Incumbents

• Monarch – HM Queen Elizabeth II
• Prime Minister – Margaret Thatcher
  Margaret Thatcher
  Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
  
  , Conservative
  Conservative Party (UK)
  The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
  
  

Events

• 5 January
  • Peter Sutcliffe
    Peter Sutcliffe
    Peter William Sutcliffe is a British serial killer who was dubbed "The Yorkshire Ripper". In 1981 Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attacking seven others. He is currently serving 20 sentences of life imprisonment in Broadmoor Hospital...
    
    , a 35-year-old lorry driver from Bradford
    Bradford
    Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
    
    , is charged with being the notorious "Yorkshire Ripper" mass murderer who is believed to have murdered 13 women and attacked seven others across northern England
    England
    England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
    
     since 1975.
  • the BBC Two
    BBC Two
    BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
    
     adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV series)
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, is a BBC television adaptation of Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy broadcast in January and February 1981 on BBC Two...
    
     begins airing; it subsequently received a Royal Television Society
    Royal Television Society
    The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
    
     award as "Most Original Programme" of the year.
• 9 January - The funeral of Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone
  Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone
  Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone was a member of the British Royal Family. She was the longest-lived Princess of the Blood Royal of the British Royal Family and the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria...
  
  , the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria, takes place at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
  Windsor Castle
  Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
  
  . She had died six days previously at the age of 97.
• 16 January
  • Northern Ireland civil rights campaigner and former Westminster MP, Bernadette McAliskey is shot and injured by suspected Loyalist paramilitaries at her home in County Tyrone
    County Tyrone
    Historically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610-1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on...
    
    , Northern Ireland
    Northern Ireland
    Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
    
    .
  • Inflation has fallen to 16.1%.
• 18 January - New Cross Fire
  New Cross Fire
  The New Cross Fire was a devastating house fire which killed 13 young black people during a birthday party in New Cross, southeast London on Sunday 18 January 1981...
  
  : Ten young black people are killed and thirty are injured in an arson attack on a house in New Cross
  New Cross
  New Cross is a district and ward of the London Borough of Lewisham, England. It is situated 4 miles south-east of Charing Cross. The ward covered by London post town and the SE 14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, Telegraph Hill, Nunhead, Peckham, Brockley, Deptford and Greenwich...
  
  , London
  London
  London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
  
  .
• 25 January
  • The Limehouse Declaration
    Limehouse Declaration
    The Limehouse Declaration was a statement issued on 25 January 1981 by four senior British Labour politicians, all MPs or former MPs and Cabinet Ministers: Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams...
    
    : Four Labour
    Labour Party (UK)
    The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
    
     Members of Parliament
    Member of Parliament
    A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
    
    , Shirley Williams, Roy Jenkins
    Roy Jenkins
    Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician.The son of a Welsh coal miner who later became a union official and Labour MP, Roy Jenkins served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in...
    
    , William Rodgers and David Owen
    David Owen
    David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen CH PC FRCP is a British politician.Owen served as British Foreign Secretary from 1977 to 1979, the youngest person in over forty years to hold the post; he co-authored the failed Vance-Owen and Owen-Stoltenberg peace plans offered during the Bosnian War...
    
    , announce plans to form a separate political party- the Social Democratic Party
    Social Democratic Party (UK)
    The Social Democratic Party was a political party in the United Kingdom that was created on 26 March 1981 and existed until 1988. It was founded by four senior Labour Party 'moderates', dubbed the 'Gang of Four': Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams...
    
    .
  • The death toll of the New Cross fire reaches 11 when another victim dies in hospital.
• 26 January - Nine Labour MPs declare their support for the SDP "Gang of Four".
• 27 January - Bill Rodgers
  Bill Rodgers
  William or Bill Rodgers may refer to:*William Rodgers, Baron Rodgers of Quarry Bank , British politician*Bill Rodgers , American marathon runner*Bill Rodgers , American MLB player...
  
   resigns from the shadow cabinet.
• 4 February - Margaret Thatcher
  Margaret Thatcher
  Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
  
   announces that the government will sell half of its shares in British Aerospace
  British Aerospace
  British Aerospace plc was a UK aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was in the Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire...
  
  .
• 6 February - The Liverpool
  Liverpool
  Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
  
  -registered coal ship Nellie M is bombed and sunk by an IRA unit driving a hijacked pilot boat
  Attacks on shipping in Lough Foyle (1981-1982)
  The Provisional Irish Republican Army carried out two bomb attacks against British coal ships in February 1981 and February 1982 at Lough Foyle, a large inlet between Northern Ireland and County Donegal, in the Republic of Ireland...
  
   in Lough Foyle
  Lough Foyle
  Lough Foyle, sometimes Loch Foyle , is the estuary of the River Foyle in Ulster. It starts where the Foyle leaves Derry. It separates the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland from County Londonderry in Northern Ireland.-Transport:...
  
  .
• 9 February
  • Shirley Williams resigns from Labour's national executive committee.
  • Actor Sir Laurence Olivier, cancer researcher Sir Peter Medawar
    Peter Medawar
    Sir Peter Brian Medawar OM CBE FRS was a British biologist, whose work on graft rejection and the discovery of acquired immune tolerance was fundamental to the practice of tissue and organ transplants...
    
     and humanitarian Leonard Cheshire
    Leonard Cheshire
    Group Captain Geoffrey Leonard Cheshire, Baron Cheshire, VC, OM, DSO and Two Bars, DFC was a highly decorated British RAF pilot during the Second World War....
    
     are admitted into the Order of Merit
    Order of Merit
    The Order of Merit is a British dynastic order recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture...
    
     in the New Year's Honours list.
• 12 February - Purchase of The Times
  The Times
  The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
  
  and The Sunday Times
  The Sunday Times
  The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
  
  from The Thomson Corporation by Rupert Murdoch
  Rupert Murdoch
  Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
  
  's News International
  News International
  News International Ltd is the United Kingdom newspaper publishing division of News Corporation. Until June 2002, it was called News International plc....
  
   is confirmed.
• 18 February - Thatcher government
  Thatcher Ministry
  Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom between 4 May 1979 and 28 November 1990, during which time she led a Conservative government. She was the first woman to hold that office...
  
   withdraws plans to close down 23 mines after negotiations with National Union of Mineworkers.
• 23 February - Buckingham Palace
  Buckingham Palace
  Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
  
   announces the engagement of Prince of Wales
  Charles, Prince of Wales
  Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
  
   and 19-year-old Lady Diana Spencer
  Diana, Princess of Wales
  Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
  
  .
• 25 February - Margaret Thatcher arrives in Washington, D.C.
  Washington, D.C.
  Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
  
   for a four-day visit to American president Ronald Reagan
  Ronald Reagan
  Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
  
  .
• 9 March
  • John Lambe
    John Lambe
    John Lambe was an English astrologer who served George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, during the early 17th century. Accused of black magic and rape, he was stoned to death by an unruly mob in London....
    
    , a 37-year-old lorry driver, is sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape of twelve women in the space of less than four years.
  • Thousands of Civil servants
    Civil service
    The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
    
     hold a one-day strike over pay.
• 17 March - The Conservative
  Conservative Party (UK)
  The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
  
   government's budget is met with uproar due to further public spending cuts.
• 22 March - Newspaper reports suggest that Conservative MP's are about to challenge the leadership of Margaret Thatcher.
• 23 March - Government imposes a ban on animal transportation on the Isle of Wight
  Isle of Wight
  The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
  
   and southern Hampshire
  Hampshire
  Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
  
   after an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in cattle.
• 24 March - Barbados
  Barbados
  Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
  
   police rescue Great Train Robber
  Great Train Robbery (1963)
  The Great Train Robbery is the name given to a £2.6 million train robbery committed on 8 August 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England. The bulk of the stolen money was not recovered...
  
