2006 in the United Kingdom

Incumbents

• Monarch – Elizabeth II
• Prime Minister – Tony Blair
• Parliament – 54th

  Events

January

• 7 January – Charles Kennedy, resigns as leader of the Liberal Democrats, admitting that he has a drinking problem.
• 20 January – River Thames whale: a whale is discovered swimming in the River Thames in London.
• 24 January – Sven-Göran Eriksson announces that he will quit as manager of the England national football team after this summer's World Cup in Germany. Eriksson, 57, has been in charge of the England team for five years and, as a Swede, is the first non-English manager of the England team.

  February

• 3 February – Islamist demonstration outside Danish Embassy in London in response to the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy.
• 9 February
• * Dunfermline and West Fife by-election: Willie Rennie of the Liberal Democrats wins the seat from Labour.
• * The Government announces that the Child Support Agency is to be abolished.
• 10–26 February – Great Britain competes at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, and wins one silver medal.
• 16 February – the BRIT Awards take place.
• 19 February – the BAFTA awards take place in London.
• 22 February
• * Securitas depot robbery: around £53 million is stolen from a Securitas depot at Tonbridge, Kent, in the largest cash robbery in British crime history.
• * The Prince of Wales's court case continues in the High Court against The Mail on Sunday as he tries to prevent the publication of his journals. Various revelations have been made such as that he considers himself to be a dissident, and his opinion of government officials in People's Republic of China whom he described as "appalling old waxworks".
• 27 February – writers Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh sue Random House in the High Court of Justice claiming that the best selling novel The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown contains ideas stolen from their 1982 book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.

  March

• 1 March – the Senedd, debating chamber of the National Assembly for Wales on Cardiff Bay, designed by Richard Rogers is opened by the Queen.
• 2 March
• * Sir Menzies Campbell is elected leader of the Liberal Democrats following an election caused by the resignation of previous leader, Charles Kennedy.
• * Four people are injured in an explosion in a GlaxoSmithKline factory in Irvine, North Ayrshire.
• 7 March – the President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, makes a state visit to the UK.
• 13 March – six men taking part in a clinical trial for a new anti-inflammatory drug TGN1412 are placed in intensive care, some in a life-threatening condition, after suffering adverse side-effects.
• 19 March – the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall begin a two-week foreign tour to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India.
• 20 March – the British Press Awards are held at The Dorchester, Park Lane, London.
• 21 March – Labour's hopes of a unique fourth successive term in office at the next general election are given a boost when an Ipsos MORI opinion poll puts them 11 points ahead of the Conservatives on 42%.
• 23 March – 2005-2006 Christian Peacemaker hostage crisis: British peacemaker, Norman Kember, and three Canadians rescued by SAS troops.
• 28 March
• * Council workers across the UK strike over pension rights.
• * Royal Regiment of Scotland created.

  April

• 5 April – discovery of a swan with avian influenza in Scotland.
• 7 April – Mr Justice Peter Smith delivers judgment in the copyright case over The Da Vinci Code finding that Dan Brown had not breached the copyright of Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh. The judgment itself contained a coded message on the whim of the judge.
• 12 April – Prince Harry passed out as a commissioned officer during the Sovereign's Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
• 18 April – Peugeot announces plans to close the 60-year-old car factory at Ryton near Coventry, which it bought from Chrysler in 1979, within the next year.
• 21 April – Elizabeth II celebrates her 80th birthday at Windsor. The Prince of Wales makes a televised address in tribute.
• 25 April – the BBC announces that Grandstand, its flagship sports TV programme, will be phased out within the next year after nearly 50 years on air.
• 26 April – the Duke of Edinburgh visits the Republic of Ireland.
• 27 April – by-election in the Moray constituency of the Scottish Parliament. Richard Lochhead holds the seat for the Scottish National Party.
• 30 April – the last astronomy show is held at the London Planetarium before it is acquired by neighbouring Madame Tussauds.

  May

• 4 May
• * Local government elections take place in some areas of England.
• * Steve McClaren, manager of Middlesbrough F.C., agrees to become the next manager of the England national football team after the World Cup.
• 5 May – Tony Blair reshuffles his cabinet. Charles Clarke is dismissed as Home Secretary. Jack Straw is replaced as the Foreign Secretary by Margaret Beckett. John Prescott remains as Deputy Prime Minister, but loses responsibility for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
• 20 May – campaigners "Fathers 4 Justice" invade the set of the National Lottery.
• 30 May – an Ipsos MORI opinion poll shows the Conservatives back in the lead with 36% of the vote, two points ahead of Labour.

