Events from the year 1935 in the United Kingdom. This year was the Silver Jubilee of King George V. Political events included a general election in November and changes in the leadership of both the Conservative and Labour parties.
Incumbents Monarch – George V Prime Minister - Ramsay MacDonald (Coalition) (until 7 June), Stanley Baldwin (Coalition) (starting 7 June)
Events 1 January – Ramblers' Association founded. 21 February – the Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engine is first flown, at Hucknall Aerodrome. 26 February – Robert Watson-Watt first demonstrates the use of radar, at Daventry. 2 March – King Prajadhipok (Rama VII) of Siam abdicates and flees with his wife Rambai Barni to England. 6 March – Croydon Aerodrome robbery: £21,000 worth of gold is stolen and never recovered. 12 March – speed limit in built-up areas reduced to 30 mph. 18 March – Britain protests at Germany's introduction of conscription. April – reflective cat's-eyes first used on British roads. 6 May – The British Empire holds silver jubilee celebrations for King George V. 11 May – Ewart Astill captains Leicestershire County Cricket Club for the remainder of the season, the first professional cricketer to lead any county on a regular basis since the 19th century. 13 May – Arabist, historian and war hero T. E. Lawrence, known as Lawrence of Arabia, is involved in a serious accident while riding his motorcycle near Clouds Hill, his home in Dorset; he dies of his injuries on 19 May, aged 46. 14 May – Northamptonshire County Cricket Club gains (over Somerset at Taunton by 48 runs) what proves to be their last victory for 99 matches, easily a record in the County Championship. Their next Championship win will not be until 29 May 1939. 19 May – canonization of Cardinal John Fisher and Sir Thomas More by Pope Pius XI. This year also, Bede is sanctified by the Catholic Church. 21 May – the funeral of T. E. Lawrence is held at St Nicholas' Church, Moreton in Dorset. Winston Churchill, E. M. Forster, Lady Astor and King Ghazi of Iraq attend. 22 May – the government announces plans to triple the size of the Royal Air Force in the next two years, partly in response to German re-armament. 23 May – Woolmington v DPP, a landmark case decided on appeal in the House of Lords, reaffirms the presumption of innocence as the "golden thread" in criminal law.. 1 June – the driving test becomes compulsory. 6 June – Alfred Hitchcock's film of The 39 Steps released in the UK. 7 June – Ramsay MacDonald retires; Stanley Baldwin takes over as prime minister. 18 June – Anglo-German Naval Agreement: Britain agrees to a German navy equal to 35% of her own naval tonnage. 29 June – first portion of Swanscombe skull, belonging to a woman from 400,000 years past, is discovered in north Kent. 12 July – rioting breaks out in Belfast following Orange parades; by the end of August eight Protestants and five Catholics have been killed, hundreds injured and over 2,000 homes destroyed (almost all Catholic). 13 July – official completion of the London County Council's Becontree estate in East London, the largest housing estate in the world, consisting of some 27,000 new council houses which are home to more than 100,000 people. The first families moved to the estate, which straddles the borders of Dagenham, Barking and Ilford, in 1921. 29 July – T. E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom is first published in an edition for general circulation, two months after his death resulting from a motorcycle accident. 30 July – Allen Lane founds Penguin Books to publish the first mass market paperbacks in Britain. 17–24 August – the Deaflympics take place in London. 18 August – last service held in Mardale church in the Lake District prior to the village's flooding to create Manchester Corporation's Haweswater Reservoir. 3 September – Malcolm Campbell breaks the 300 mph barrier for the first time and sets a new land speed record of at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, driving the Campbell-Railton Blue Bird. 11 September – Bahram completes the English Triple Crown by finishing first in the 2,000 Guineas, Epsom Derby and St Leger. 12 September – an underground explosion at North Gawber (Lidgett) colliery, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, kills nineteen. 30 September – the London and North Eastern Railway begins to run the Silver Jubilee train between London King's Cross and Newcastle, Britain's first streamliner, using Nigel Gresley's LNER Class A4 steam locomotives. October – first steel produced from new works at Corby. 8 October – Clement Attlee is appointed as interim leader of the Labour Party in succession to George Lansbury who has resigned due to a wish to maintain his Christian pacifist principles. 21 October – Grant v Australian Knitting Mills, a landmark case in consumer law, decided on appeal in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. 4 November – opening of Hornsey Town Hall, London, designed by Reginald Uren, the first major UK building in the International Style. 6 November – maiden flight of the Royal Air Force's Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft, at Brooklands. 14 November – in the general election, Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin is returned to office at the head of a National Government led by the Conservative Party with a large but reduced majority. This election begins the modern tradition of the Speaker of the House of Commons seeking re-election as such rather than under a party label. There will be no further general election for 10 years. 26 November In the Labour Party leadership election, Clement Attlee is confirmed as leader. Release of Scrooge, the first all-talking full-length film version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, with Sir Seymour Hicks in the title rôle. 10 December James Chadwick wins the Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of the neutron." 1935 SABENA Savoia-Marchetti S.73 crash at Tatsfield: all eleven on board the flight are killed. 12 December – opening of The De La Warr Pavilion at Bexhill on Sea in East Sussex, designed by Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff in the International style. 18 December – Samuel Hoare resigns as foreign secretary; replaced by Anthony Eden. Undated – Rowntree's of York produce their first Chocolate Crisp bars, which will in 1937 be renamed Kit Kat.