   Ronnie Biggs
  Ronnie Biggs
  Ronald Arthur "Ronnie" Biggs is an English criminal, known for his role in the Great Train Robbery of 1963, for his escape from prison in 1965, for living as a fugitive for 36 years and for his various publicity stunts while in exile. In 2001, he voluntarily returned to the United Kingdom and...
  
   after his kidnapping in Brazil.
• 26 March - Social Democratic Party
  Social Democratic Party (UK)
  The Social Democratic Party was a political party in the United Kingdom that was created on 26 March 1981 and existed until 1988. It was founded by four senior Labour Party 'moderates', dubbed the 'Gang of Four': Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams...
  
   formed by the so-called "Gang of Four": Shirley Williams, William Rodgers
  William Rodgers, Baron Rodgers of Quarry Bank
  William Thomas Rodgers, Baron Rodgers of Quarry Bank, PC , usually known as William Rodgers but also often known as Bill Rodgers, was one of the "Gang of Four" of senior British Labour Party politicians who defected to form the Social Democratic Party...
  
  , Roy Jenkins
  Roy Jenkins
  Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician.The son of a Welsh coal miner who later became a union official and Labour MP, Roy Jenkins served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in...
  
  , and David Owen
  David Owen
  David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen CH PC FRCP is a British politician.Owen served as British Foreign Secretary from 1977 to 1979, the youngest person in over forty years to hold the post; he co-authored the failed Vance-Owen and Owen-Stoltenberg peace plans offered during the Bosnian War...
  
  , who have all defected from the Labour Party
  Labour Party (UK)
  The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
  
  .
• 28 March - Enoch Powell
  Enoch Powell
  John Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, classical scholar, poet, writer, and soldier. He served as a Conservative Party MP and Minister of Health . He attained most prominence in 1968, when he made the controversial Rivers of Blood speech in opposition to mass immigration from...
  
  , Ulster Unionist MP who was a prominent Conservative MP until 1974, warns of "racial civil war" in Britain.
• 29 March - The first London Marathon
  London Marathon
  The London Marathon is one of the biggest running events in the world, and one of the five top world marathons that make up the World Marathon Majors competition, which has a $1 million prize purse. It has been held each spring in London since 1981. The race is currently sponsored by Virgin Money,...
  
   is held.
• March - Academy Award-winning film Chariots of Fire
  Chariots of Fire
  Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice....
  
  released.
• 2 April - The effects of the recession continue to claim jobs as Midland Red
  Midland Red
  Midland Red was a bus company which operated in the English Midlands from 1905 to 1981. It was the trading name used by the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company , which was renamed Midland Red Omnibus Company in 1974...
  
  , the iconic Birmingham
  Birmingham
  Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
  
  -based bus operator, closes down its headquarters in the city with the loss of some 170 jobs.
• 3 April - More than 80 people (including 40 police officers) are injured during clashes between 300 skinheads and 400 Asians in Southall
  Southall
  Southall is a large suburban district of west London, England, and part of the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated west of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Yeading, Hayes, Hanwell, Heston, Hounslow, Greenford and Northolt...
  
  , London
  London
  London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
  
  .
• 4 April
  • Bucks Fizz
    Bucks Fizz (band)
    Bucks Fizz are an English pop group who achieved success in the 1980s, most notably for winning the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Making Your Mind Up". The group was formed in January 1981 specifically for the contest and comprised four vocalists: Bobby G, Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan and...
    
     is the winner of Eurovision Song Contest
    Eurovision Song Contest 1981
    The Eurovision Song Contest 1981 was the 26th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 4 April 1981 at the Simmonscourt Pavilion of the Royal Dublin Society in Dublin. The presenter was Doireann Ní Bhriain...
    
     with the song Making Your Mind Up
    Making Your Mind Up
    "Making Your Mind Up" is a song by British pop group Bucks Fizz. It was the winner of the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest and a UK Number-one single...
    
    .
  • Susan Brown, a 23-year-old Biology
    Biology
    Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
    
     student at Oxford University, becomes the first female cox in a winning Boat Race
    The Boat Race
    The event generally known as "The Boat Race" is a rowing race in England between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club, rowed between competing eights each spring on the River Thames in London. It takes place generally on the last Saturday of March or the first...
    
     crew.
  • Bob Champion
    Bob Champion
    Robert "Bob" Champion MBE was born in Guisborough, in the north of England, on 4 June 1948. He is an English jump jockey who won the 1981 Grand National on Aldaniti. His triumph was made into a film Champions, with John Hurt portraying Champion...
    
    , a 32-year-old cancer survivor, is the popular winner of the Grand National
    Grand National
    The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...
    
     with his horse Aldaniti
    Aldaniti
    Aldaniti , , was a famous racehorse who won the Grand National on 4 April 1981. Jockey Bob Champion famously recovered from cancer while Aldaniti recovered after suffering a career threatening injury. The horse was trained by Josh Gifford...
    
    .
• 5 April - U.K. Census
  Census in the United Kingdom
  Coincident full censuses have taken place in the different jurisdictions of the United Kingdom every ten years since 1801, with the exceptions of 1941 and in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State in 1921; simultaneous censuses were taken in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, with...
  
  .
• 10 April - Bobby Sands
  Bobby Sands
  Robert Gerard "Bobby" Sands was an Irish volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and member of the United Kingdom Parliament who died on hunger strike while imprisoned in HM Prison Maze....
  
  , an IRA member on hunger strike
  1981 Irish hunger strike
  The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners...
  
   in the Maze prison, Northern Ireland
  Northern Ireland
  Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
  
  , is elected MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone in a by election.
• 11 April - More than 300 people (most of them police officers) are injured and extensive damage is caused to property in the Brixton riot.
• 13 April
  • Home Secretary
    Home Secretary
    The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
    
     William Whitelaw announces a public inquiry, to be conducted by Lord Scarman, into the disturbances in Brixton.
  • Enoch Powell
    Enoch Powell
    John Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, classical scholar, poet, writer, and soldier. He served as a Conservative Party MP and Minister of Health . He attained most prominence in 1968, when he made the controversial Rivers of Blood speech in opposition to mass immigration from...
    
     warns that Britain "has seen nothing yet" with regards to racial unrest.
  • Further rioting breaks out in Brixton.
• 20 April
  • Snooker player Steve Davis
    Steve Davis
    Steve Davis, OBE is an English professional snooker player. He has won more professional titles in the sport than any other player, including six World Championships during the 1980s, when he was the world number one for seven years and became the sport's first millionaire...
    
     wins the World Snooker Championship 1981.
  • More than 100 people are arrested and 15 police officers are injured in clashes with black youths in the Finsbury Park
    Finsbury Park
    Finsbury Park is a 46 hectare public park in the London Borough of Haringey. Officially part of the London area of Harringay, it is also adjacent to Stroud Green, the Finsbury Park district and Manor House. It was one of the first of the great London parks laid out in the Victorian...
    
    , Forest Green and Ealing
    Ealing
    Ealing is a suburban area of west London, England and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Ealing. It is located west of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically a rural village...
    
     areas of London.
• 21 April - The county administrative headquarters of Northumberland
  Northumberland
  Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
  
   move from Newcastle upon Tyne
  Newcastle upon Tyne
  Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
  
   to Morpeth
  Morpeth, Northumberland
  Morpeth is the county town of Northumberland, England. It is situated on the River Wansbeck which flows east through the town. The town is from the A1, which bypasses it. Since 1981, it has been the administrative centre of the County of Northumberland. In the 2001 census the town had a population...
  
