Events from the year 2011 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents Monarch – Elizabeth II Prime Minister – David Cameron (Coalition)
Events
January 1 January – Inmates riot at Ford Open Prison near Arundel, West Sussex. Windows are smashed and part of the prison is set on fire by prisoners, whose rioting was believed to have been sparked by staff attempts to breathalyse prisoners, amid allegations that alcohol had been smuggled into the prison. 2 January – The Montenegrin Embassy in London writes to Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray, correcting factual inaccuracies and asking him to explain comments he made during First Minister's Questions in December 2010, about the country being involved in "war crimes", "ethnic cleansing" and "a United Nations peace-keeping mission" 4 January – Value-added tax increased to 20% from 17.5%. 5 January – Music retailer HMV announces the closure of 60 stores following disappointing Christmas sales – a move which will see the firm lose 10% of its stores and will cost up to 900 people their jobs. 7 January The England cricket team wins The Ashes series 3–1 in Australia. Former Labour MP David Chaytor is jailed for 18 months for fraudulently claiming more than £20,000 in expenses. The film The King's Speech, with Colin Firth playing the role of the stuttering George VI, is released in the UK. It won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, on 27 February. 9 January – An investigation by The Guardian reveals details of how Metropolitan police officer Mark Kennedy infiltrated dozens of protest groups in 22 countries using the pseudonym Mark Stone. 13 January – 2011 Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election: Debbie Abrahams for Labour holds the seat with a 42.1% vote share and a majority of 3,558 against the Liberal Democrats. The by-election was triggered after previous MP Phil Woolas was found guilty of making false statements against an opponent during the original campaign. 15 January – Three former Church of England bishops are ordained as priests in the new Roman Catholic Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham at Westminster Cathedral. 18 January – A gay couple win a discrimination case against Christian hoteliers who refused to let them stay in a double room. 21 January News of the World phone hacking affair: Andy Coulson, the former editor of the News of the World, resigns from his position as David Cameron's communications director, citing "continued coverage of events connected to my old job at the News of the World". Tony Blair appears before the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War. Alan Johnson resigns as Shadow Chancellor, he is succeeded by Ed Balls. 25 January Statistics reveal that the UK economy contracted by 0.5% during the final quarter of last year. Sky Sports presenter Andy Gray is sacked for sexist comments made about a female football official. 26 January Prime Minister David Cameron announces that Sinn Féin's Gerry Adams has resigned from the House of Commons by accepting the notional office of profit under the Crown of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead. Speaker John Bercow later clarifies that Adams has been appointed to the role following a denial of his acceptance. Yemshaw v London Borough of Hounslow is decided in the Supreme Court, giving legal recognition to the concept of abusive power and control.
February 1 February – ZH (Tanzania) v Secretary of State for the Home Department is decided in the Supreme Court, requiring the best interests of children to be taken into account in deportation cases. 2 February – BBC executive Craig Oliver is chosen to replace Andy Coulson as Prime Minister David Cameron's Director of Communications. 5 February – David Cameron criticises "state multiculturism" in his first speech as prime minister on radicalisation and causes of terrorism. 9 February Former head teacher Jean Else has her Damehood revoked by the Queen, having previously being found guilty of misconduct. She is the first person to have the honour revoked. Project Merlin, an agreement on aspects of banking activity in the United Kingdom, is agreed between the coalition government and the country's four major high street banks. Welsh becomes an official language of the United Kingdom. 10 February Former Labour MP Jim Devine is convicted of two counts of fraud for falsely claiming £8,385 in expenses. Devine is the first MP to stand trial in the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal and is later sentenced to 16 months imprisonment. The House of Commons votes 234–22 against prisoners receiving the right to vote. 22 February – Four British are among the hundreds of people killed by the 6.3 magnitude earthquake in New Zealand's second largest city of Christchurch.
March
3 March 2011 Barnsley Central by-election: Dan Jarvis for Labour holds the seat with a 60.8% vote share and a majority of 11,771, with the Liberal Democrats finishing in sixth place. 2011 Welsh devolution referendum: Voters in Wales approve plans to give the Welsh Assembly more powers. 9 March – The Serious Fraud Office arrests Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz in connection with the collapse of the Icelandic Kaupthing Bank. 11 March – Light aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (1981), flagship of the Royal Navy, is decommissioned, as part of the naval restructuring portion of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review. 18 March – Former British Airways software engineer Rajib Karim, of Newcastle upon Tyne is jailed for 30 years after he was earlier convicted of plotting to blow up a plane. 19 March – Operation Unified Protector: British, French and American military initiate air strikes in Libya following United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973. 26 March – Hundreds of thousands of people march in London against government budget cuts, with the protests later turning violent.The Daily Telegraph 27 March The 2011 United Kingdom census is conducted. A 47-year-old taxi driver, Christopher Halliwell, is charged with the murder of Sian O'Callaghan. 30 March – The landmark case of Jones v Kaney is decided in the Supreme Court: an expert witness can be sued for professional negligence. UKSC 13. 31 March – is decommissioned in Belfast.