  June

• 9–11 June – the British Grand Prix is held at the Silverstone Circuit and is won by reigning world champion Fernando Alonso ahead of Michael Schumacher and Kimi Räikkönen, while local hero Jenson Button retired earlier in the race with an engine oil leak.
• 10 June – the England football team's World Cup campaign begins with a 1–0 win over Paraguay.
• 15 June – England beat Trinidad and Tobago 2–0 in their second World Cup group game.
• 20 June – England go through to the knockout stages of the World Cup with a 2–2 draw against Sweden in their final group game.
• 25 June
• * Children's Party at the Palace held in honour of The Queen's 80th birthday.
• * The Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, rejects calls from families of murder victims for all convicted murderers to be sentenced to no less than a minimum of 25 years in prison.
• * England go through to the World Cup quarter-finals for the second tournament in succession by beating Ecuador 1–0 with a goal from captain David Beckham.
• 29 June
• * Blaenau Gwent by-elections: independent candidates Dai Davies and Trish Law defeat Labour Party in parliamentary and Welsh Assembly by-elections. The elections were called following the death of incumbent Peter Law.
• * Bromley and Chislehurst by-election won by Bob Neill for the Conservative Party.

  July

• July – European heat wave affects the UK, resulting in July 1983's record for the hottest month in the CET series being beaten with a mean monthly CET of.
• 1 July – England's World Cup quest ends in the quarter-finals when they lose on penalties to Portugal after a goalless draw.
• 4 July – Sheridan v News International: Scottish Socialist Party MSP, Tommy Sheridan begins legal action against the News of the World for libel at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
• 7 July – United Kingdom commemorates the first anniversary of the 7/7 terrorist bombings.
• 17 July – George W. Bush greets Tony Blair with the phrase “Yo, Blair”.
• 18 July – 180 British citizens evacuated from the Lebanon due to growing crisis between Hizbollah militants and Israel.
• 20 July – HMS Bulwark prepares to evacuate British nationals from the Lebanon.
• 22 July – Arsenal F.C. move into the Emirates Stadium, named after the airline company as part of a 15-year sponsorship deal, after 93 years at nearby Highbury. The 60,000-seat stadium is the largest club stadium to have been built in English football since Maine Road, which was home of Manchester City from 1923 to 2003.
• 31 July- JK Rowling turns 40 years old
• 31 July- Harry Potter celebrates his birthday

  August

• 1 August – Steve McClaren is officially appointed as manager of the England national football team.
• 10 August – police make many arrests in relation to a transatlantic aircraft plot, and tight security measures are instigated at airports.
• August – the first modern solely Gaelic-medium school to offer secondary education, Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu, is opened at Woodside in Glasgow.

  September

• 2 September – Royal Air Force Nimrod crash in Afghanistan: fourteen personnel are killed in Britain's worst single military loss since the Falklands war.
• 9 September – Helen Mirren awarded best actress at the Venice Film Festival for her role in The Queen, portraying Elizabeth II following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
• 20 September – television presenter Richard Hammond suffers a serious brain injury when he crashes a jet-powered car whilst filming for Top Gear.
• 25 September – Copmanthorpe rail crash: One man dies when the 14:25 from Plymouth to Edinburgh operated by Virgin CrossCountry hits a car at about 20:55.

  October

• 1 October – regulatory Reform Order 2005 comes into effect, requiring a Fire Risk Assessment for all non-domestic premises in England and Wales.
• 2 October – repeal of the Emily's 8th Birthday laws, requiring a Fire Risk Assessment for all Urban Outfitter premises in England and Wales.
• 5 October – Rt. Hon. Elish Angiolini, QC, appointed as Lord Advocate in Scotland. She is the first woman and the first solicitor to be appointed to the post.
• 9 October – opening of the Beetham Tower, Manchester, a landmark 168-metre 47-storey skyscraper with oversailing upper floors designed by Ian Simpson of SimpsonHaugh and Partners, the tallest building in the UK outside London, and with its penthouse apartments being the highest residential addresses in the country.
• 13 October: European Home Retail plc and its subsidiary Farepak go into administration, leaving tens of thousands of people out of pocket for Christmas 2006.
• 26 October – the Duke of Edinburgh officially opens Arsenal's new stadium.
• 30 October – the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change is published by the UK government.