  .
• 23 April - Unemployment passes the 2,500,000 mark for the first time in nearly 50 years.
• 29 April - Peter Sutcliffe admits to the manslaughter of 13 women on the grounds of diminished responsibility, but the judge rules that a jury should rule on Sutcliffe's state of mind before deciding whether to accept his plea or find him guilty of murder.
• May - Peugeot
  Peugeot
  Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
  
   closes the Talbot
  Talbot
  Talbot was an automobile marque that existed from 1903 to 1986, with a hiatus from 1960 to 1978, under a number of different owners, latterly under Peugeot...
  
   car plant at Linwood
  Linwood
  Linwood is a small town in Renfrewshire, Scotland, 14 miles south-west of Glasgow.Linwood is a commuter town, with proximity to Glasgow International Airport and the M8 motorway to Glasgow and Edinburgh...
  
  , Scotland
  Scotland
  Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
  
  , which was opened by the Rootes Group 18 years ago as Scotland's only car factory.
• 5 May
  • Bobby Sands
    Bobby Sands
    Robert Gerard "Bobby" Sands was an Irish volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and member of the United Kingdom Parliament who died on hunger strike while imprisoned in HM Prison Maze....
    
    , a 27-year-old republic
    Republic
    A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
    
    an, dies in Northern Ireland
    Northern Ireland
    Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
    
    's Maze Prison after a 66-day hunger strike.
  • The trial of Peter Sutcliffe begins at the Old Bailey
    Old Bailey
    The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...
    
    ; he stands charged with 13 murders and seven attempted murders dating back to 1975.
• 7 May - Ken Livingstone
  Ken Livingstone
  Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
  
   becomes leader of the GLC
  Greater London Council
  The Greater London Council was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council which had covered a much smaller area...
  
   after Labour wins the GLC elections.
• 9 May - The 100th FA Cup
  FA Cup
  The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
  
   final ends with a 1–1 draw between Manchester City
  Manchester City F.C.
  Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
  
   and Tottenham Hotspur
  Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
  Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
  
   at Wembley Stadium.
• 11 May - First performance of the Andrew Lloyd Webber
  Andrew Lloyd Webber
  Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
  
   musical Cats
  Cats (musical)
  Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
  
  at the New London Theatre
  New London Theatre
  The New London Theatre is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden...
  
  .
• 12 May - Francis Hughes
  Francis Hughes
  Francis Hughes was an Irish volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army . Hughes was the most wanted man in Northern Ireland until his arrest following a shoot-out with the Special Air Service in which an SAS soldier was killed...
  
   (aged 25) becomes the second IRA hunger striker to die in Northern Ireland.
• 13 May - An inquest returns an open verdict on the thirteen people who died as a result of their injuries in the New Cross fire.
• 14 May - Tottenham Hotspur
  Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
  Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
  
   win the FA Cup for the sixth time in their history with a 3–2 win over Manchester City in the final replay at Wembley.
• 15 May
  • The inquiry into the Brixton riots opens.
  • The Queen's second grandchild, a girl, is born to The Princess Anne
    Anne, Princess Royal
    Princess Anne, Princess Royal , is the only daughter of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
    
     and her husband Capt Mark Phillips
    Mark Phillips
    -Ancestry:-Issue:-Sources:...
    
    .
• 19 May - Peter Sutcliffe
  Peter Sutcliffe
  Peter William Sutcliffe is a British serial killer who was dubbed "The Yorkshire Ripper". In 1981 Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attacking seven others. He is currently serving 20 sentences of life imprisonment in Broadmoor Hospital...
  
   is found guilty of being the Yorkshire Ripper after admitting 13 charges of murder and a further seven of attempted murder. He will be sentenced later this week.
• 21 May - The IRA hunger strike death toll reaches four with the deaths of Raymond McCreesh
  Raymond McCreesh
  Raymond Peter "Ray" McCreesh was an Irish republican hunger striker and a volunteer in the South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army .-Background:...
  
   and Patrick O'Hara
  Patsy O'Hara
  Patsy O'Hara was an Irish republican hunger striker and member of the Irish National Liberation Army .He was born in Bishop Street, Derry, Northern Ireland. O'Hara joined Na Fianna Éireann in 1970, and in 1971 his brother Sean was interned in Long Kesh. In late 1971, he was shot and wounded by a...
  
  .
• 22 May - Peter Sutcliffe is sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommendation that he should serve at least 30 years before parole can be considered.
• 27 May - Liverpool F.C.
  Liverpool F.C.
  Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
  
   win the European Cup for the third time by defeating Real Madrid
  Real Madrid
  Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
  
   of Spain
  Spain
  Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
  
   1–0 in the final at Parc des Princes
  Parc des Princes
  The Parc des Princes is an all-seater football stadium located in the southwest of Paris, France. The venue, with a seating capacity of 48,712 spectators, has been the home of French football club Paris Saint-Germain since 1974. The current Parc des Princes was inaugurated on 4 June 1972, endowed...
  
  , Paris
  Paris
  Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
  
  , France
  France
  The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
  
  . Alan Kennedy
  Alan Kennedy
  Alan Phillip Kennedy is a former footballer who played for Liverpool during their halcyon days in the late 1970s and early 1980s and had a knack of scoring in major cup finals....
  
   scores the only goal of the game. Although they have yet to equal Spanish
  Spain
  Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
  
   side Real Madrid
  Real Madrid
  Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
  
  's record of six European Cups, they are the first British side to win the trophy three times.
• 30 May - More than 100,000 people from across Britain march to Trafalgar Square
  Trafalgar Square
  Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
  
   in London
  London
  London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
  
   for the TUC's March For Jobs.
• 3 June - Shergar
  Shergar
  Shergar was an acclaimed Irish racehorse, and winner of the 1981 Epsom Derby by a record 10 lengths, the longest winning margin in the race's 226-year history. This victory earned him a spot in The Observer newspaper's 100 Most Memorable Sporting Moments of the Twentieth Century...
  
   wins the Epsom Derby
  Epsom Derby
  The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
  
  .
• 9 June - King Khaled of Saudi Arabia
  Saudi Arabia
  The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
  
   arrives in Britain on a state visit.
• 11 June - Britain's first Urban Enterprise Zone
  Urban Enterprise Zone
  In the United States, Urban Enterprise Zones , also known as Enterprise Zones, are intended to encourage development in blighted neighborhoods through tax and regulatory relief to entrepreneurs and investors who launch businesses in the area. UEZs are areas where companies can locate free of...
  
   is created in Lower Swansea
  Swansea
  Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
  
   Valley, Wales
  Wales
  Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
  
  .
• 13 June - Marcus Sarjeant
  Marcus Sarjeant
  Marcus Simon Sarjeant is notable for firing six blank shots at Queen Elizabeth II as she rode down The Mall to the Trooping the Colour ceremony in 1981.-Background:...
  
   fires six blank cartridges at The Queen as she enters Horse Guards Parade
  Horse Guards Parade
  Horse Guards Parade is a large parade ground off Whitehall in central London, at grid reference . It is the site of the annual ceremonies of Trooping the Colour, which commemorates the monarch's official birthday, and Beating Retreat.-History:...
  
  .
• 13–14 June - More than 80 arrests are made during clashes between white power skinheads and black people in Coventry
  Coventry
  Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
  
  , where the National Front is planning a march later this month, on the same day as an anti-racist concert by The Specials
  The Specials
  The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...
  
  .
• 15 June - Lord Scarman opens an enquiry into the Brixton riots.
• 16 June - Liberal Party
  Liberal Party (UK)
  The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
  
   and SDP
  Social Democratic Party (UK)
  The Social Democratic Party was a political party in the United Kingdom that was created on 26 March 1981 and existed until 1988. It was founded by four senior Labour Party 'moderates', dubbed the 'Gang of Four': Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams...
  
   form an electoral pact - the SDP-Liberal Alliance
  SDP-Liberal Alliance
  The SDP–Liberal Alliance was an electoral pact formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party in the United Kingdom which was in existence from 1981 to 1988, when the bulk of the two parties merged to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, later referred to as simply the Liberal...
  
