The following notable deaths of British people occurred in 2023. Names are reported under the date of death, in alphabetical order. A typical entry reports information in the following sequence: Name, age, citizenship at birth, nationality (in addition to British), or/and home nation, what subject was noted for, birth year, cause of death (if known), and reference.
January
1 January – Frank McGarvey, 66, Scottish footballer (St Mirren, Celtic, national team) (b. 1956), pancreatic cancer. 2 January – Andrew Downes, 72, English classical composer. 3 January Roger Kean, British magazine publisher (Crash, Zzap!64), co-founder of Newsfield. Alan Rankine, 64, Scottish musician (The Associates) (b. 1958) (death announced on this date) 4 January – Wyllie Longmore, 82, Jamanican-born British actor (Coronation Street, Love Actually), cancer. 5 January Thomas Stonor, 7th Baron Camoys, 82, British banker and peer, lord chamberlain (1998–2000). David Gold, 86, British retailer, publisher (Gold Star Publications), and football executive, chairman of West Ham United (since 2010). Fay Weldon, 91, British author (The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, Puffball, The Cloning of Joanna May), essayist and playwright. 7 January – Ken Scotland, 86, Scottish rugby union player (Leicester Tigers, national team) and cricketer (national team), cancer. 8 January – Ray Middleton, 86, British Olympic racewalker (1964), respiratory failure. 9 January – David Duckham, 76, English rugby union player (Coventry, national team). 10 January Jeff Beck, 78, English rock guitarist (The Yardbirds, The Jeff Beck Group, Beck, Bogert & Appice), bacterial meningitis. Shirley Dynevor, 89, Welsh actress (Charlesworth, Rogue Male, The Wednesday Play). 11 January Piers Haggard, 83, British film and television director (Pennies from Heaven, Quatermass, The Blood on Satan's Claw, The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu). Eli Ostreicher, 39, British-born American serial entrepreneur, motorcycle accident in Thailand. 12 January Paul Johnson, 94, British journalist, historian and author (Modern Times: A History of the World from the 1920s to the 1980s, A History of the American People, A History of Christianity). Roy Pierpoint, 93, British racing driver, saloon car champion (1965). 13 January – Marc Worth, 61, British fashion executive, co-founder of WGSN, heart attack. 14 January Alireza Akbari, 61, Iranian-British politician and convicted spy, execution by hanging. (death announced on this date) Ronald Blythe, 100, English writer and columnist (Church Times). John Wickham, 73, British motor racing team owner (Spirit Racing). 15 January – Bruce Gowers, 82, British television director (American Idol) and music video director ("Bohemian Rhapsody"), complications from acute respiratory infection. 16 January John Bicourt, 77, British Olympic middle-distance runner (1972, 1976). (death announced on this date) Brian Tufano, 83, English cinematographer (Trainspotting, A Life Less Ordinary, Billy Elliot). 17 January – Jonathan Raban, 80, British travel writer, critic, and novelist (Soft City, Waxwings, For Love & Money). 19 January David Sutherland, 89, Scottish illustrator and comics artist (The Beano, Dennis the Menace and Gnasher, The Bash Street Kids). Peter Thomas, 78, English-Irish footballer (Waterford, Ireland national team). Anton Walkes, 25, English footballer (Portsmouth, Atlanta United, Charlotte FC), boat crash. 22 January – Ian Black, 69, British journalist (The Guardian), and author (Israel's Secret Wars), complications from frontotemporal lobar degeneration. 23 January – Fred Lindop, 84, British rugby league referee. 27 January – Sylvia Syms, 89, English actress (Peak Practice, EastEnders). 31 January – Alan Hurst, 77, British politician, MP for Braintree (1997–2005).
