2005 in England
Encyclopedia
 2005 in England |
| Years |
| 2003 2003 in England Events from 2003 in England-Incumbents:*Monarch - Queen Elizabeth II *Prime Minister - Tony Blair-Events:* 10 January - Ian Carr, a 27-year-old banned driver with a total of 89 previous convictions , admits causing the death by dangerous driving of a six-year-old girl in Ashington, Northumberland -... | 2004 2004 in England Events from 2004 in England-Incumbents:*Monarch - Queen Elizabeth II *Prime Minister - Tony Blair-January:* 13 January - Serial killer Dr... | 2005 | 2006 2006 in England Events from 2006 in England-Incumbents:* Monarch - Queen Elizabeth II * Prime Minister - Tony Blair-January:* 20 January - River Thames whale: a whale is discovered swimming in the River Thames in London.... | 2007 2007 in England Events from 2007 in England-Incumbents:*Monarch – Elizabeth II *Prime Minister – Tony Blair ; Gordon Brown -January:... |
| Centuries |
| 18th century | 19th century | 20th century | 21st century |
| See also |
| 2004-05 in English football 2004-05 in English football The 2004–05 season was the 125th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:*2004–05 was the first season to feature the rebranded Football League. The First Division, Second Division and Third Division were renamed the Football League Championship, Football League One and Football League... |
| 2004-05 in English football 2004-05 in English football The 2004–05 season was the 125th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:*2004–05 was the first season to feature the rebranded Football League. The First Division, Second Division and Third Division were renamed the Football League Championship, Football League One and Football League... |
Events from 2005 in England
Incumbents
- Monarch - Queen Elizabeth II (since 6 February 1952)
- Prime Minister - Tony BlairTony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
January
- 5 January - Funeral of Angus OgilvyAngus OgilvySir Angus James Bruce Ogilvy, was a British businessman best known as the husband of Princess Alexandra of Kent, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II....
, husband of Princess AlexandraPrincess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady OgilvyPrincess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy is the youngest granddaughter of King George V of the United Kingdom and Mary of Teck. She is the widow of Sir Angus Ogilvy...
, takes place at St. George's Chapel, Windsor CastleWindsor CastleWindsor 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...
. - 8 January
- After a night of stormy weather, extensive flooding has occurred in Carlisle as well as other locations and many homes are without power.
- 12 January - Britain's tallest self-supporting sculpture, the "B of the BangB of the BangB of the Bang was a sculpture designed by Thomas Heatherwick, in Manchester, England, located next to the City of Manchester Stadium at Sportcity...
", is unveiled in ManchesterManchesterManchester 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...
by Linford ChristieLinford ChristieLinford Cicero Christie OBE is a former sprinter from the United Kingdom. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes: the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games...
. - 15 January - ConservativeConservative 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...
Member of ParliamentMember of ParliamentA 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,...
Robert JacksonRobert V. JacksonRobert Victor Jackson is a politician in the United Kingdom. He was a Member of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1984 and Member of Parliament for Wantage from 1983 to 2005, having been elected as a Conservative; however, he joined the Labour Party in 2005.-Early life:He was raised in...
, MP for WantageWantageWantage is a market town and civil parish in the Vale of the White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. The town is on Letcombe Brook, about south-west of Abingdon and a similar distance west of Didcot....
, OxfordshireOxfordshireOxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, defects to the Labour PartyLabour 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...
. - 26 January
- Closure of Ellington Colliery at Ellington, NorthumberlandEllington, NorthumberlandEllington is a small village on the coast of Northumberland, England. Ellington is four miles from Ashington, six miles from Morpeth and twenty miles north of Newcastle upon Tyne....
, the last remaining operational deep coal mine in North East EnglandNorth East EnglandNorth East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...
, and the last in the UK to extract coal from under the sea. - Rodney MarshRodney Marsh (footballer)Rodney William Marsh is an English retired footballer. He was named after HMS Rodney by his father, who served on the battleship. He played for Fulham, Queens Park Rangers, Manchester City, the Tampa Bay Rowdies and the England national team. Lately, he has been a pundit and a commentator on the...
, the former England national football star, is dismissed from his position as a pundit on Sky SportsSky SportsSky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
because of a joke he made live on air concerning the Asian Tsunami.
- Closure of Ellington Colliery at Ellington, Northumberland
- 29 January - Chris SmithChris Smith, Baron Smith of FinsburyChristopher "Chris" Robert Smith, Baron Smith of Finsbury PC is a British Labour Party politician, and a former Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister...
, the former British Culture SecretarySecretary of State for Culture, Media and SportThe Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport is a United Kingdom cabinet position with responsibility for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The role was created in 1992 by John Major as Secretary of State for National Heritage...
, reveals that he has been HIVHIVHuman immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
positive for 17 years.
