2010 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 2010 in the United Kingdom

Incumbents Monarch – Elizabeth II Prime Minister Gordon Brown (Labour) (until 11 May) David Cameron (Coalition) (starting 11 May)

Events

January

3 January – Prime Minister Gordon Brown announces that full body scanners will be introduced at UK airports following the failed attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on 25 December 2009. 5 January – The country is once again deluged by heavy snowfall as it endures its worst cold spell since the winter of 1981–82. 10 January – The Sunday Mirror defence correspondent Rupert Hamer is killed in an explosion in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence confirms. 12 January – Alastair Campbell, former government advisor, is interviewed by the Chilcot Inquiry, and said he is prepared to defend "every word" of the September 2002 dossier on Iraq's supposed weapons of mass destruction which led to the invasion of Iraq. 18 January – Following the collapse of strike talks late last year, British Airways cabin crew decides to vote again on possible strike action. 20 January – Unemployment falls for the first time in nearly two years, with the national total for November 2009 dipping by 7,000 to 2,460,000. However, some regions of Britain are still enduring a rise in unemployment, and experts say that the slight reduction in unemployment was largely due to an increase in people taking part-time work and work in occupations largely unrelated to their skills and experience. 26 January – The Office for National Statistics announces that the UK is no longer in recession, with gross domestic product having grown by 0.1%, a weaker rise than many economists had expected. 29 January – Former Prime Minister Tony Blair appears at the Iraq Inquiry and is questioned in public for the first time about his decision to take the United Kingdom to war against Iraq.

February 2 February – The Birmingham based confectionery giant Cadbury is taken over by American rival Kraft Foods in an £11.5 billion deal. 3 February – Opinion polls indicate that Labour have reduced the Conservative lead to as little as seven points, increasing the possibility of a hung parliament after the forthcoming general election. 5 February – Following a long period of negotiations, the political parties of Northern Ireland, including the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin, reach an agreement to allow for the devolution of policing and justice powers.

March 2 March British Broadcasting Corporation Director General Mark Thompson confirms proposals to close BBC 6 Music and the BBC Asian Network as part of a cost-cutting drive. The plan would also see BBC Radio 7 rebranded as BBC Radio 4 Extra and cutbacks to the BBC website. Jon Venables, one of the two boys (then aged 11) found guilty of murdering Merseyside toddler James Bulger in 1993, is recalled to prison after breaching terms of his life licence. Venables, 28, spent eight years in custody before being paroled along with Robert Thompson in 2001. 5 March – The Prime Minister Gordon Brown gives evidence to the Chilcott inquiry. 8 March Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, rejects ongoing public calls to give reasons why Jon Venables has been recalled to custody to be made public. Following lengthy discussions, Royal Mail managers and Communication Workers Union representatives agree a deal to settle the postal workers dispute. 10 March – Chester City F.C., bottom of the Blue Square Premier League, go out of business after 125 years, less than a year after being relegated from the Football League where they have spent all but four seasons since 1931. 12 March Birmingham couple Angela Gordon and Junaid Abuhamza receive prison sentences after being convicted of the manslaughter of Ms Gordon's seven-year-old daughter Khyra Ishaq, who died as a result of starvation two years ago. Ms Gordon is sentenced to 15 years in prison, while Mr Abuhamza is sentenced to indefinite imprisonment with a recommended minimum term of seven and a half years. The Unite union which represents British Airways cabin crew announces two rounds of strike action for three days from 20 March and four days from 27 March. 20 March – The first British Airways strike, set to last for three days, begins. More than 80 planes are grounded at Heathrow Airport alone and numerous flights are reported to have been cancelled, though British Airways officials are confident that 65% of flights will be undisturbed. 21 March – The Times newspaper exposes a number of Labour Party politicians offering to use their positions to lobby for fictitious businesses in the 2010 cash for influence scandal. 22 March – The Labour Party suspends Members of Parliament Patricia Hewitt, Geoff Hoon, Margaret Moran and Stephen Byers from the party as a result of their involvement in the cash for influence scandal 30 March – Levi Bellfield, a 41-year-old man two years into a life sentence for murdering two women and attempting to murder a third, is charged with the murder of Surrey teenager Milly Dowler, who disappeared in Walton-on-Thames eight years ago and whose body was found in Hampshire woodland six months later.