February
2 February – Tim Quy, 61, British musician (Cardiacs). 3 February – Robert Key, 77, English politician, Minister for Sport (1992–1993). 5 February Hilary Alexander, 77, New Zealand-born British fashion journalist (The Daily Telegraph). Robin Cocks, 84, British geologist. Phil Spalding, 65, English bassist, session musician. 6 February Peter Allen, 76, English footballer (Leyton Orient, Millwall). Janet Anderson, 73, British politician, Minister for Film, Tourism and Broadcasting (1998–2001). Billy Thomson, 64, Scottish footballer (Partick Thistle, St Mirren, Dundee United, Clydebank, Motherwell, Rangers, Dundee, Scotland). 7 February – Royden Wood, 92, English footballer (Leeds United). 9 February – Dennis Lotis, 97, South African-born British singer and actor (It's a Wonderful World, The City of the Dead, What Every Woman Wants). 10 February – Hugh Hudson, 86, English film director (Chariots of Fire, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, Revolution). 12 February – Tony Lee, 75, English footballer (Bradford City, Darlington). 13 February Zia Mohyeddin, 91, British-Pakistani actor (Lawrence of Arabia, Immaculate Conception). Oliver Wood, 80, British cinematographer (Die Hard 2, Face/Off, The Bourne Identity). 14 February – Christine Pritchard, 79, Welsh actress (Pobol y Cwm, Cara Fi). 16 February Kevin Bird, 70, English professional footballer (Mansfield Town, Huddersfield Town). Colin Dobson, 82, English professional footballer (Sheffield Wednesday, Huddersfield Town, Bristol Rovers). 17 February – Lee Whitlock, 54, British actor (Shine On Harvey Moon, Cassandra's Dream, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street). 19 February Dickie Davies, 94, British television sports presenter (World of Sport). Henry McDonald, 57, Northern Irish writer and journalist (The Guardian, The Observer). 22 February – Philip Ziegler, 93, British biographer and historian. 23 February John Motson, 77, English football commentator (BBC Sport). Irving Wardle, 93, English theatre critic and writer. 24 February – Sir Bernard Ingham, 90, British journalist and civil servant, Downing Street press secretary (1979–1990). 25 February – Sir David Lumsden, 94, British musician and choirmaster. 26 February Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd, 93, British politician, first woman Speaker of the House of Commons (1992–2000). Jim Lewis, 88, racehorse owner (Best Mate). 27 February Tom McLeish, 60, British theoretical physicist. Sammy Winston, 44, English footballer (Leyton Orient).
March
1 March – Allan McGraw, 83, Scottish football player (Morton, Hibernian) and manager. 2 March – Steve Mackey, 56, English bassist, producer (Pulp). 3 March Edwin A. Dawes, 97, British biochemist and magician. Christopher Fowler, 69, English novelist. Rita O'Hare, 80, Northern Irish political activist. 5 March – Bob Goody, 71, British actor and writer (Smith and Goody, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, Blue Heaven, The Borrowers). 6 March – Bob Evered, 84, key player in the National Trust's purchase of Tyntesfield 9 March – Mystic Meg, 80, British astrologer. 11 March – Bill Tidy, 89, British cartoonist (The Cloggies, The Fosdyke Saga). 12 March Dame Phyllida Barlow, 78, British visual artist. Isabel Colegate, 91, British author (The Shooting Party) and literary agent. Susan Cunliffe-Lister, Baroness Masham of Ilton, 87, British politician, member of the House of Lords (since 1970) and Paralympic champion (1960, 1964). 13 March Simon Emmerson, 67, English record producer, guitarist, DJ, musical director, founder of (Afro Celt Sound System). Alan Jones, 77, Welsh footballer (Swansea City, Hereford United, Southport). 14 March – Chris Shevlane, 80, Scottish footballer (Hearts, Celtic, Hibernian, Morton). 16 March Tony Coe, 88, English jazz musician. Patrick French, 57, British writer and historian (Tibet, Tibet, The World Is What It Is). Jacqueline Gold, 62, British businesswoman (Ann Summers). Melanie McFadyean, 72, British journalist. Don Megson, 86, English footballer (Sheffield Wednesday, Bristol Rovers) and manager (Bristol Rovers, Bournemouth). 