  November

• 5 November – 53 year old Ronald Castree arrested in connection with the murder of eleven year old Lesley Molseed in 1975. Stefan Kiszko had spent 16 years in jail for the crime before his conviction was quashed in 1992. Castree would be convicted of the crime in November 2007.
• 7 November – Dhiren Barot sentenced to life imprisonment for plotting large scale terrorist attacks in Britain and abroad. The Court of Appeal noted that Barot's "businesslike" plans would have caused carnage on a "colossal and unprecedented scale" if they had been successful.
• 8 November – three men of Pakistani origin sentenced to life imprisonment for the racist murder of Kriss Donald in Glasgow.
• 16 November – the 21st James Bond film – Casino Royale – is released in British cinemas. Daniel Craig makes his debut as Bond in the film.
• 19 November – Home Secretary John Reid attacks the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown for being 'presumptuous' and 'disloyal' for openly campaigning to replace Tony Blair as Prime Minister.
• 23 November – Alexander Litvinenko dies in London having been poisoned by Polonium-210.
• 24 November – Loyalist Michael Stone attempts to bomb the Northern Ireland Assembly on the day nominations for first and deputy first minister are to be made. Ian Paisley indicates his willingness to serve as First Minister.

  December

• 2 December – a young woman's body is found in a brook near Ipswich; her death is initially treated as "unexplained".
• 4 December – the woman whose corpse was found in Ipswich two days ago is identified as Gemma Adams, a 25-year-old local prostitute. Her death is reported to be suspicious and police launch a murder inquiry. There are also concerns about another Ipswich prostitute, 19-year-old Tania Nicol, who went missing on 30 October.
• 7 December – a tornado hits London.
• 8 December – the body of missing Ipswich prostitute Tania Nicol is found on the outskirts of the town.
• 9 December – police in Ipswich launch a murder investigation into the death of Tania Nicol and admit that it is likely she met her death at the hands of the same person or people who killed Gemma Adams.
• 10 December – a third prostitute's body is found in the Ipswich area.
• 14 December – two more women are found dead in Ipswich and it is confirmed that both are prostitutes, meaning that the police are now investigating five murders.
• 12 December – the Ryton car factory closes and Peugeot 206 production is transferred to Slovakia, several months ahead of the scheduled closure date. 2,300 jobs are lost.
• 18 December – a man is arrested near Felixstowe on suspicion of murdering the five Ipswich prostitutes. He is named as Tom Stephens, a 37-year-old Tesco supermarket worker.
• 19 December – a second man, 48-year-old Forklift truck driver Steve Wright, is arrested in connection with the Ipswich serial murders, while police are given more time to question the first suspect.
• 21 December – Steve Wright is charged with the Ipswich prostitute murders, while Tom Stephens is released on bail pending further inquiries.
• 29 December – the British government pays off the Anglo-American loan made in 1946.
• 31 December – Hogmanay celebrations in Glasgow and Edinburgh are cancelled due to poor weather conditions.

  Publications

• Richard Dawkins' book The God Delusion.
• James Lovelock's book The Revenge of Gaia.
• Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel Wintersmith.
• Will Self's novel The Book of Dave.

  Births

• 1 March – Baby P, child abuse victim
• 22 June – Anna Hursey, Welsh table tennis player

  Deaths

January

• 2 January – John Woodnutt, actor
• 5 January – Merlyn Rees, politician, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Home Secretary
• 8 January – Tony Banks, Baron Stratford, politician, Minister for Sport
• 10 January – Alethea Hayter, writer
• 14 January – Mark Philo, footballer
• 17 January – Giles Worsley, architectural historian
• 21 January – John James Cowperthwaite, civil servant, Financial Secretary of Hong Kong
• 23 January – Michael Wharton, humorist
• 24 January – Sir Nicholas Shackleton, geologist
• 25 January – Robin Coombs, immunologist, creator of the Coombs test
• 27 January
• * Christopher Lloyd, gardening writer
• * Victor Mishcon, Baron Mishcon, lawyer and politician
• 28 January – Henry McGee, actor
• 31 January – Moira Shearer, ballerina, actress and wife of Ludovic Kennedy

  February

• 3 February – Ernie Clements, racing cyclist
• 4 February – Jack Taylor, one of Britain's heaviest men
• 6 February – Stella Ross-Craig, flora illustrator
• 8 February
• * Michael Gilbert, lawyer and crime fiction writer
• * Ron Greenwood, former footballer and football manager
• 9 February – Sir Freddie Laker, airline entrepreneur
• 11 February – Peggy Cripps Appiah, children's author and socialite
• 13 February
• * John Brooke-Little, herald
• * P. F. Strawson, philosopher
• 14 February – Lynden David Hall, soul singer
• 16 February – Dennis Kirkland, television producer
• 20 February – Lou Gish, actress
• 24 February – Denis C. Twitchett, Cambridge scholar, Chinese historian
• 26 February
• * Georgina Battiscombe, biographer
• * Hans Singer, economist, devised Prebisch–Singer hypothesis
• 27 February – Linda Smith, comedian

