6 January – Allegations of a Conservative MP's extramarital affair appear in the News of the World newspaper a week after Conservative Prime Minister John Major put "the family" at the heart of his campaign. Jerry Hayes – married with two children – denies the allegations.
7 January – 2.5 million people take part in a phone-in vote as part of an ITV debate on the British monarchy. A 2-1 majority vote in favour of retaining the institution.
9 January – British yachtsman Tony Bullimore is rescued in the Southern Ocean five days after his boat capsized in freezing waters.
The strengthening economy is reflected in a national unemployment total of 1,884,700 for last December – the lowest level since January 1991. The Conservative government who are mired in allegations of sleaze are still behind Labour in the opinion polls as the general election looms.
Chris Evans resigns from BBC Radio 1 after his request for a four-day week is refused. Since joining the station as a breakfast-time DJ in 1995 Evans had boosted audience numbers by 700,000.
East 17 singer Brian Harvey is dismissed from the band after publicly commenting that the drug Ecstasy is safe.
20 January – Death of Labour Party MP Martin Redmond ends the government's minority.[2] On the same day, the party promises not to raise income tax if, as seems likely, it wins the forthcoming general election.[3]
30 January – An underground anti-road protest ends as the last protester, known as "Swampy" (Daniel Hooper), emerges from the network of tunnels beneath the A30 extension site in Devon.
6 February – The Court of Appeal rules that Mrs Diane Blood of Leeds can be inseminated with her dead husband's sperm. Mrs Blood has been challenging for the right to use the sperm of her husband Stephen since just after his death two years ago.[4]
12 February – A 23 year old British soldier is shot dead in Northern Ireland. Lance Bombardier Stephen Restorick is shot by a sniper while manning a checkpoint in Bessbrook (County Armagh); he is the last British soldier to be killed by the Provisional IRA.
14 February – The Daily Mail newspaper names and accuses five young men of the murder of Stephen Lawrence on its front page the day after a coroner's inquest finds that the teenager had been unlawfully killed in an unprovoked racist attack by five white youths in April 1993.
15 February – Murder of Billie-Jo Jenkins, a 13 year old girl, in Hastings, East Sussex, who is beaten to death at the family home. Her stepfather Siôn Jenkins is convicted of her murder in 1998 but formally acquitted after a hung jury at a second retrial in 2006.
22 February – Scientists at the Roslin Institute announce the birth of a cloned sheep named Dolly seven months after the fact.[5]
17 March – John Major announces that the general election will be held on 1 May. Despite the opinion polls having shown a double-digit Labour lead continuously since late 1992, Major is hoping for a unique fifth successive term of Conservative government by pinning his hopes on a strong economy and low unemployment – no incoming government since before the First World War has inherited economic statistics as strong as the ones that Labour will should they win the election.
18 March – The Sun newspaper, a traditional supporter of the Conservative Party, declares its support for Tony Blair and Labour, condemning the Conservatives as "tired, divided and rudderless" – a stark contrast to its support for them in the run-up to the 1992 election where it waged a high-profile campaign against the then Labour leader Neil Kinnock and, after the Conservative victory, claimed responsibility for the result.
23 March – Unemployed continues to fall and now stands at just over 1,800,000 – its lowest level since December 1990.
30 March – Channel 5, Britain's fifth terrestrial television channel and its first new one since the launch of Channel 4 in November 1982, is launched.
April – Nursery Education Voucher Scheme introduced, guaranteeing a government-funded contribution to the cost of preschool education for 4-year-olds.[7]
A MORI opinion poll shows Conservative support at a four-year high of 34%, but Labour still look set to win next month's general election as they have a 15-point lead.[10]
29 April – The last MORI poll before the election tips Labour for a landslide victory as they gain 48% of the vote and a 20-point lead over the Conservatives.[11]
Several high-profile Conservative MPs, including seven Cabinet ministers lose their seats, as do all Conservative MPs in Scotland and Wales. Michael Portillo, who was tipped by many to be the next leader of the Conservatives, is among those who lose their seats. The Conservatives fail to make any gains.
A record 120 women enter parliament, including 101 female Labour MPs.
19 May – The new Labour government announces that it will prohibit tobacco sponsorship of sporting events.[14]
June
June – Ford enters the growing compact coupe market with its Puma, which uses the same chassis as the Ka and Fiesta.
2 June – The Halifax Building Society floats on the London Stock Exchange. Over 7.5 million customers of the Society become shareholders of the new bank, the largest extension of shareholders in UK history.
12 June – Law Lords declare that former Home Secretary, Michael Howard, acted illegally in raising the minimum sentence of the two juveniles who committed the murder of James Bulger, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, to 15 years. They also strip the government of setting minimum terms for prisoners aged under 18 who had received life or indefinite prison sentences.[15]
2 July – Chancellor Gordon Brown launches the first Labour budget for nearly 20 years, which includes a further £3billion for education and healthcare, as well as a £3.5billion scheme to get single mothers, under 25's and long term unemployed people back into work.