February
- 2 February
- Two firefighterFirefighterFirefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...
s and a member of the public die in a fire on the 14th and 15th floors of a 17-storey tower block in StevenageStevenageStevenage is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England. It is situated to the east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1, and is between Letchworth Garden City to the north, and Welwyn Garden City to the south....
, HertfordshireHertfordshireHertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
. Seven other people are hospitalised, one in serious condition, and 70 people are evacuated from the block.
- Two firefighter
- 7 February - EnglishwomanEnglandEngland 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...
Ellen MacArthurEllen MacArthurDame Ellen Patricia MacArthur, DBE is an English sailor, up until 2009, from Whatstandwell near Matlock in Derbyshire, now based in West Cowes, on the Isle of Wight. She is best known as a solo long-distance yachtswoman. On 7 February 2005 she broke the world record for the fastest solo...
sets a record for the quickest round-the-world solo sail. She completed the 27354 miles (44,021.9 km) journey in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds, breaking the old record of 72 days, 22 hours, 54 minutes and 22 seconds, set by Francis JoyonFrancis JoyonFrancis Joyon is a professional sail boat racer and yachtsman, and currently holds the record for the fastest single-handed sailing circumnavigation....
in 2004, which itself took 20 days off the previous record. - 10 February - Clarence HouseClarence HouseClarence House is a royal home in London, situated on The Mall, in the City of Westminster. It is attached to St. James's Palace and shares the palace's garden. For nearly 50 years, from 1953 to 2002, it was home to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, but is since then the official residence of The...
announces that Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is to marry Camilla Parker Bowles on Friday 8 April in a civil ceremony at Windsor CastleWindsor CastleWindsor 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 will be styled "HRH The Duchess of Cornwall", and when Charles becomes king, "HRH The Princess Consort". - 14 February
- Hare coursingHare coursingHare coursing is the pursuit of hares with greyhounds and other sighthounds, which chase the hare by sight and not by scent. It is a competitive sport, in which dogs are tested on their ability to run, overtake and turn a hare, rather than a form of hunting aiming at the capture of game. It has a...
: As the final Waterloo Cup event in England starts in AltcarGreat AltcarGreat Altcar is a village and civil parish in West Lancashire, close to Formby on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain. The name Altcar is Norse meaning "marsh by the Alt". The church of St Michael and All Angels is a timber framed structure dating from 1879....
, four anti-coursing protesters are arrested. The event is expected to attract up to 10,000 spectators over its 3 days. - London's mayor Ken LivingstoneKen LivingstoneKenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
is censured by the London AssemblyLondon AssemblyThe London Assembly is an elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds majority, to amend the mayor's annual budget. The assembly was established in 2000 and is headquartered at City Hall on the south...
for comparing a Jewish journalist for the Evening StandardEvening StandardThe Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
to a concentration camp guard. Livingstone refuses to withdraw his comments.
- Hare coursing
- 17 February - The BNFLBNFLBritish Nuclear Fuels Limited was a nuclear energy and fuels company owned by the UK Government. It was a former manufacturer and transporter of nuclear fuel , ran reactors, generated and sold electricity, reprocessed and managed spent fuel , and decommissioned nuclear plants and other similar...
nuclear plant at SellafieldSellafieldSellafield is a nuclear reprocessing site, close to the village of Seascale on the coast of the Irish Sea in Cumbria, England. The site is served by Sellafield railway station. Sellafield is an off-shoot from the original nuclear reactor site at Windscale which is currently undergoing...
, in the United Kingdom, reports that 30 kg (66 lb) of plutoniumPlutoniumPlutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
is "unaccounted for". This amount of missing plutonium would be sufficient to make seven atomic bombsNuclear weaponA nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
. The UK Atomic Energy Authority states that the discrepancy in the record keeping is merely an auditAuditThe general definition of an audit is an evaluation of a person, organization, system, process, enterprise, project or product. The term most commonly refers to audits in accounting, but similar concepts also exist in project management, quality management, and energy conservation.- Accounting...
ing issue, and that there was no "real loss" of plutonium. - 18 February - The Hunting ActHunting Act 2004The Hunting Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The effect of the Act is to outlaw hunting with dogs in England and Wales from 18 February 2005...
, the ban on hunting with dogs in England and WalesEngland and WalesEngland and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
, comes into force. Its opponents intend to challenge the law and hunt.
March
- 1 March - The New ForestNew ForestThe New Forest is an area of southern England which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in the heavily-populated south east of England. It covers south-west Hampshire and extends into south-east Wiltshire....
in HampshireHampshireHampshire 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...
becomes England's twelfth national parkNational parkA national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
.
April
- 9 April - The Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker BowlesWedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker BowlesThe wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Camilla Parker Bowles took place in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall, on 9 April 2005. The ceremony, conducted in the presence of the couples' families, was followed by a Church of England service of blessing at St George's Chapel...
in a 20-minute ceremony at Windsor Guildhall, which is followed by a blessing at St. George's Chapel in Windsor CastleWindsor CastleWindsor 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...