Publications Enid Bagnold's novel National Velvet. Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novels Three Act Tragedy and Death in the Clouds. Graham Greene's novel England Made Me. Georgette Heyer's Regency romance Regency Buck. Christopher Isherwood's novel Mr Norris Changes Trains. John Masefield's children's fantasy The Box of Delights. George Orwell's novel A Clergyman's Daughter. Marion Richardson's teaching guides Writing and Writing Patterns. Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey novel Gaudy Night. Caroline Spurgeon's study Shakespeare's Imagery, and what it tells us. P. G. Wodehouse's short story collection Blandings Castle and Elsewhere.
Births 2 January Ray Byrom, English footballer (died 2020) David McKee, writer and illustrator (died 2022) 3 January – David Vine, television presenter (died 2009) 11 January – Melvyn Hayes, actor 18 January – Jon Stallworthy, poet (died 2014) 19 January Robin Birley, archaeologist (died 2018) Bryan Pringle, actor (died 2002) 21 January – Andrew Sinclair, polymath (died 2019) 24 January Eric Ashton, English rugby league footballer (died 2008) Bamber Gascoigne, broadcaster and author (died 2022)Bamber Gascoigne: Original University Challenge presenter dies at 87 25 January – J. G. Farrell, novelist (died 1979) 27 January Gillian Beer, academic and critic D. M. Thomas, novelist, poet and translator (died 2023) 28 January – David Lodge, novelist (died 2025) 30 January – Stuart Wheeler, financier and political activist (died 2020) 3 February – Jeremy Kemp, actor (died 2019) 5 February – Alex Harvey, Scottish rock musician (died 1982) 7 February – Cliff Jones, Welsh footballer 9 February Paul Flynn, politician (died 2019) Roger Needham, computer scientist (died 2003) 11 February – Delena Kidd, actress 16 February – Brian Bedford, actor (died 2016) 17 February – Christina Pickles, actress 21 February – Mark McManus, Scottish actor (died 1994) 25 February – David Wilde, pianist and composer (died 2025) 27 February – Anne Treisman, psychologist (died 2018) 3 March – George Gardiner, politician (died 2002) 7 March – Michael Hopkins, architect (died 2023) 10 March – Peter Rolfe Vaughan, engineer (died 2008) 13 March – David Nobbs, comic writer (died 2015) 21 March – Brian Clough, footballer and football manager (died 2004) 23 March – Barry Cryer, comedy writer and performer (died 2022) 24 March – Mary Berry, food writer and television presenter 25 March – Susan Engel, actress 27 March Sir Angus Farquharson of Finzean, aristocrat and public servant (died 2018) Julian Glover, actor 28 March Frank Judd, politician (died 2021) Michael Parkinson, journalist and television presenter (died 2023) 29 March – Ruby Murray, Northern Irish singer (died 1996) 5 April Donald Lynden-Bell, astrophysicist (died 2018) Guy Lyon Playfair, writer (died 2018) 10 April – Tony Zemaitis, guitar maker (died 2002) 14 April – Terrance Dicks, television writer (died 2019) 15 April – Alan Plater, playwright and screenwriter (died 2010) 19 April – Dudley Moore, comedian, actor and musician (died 2002) 20 April – Gary Raymond, actor 25 April – April Ashley, transgender model (died 2021) 5 May – Eddie Linden, poet (died 2023) 7 May – Michael Hopkins, architect (died 2023) 8 May – Jack Charlton, footballer (died 2020) 9 May – Roger Hargreaves, children's author (died 1988) 11 May – Chris Perrins, English biologist, ornithologist and academic 13 May – Stella Rimington, Director General of MI5 (died 2025) 14 May – Mel Charles, Welsh footballer (died 2016) 17 May – Dennis Potter, writer (died 1994) 23 May Juliet Campbell, née Collings, diplomat and academic administrator Julian Grenfell, 3rd Baron Grenfell, politician 27 May – Roger Owen, British historian (died 2018) 28 May Anne Reid, actress Richard Van Allen, opera singer (died 2008) 1 June – Norman Foster, architect and designer 2 June – Roger Brierley, actor (died 2005) 3 June – Raoul Franklin, physicist and academic (died 2021) 5 June – Anne Pashley, track and field sprinter and operatic soprano (died 2016) 12 June – Jane Freeman, actress (died 2017) 16 June – James Bolam, actor 17 June – Antony Maitland, children's author and illustrator (died 2025) 18 June – John Spencer, snooker player (died 2006) 19 June – Derren Nesbitt, actor 23 June – Keith Burkinshaw, footballer and manager 25 June Tony Lanfranchi, racing driver (died 2004) Charles Sheffield, science fiction author and physicist (died 2002) 27 June – Colin Bazley, bishop 28 June Roy Faulkner, footballer John Inman, comic actor (died 2007) Tremayne Rodd, 3rd Baron Rennell, rugby union player (died 2006) 29 June Jill Briscoe, British American author, editor and speaker Derek Partridge, actor, television presenter, spokesman and voice-over artist 30 June Shane Alexander, 2nd Earl Alexander of Tunis Les Savill, cricketer 1 July – David Prowse, weightlifter and film performer (died 2020) 5 July – Shirley Collins, folk singer 7 July – Billy Russell, footballer (died 2022) 9 July – Michael Williams, actor (died 2001) 11 July – Oliver Napier, politician (died 2011) 15 July – William G. Stewart, television producer and presenter (died 2017) 19 July – David Parry-Evans, Royal Air Force commander (died 2020) 20 July Peter Palumbo, Baron Palumbo, real estate developer, art collector and connoisseur of architecture Ted Rogers, comedian (died 2001) 24 July – Les Reed, songwriter (died 2019) 27 July – Billy McCullough, footballer (died 2026) 28 July – Simon Dee, television presenter (died 2009) 5 August – Wanda Ventham, actress