17 March – Sir Paul Girolami, 97, Italian-born British pharmaceutical executive, chairman of Glaxo (1985–1994). 18 March Robert Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford, 96, Scottish peer, MP (1955–1974), member of the House of Lords (1974–2019) and Minister of State for Defence (1970–1972). Sir James Dunbar-Nasmith, 96, British conservation architect (Sunninghill Park, Balmoral Estate). 20 March – Paul Grant, 56, British actor (Return of the Jedi, Labyrinth, The Dead) and stuntman. 21 March Willie Bell, 85, Scottish footballer (Leeds United, Scotland) and manager (Birmingham City). Eric Brown, 62, British science fiction writer. Alexander Cameron, 59, British barrister, brother of David Cameron. John Smith, Baron Kirkhill, 92, Scottish peer, Lord Provost of Aberdeen (1971–1975), Minister of State for Scotland (1975–1978) and member of the House of Lords (1975–2018). 24 March – Christopher Gunning, 78, English composer (La Vie en rose, Agatha Christie's Poirot, Middlemarch). 25 March – Nick Lloyd Webber, 43, English composer (Love, Lies and Records, Fat Friends The Musical, The Last Bus) and record producer, son of Andrew Lloyd Webber. 26 March – D. M. Thomas, 88, British poet, translator and novelist (The Flute-Player, The White Hotel). 28 March – Paul O'Grady, 67, English comedian and television presenter (The Paul O'Grady Show, Paul O'Grady Live, Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs). 30 March – Peter Usborne, 85, British publisher, co-founder of Private Eye and founder of Usborne Publishing.
April
1 April – Ken Buchanan, 77, Scottish boxer, undisputed world lightweight champion (1971). 2 April – Max Crabtree, 90, English professional wrestler and promoter (Joint Promotions). 3 April Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, 91, British politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (1983–1989). Michael Roberts, 75, British fashion journalist. 4 April – John Sainty, 76, English professional footballer (Reading, Bournemouth, Aldershot) and manager (Chester City). 6 April Paul Cattermole, 46, English singer and actor (S Club 7). Nicola Heywood-Thomas, 67, Welsh broadcaster and newsreader. Norman Reynolds, 89, British production designer (Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Empire of the Sun), Oscar winner (1978, 1982). 7 April Ian Bairnson, 69, Scottish musician, multi-instrumentalist (Alan Parsons Project, Pilot, guitarist for Kate Bush). Gareth Richards, 43, British comedian and radio presenter. 8 April Deborah Brown, 95, Northern Irish sculptor. Bob Heatlie, 76, Scottish songwriter ("Japanese Boy", "Cry Just a Little Bit", "Merry Christmas Everyone") and record producer. Kenneth McAlpine, 102, English racing driver. Judith Miller, 71, British antiques expert and broadcaster (Antiques Roadshow). 9 April – Andrew Phillips, Baron Phillips of Sudbury, 84, British solicitor and politician. 10 April – Anne Perry, 84, British crime writer (The Cater Street Hangman). 12 April – Bryn Parry, 66, British cartoonist and charity worker, co-founder of Help for Heroes. 13 April Willie Callaghan, 56, Scottish professional footballer. Mary Quant, 93, British fashion designer. 14 April Murray Melvin, 90, English actor (Alfie, Lisztomania, Barry Lyndon). Mark Sheehan, 46, Irish guitarist, singer-songwriter (The Script, Mytown). 16 April – Eddie Colquhoun, 78, Scottish footballer (Scotland, Bury, West Bromwich Albion, Sheffield United). 19 April – Peter Martin, 81, English actor (The Royle Family, Emmerdale). 21 April Kate Saunders, 62, English actress and journalist (Angels, Only Fools and Horses, Have I Got News For You). Mark Stewart, 62, musician (The Pop Group). 22 April Len Goodman, 78, English ballroom dancer and coach (Strictly Come Dancing, Dancing with the Stars). Barry Humphries, 89, Australian comedian, actor and author (Dame Edna Everage, Bedazzled, Finding Nemo). 27 April Wee Willie Harris, 90, English singer, musician.