.
May
- 9 May - The SellafieldSellafieldSellafield is a nuclear reprocessing site, close to the village of Seascale on the coast of the Irish Sea in Cumbria, England. The site is served by Sellafield railway station. Sellafield is an off-shoot from the original nuclear reactor site at Windscale which is currently undergoing...
nuclear plant's Thorp reprocessing facility in CumbriaCumbriaCumbria , 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...
, is closed down due to the confirmation of a 20 tonne leak of highly radioactive uranium and plutonium fuel through a fractured pipe. - 12 May - Malcolm GlazerMalcolm GlazerMalcolm Irving Glazer is an American businessman and sports team owner. He is the president and chief executive officer of First Allied Corporation, a holding company for his varied business interests, most notably in the food processing industry...
gains control of Manchester UnitedManchester 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...
after securing a 70% share, ending more than 30 years of ownership by the Edwards family. - 21 May - ArsenalArsenal F.C.Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
become the first team to win the FA CupFA CupThe 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...
on penalties after they defeat Manchester UnitedManchester 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...
in a shoot-out that follows a goalless draw. - 27 May - Mark HobsonMark HobsonMark Richard "Hobo" Hobson is a British spree killer who killed four people in North Yorkshire, England in July 2004. He was arrested after an eight-day nationwide manhunt involving more than 500 police officers and 12 police forces, during which time he was Britain's "most wanted man"...
is sentenced to life imprisonment at LeedsLeedsLeeds 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...
Crown CourtCrown CourtThe Crown Court of England and Wales is, together with the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal, one of the constituent parts of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
after admitting four charges of murder. On a killing spree in July last year, 35-year-old Hobson killed his girlfriend Claire Sanderson, Claire's sister Diane Sanderson, as well as pensioners James and Joan Britton. The trial judge recommends that Hobson is never released from prison.
June
- 17 June - The Ugandan-born bishop of Birmingham, John SentamuJohn SentamuJohn Tucker Mugabi Sentamu is the 97th Archbishop of York, Metropolitan of the province of York, and Primate of England. He is the second most senior cleric in the Church of England, after the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.-Life and career:...
is named the new Archbishop of YorkArchbishop of YorkThe Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England as well as the Isle of Man...
. He is the first ever black person to be appointed an ArchbishopArchbishopAn archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of the Church of EnglandChurch of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
.
July
- 6 July - London is chosen as the host city for the 2012 Olympic Games, beating Paris in the final round of votes 54 to 50.
- 7 July - A series of co-ordinated terrorist bombings7 July 2005 London bombingsThe 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks in the United Kingdom, targeting civilians using London's public transport system during the morning rush hour....
strike London's public transport system during the morning rush hour. Three bombs exploded within 50 seconds of each other on three London UndergroundLondon UndergroundThe London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
trains. A fourth bomb exploded on a bus at an hour later in Tavistock SquareTavistock SquareTavistock Square is a public square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden with a fine garden.-Public art:The centre-piece of the gardens is a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, which was installed in 1968....
. More than 50 people are killed and hundreds more are injured. - 14 July - A two minute silence is held across Europe at 12:00 BST to remember the victims of the London bombings.
- 21 July - Four attempted bomb attacks in London21 July 2005 London bombingsOn 21 July 2005, four attempted bomb attacks disrupted part of London's public transport system two weeks after the 7 July 2005 London bombings. The explosions occurred around midday at Shepherd's Bush, Warren Street and Oval stations on London Underground, and on a bus in Shoreditch...
disrupt part of the capital's public transport. Small explosions occur around midday at Shepherd's BushShepherd's Bush tube station (Hammersmith and City Line)Shepherd's Bush Market tube station is a London Underground station in the district of Shepherd's Bush in west London, England. It is on the Circle and Hammersmith & City Lines, between Goldhawk Road and Wood Lane stations, and it is in Travelcard Zone 2....
, Warren StreetWarren Street tube stationWarren Street tube station is a London Underground station, located at the intersection of Tottenham Court Road and Euston Road. It is on the branch of the Northern Line, between and , and the Victoria Line between and Euston. It is in Travelcard Zone 1 and is the nearest tube station to...
and OvalOval tube stationOval tube station in Kennington is a station on the Northern line of the London Underground between Stockwell and Kennington stations. It is the only station on the Morden branch of the Northern line whose name begins with a vowel and is one of only two stations on the London Underground with only...
stations on London UndergroundLondon UndergroundThe London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
, and on a bus in Bethnal GreenBethnal GreenBethnal Green is a district of the East End of London, England and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, with the far northern parts falling within the London Borough of Hackney. Located northeast of Charing Cross, it was historically an agrarian hamlet in the ancient parish of Stepney,...