  .
• 20 June
  • Rioting breaks out in Peckham
    Peckham
    Peckham is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Southwark. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
    
    , South London
    South London
    South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
    
    .
  • HMS Ark Royal
    HMS Ark Royal (R07)
    HMS Ark Royal is a decommissioned light aircraft carrier and former flagship of the Royal Navy. She was the third and final vessel of Invincible-class...
    
     is launched.
• 21 June - A fire at Goodge Street tube station
  Goodge Street tube station
  Goodge Street is a London Underground station on Tottenham Court Road. It is on the Northern Line between Tottenham Court Road and Warren Street, and is in Travelcard Zone 1.-History:...
  
   kills one person and injures 16.
• 23 June - Unemployment reaches 2,680,977 (one in nine of the workforce), and Margaret Thatcher warned that a further rise is likely.
• 2 July - Four members of an Asia
  Asia
  Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
  
  n Muslim
  Muslim
  A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
  
   family (three of them children) are killed by arson at their home in Walthamstow
  Walthamstow
  Walthamstow is a district of northeast London, England, located in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It is situated north-east of Charing Cross...
  
  , London; the attack is believed to have been racially motivated.
• 3 July - Hundreds of Asians and skinheads riot in Southall
  Southall
  Southall is a large suburban district of west London, England, and part of the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated west of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Yeading, Hayes, Hanwell, Heston, Hounslow, Greenford and Northolt...
  
  , London
  London
  London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
  
  , following disturbances at the Hamborough Tavern public house, which is severely damaged by fire.
• 5 July - Toxteth riots
  Toxteth riots
  The Toxteth riots of July 1981 were a civil disturbance in Toxteth, inner-city Liverpool, which arose in part from long-standing tensions between the local police and the black community...
  
   break out in Liverpool
  Liverpool
  Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
  
   and first use is made of CS gas
  CS gas
  2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile is the defining component of a "tear gas" commonly referred to as CS gas, which is used as a riot control agent...
  
   by British police. Less serious riots occur in the Handsworth
  Handsworth, West Midlands
  Handsworth is an inner city area of Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. The Local Government Act 1894 divided the ancient Staffordshire parish of Handsworth into two urban districts: Handsworth and Perry Barr. Handsworth was annexed to the county borough of Birmingham in Warwickshire in 1911...
  
   district of Birmingham
  Birmingham
  Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
  
   as well as Wolverhampton
  Wolverhampton
  Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
  
   city centre, parts of Coventry
  Coventry
  Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
  
  , Leicester
  Leicester
  Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
  
   and Derby
  Derby
  Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
  
  , and also in the Buckinghamshire
  Buckinghamshire
  Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
  
   town High Wycombe
  High Wycombe
  High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town...
  
  .
• 7 July - 43 people are charged with theft and violent disorder following a riot in Wood Green
  Wood Green
  Wood Green is a district in north London, England, located in the London Borough of Haringey. It is situated north of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater London.-History:...
  
  , North London
  North London
  North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
  
  .
• 8 July
  • Joe McDonnell becomes the fifth IRA hunger striker to die.
  • Inner-city rioting continues when a riot in
    1981 Moss Side riot
    The Moss Side riot happened in July 1981 in and around Moss Side in Manchester, England.On 8 July 1981 more than 1,000 young people besieged the police station at Moss Side, Manchester...
    
     Moss Side
    Moss Side
    Moss Side is an inner-city area and electoral ward of Manchester, England. It lies south of Manchester city centre and has a population of around 17,537...
    
    , Manchester
    Manchester
    Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
    
    , sees more than 1,000 people besiege the local police station. However, the worst rioting in Toxteth has now ended.
  • British Leyland ends production of the Austin Maxi
    Austin Maxi
    The Austin Maxi was a medium sized 5-door hatchback car from British Leyland for the 1970s. It was the first British five speed five-door hatchback.-History:...
    
    , one of its longest-running cars, after 12 years.
• 9 July - Rioting breaks out in Woolwich
  Woolwich
  Woolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...
  
  , London.
• 10 July
  • Rioting breaks out in London, Birmingham, Leeds
    Leeds
    Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
    
    , Leicester
    Leicester
    Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
    
    , Ellesmere Port
    Ellesmere Port
    Ellesmere Port is a large industrial town and port in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is situated on the south border of the Wirral Peninsula on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal, which in turn gives access to the River...
    
    , Luton
    Luton
    Luton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000....
    
    , Sheffield
    Sheffield
    Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
    
    , Portsmouth
    Portsmouth
    Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
    
    , Preston, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Derby
    Derby
    Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
    
    , Southampton
    Southampton
    Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
    
    , Nottingham
    Nottingham
    Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
    
    , High Wycombe
    High Wycombe
    High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town...
    
    , Bedford
    Bedford
    Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
    
    , Edinburgh
    Edinburgh
    Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
    
    , Wolverhampton
    Wolverhampton
    Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
    
    , Stockport
    Stockport
    Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...
    
    , Blackburn, Huddersfield
    Huddersfield
    Huddersfield is a large market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England, situated halfway between Leeds and Manchester. It lies north of London, and south of Bradford, the nearest city....
    
    , Reading
    Reading, Berkshire
    Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
    
    , Chester
    Chester
    Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
    
     and Aldershot
    Aldershot
    Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...
    
    .
  • Two days of rioting in Moss Side
    Moss Side
    Moss Side is an inner-city area and electoral ward of Manchester, England. It lies south of Manchester city centre and has a population of around 17,537...
    
    , Manchester, draw to a close, during which there has been extensive looting of shops. Princess Road, the main road through the area, will be closed for several days while adjacent buildings and gas mains damaged by rioting and arson are made safe.
• 11 July - A further wave of rioting breaks out in Bradford
  Bradford
  Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
  
  , West Yorkshire
  West Yorkshire
  West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
  
  .
• 13 July
  • The IRA hunger strike death toll reaches six when Martin Hurson
    Martin Hurson
    Edward Martin Hurson was an Irish republican hunger striker and a volunteer in the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army .-Background:...
    
     dies.
  • Margaret Thatcher announces that police will be able to use rubber bullets, water cannons and armored vehicles against urban rioters. Labour leader Michael Foot
    Michael Foot
    Michael Mackintosh Foot, FRSL, PC was a British Labour Party politician, journalist and author, who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992...
    
     blames the recent wave of rioting on the Conservative government's economic policies, which have seen unemployment rise by more than 70% in the last two years.
• 15 July - Police clash with black youths in Brixton once again, this time after police raid properties in search of petrol bombs which are never found.
• 16 July - Labour
  Labour Party (UK)
  The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
  
   narrowly hang on to the Warrington
  Warrington
  Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
  
   seat in a by-election
  Warrington by-election, 1981
  The Warrington by-election, 1981 was held on 16 July 1981.The by-election was caused by the appointment of Thomas Williams, Labour Party Member of Parliament for Warrington, as a High Court Judge....
  
  , fighting off a strong challenge from Roy Jenkins for the Social Democratic Party.
• 17 July - Official opening of the Humber Bridge
  Humber Bridge
  The Humber Bridge, near Kingston upon Hull, England, is a 2,220 m single-span suspension bridge, which opened to traffic on 24 June 1981. It is the fifth-largest of its type in the world...
  
   by the Queen.
• 20 July - Michael Heseltine
  Michael Heseltine
  Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group. He was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 2001 and was a prominent figure in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major...
  
   tours Merseyside
  Merseyside
  Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
  
   to examine the problems in the area, which has been particularly badly hit by the current recession.
• 25 July - Around 1,000 motorcyclists
  Motorcycle
  A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
  
   clash with police in Keswick
  Keswick, Cumbria
  Keswick is a market town and civil parish within the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It had a population of 4,984, according to the 2001 census, and is situated just north of Derwent Water, and a short distance from Bassenthwaite Lake, both in the Lake District National Park...
  