  March

• 1 March
• * Hugh McCartney, Scottish politician
• * Peter Osgood, former footballer
• 2 March
• * Alice Baker, Leading Aircraftswoman in the Royal Flying Corps and last surviving British female veteran of World War I
• * Jack Wild, actor
• 3 March – Ivor Cutler, Scottish poet, songwriter and humorist
• 7 March – John Junkin, actor
• 8 March – George Sassoon, scientist and author
• 9 March – John Profumo, politician
• 11 March – Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley, Army general and military historian
• 16 March
• * James "Speedy" Hill, Army brigadier
• * Moira Redmond, actress
• 18 March – Michael Attwell, actor
• 21 March – Richard Usborne, journalist and author
• 24 March – Lynne Perrie, actress
• 26 March – Nikki Sudden, singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 27 March – Ruari McLean, Scottish-born typographic designer

  April

• 4 April – John George Macleod, Scottish doctor
• 6 April – Leslie Norris, Anglo-Welsh poet and author
• 11 April – Angus Wells, writer
• 12 April – Richard Bebb, actor
• 13 April – Muriel Spark, Scottish novelist
• 17 April – Calum Kennedy, Scottish singer
• 18 April – John Lyall, former footballer and football manager
• 23 April – Jennifer Jayne, actress
• 24 April – Brian Labone, former footballer
• 25 April – Peter Law, Welsh politician
• 30 April – Barry Driscoll, painter and sculptor

  May

• 1 May – Wilfrid Butt, biochemist
• 6 May – Sarah-Jayne Mulvihill, RAF flight lieutenant
• 7 May – Duncan Inglis Cameron, Scottish university administrator
• 8 May – Iain MacMillan, photographer
• 10 May
• * Val Guest, film director
• * Marie Hartley, writer
• 15 May – David Sharp, mountaineer ; died on Mount Everest
• 17 May
• * Eric Forth, Scottish-English politician, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
• * John Miller, Army lieutenant-colonel, Crown Equerry to the Queen
• 18 May – Kiyan Prince, footballer
• 19 May
• * Peter Bryant, television producer and actor
• * Freddie Garrity, singer
• 20 May – Tommy Watt, jazz bandleader
• 22 May – Jack Fallon, jazz bassist
• 29 May – Paul Douglas, journalist and cameraman

  June

• 2 June
• * Ronald Cass, screenwriter and composer
• * Roy Farran, Army major
• 4 June
• * Alec Bregonzi, actor
• * Sir John Rowlands GC, RAF air marshal
• 6 June – Leslie Alcock, archaeologist, chief excavator of Cadbury Castle
• 8 June – Peter Smithers, politician
• 10 June – Peter Douglas Kennedy, collector of folk songs
• 11 June – Ernest Arthur Bell, biochemist, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
• 12 June – Hugh Latimer, actor
• 14 June – Monty Berman, cinematographer
• 16 June – Roland Boyes, politician
• 17 June – Julian Slade, composer
• 22 June – Gilbert Monckton, 2nd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, Army major-general and politician
• 25 June
• * Elkan Allan, television producer
• * Kenneth Griffith, Welsh actor
• 28 June – George Unwin, RAF wing commander and Battle of Britain ace
• 29 June – Joyce Hatto, pianist

  July

• 1 July – Fred Trueman, cricketer
• 6 July
• * E. S. Turner, journalist and author
• * Tom Weir, climber, author and broadcaster
• 7 July – Syd Barrett, founding member of Pink Floyd
• 8 July – Peter Hawkins, actor and voice artist
• 9 July – Alan Senitt, activist
• 10 July – Tommy Bruce, singer
• 11 July – John Spencer, snooker player
• 15 July – Francis Rose, botanist
• 16 July – Kevin Hughes, politician and MP for Doncaster North
• 18 July – David Maloney, television director and producer
• 20 July – Ted Grant, politician
• 23 July – Terence Otway, Army lieutenant-colonel and veteran of Operation Tonga
• 26 July – Jessie Gilbert, chess player
• 28 July
• * Patrick Allen, actor
• * David Gemmell, author