. However, there are no injuries. - 22 July
- Metropolitan Police shoot and kill Jean Charles de MenezesJean Charles de MenezesJean Charles de Menezes was a Brazilian man shot in the head seven times at Stockwell tube station on the London Underground by the London Metropolitan police, after he was misidentified as one of the fugitives involved in the previous day's failed bombing attempts...
, believed by them (mistakenly) to be a suicide bomber. - Tower of St Edmundsbury Cathedral at Bury St Edmunds completed.
- Metropolitan Police shoot and kill Jean Charles de Menezes
- 28 July - Birmingham tornado.
- 29 July - Two of the suspects of the July 21 attempted bombings in London are arrested in north Kensington, the fourth is arrested in Rome.
August
- 11 August - British AirwaysBritish AirwaysBritish Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
grounds all flights as baggage handlerBaggage handlerIn the airline industry, a baggage handler is a person who loads and unloads baggage , and other cargo for transport via aircraft...
s, loaders and bus drivers strike in support of 800 workers sacked by flight catering company Gate GourmetGate GourmetGate Gourmet is an airline catering firm with headquarters on the grounds of Zürich Airport, Switzerland, near Zürich.Gate Gourmet was founded in 1992, and is the world's largest independent airline catering, hospitality and logistics company...
. The strike is also affecting other airlines, causing chaos at London Heathrow AirportLondon Heathrow AirportLondon Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe... - 21 August - Victory over Japan DayVictory over Japan DayVictory over Japan Day is a name chosen for the day on which the Surrender of Japan occurred, effectively ending World War II, and subsequent anniversaries of that event...
: A service is held at London's CenotaphCenotaphA cenotaph is an "empty tomb" or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been interred elsewhere. The word derives from the Greek κενοτάφιον = kenotaphion...
to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the end of World War II. The Prince of Wales is in attendance, as are survivors of the Far East campaign.
September
- 12 September - England cricket team wins The AshesThe AshesThe Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
. - 29 September - The High CourtHigh Court of JusticeThe High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
decides that Ian Huntley, serving life imprisonment for the double child murdersSoham murdersThe Soham murders was an English murder case in 2002 of two 10-year-old girls in the village of Soham, Cambridgeshire.The victims were Holly Marie Wells and Jessica Aimee Chapman...
at SohamSohamSoham is a small town in the English county of Cambridgeshire. It lies just off the A142 between Ely and Newmarket . Its population is 9,102 , and it is within the district of East Cambridgeshire.-Archaeology:...
three years ago, should serve at least 40 years in prison before being considered for parole. This ruling is set to keep Huntley behind bars until at least 2042 and the age of 68.
October
- 18 October - The landmark Spinnaker TowerSpinnaker TowerSpinnaker Tower is a –high landmark tower in Portsmouth, England. It is the centrepiece of the redevelopment of Portsmouth Harbour, which was supported by a National Lottery grant. Its shape was chosen by Portsmouth residents from a selection of concepts...
in PortsmouthPortsmouthPortsmouth 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...
opens. At 170 metres (557.7 ft) it is the tallest accessible structure in the UK outside London. - 22–23 October - Birmingham race riots.
November
- 24 November - Pubs in England and WalesEngland and WalesEngland and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
permitted to open for 24 hours for the first time. - 30 November - Quadruple killer Mark HobsonMark HobsonMark Richard "Hobo" Hobson is a British spree killer who killed four people in North Yorkshire, England in July 2004. He was arrested after an eight-day nationwide manhunt involving more than 500 police officers and 12 police forces, during which time he was Britain's "most wanted man"...
loses a High CourtHigh Court of JusticeThe High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
appeal against his trial judge's recommendation that he should never be released from prison.
December
- 6 December- David CameronDavid CameronDavid William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
, 39-year-old MP for WitneyWitney (UK Parliament constituency)Witney is a county constituency in Oxfordshire represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election, and was created for the 1983 general election....
in OxfordshireOxfordshireOxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, is elected Leader of the Conservative Party, defeating David DavisDavid Davis (British politician)David Michael Davis is a British Conservative Party politician who is the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Haltemprice and Howden...
. - 10 December - Harold PinterHarold PinterHarold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
wins the Nobel Prize in LiteratureNobel Prize in LiteratureSince 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
"who in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms". - 11 December - Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal fire2005 Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal fireThe Buncefield fire was a major conflagration caused by a series of explosions on 11 December 2005 at the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal, an oil storage facility located near the M1 motorway by Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, England. The terminal was the fifth largest oil-products...
: explosions tear through Buncefield oil storage facility located near Hemel HempsteadHemel HempsteadHemel Hempstead is a town in Hertfordshire in the East of England, to the north west of London and part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2001 Census was 81,143 ....
in HertfordshireHertfordshireHertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
.