  , Cumbria
  Cumbria
  Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
  
  .
• 27 July
  • British Telecommunications Act separates British Telecom from the Royal Mail
    Royal Mail
    Royal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...
    
     with effect from 1 October.
  • The two-month-old daughter of The Princess Anne
    Anne, Princess Royal
    Princess Anne, Princess Royal , is the only daughter of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
    
     and her husband Capt Mark Phillips
    Mark Phillips
    -Ancestry:-Issue:-Sources:...
    
     is christened
    Christening
    Christening is a naming ceremony associated with:*Baptism*Infant baptism*Ship naming and launching...
    
     Zara Anne Elizabeth
    Zara Phillips
    Zara Anne Elizabeth Phillips, MBE is the second child and only daughter of Princess Anne and her first husband Captain Mark Phillips and is 13th in the line of succession to the throne...
    
    .
• 28 July - Margaret Thatcher blames IRA leaders - not her government - for the recent IRA hunger striker deaths.
• 29 July - The marriage of the Prince of Wales
  Charles, Prince of Wales
  Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
  
   and the Lady Diana Spencer
  Diana, Princess of Wales
  Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
  
   takes place at St Paul's Cathedral
  St Paul's Cathedral
  St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
  
  . More than 30,000,000 viewers watch the wedding on television – the second highest television audience of all time in Britain.
• 1 August - Kevin Lynch becomes the seventh IRA hunger striker to die.
• 2 August - Within 24 hours of Kevin Lynch's death, Kieran Doherty
  Kieran Doherty
  Kieran Doherty TD was an Irish republican hunger striker, Teachta Dála and a volunteer in the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army ....
  
   becomes the eighth IRA hunger striker to die.
• 8 August - The IRA hunger strike claims its ninth hunger striker so far (and its third in a week) with the death of Thomas McElwee
  Thomas McElwee
  Thomas McElwee was an Irish republican hunger striker and a volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army .-Early life:...
  
  .
• 9 August - Broadmoor Hospital
  Broadmoor Hospital
  Broadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital at Crowthorne in the Borough of Bracknell Forest in Berkshire, England. It is the best known of the three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England, the other two being Ashworth and Rampton...
  
   falls under heavy criticism after the escape of a second prisoner in three weeks. The latest absconder is 32-year-old Alan Reeve
  Alan Reeve
  Alan Reeve was a patient at Broadmoor secure psychiatric hospital in Britain; he had been sent there in 1964 after killing a friend when they were both 15. In 1981 he escaped and remained at large for a year. He was arrested in the Netherlands in 1982 following a gun fight at an off-license during...
  
  , a convicted double murderer.
• 17 August - An inquiry opens in the Moss Side riots.
• 20 August
  • The tenth IRA hunger striker, Michael Devine, dies in prison.
  • Inflation has fallen to 10.9% - the lowest under this government.
  • Minimum Lending Rate ceases to be set by the Bank of England
    Bank of England
    The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
    
    .
• 24 August - Mark David Chapman
  Mark David Chapman
  Mark David Chapman is an American prison inmate who murdered former Beatles member John Lennon on December 8, 1980. He committed the crime as Lennon and Yoko Ono were outside of The Dakota apartment building in New York City. Chapman aimed five shots at Lennon, hitting him four times in his back...
  
   is sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for killing John Lennon
  John Lennon
  John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
  
  .
• 25 August - Britain's largest Enterprise Zone is launched on deindustrialised land on Tyneside
  Tyneside
  Tyneside is a conurbation in North East England, defined by the Office of National Statistics, which is home to over 80% of the population of Tyne and Wear. It includes the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside — all settlements on...
  
  .
• 26 August - General Motors
  General Motors
  General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
  
   launches the MK2 Vauxhall Cavalier
  Vauxhall Cavalier
  The Vauxhall Cavalier is a large family car sold primarily in the UK by Vauxhall Motors, the British division of General Motors , from 1975 to 1995...
  
  , available for the first time with front-wheel drive and a hatchback.
• 27 August - Moira Stuart
  Moira Stuart
  Moira Clare Ruby Stuart OBE is a British journalist who was the first African-Caribbean female newsreader on British television...
  
  , 29, is appointed the BBC
  BBC
  The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
  
  's first black newsreader.
• September - Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp
  Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp
  Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp was a peace camp established to protest at nuclear weapons being sited at RAF Greenham Common in Berkshire, England. The camp began in September 1981 after a Welsh group, Women for Life on Earth, arrived at Greenham to protest against the decision of the British...
  
   set up.
• 1 September - Filling stations start selling motor fuel by the litre.
• 8 September
  • Sixteen Islington
    Islington
    Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
    
     Labour councillors join the SDP following the defection of Labour MP Michael O'Halloran
    Michael O'Halloran (UK politician)
    Michael Joseph O'Halloran was a British politician. He was brought up in County Clare, and, finding no employment, he "drifted to London" in 1948, aged 15, and worked as a railwayman until he entered politics....
    
    .
  • First episode of television sitcom Only Fools and Horses
    Only Fools and Horses
    Only Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003...
    
    broadcast on BBC One
    BBC One
    BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
    
    .
• 10 September - Another Enterprise Zone is launched, the latest being in Wakefield
  Wakefield
  Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
  
  , West Yorkshire
  West Yorkshire
  West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
  
  .
• 14 September - Cecil Parkinson
  Cecil Parkinson
  Cecil Parkinson, Baron Parkinson, PC , is a British Conservative politician and former Cabinet Minister.-Early life:...
  
   is appointed chairman of the Conservative Party.
• 17 September - A team of divers begins removing gold ingots worth £40 million from the wreck of HMS Edinburgh, sunk off the coast of Norway
  Norway
  Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
  
   in 1942.
• 18 September - David Steel
  David Steel
  David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, KT, KBE, PC is a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as the Leader of the Liberal Party from 1976 until its merger with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats...
  
   tells delegates at the Liberal Party
  Liberal Party (UK)
  The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
  
   conference to "go back to your constituencies and prepare for government", hopes of which are boosted by the fact that most opinion polls now show the SDP-Liberal Alliance in the lead.
• 29 September - Football mourns the legendary former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly
  Bill Shankly
  William "Bill" Shankly, OBE was a Scottish football player and manager, most noted for managing Liverpool between 1959 and 1974. One of Britain's most successful and respected football managers, Shankly was also a fine player whose career was interrupted by the Second World War...
  
  , who dies today at the age of 67 after suffering a heart attack.
• 1 October - Bryan Robson
  Bryan Robson
  Bryan Robson OBE is an English football manager and a former player. He is best known for playing in midfield for Manchester United, where he was the longest serving captain in club history. He was the manager of Sheffield United, being relieved of his first team duties at the club in February 2008...
  
  , 24-year-old midfielder, becomes Britain's most expensive footballer in a £1.5million move from West Bromwich Albion
  West Bromwich Albion F.C.
  West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...
  
   to Manchester United
  Manchester United F.C.
  Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
  
  .
• 3 October - Hunger strikes at the Maze Prison end after seven months. The final six hunger strikers have been without food for between 13 and 55 days.
• 7 October - British Leyland launches the Triumph Acclaim
  Triumph Acclaim
  The Triumph Acclaim was a front-wheel drive medium-sized family car made by British Leyland from 1981 to 1984. It was based on the Honda Ballade and used a Honda-designed engine, but met United Kingdom component-content requirements...
  
