks, interior designer

April

1 April – Mary Wynne Warner, mathematician
2 April – Joan Austin, tennis player
3 April – Dame Mary Cartwright, mathematician
4 April – Ian Percival, politician
5 April
* Sir Charles Frank, physicist
* Cozy Powell, rock musician ; car accident
7 April
* Ronald William John Keay, botanist
* James McIntosh Patrick, painter
11 April
* Francis Durbridge, playwright and author
* Tex Geddes, author and adventurer
14 April
* Harry Lee, tennis player
* Dorothy Squires, Welsh singer
16 April
* Fred Davis, snooker and billiards player
* Ronald Millar, actor and scriptwriter
17 April – Linda McCartney, American-born, British-based photographer and musician
19 April – Denis Howell, Baron Howell, politician
20 April
* Joan Mary Wayne Brown, British author
* Trevor Huddleston, Anglican bishop and anti-apartheid activist
21 April – Frank Wootton, aviation artist
27 April – Ralph Raphael, organic chemist

May

1 May – J. S. Roskell, historian
2 May
* Justin Fashanu, footballer ; suicide
* Kevin Lloyd, actor
3 May – Erika Cheetham, writer
4 May – Gordon Beningfield, wildlife artist and naturalist
7 May – Jack Heslop-Harrison, soldier and botanist
8 May – D. S. L. Cardwell, science historian
9 May
* Bob Mellish, Baron Mellish, politician
* R. J. G. Savage, palaeontologist
14 May
* Mabel Esther Allan, children's author
* Geoffrey Kendal, actor
15 May – Patrick Wall, World War II marine commando and politician
17 May – Hugh Cudlipp, journalist
18 May – Enid Marx, artist and designer
19 May – Edwin Astley, composer
20 May – Wolf Mankowitz, playwright and screenwriter
24 May – Charles Rycroft, psychoanalyst
28 May – Lana Morris, actress
29 May – Marion Milner, psychoanalyst
30 May – Walter Carr, actor

June

5 June – Viola Keats, actress
10 June
* Sir David English, journalist and newspaper editor
* Hammond Innes, author
11 June – Catherine Cookson, author
13 June
* Alfred Horace Gerrard, sculptor
* Kadamba Simmons, actress and model ; murdered
* Reg Smythe, cartoonist
15 June – Morris Kestelman, artist
19 June – John Camkin, journalist and sports commentator
20 June – Bruno Barnabe, actor
21 June – Harry Cranbrook Allen, historian of the United States
22 June – Benny Green, writer, radio broadcaster and saxophonist
26 June – Derek Rayner, Baron Rayner, businessman, chief executive of Marks & Spencer
28 June – Jack Rowley, English footballer

July

1 July – Martin Seymour-Smith, poet, literary critic and biographer
2 July – Tony De Vit, DJ and music producer
3 July – George Lloyd, composer
4 July – Gladys Ambrose, actress
5 July
* Johnny Speight, television scriptwriter
* Stevie Hyper D, drum and bass MC
8 July – Constance Cox, scriptwriter and playwright
9 July
* David Fulker, geneticist
* Katherine Russell, social worker and university teacher
11 July – John Boyd-Carpenter, Baron Boyd-Carpenter, politician
14 July
* Beryl Bryden, jazz singer
* Angus John Mackintosh Stewart, writer
17 July – James Lighthill, mathematician
18 July – Betty Marsden, comedy actress
21 July – Kenneth Watson, actor
22 July – Michael Denison, actor
23 July – John Hopkins, screenwriter ; accidentally killed in the United States
25 July – Tiny Rowland, businessman
27 July – Binnie Barnes, actress
28 July – Lenny McLean, boxer and actor

August

1 August – Eva Bartok, actress
3 August – Alan Walsh, physicist, developer of atomic absorption spectroscopy
4 August – Richard Dunn, CEO of Thames Television
6 August – Nat Gonella, jazz trumpeter, bandleader and vocalist
7 August – Sir Harry Tuzo, Army general
9 August – George Child Villiers, 9th Earl of Jersey, peer
11 August – Derek Newark, actor
14 August – Rosemary Martin, actress
19 August – Anne Asquith, Countess of Oxford and Asquith, code breaker in World War II
22 August
* Evelyn Denington, Baroness Denington, politician
* Jimmy Skidmore, jazz saxophonist
25 August
* Allan Macartney, Scottish politician
* Barbara Mandell, journalist, broadcaster, newsreader and travel writer
26 August – Margaret Potter, writer