April 6 April The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, visits Buckingham Palace to seek The Queen's permission to dissolve Parliament on 12 April, triggering a general election on 6 May. Coroners and Justice Act 2009 Section 71 comes into effect, criminalising for the first time the holding of someone in slavery or servitude in the UK. 9–11 April – Metal detectorist Dave Crisp discovers the Frome Hoard, 52,503 Roman coins dating to the period 253–305, one of the largest such finds in Britain. 12 April Policing and justice powers are devolved from Westminster to the Northern Ireland Executive. As part of the devolution process, David Ford, the leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, is elected Minister of Justice by the Northern Ireland Assembly. Minutes later, a car bomb explodes outside the MI5 headquarters in County Down, Northern Ireland. The Real IRA claims responsibility for the bomb shortly after its detonation. 15 April A cloud of volcanic ash from the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland causes the closure of airspace over the United Kingdom and northern and western Europe. ITV1 airs the first of three election debates between Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg ahead of the 2010 general election. The debates are the first such debates to be broadcast live in the run-up to a UK general election. 15–16 April – An opinion poll puts the Labour Party at 28%, behind both the Conservatives on 33% and the Liberal Democrats on 30%, the first time since 1986 that a governing party has slipped into third place in an opinion poll. 17–18 April – Another opinion poll shows the Liberal Democrats with a 1% lead, also the first time since 1986 that an opinion poll has shown a third party on top. Two more polls are released in the next few days which show the Lib Dems in first place, and two more which show them tied with the Conservatives. 21 April – The government announces that British airports will reopen and passenger flights will resume, but officials caution that it will take time for flight schedules to return to normal after the six-day shutdown caused by volcanic ash from the 2010 eruptions of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano.

May

6 May The 2010 general election takes place, resulting in a hung parliament. The Conservative Party win 306 of the 649 seats contested, placing them 20 seats short of an overall majority in the House of Commons. The Labour Party win 258 seats, the Liberal Democrats win 57, and other parties win 28. Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, becomes the party's first Westminster MP, being elected in the Brighton Pavilion constituency, and Peter Robinson, First Minister of Northern Ireland and Democratic Unionist Party leader, unexpectedly loses his Belfast East seat to the Alliance Party. The 2010 local elections are also held across England in all 32 London boroughs, all 36 Metropolitan boroughs, 20 Unitary Authorities and 76 Non-metropolitan districts. The Labour Party gains 15 councils to control 36 overall, the Conservatives suffer a net loss of 8 councils, leaving them in control of 65, and the Liberal Democrats suffer a net loss of 4 local authorities, leaving them in control of 13 councils. 7 May – 2010 general election: The Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats begin negotiations to reach either a parliamentary agreement, or to create a coalition government with a House of Commons majority. 8 May – 2010 general election: Liberal Democrat MPs endorse Nick Clegg's decision to negotiate with the Conservative Party in the first instance following the inconclusive result of the general election. 9 May – Chelsea become champions of the Premier League after beating Wigan Athletic 8–0 on the final day of the season. 10 May – 2010 general election: Gordon Brown announces that he will be stepping down as Labour leader, thus triggering a leadership election. Talks between the Lib Dems and Conservatives continue. 11 May 2010 general election: After the Labour Party fail to reach an agreement with the Liberal Democrats, Gordon Brown goes to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation as Prime Minister to Queen Elizabeth II. With a coalition government between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats still being finalised, David Cameron is appointed Prime Minister by the Queen following Brown's resignation. 12 May 2010 general election: Just after midnight, the Liberal Democrats emerge from a meeting of their Parliamentary party and Federal Executive to announce that the coalition deal had been formally approved "overwhelmingly", meaning that David Cameron will lead a coalition government of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, with Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg as deputy prime minister. In forming his new government, David Cameron appoints Sayeeda Warsi as Minister without Portfolio in the Cabinet, making her the first Muslim to serve in Cabinet. Sadiq Khan had attended without being a member in the previous year. 2010 Labour leadership election: David Miliband announces his candidacy. Interim leader Harriet Harman rules herself out of the running to hold the position permanently. Unemployment remains above 2,500,000 for the second month running. 14 May – Stephen Timms, Labour MP and former treasury minister, is wounded in a stabbing in his East Ham constituency in Newham, London. 15 May Chelsea complete the double with a 1–0 win over Portsmouth in the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium. In Scotland, Dundee United win the Scottish Cup with a 3–0 victory over Ross County at Hampden Park. A 21-year-old woman, Roshonara Choudhry, is charged with the attempted murder of Stephen Timms. 16 May 2010 Labour leadership election: Ed Miliband follows his brother David in declaring his candidacy. The government announces an audit of spending commitments made during the final year of the previous Labour administration, and also announces a reduction in the budget for bonuses to senior civil servants. 17 May The Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announces the creation of the Office for Budget Responsibility to take over the Chancellor's role of economic and fiscal forecasting. After a month of disruption, flight restrictions are lifted at all British airports after the volcanic ash over the nation's airspace moved away. 18 May – The 55th Parliament of the United Kingdom meet for the first time following the general election, with the first business being the election of the Speaker of the House of Commons. The incumbent speaker John Bercow is re-elected. 19 May – 2010 Labour leadership election: Ed Balls announces he will be contesting the leadership. 20 May – The requirement that house sellers in England and Wales must have a Home information pack produced before putting a property on the market is suspended by the coalition government.