1977 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1977 in the United Kingdom. This year was the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

Incumbents Monarch – Elizabeth II Prime Minister – James Callaghan (Labour)

Events

January January–June – The United Kingdom holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union for the first time. January – The Ford Fiesta car goes on sale in the UK. 3 January – Roy Jenkins, the Home Secretary, announces he is leaving the House of Commons to become President of the European Commission. 6 January – After releasing only one single for controversial punk rock band the Sex Pistols, EMI terminates its contract with them in response to its members' disruptive behaviour last month on ITV's Today and two days ago at London Heathrow Airport. Their next contract (in March), with A&M Records, lasts for 2 weeks. 10 January – Clive Sinclair introduces his new two-inch screen television set, which retails at £175. 14 January – Former Prime Minister Anthony Eden, Earl of Avon, dies aged 79 at Alvediston Manor, his Wiltshire home. He is buried in Alvediston churchyard on 17 January. 29 January – Seven Provisional Irish Republican Army bombs explode in the West End of London, but there are no fatalities or serious injuries.

February 4 February Fleetwood Mac's Grammy-winning album Rumours is released, featuring songs that include "The Chain", "Don't Stop", and "Go Your Own Way". Police discover an IRA bomb factory in Liverpool. 5 February – Peter Sutcliffe victims: Twenty-eight-year-old homeless woman Irene Richardson is murdered in Leeds, at almost the exact location where sex worker Marcella Claxton was badly injured nine months earlier. Police believe that this murder and attempted murder may be connected, along with the murders of Wilma McCann, Emily Jackson and the attempted murders of at least three other women in Yorkshire. 10 February Elizabeth II visits American Samoa. The three IRA terrorists involved in the 1975 Balcombe Street Siege in London are sentenced to life imprisonment on six charges of murder. 11 February – Queen Elizabeth II visits Western Samoa. 13 February – Anthony Crosland, Foreign Secretary, suffers a massive stroke, from which he will not regain consciousness. He dies six days later in hospital. 14 February – Elizabeth II visits Tonga. 15 February – The first Aardman Animations character, Morph, is introduced on BBC children's television programme Take Hart. 16–17 February – Elizabeth II visits Fiji. 17 February – George Newman, chairman of Staffordshire County Council, is sentenced to fifteen months in prison for corruption. 22 February – David Owen, 38, becomes the youngest post-Second World War Foreign Secretary, succeeding the late Anthony Crosland, who died three days earlier. 22 February–7 March – Elizabeth II visits New Zealand.

March 1 March James Callaghan threatens to withdraw state assistance to British Leyland unless it puts an end to strikes. Long-term prohibition of directed herring fishing within the UK exclusive economic zone is introduced.The Herring (Specified North Sea Waters) (Prohibition of Fishing) Order 1977; The Herring (North East Irish Sea) (Prohibition of Fishing) Order 1977; The Herring (Celtic Sea) (Prohibition of Fishing) Order 1977. 7–30 March – Elizabeth II visits Australia. 10 March – A memorial service is held for composer Benjamin Britten at Westminster Abbey, with the Queen Mother attending. 12 March – The Centenary Test between Australia and England begins at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. 14 March – The government reveals that inflation has pushed prices up by nearly 70% within three years. 15 March – British Leyland managers announce intention to dismiss 40,000 toolmakers who have gone on strike at the company's Longbridge plant in Birmingham, action which is costing the state-owned carmaker more than £10,000,000 a week. 17–23 March – The Prince of Wales (the later Charles III) visits Ghana. 19 March – The last Rover P6 rolls off the production line after 14 years. 23 March – The government wins a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons after James Callaghan strikes a deal with the leader of the Liberal Party, David Steel. 23–25 March – Elizabeth II visits Papua New Guinea. 29 March – Income tax is slashed to 33p in the pound from 35p in the budget. 31 March – Elizabeth II visits Muscat.

April April – Mike Leigh's comedy of manners Abigail's Party opens at the Hampstead Theatre, starring Alison Steadman. 2 April – Red Rum wins the Grand National for the third time. 8 April – Punk band The Clash's debut album The Clash is released in the UK through CBS Records. 11 April – London Transport's Silver Jubilee AEC Routemaster buses are launched. 18–30 April – The Embassy World Snooker Championship moves to the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, and attracts television coverage for the first time. 23 April National Front marchers clash with anti-Nazi protesters in London. Prostitute Patricia Atkinson is murdered in Bradford; she is believed to be the fourth woman to die at the hands of the mysterious Yorkshire Ripper. 29 April – British Aerospace is formed, to run the nationalised aviation industry. 30 April – Mid-Hants Railway reopens as a heritage line.