  , a four-door medium sized saloon built in collorbation with Japan
  Japan
  Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
  
  ese car and motorcycle giant Honda
  Honda
  is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...
  
   at the Cowley
  Cowley, Oxford
  Cowley in Oxford, England, is a residential and industrial area that forms a small conurbation within greater Oxford. Cowley's neighbours are central Oxford to the northwest, Rose Hill and Blackbird Leys to the south, New Headington to the north and the villages of Horspath and Garsington across...
  
   plant in Oxford
  Oxford
  The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
  
  . It is based on the Japanese Honda Ballade
  Honda Ballade
  The Honda Ballade was a subcompact automobile built by Honda of Japan. It began as a four-door version of the Civic in 1980. The Ballade was developed at the same time the Honda Vigor appeared, which was a higher content Honda Accord...
  
   (not available in Britain), has front-wheel drive, is powered by a 1.3 litre 70 bhp petrol engine, and is between the Ford Escort
  Ford Escort
  Ford Escort may refer to:* Ford Escort , a vehicle manufactured by Ford Motor Company's European division from 1968 through 2003* Ford Escort , a compact car that was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company for the North American market...
  
   and Ford Cortina
  Ford Cortina
  As the 1960s dawned, BMC were revelling in the success of their new Mini – the first successful true minicar to be built in Britain in the postwar era...
  
   in terms of size.
• 10 October - Chelsea Barracks
  Chelsea Barracks
  Chelsea Barracks was a British Army barracks located in the City of Westminster, London, adjacent to Chelsea, on Chelsea Bridge Road.-History:The barracks was originally built in the 1860s to house two battalions of troops...
  
   bombed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army
  Provisional Irish Republican Army
  The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
  
  , killing two people.
• 12 October - British Leyland announces the closure of three factories - a move which will cost nearly 3,000 people their jobs.
• 12 October–22 December - Original run of Granada Television
  Granada Television
  Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
  
   serial Brideshead Revisited
  Brideshead Revisited (TV serial)
  Brideshead Revisited is a 1981 British television serial produced by Granada Television for broadcast by the ITV network. The teleplay is based on Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited...
  
  .
• 15 October - Norman Tebbit
  Norman Tebbit
  Norman Beresford Tebbit, Baron Tebbit, CH, PC , is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet from 1981 to 1987 as Secretary of State for Employment...
  
   tells fellow Conservative MPs: "I grew up in the thirties with an unemployed father. He didn't riot. He got on his bike and looked for work and he kept looking until he found it".
• 19 October - British Telecom announces that the telegram will be discontinued next year after 139 years in use.
• 23 October - The Liberal-SDP Alliance tops a MORI
  MORI
  Ipsos MORI is the second largest market research organisation in the United Kingdom, formed by a merger of Ipsos UK and MORI, two of the Britain's leading survey companies in October 2005...
  
   poll on 40%, putting them ahead of Labour on 31% and the Conservatives on 27%.
• 24 October - CND
  Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
  The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is an anti-nuclear organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...
  
   anti-nuclear march in London attracts over 250,000 people.
• 30 October - Nicholas Reed, chief of the Euthanasia
  Euthanasia
  Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering....
  
   charity Exit, is jailed for two-and-a-half years for aiding and abetting suicides.
• 1 November - British Leyland's 58,000-strong workforces begins a strike over pay.
• 8 November - Queen
  Queen (band)
  Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
  
  's Greatest Hits released: it will be the best-selling UK album of all time.
• 13 November - The Queen opens the final phase of the Telford Shopping Centre
  Telford Shopping Centre
  Telford Shopping Centre is a indoor super-regional shopping centre in Telford, Shropshire, England. It is located in the geographical and economic centre of the new town, on land which was previously undeveloped. It is the largest shopping area in the ceremonial county of Shropshire, being located...
  
  , nearly a decade after development began on the first phase of what is now one of the largest indoor shopping centres in Europe
  Europe
  Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
  
   in the Shropshire
  Shropshire
  Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
  
   new town.
• 16 November - Production of the Vauxhall Astra
  Vauxhall Astra
  Astra is a model name which has been used by Vauxhall, the British subsidiary of General Motors , on their small family car ranges since 1979. Astras are technically essentially identical with similar vehicles offered by GM's German subsidiary Opel in most other European countries...
  
   commences in Britain
  United Kingdom
  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
  
   at the Ellesmere Port
  Ellesmere Port
  Ellesmere Port is a large industrial town and port in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is situated on the south border of the Wirral Peninsula on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal, which in turn gives access to the River...
  
   plant in Cheshire
  Cheshire
  Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
  
  . The Astra was launched two years ago but until now has been produced solely at the Opel
  Opel
  Adam Opel AG, generally shortened to Opel, is a German automobile company founded by Adam Opel in 1862. Opel has been building automobiles since 1899, and became an Aktiengesellschaft in 1929...
  
   plant in West Germany
  West Germany
  West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
  
  .
• 18 November - The England national football team
  England national football team
  The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
  
   beats Hungary
  Hungary national football team
  The Hungary national football team represents Hungary in international football and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation....
  
   1-0 at Wembley Stadium
  Wembley Stadium
  The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
  
   to qualify for the World Cup
  1982 FIFA World Cup
  The 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 12th FIFA World Cup, was held in Spain from 13 June to 11 July. The tournament was won by Italy, after defeating West Germany 3–1 in the final.-Host selection:...
  
   in Spain
  Spain
  Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
  
   next summer, with the only goal being scored by Ipswich Town
  Ipswich Town F.C.
  Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....
  
   striker Paul Mariner
  Paul Mariner
  Paul Mariner is an English football coach, manager, and retired player, who is currently with Toronto FC.A striker during his playing days, Mariner began his career with Chorley. He became a professional player in 1973 with Plymouth Argyle, where he scored 61 goals in 155 appearances and is...
  
   It is the first time they have qualified for the tournament since 1970
  1970 FIFA World Cup
  The 1970 FIFA World Cup, the ninth staging of the World Cup, was held in Mexico, from 31 May to 21 June. The 1970 tournament was the first World Cup hosted in North America, and the first held outside South America and Europe. In a match-up of two-time World Cup champions, the final was won by...
  
  .
• 25 November - A report into the Brixton Riots, which scarred inner-city London
  London
  London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
  
   earlier this year, points the finger of blame at the social and economic problems which have been plaguing Brixton
  Brixton
  Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in south London, England. It is south south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
  
   and many other inner-city areas across England
  England
  England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
  
  .
• 26 November - Shirley Williams wins the Crosby
  Crosby
  - Geography :Canada*Crosby, Ontario, part of the township of Rideau Lakes, Ontario*Crosby, Ontario, a neighbourhood in the town of Markham, OntarioEngland*Crosby, Cumbria*Crosby, Lincolnshire*Crosby, Merseyside**Crosby...
  
   by-election for the SDP, overturning a Conservative majority of nearly 20,000 votes.
• 2 November - The TV licence increases in price from £34 to £46 for a colour TV, and £12 to £15 for black and white.
• December - First case of AIDS diagnosed in the UK.
• 8 December - Arthur Scargill
  Arthur Scargill
  Arthur Scargill is a British politician who was President of the National Union of Mineworkers from 1982 to 2002, leading the union through the 1984–85 miners' strike, a key event in British labour and political history...
  
   becomes leader of the National Union of Mineworkers.
• 9 December - Michael Heseltine
  Michael Heseltine
  Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group. He was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 2001 and was a prominent figure in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major...
  
   announces a £95million aid package for the inner cities.
• 19 December - An opinion poll shows that Margaret Thatcher is now the most unpopular postwar British prime minister and that the SDP-Liberal Alliance has the support of up to 50% of the electorate.
• 20 December - Penlee lifeboat disaster
  Penlee lifeboat disaster
  The Penlee lifeboat disaster occurred on 19 December 1981 off the coast of Cornwall, in England, UK. The Penlee Lifeboat went to the aid of the coaster Union Star after its engines failed in heavy seas...
  