4 July – Russian carmaker Lada announces the end of exports to the United Kingdom after 23 years and some 350,000 sales of its low-priced, low-specification cars, which at their peak sold more than 30,000 cars a year but managed just over 6,000 sales last year.[20]
Education (Schools) Act abolishes the Assisted Places Scheme (free or publicly-subsidised places for qualifying children attending fee-paying independent schools).
French investigators reveal that Diana's driver, Henri Paul, was over the drink-driving limit and had been travelling at speeds in excess of 100 mph before the crash that killed her. Lawyers for Mohamed Al-Fayed, father of Dodi Al-Fayed, lay the blame on the paparazzi who were pursuing the vehicle.[28]
2 September – 18 year old West Ham United footballer Rio Ferdinand is dropped from the England squad after being convicted of a drink-driving offence.
5 September – The Queen makes a nationwide broadcast in tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales, following widespread criticism of the Royal Family's response to her death.
6 September – The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales takes place at Westminster Abbey, London followed by a private burial at the estate of the Earls Spencer in Althorp, Northamptonshire. The Earl Spencer, brother of Diana, attacks the Royal Family's and the media's treatment of Diana in his funeral eulogy. TV coverage of the funeral is hosted by both BBC 1 and ITV, attracting an audience of more than 32,000,000 which falls just short of the national TV audience record set by the England national football team's victorious World Cup final in 1966.[31]
9 September – A 40-year-old woman from Bradford in West Yorkshire wins £14,000 damages after suing her ex-husband for rape in what is the first civil action of its kind in Britain.
11 September – Referendum in Scotland on the creation of a national Parliament with devolved powers takes place. On two separate questions, voters back the plans both for a national Parliament and for it to have limited tax raising powers.[32]
12 September – Newspapers report that an operation carried out in February by neurosurgeon Steve Gill during which a woman's head was temporarily detached from her spine has been a success
13 September – Release of Elton John's Candle in the Wind remade as a tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales. This will be the second best-selling single worldwide of all time.[33]
14 September – Conservative Party leader William Hague receives criticism for accusing Prime Minister Tony Blair of exploiting the recent death of Diana, Princess of Wales for political advantage.
15 September – The ITV detective drama series Prime Suspect which stars actress Helen Mirren wins the Emmy award in the US for best mini-series.
16 September – A bomb explodes outside an RUC station in Markethill, County Armagh a day after the start of Northern Ireland peace talks. The IRA deny responsibility.
17 September
Police investigating the death of Diana, Princess of Wales reveal that the car in which she was travelling may have collided with a Fiat Uno seconds before hitting a concrete pillar.
The Ulster Unionists (the largest loyalist party in Northern Ireland) agree to take part in peace talks that involve Sinn Féin.
18 September
Welsh devolution referendum on the creation of a national Assembly takes place. Voters in Wales narrowly back the plans.[18]
A Saudi court sentences British nurse Lucille McLauchlan to eight years in prison and 500 lashes for being an accessory to the murder of Australian nurse Yvonne Gilford in December the previous year. Fellow British nurse Deborah Parry is charged with murder and could face the death penalty if found guilty. Ms Gilford's brother Frank, is reported to be willing to accept £750,000 in "blood money" for Ms Parry's life to be spared if she is found guilty. Foreign SecretaryRobin Cook condemns the sentence of flogging against Ms McLauchlan as "wholly unacceptable in the modern world".
RAF pilot Andy Green breaks the land speed record at Black Rock in the Nevada desert. His ThrustSSC jet car sets an average speed of 714 mph, 81 mph faster than the previous record.
29 September – British scientists state that they have found a link between Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease and eating of BSE-infected meat.[34]
October
1 October – The final LTI FX4 London taxicab is produced after 39 years.
4 October – The BBC introduces its new corporate logo across the corporation, as well as new idents for BBC1
15 October – Andy Green driving the ThrustSSC sets a new land speed record of 763.035 mph (1227.99 km/h), the first time the sound barrier is broken on land.[18]
24 October – WPC Nina Mackay, 25, is stabbed to death in Stratford, London, when entering a flat to arrest a Somali asylum seeker who was due to be deported.
November
4 November – BBC News launches a full-time online news service, having already created special websites for the 1995 budget as well as this year's general election and the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.[35]
24 November – The British Library opens its first public reading room at its new London site on the Euston Road.
December
3 December – Andrew Evans, who was convicted of the 1972 murder of 14-year-old Judith Roberts in Tamworth, Staffordshire, has his conviction overturned by the Court of Appeal after the hearing is told he was being treated for depression when he confessed to the crime, and there is no other evidence against him.[37]
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