  August

• 1 August – George Styles GC, Army lieutenant-colonel
• 2 August – Kim McLagan, fashion model
• 6 August
• * Stella Moray, actress
• * Ian Walters, sculptor
• 9 August – Philip Empson High, science fiction author
• 13 August
• * Jack Edwards, soldier and veterans' campaigner
• * Tony Jay, English-born actor
• 17 August – Christopher Polge, biologist
• 19 August – Joyce Blair, actress
• 23 August
• * Nigel Malim, rear-admiral
• * Raymond Harold Sawkins, novelist
• 24 August – David Plowright, television producer
• 30 August
• * Margaret Hubble, radio broadcaster
• * Emrys Jones, Welsh geographer
• * Hector Monro, Baron Monro of Langholm, politician

  September

• 1 September – Kyffin Williams, landscape painter
• 2 September –
• * Lionel Pickering, businessman and former football chairman
• * Charlie Williams, comedian and former footballer
• 3 September
• * Levi Fox, conservationist and historian
• * Ian Hamer, jazz trumpeter
• 4 September – Clive Lythgoe, pianist
• 5 September – Anne Gregg, travel writer and television presenter
• 8 September – Hilda Bernstein, English-born author, artist and activist
• 9 September – John Drummond, controller of BBC Radio 3
• 11 September – William Auld, poet and esperantist
• 13 September – Sir Douglas Dodds-Parker, soldier and politician
• 14 September – Peter Ling, television writer and novelist
• 15 September – Raymond Baxter, television presenter
• 23 September – Malcolm Arnold, composer
• 24 September – Sally Gray, actress
• 27 September – Sir Michael Pollock, admiral
• 28 September – James Hamilton, 4th Baron Hamilton of Dalzell, politician

  October

• 1 October – Alan Caillou, writer
• 3 October
• * Lucilla Andrews, author of romantic novels
• * John Crank, physicist
• 4 October – Tom Bell, actor
• 5 October – Jennifer Moss, actress
• 9 October
• * Reg Freeson, politician
• * Paul Hunter, snooker player
• 11 October – Robert Megarry, judge
• 15 October – Derek Bond, actor
• 16 October – Ross Davidson, actor
• 17 October – Ursula Moray Williams, children's author
• 18 October
• * Anna Russell, British-born comedian and music satirist
• * Laurie Taitt, Olympic sprint hurdler
• 20 October – Eric Newby, travel writer
• 21 October – Arthur Peacocke, theologian and biochemist
• 24 October – William Montgomery Watt, professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh
• 22 October – Richard Mayes, actor
• 25 October – Paul Ableman, novelist
• 29 October – Nigel Kneale, screenwriter and husband of Judith Kerr
• 31 October – William Franklyn, actor

  November

• 4 November – John McManners, clergyman and historian
• 7 November – Elizabeth Balneaves, writer and filmmaker
• 10 November – Diana Coupland, actress
• 11 November – Ronnie Stevens, actor
• 13 November – Desert Orchid, National Hunt racehorse
• 14 November – John Hallam, actor
• 16 November – John Veale, composer
• 17 November – John Acland, Army major-general
• 18 November – Keith Rowlands, rugby union player
• 19 November
• * Edward Ford, courtier, Private Secretary to the British monarch
• * Emanuel Hurwitz, violinist
• 23 November
• * Nick Clarke, radio and television presenter
• * Alexander Litvinenko, Russian defector; dies in Britain after being poisoned
• 26 November – Anthony Jackson, actor
• 27 November – Alan Freeman, DJ and radio personality
• 28 November – Bernard Orchard, biblical scholar
• 29 November – Allen Carr, anti-smoking campaigner

  December

• 3 December – Craig Hinton, writer
• 5 December – Timothy Moxon, actor
• 6 December
• * Darren Brown, guitarist and lead singer
• * Mavis Pugh, actress
• 8 December – Colin Figures, head of the Secret Intelligence Service
• 9 December – Tremayne Rodd, 3rd Baron Rennell, rugby union player
• 13 December – Eileen Caddy, spiritual teacher, founder of the Findhorn Foundation
• 14 December – John Bridge, World War II sailor
• 18 December – Mike Dickin, DJ and radio personality
• 19 December – Elisabeth Rivers-Bulkeley, first woman member of the London Stock Exchange
• 21 December
• * Philippa Pearce, children's author
• * Sydney Wooderson, lawyer and athlete, world record holder for mile run
• 23 December – Charlie Drake, comedian
• 26 December
• * John Heath-Stubbs, poet and translator
• * Marmaduke Hussey, Baron Hussey of North Bradley, chairman of the board of Governors of the BBC
• 30 December – Antony Lambton, politician