April
1 April – The Daily Sport and Sunday Sport tabloid newspapers cease publication and enter administration. 3 April – The UK's last circus elephant is retired. 4 April – As part of the government's package of welfare reforms, the one-and-a-half million people in the UK who are claiming Incapacity Benefit begin to receive letters asking them to attend a work capability assessment. The tests are part of government plans to reduce the number of long-term claimants and will take until 2014 to complete. 5 April – Police investigating the murder of Sian O'Callaghan identify human remains found at a second site as those of Swindon woman Becky Godden-Edwards, who was last seen alive in 2002 at the age of 20. 6 April The mandatory retirement age begins to be phased out, and will be fully abolished by 1 October. The Competition Commission release their investigation order designed to prevent future mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI); most rules will come into force in October. 13 April – 53-year-old actor Brian Regan, most famous for his role as Terry Sullivan in the former Channel 4 TV soap Brookside, is charged – along with another man – with the murder of a man who was fatally shot in Aigburth, Merseyside, on 24 February. 24 April – Senior Liberal Democrat minister Chris Huhne threatens legal action over "untruths" told by Conservative MP's opposed to the Alternative Vote System, 11 days before the referendum. He also warns that the dispute could damage the coalition government. 27 April – The Office for National Statistics reveals that the economy had returned to growth during the first quarter of the year, growing by 0.5%. 29 April – Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine Middleton marry in Westminster Abbey. A public holiday is held to celebrate the day, which in conjunction with the May bank holiday, makes a four-day weekend.
May 5 May Elections are held for the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Assembly. Local elections are held on the same day together with the referendum on whether to adopt the Alternative Vote electoral system for elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. Claude Choules, the oldest living British born male and the last combat veteran of World War I, dies aged 110 in Australia, where he has lived since 1926. His death leaves 110-year-old Norfolk woman Florence Green, a Women's Royal Air Force waitress, as the conflict's last verified veteran of any status. 6 May 2011 Scottish Parliament election: The Scottish National Party secure a victory, winning an overall majority in the Scottish parliament.Scottish election: SNP wins election BBC News, 6 May 2011 2011 United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum: Voters reject proposals to introduce the alternative voting system in the UK by a two-thirds majority. 2011 Leicester South by-election: Labour candidate Jonathan Ashworth wins the seat with a vote share of 57.8% and a majority of 12,078. 2011 United Kingdom local elections: The counting of votes in local elections in England and Northern Ireland continues with the Labour Party making gains and the Liberal Democrats losing seats. 7 May 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election: Counting finishes with the DUP winning 38 of the 108 seats, and Sinn Féin following with 29 seats. 2011 National Assembly for Wales election: The Welsh Labour Party win 30 of the 60 Welsh Assembly seats in Thursday's election and plan to form a one-party government. 12 May – Queen Elizabeth II becomes the second-longest-reigning British monarch. 13 May – The Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales announces a reinstatement of the rule of abstinence from eating red meat on Fridays for its followers. The practice, last observed officially in 1984, will be reintroduced on 16 September to coincide with the first anniversary of the Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United Kingdom. 14 May – The city of Manchester celebrates as Manchester United seal their record 19th top division league title and Manchester City win the FA Cup to end their 35-year wait for a major trophy. 17–20 May – Queen Elizabeth II makes a state visit to the Republic of Ireland, the first by a reigning monarch of the United Kingdom to Dublin since 1911. 22 May – The Royal Navy ends its training role in Iraq, concluding the British military Operation Telic there. 28 May – In a repeat of the 2009 final, Manchester United lose 3–1 to FC Barcelona in the 2011 UEFA Champions League final at Wembley Stadium, London.
June 10 June – 2011 Belfast West by-election: Sinn Féin's Paul Maskey wins the seat. 15 June St Paul's Cathedral completes its £40 million restoration project. The 15-year programme of cleaning and repair was among the largest restoration projects ever undertaken in the UK. The National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers confirm a co-ordinated strike across England and Wales on 30 June as part of a dispute over changes to pensions. 23 June – Levi Bellfield, three years into a life sentence for the murder of two young women and the attempted murder of a third, is found guilty of murdering Amanda Dowler, the Surrey teenager who disappeared in March 2002 and whose remains were found in Hampshire six months later. 24 June Levi Bellfield receives an additional life sentence for the murder of Amanda Dowler. The jury fails to reach a verdict on the attempted abduction of another girl and the judge orders that the charge should remain on file. Household furnishings retailer Habitat goes into administration. 30 of its 33 outlets are affected by the administration, as the three central London stores are being sold to Home Retail Group in a £24.5 million deal which will safeguard a total of 150 jobs. 30 June