  : The crew of the MV Union Star and the life-boat Solomon Browne sent to rescue them are all killed in heavy seas off Cornwall
  Cornwall
  Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
  
  ; some of the bodies are never found.

Undated

• Inflation has fallen to 11.9%, the second lowest annual level since 1973, but has been largely achieved by the mass closure of heavy industry facilities that have contributed to the highest postwar levels of unemployment.
• First Urban Development Corporations set up in London Docklands
  London Docklands Development Corporation
  The London Docklands Development Corporation was a quango agency set up by the UK Government in 1981 to regenerate the depressed Docklands area of east London. During its eighteen-year existence it was responsible for regenerating an area of in the London Boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets and...
  
   and Merseyside
  Merseyside Development Corporation
  The Merseyside Development Corporation was a central government-appointed Development Corporation set up in 1981 by Margaret Thatcher's government to regenerate the Mersey docks of Liverpool, Bootle, Wallasey and Birkenhead...
  
  .
• The London
  London
  London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
  
   department store
  Department store
  A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
  
   Whiteleys
  Whiteleys
  Whiteleys is a shopping centre in London, England. It was London's first department store, located in the Bayswater area. The store's main entrance was located on Queensway.-History:...
  
   closes, after 107 years in business.
• Last manufacture of coal gas
  Coal gas
  Coal gas is a flammable gaseous fuel made by the destructive distillation of coal containing a variety of calorific gases including hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane and volatile hydrocarbons together with small quantities of non-calorific gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen...
  
  , at Millport, Isle of Cumbrae
  Millport, Isle of Cumbrae
  Millport is the only town on the island of Great Cumbrae in the Firth of Clyde off the coast of North Ayrshire, Scotland. The town is four miles south from the Largs-based Caledonian MacBrayne ferry slipway....
  
  .
• Perrier Comedy Awards first presented to the best shows on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
• Suzuki
  Suzuki
  is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Hamamatsu, Japan that specializes in manufacturing compact automobiles and 4x4 vehicles, a full range of motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles , outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal combustion engines...
  
  , the Japan
  Japan
  Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
  
  ese manufacturer famous for producing motorcycles, imports passenger cars to the United Kingdom for the first time. The first model sold in Britain is the entry-level Alto
  Suzuki Alto
  The Suzuki Alto is a small car designed by Suzuki. Its selling points include low price and good fuel economy. The model was introduced in 1979 and has been built in many countries worldwide.-1st generation :...
  
  , with the SJ
  Suzuki Jimny
  The Suzuki Jimny is a line of SUVs from Suzuki. The line started in 1968 and is still running.-History:The history of Suzuki four-wheel-drive cars dates to 1968. Suzuki bought former Japanese automaker Hope Motor Company which had introduced fifteen small off-road vehicles called the HopeStar...
  
   four-wheel drive set to go on sale in 1982.

Publications

• Alasdair Gray
  Alasdair Gray
  Alasdair Gray is a Scottish writer and artist. His most acclaimed work is his first novel Lanark, published in 1981 and written over a period of almost 30 years...
  
  's novel Lanark: A Life in Four Books.
• Terry Pratchett
  Terry Pratchett
  Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
  
  's novel Strata
  Strata (novel)
  Strata is a comic science fiction novel by Terry Pratchett. Published in 1981, it is one of Pratchett's first novels and one of only two purely science fiction novels he has written, the other being The Dark Side of the Sun....
  
  .
• Salman Rushdie's novel Midnight's Children
  Midnight's Children
  Midnight's Children is a 1981 book by Salman Rushdie about India's transition from British colonialism to independence and the partition of India. It is considered an example of postcolonial literature and magical realism...
  
  .
• D. M. Thomas
  D. M. Thomas
  Donald Michael Thomas, known as D. M. Thomas , is a Cornish novelist, poet, and translator.Thomas was born in Redruth, Cornwall, UK. He attended Trewirgie Primary School and Redruth Grammar School before graduating with First Class Honours in English from New College, Oxford in 1959...
  
  ' novel The White Hotel
  The White Hotel
  The White Hotel is a novel written by the English poet, translator and novelist D. M. Thomas. It was first published in January 1981 by Gollancz in Great Britain and in March 1981 by The Viking Press in the United States...
  
  .

Births

• 25 January – Alex Partridge
  Alex Partridge
  Alex Partridge is a British rower, and an Olympic silver medallist- Education :Partridge started rowing at Monkton Combe School, Bath, and attended Oxford Brookes University to study Technology Management...
  
  , rower
• 13 January – Peter Crouch
  Peter Crouch
  Peter James Crouch is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Stoke City and the England national team.Crouch started his career as a trainee with Tottenham Hotspur...
  
  , footballer
• February 16 – Alison Rowatt
  Alison Rowatt
  Alison Rowatt is a female field hockey midfield player from Scotland. She plays club hockey for Giffnock, and made her debut for the Women's National Team in 2000. Rowatt works as a lawyer in Edinburgh.-References:*...
  
  , Scottish field hockey midfielder
• 27 March – Terry McFlynn
  Terry McFlynn
  Terence Martin "Terry" McFlynn is a football player from Swatragh, Northern Ireland. He plays as a central midfielder for the Australian A-League team Sydney FC. He is the current captain.-Club career:...
  
  , Northern Irish footballer
• 1 April – Hannah Spearritt
  Hannah Spearritt
  Hannah Louise Spearritt is an English actress and singer. She was previously a member of the pop group S Club 7. She is also known for playing the role of Abby Maitland in the British drama Primeval....
  
  , singer (S Club 7
  S Club 7
  S Club, formerly known as S Club 7, were a pop group created by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller, consisting of members Tina Barrett, Paul Cattermole, Jon Lee, Bradley McIntosh, de facto lead singer Jo O'Meara, Hannah Spearritt and Rachel Stevens. The group rose to fame by starring in their...
  
  )
• 10 April – Liz McClarnon
  Liz McClarnon
  Elizabeth Margaret "Liz" McClarnon is an English pop singer, dancer and television presenter. She was a member of the group Atomic Kitten and originated the role of Paulette in the first UK tour of Legally Blonde the musical....
  
  , singer (Atomic Kitten
  Atomic Kitten
  Atomic Kitten were an English girl group from Liverpool, first established in 1997. Created by Andy McCluskey, the final line-up, and most commercially successful, consisted of Natasha Hamilton, Liz McClarnon, and Jenny Frost...
  
  )
• 15 May – Zara Phillips
  Zara Phillips
  Zara Anne Elizabeth Phillips, MBE is the second child and only daughter of Princess Anne and her first husband Captain Mark Phillips and is 13th in the line of succession to the throne...
  
  , daughter of Anne, Princess Royal
  Anne, Princess Royal
  Princess Anne, Princess Royal , is the only daughter of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
  
   and equestrienne
• 20 May – Sean Conlon
  Sean Conlon
  Sean Kieran Conlon is an English singer best known as a former member of boy band Five.Conlon is of Irish descent and has four siblings. He grew up in Horsforth and attended St Mary's RC Primary School and St Mary's RC Comprehensive School, Menston...
  
  , musician (5ive)
• June 9 – Helen Don-Duncan
  Helen Don-Duncan
  Helen Don-Duncan is a former backstroke swimmer from England, who competed for Great Britain at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. There she ended up in 15th place in the women's 200 m backstroke event.-References:*...
  