May 3 May – Light aircraft carrier HMS Invincible is launched at Barrow-in-Furness by Elizabeth II. 5 May Conservatives make gains at local council elections, including winning the Greater London Council from Labour. Silver Jubilee review of the police at Hendon by Elizabeth II. 7 May The 3rd G7 summit is held in London. Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Elliot Trudeau does a pirouette behind the back of Elizabeth II. The 22nd Eurovision Song Contest is held in London. With Angela Rippon as the presenter, the contest is won by Marie Myriam representing France, with her song "L'oiseau et l'enfant" ("The Bird and the Child"); the British entry, Lynsey de Paul and Michael Moran's "Rock Bottom", takes second place. 10 May – Dounreay nuclear power plant experiences an explosion caused by potassium and sodium. 13 May – The Silver Jubilee Air Fair is held at Biggin Hill. 15 May – Liverpool F.C. are English league champions for the 10th time. 17 May – Elizabeth II commences her Silver Jubilee tour in Glasgow. 18 May The UK is among 29 signatories of a Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques. Elizabeth II visits Cumbernauld and Stirling. 19 May – Elizabeth II visits Perth and Dundee. 21 May Manchester United win the FA Cup for the fourth time by defeating Liverpool 2–1 at Wembley Stadium in the final. It is their first major trophy since they won the European Cup in 1968. The Glasgow Subway closes for a complete modernisation programme, and the original trains dating back to 1896 are withdrawn from service. 23–27 May – Elizabeth II visits Edinburgh. 25 May – Liverpool F.C. win their first European Cup by defeating the West German league champions Borussia Mönchengladbach 3–1 in the final in Rome. 27 May Elizabeth II opens the new air terminal building at Edinburgh Airport. Prime Minister James Callaghan officially opens the M5 motorway, now complete with finishing of the final stretch around Exeter, 15 years after the first stretch (beginning near Birmingham) was opened. 28 May – Climax of Windsor Silver Jubilee celebrations: Elizabeth II visits the town officially on her Jubilee tour. 30 May – A gala performance for the Silver Jubilee is held at the Royal Opera House, London.

June 6–9 June – Silver Jubilee celebrations are held in the United Kingdom to celebrate 25 years of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, with a public holiday on 7 June. 12 June – The Supremes' farewell concert: US group The Supremes perform their final concert together at the Drury Lane Theatre, London, before disbanding permanently. 17 June – Wimbledon F.C., champions of the Isthmian League, are elected to the Football League in place of Workington in the Fourth Division. 20 June Seventeen people are arrested during clashes between pickets and police at the Grunwick film processing laboratory. Anglia Television broadcasts the fake documentary Alternative 3; it enters into the conspiracy theory canon. 26 June – Peter Sutcliffe victims: 16-year-old shop assistant Jayne McDonald, is found battered and stabbed to death in Chapeltown, Leeds; police believe she is the fifth person to be murdered by the same killer.

July 1 July – English tennis player Virginia Wade wins the women's singles title at Wimbledon. 4 July – Manchester United F.C. manager Tommy Docherty is sensationally dismissed by the club's directors due to his affair with the wife of the club's physiotherapist. 7 July The first episode of the BBC documentary series Brass Tacks is aired, featuring a debate about whether Myra Hindley should be considered for parole from the life sentence she received for her role in the Moors Murders in 1966. The 10th James Bond film – The Spy Who Loved Me – premieres in London. It is the third of seven films to star Roger Moore as James Bond, with Moore later calling the film his personal favourite of his tenure in the franchise. 10 July – Peter Sutcliffe victims: Bradford woman Maureen Long, 42, is injured in an attack believed to have been committed by the "Yorkshire Ripper" in the West Yorkshire city. 11 July Gay News found guilty of blasphemous libel in a case (Whitehouse v. Lemon) brought on behalf of Mary Whitehouse's National Viewers and Listeners Association. It is the first such prosecution since 1921 and will be the last before the offence is abolished in 2008.Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 (England and Wales). Don Revie announces his resignation after three years as manager of the England national football team. 12 July – Within 24 hours of resigning as manager of the England national football team, Don Revie accepts an offer to become the highest-paid football manager in the world when he is appointed manager of the United Arab Emirates national football team on a four-year contract worth £340,000. 14 July – Manchester United appoint Dave Sexton, manager of Queen's Park Rangers and previously Chelsea, as their new manager. 23 July – Chrysler Europe launch the Sunbeam, a three-door rear-wheel drive small hatchback similar in concept to the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Chevette. 29 July Finance Act abolishes the collection of tithes. Criminal Law Act 1977 in England and Wales creates the statutory crime of conspiracy among other changes.

August August – Government introduces voluntary Stage III one-year pay restraint. 10 August The Queen visits Northern Ireland as part of her Jubilee celebrations under tight security. Kenny Dalglish, 26-year-old Scotland striker, becomes Britain's most expensive footballer in a £440,000 transfer from Celtic to Liverpool. 11 August – Cricketer Geoff Boycott scores the 100th century of his career for England against Australia at Headingley, Leeds. 12 August–19 September – Union-Castle Line RMS Windsor Castle (1959) makes the line's last passenger mail voyage out of Southampton for Cape Town, the last major British ship to operate in the regular ocean liner trade. 13 August – Battle of Lewisham: an attempt by the far-right National Front to march from New Cross to Lewisham in southeast London leads to counter-demonstrations and violent clashes. 15 August – Rioting breaks out in Birmingham during demonstrations against the National Front. 17 August – Ron Greenwood, general manager of West Ham United, who guided the East London club to FA Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup glory as their team manager during the 1960s, accepts an offer from the Football Association to manage the England team on a temporary basis until December. 23 August – A new, smaller, £1 note is introduced. 26 August – First all-Luton-built Vauxhall Cavalier Mk1 family cars roll off the production line at Vauxhall Motors Luton factory.

September