September

1 September – Vere Harmsworth, 3rd Viscount Rothermere, peer and newspaper proprietor
2 September
* Roy Bradford, politician
* Jackie Blanchflower, footballer
4 September
* Charles Kemball, chemist
* Lal Waterson, folk singer-songwriter
7 September – Sir John Osler Chattock Hayes, Royal Navy admiral
10 September
* Carl Forgione, actor
* Sir Frederick Rosier, Royal Air Force commander
13 September – Sir Denys Buckley, lawyer and judge
17 September
* April FitzLyon, translator, biographer and historian
* Celia Rooke, artist
19 September
* Susan Barrantes, filmmaker and mother of the former Duchess of York ; killed in car accident
* Patricia Hayes, character actress
* Ran Laurie, physician and Olympic rowing champion, father of Hugh Laurie
21 September – Margaret Allan, racing driver
22 September – Doug Smith, rugby union player
23 September – Ray Bowden, footballer
28 September – Joan Maude, actress
30 September – Marius Goring, actor

October

2 October
* Raymond Raikes, theatre producer, director and broadcaster
* Sir Richard Way, civil servant, chief executive of London Transport
3 October – Roddy McDowall, actor
5 October – Megs Jenkins, character actress
6 October – Joseph J. Sandler, psychoanalyst
8 October – Curtis Cassell, rabbi
10 October – Jackie Forster, journalist and lesbian rights activist
11 October – Michael Wynn, 7th Baron Newborough, peer and World War II naval veteran
15 October – Iain Crichton Smith, Scottish poet and novelist
17 October – Joan Hickson, actress
20 October – Frank Gillard, radio broadcaster
21 October
* Sir Alexander Cairncross, economist
* Alan Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury, businessman
22 October – Eric Ambler, novelist and playwright
23 October – Christopher Gable, ballet dancer, choreographer and actor
24 October – Dennis Ayling, cinematographer
25 October – Susan Strange, political scientist
27 October – Rosamund John, actress
28 October
* Cuthbert Alport, Baron Alport, politician
* Tommy Flowers, electrical engineer
* Ted Hughes, poet laureate and children's writer

November

2 November
* Janet Arnold, costume designer
* Vincent Winter, child film actor
7 November
* Margaret Gowing, historian
* John Hunt, Baron Hunt, World War II army officer and leader of the 1953 British Mount Everest Expedition
8 November – Rumer Godden, writer
10 November
* Peter Cotes, actor, writer and director
* Mary Millar, actress
12 November – Roy Hollis, footballer
13 November – Doug Wright, English cricketer
14 November
* Eli Cashdan, rabbi
* Quentin Crewe, journalist, author and adventurer
18 November – Robin Hall, folk singer
19 November – Ken Gatward, RAF pilot of World War II
24 November – John Chadwick, linguist
26 November – Mike Calvert, Army officer
29 November
* Robin Ray, broadcaster, actor and musician
* Martin Ruane, British professional wrestler

December

1 December – Freddie Young, cinematographer
2 December – Brian Stonehouse, painter and World War II secret agent
3 December – George Murcell, character actor
7 December – John Addison, composer
8 December – Michael Craze, actor
13 December
* Lew Grade, showbusiness impresario and television company executive
* Sir Richard Thomas, Royal Navy admiral and Black Rod
17 December – John Burns Brooksby, veterinarian
20 December – Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
21 December
* Roger Avon, actor
* Avril Coleridge-Taylor, pianist, conductor, composer and daughter of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
* Karl Denver, singer
* Sir Richard Turnbull, British colonial governor
22 December – Donald Soper, Methodist minister and pacifist
25 December – John Pulman, snooker player ; accidentally killed
26 December – Michael Sherard, fashion designer
27 December – Ralegh Radford, historian
30 December – George Webb, actor
31 December – Alan Morris, English footballer ; murdered