  , English backstroke swimmer
• June 11 – Alistair McGregor
  Alistair McGregor
  Alistair McGregor is a male field hockey goalkeeper from Scotland, who earned his first cap for the Men's National Team in 2001. He plays club hockey for Loughborough Students. McGregor was named joint Outstanding UK Player at the 2005 European Championships. He represented Great Britain at the...
  
  , Scottish field hockey goalkeeper
• June 28 – Joanne Ellis
  Joanne Ellis
  Joanne Catherine Ellis is an English field hockey international, who was a member of the England and Great Britain women's field hockey team since 2002. She is not to be confused with another English field hockey player named Jo Ellis, who was born in 1983.-References:**...
  
  , field hockey midfielder
• September 15 – Richard Alexander
  Richard Alexander (field hockey)
  Richard Alexander is an English field hockey defender, who made his international senior debut for the national squad in January 2005 against South Africa.-References:** *...
  
  , English field hockey defender
• September 16 – David Mitchell
  David Mitchell (field hockey)
  David Mitchell is a male field hockey defender from Scotland. He plays club hockey for Motherwell HC, and made his debut for the Men's National Team in 2001. Mitchell is engaged to Scottish international hockey player, Julie Kilpatrick.-References:*...
  
  , Scottish field hockey defender
• September 23 – Helen Richardson
  Helen Richardson (field hockey)
  Helen Richardson is an English field hockey international, who was a member of the England and Great Britain women's field hockey team during the late 1990s and 2000s....
  
  , field hockey defender
• September 29 - Suzanne Shaw
  Suzanne Shaw
  Suzanne Shaw is an English actress, singer and television personality...
  
  , actress and singer (Hear'Say
  Hear'Say
  Hear'Say were a British manufactured pop group created in February 2001 from the winners of Popstars, an ITV reality TV show based on a New Zealand show of the same name. They enjoyed huge success with their debut single "Pure and Simple", helped by the publicity surrounding Popstars, the first of...
  
  )
• 25 October – Shaun Wright-Phillips
  Shaun Wright-Phillips
  Shaun Cameron Wright-Phillips is an English footballer who plays for Queens Park Rangers and the England national team. He is the adopted son of former England international, Ian Wright and the half-brother of fellow professional football player Bradley Wright-Phillips...
  
  , footballer
• 26 November – Natasha Bedingfield
  Natasha Bedingfield
  Natasha Anne Bedingfield is a British pop singer and songwriter. Bedingfield debuted in the 1990s as a member of the Christian dance/electronic group The DNA Algorithm with her siblings Daniel Bedingfield and Nikola Rachelle...
  
  , singer
• 27 November - Gary Lucy, actor and model

Deaths

• 3 January – Princess Alice
  Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone
  Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone was a member of the British Royal Family. She was the longest-lived Princess of the Blood Royal of the British Royal Family and the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria...
  
  , daughter of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany
  Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany
  The Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany was the eighth child and fourth son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Leopold was later created Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence, and Baron Arklow...
  
  ; and the longest living grandchild of Queen Victoria (born 1883
  1883 in the United Kingdom
  Events from the year 1883 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal-Events:* January 1 — Augustus Pitt Rivers takes office as Britain's first Inspector of Ancient Monuments....
  
  )
• 6 January – A. J. Cronin
  A. J. Cronin
  Archibald Joseph Cronin was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known works are Hatter's Castle, The Stars Look Down, The Citadel, The Keys of the Kingdom and The Green Years, all of which were adapted to film. He also created the Dr...
  
  , Scottish novelist (born 1896
  1896 in the United Kingdom
  Events from the year 1896 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative-Events:...
  
  )
• 11 February – Franz Sondheimer
  Franz Sondheimer
  -Early life:Sondheimer was born in Stuttgart, Germany in 1926 and, following the rise of the Nazis, fled to the United Kingdom in 1937.-Education:He was a pupil at Highgate School and subsequently studied chemistry, receiving his degree from Imperial College London.-Career:From 1949 to 1952,...
  
  , German-born British-Israeli chemist.(born 1926
  1926 in Germany
  -National level:President*Paul von Hindenburg Chancellor* Hans Luther to 12 May, then from 17 May Wilhelm Marx -Events:* 1 January - the city of Cologne is badly hit by flooding in the River Rhine....
  
  )
• 6 March – George Geary
  George Geary
  George Geary was easily the greatest cricketer Leicestershire produced before the advent of David Gower and one of the best and hardest-working bowlers of the inter-war period...
  
  , English cricketer (born 1893
  1893 in the United Kingdom
  Events from the year 1893 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal-Events:...
  
  )
• 11 March – Maurice Oldfield
  Maurice Oldfield
  Sir Maurice Oldfield GCMG, CBE , was a British intelligence officer and espionage administrator.-Early life:...
  
  , intelligence chief (born 1915
  1915 in the United Kingdom
  Events from the year 1915 in the United Kingdom. This year is dominated by World War I, which had broken out in the August of the previous year.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - H. H...
  
  )
• 16 April- Marquess oc Cambridge
  George Cambridge, 2nd Marquess of Cambridge
  George Francis Hugh Cambridge, 2nd Marquess of Cambridge, GCVO , known as Prince George of Teck until 1917 and as Earl of Eltham from 1917 to 1927, was a descendant of the British Royal Family. He was the elder son of the 1st Marquess of Cambridge, formerly the Duke of Teck, and his wife, the...
  
   (born 1895
  1895 in the United Kingdom
  Events from the year 1895 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Lord Rosebery, Liberal , Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative-Events:* January–February — ”Great Frost”....
  
  )
• 5 May – Bobby Sands
  Bobby Sands
  Robert Gerard "Bobby" Sands was an Irish volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and member of the United Kingdom Parliament who died on hunger strike while imprisoned in HM Prison Maze....
  
  , IRA member and MP (born 1954
  1954 in the United Kingdom
  Events from the year 1954 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:* Monarch – Elizabeth II* Prime Minister – Winston Churchill -Events:...
  
  )
• 9 May – Ralph Allen
  Ralph Allen (footballer)
  Ralph Slack Littlewood Allen was an English professional footballer. He played as a forward and he was born in Newburn, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland....
  
  , footballer (born 1906
  1906 in the United Kingdom
  Events from the year 1906 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King Edward VII*Prime Minister - Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Liberal-Events:...
  
  )
• 17 June – Sir Richard O'Connor, British General in WWII (born 1889
  1889 in the United Kingdom
  Events from the year 1889 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative-Events:...
  
  )
• 8 September – Bill Shankly
  Bill Shankly
  William "Bill" Shankly, OBE was a Scottish football player and manager, most noted for managing Liverpool between 1959 and 1974. One of Britain's most successful and respected football managers, Shankly was also a fine player whose career was interrupted by the Second World War...
  
  , Scottish football manager (born 1913
  1913 in the United Kingdom
  Events from the year 1913 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - H. H. Asquith, Liberal-Events:* 1 January - British Board of Film Censors receives the authority to classify and censor films....
  
  )
• 22 November – Sir Hans Adolf Krebs
  Hans Adolf Krebs
  Sir Hans Adolf Krebs was a German-born British physician and biochemist. Krebs is best known for his identification of two important metabolic cycles: the urea cycle and the citric acid cycle...
  
  , German-born British physician and biochemist and Nobel laureate (born 1900
  1900 in Germany
  -National level:* Kaiser - Wilhelm II* Chancellor - Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst to 17 October, then Bernhard von Bülow-Kingdoms:* King of Bavaria - Otto of Bavaria* King of Prussia - Kaiser Wilhelm II* King of Saxony - Albert of Saxony...
  
  )