2010 in the United Kingdom

This articles list major events that occurred in the United Kingdom in the year 2010.

## Events

- January 5 - Heavy snow falls all over Great Britain causing lots of transport disruption, school closures, power failures and 25 deaths. It is the worst 'cold spell' since the Winter of 1981-1982.
- January 9 - Daily Mirror journalist Rupert Hamer is killed in Afghanistan.
- January 26 - The UK is declared to be out of recession.
- January 29 - Former Prime Minister Tony Blair gives evidence at the Iraq inquiry.
- February 2 - Well-known Birmingham based confectionary giant Cadbury is taken over by American rival Kraft Foods in an £11.5billion deal.
- February 5 - After long negotiations, the leading political parties in Northern Ireland agree to devolve matters such as policing and justice to the Northern Ireland Executive.
- February 19 - Amy Williams wins Great Britain's only medal at the Winter Olympics.
- March 5 - Prime Minister Gordon Brown gives evidence to the Iraq inquiry.
- March 20 - A three-day strike by British Airways cabin crew begins.
- April 6 - Prime Minister Gordon Brown asks for the Queen's permission to dissolve parliament, in order to have a general election.
- April 15 - 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.
- April 15 - The first of three televised debates between the leaders of the three main political parties in the UK is shown on ITV.
- May 6 - 2010 General Election: The Conservative Party wins the most seats however does not have enough seats to form a majority government, thus resulting in a hung parliament, the first since 1974. Final results were: Conservatives (307 MP's), Labour (258 MP's), Liberal Democrats (57 MP's), DUP (8 MP's), SNP (6 MP's), Sinn Fein (5 MP's), SDLP (3 MP's), Plaid Cymru (3 MP's), Green Party (1 MP) and Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (1 MP). Notable results include the First Minister of Northern Ireland Peter Robinson losing his Belfast East seat and the election of the first ever Green Party MP.
- May 11 - David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party becomes Prime Minister at the head of a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition with Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg as Deputy Prime Minister. Gordon Brown resigns as Prime Minister and as leader of the Labour Party.
- May 24 - Three people are killed in a school bus crash near Keswick, Cumbria.
- May 29 - The UK, represented by Josh Dubovie, finishes last in the Eurovision Song Contest.
- May 29 - Liberal Democrat MP David Laws resigns as Chief Secretary to the Treasury after just two weeks, due to expenses claims.
- June 2 - A taxi driver called Derrick Bird goes on a shooting spree in Cumbria and 12 people are killed and 25 injured.
- June 12 - The England national football team's World Cup campaign starts with a 1-1 draw the United States.
- June 15 - The Saville inquiry into the 'Bloody Sunday' shootings of 1972 finds the acts committed by the British Army were 'unjustified and unjustifiable' and Prime Minister David Cameron makes a formal apology on behalf of the government.
- June 18 - The England national football team only manages a 0-0 draw with the Algeria national football team.
- June 22 - Chancellor George Osborne presents the coalition government's emergency budget statement to the House of Commons. The most notable changes include a 2.5% increase in VAT to 20% and a 25% reduction in public spending.
- June 25 - David Cameron announces that he wants all British troops out of Afghanistan by 2015.
- June 27 - England is eliminated from the World Cup after losing 4-1 to Germany.
- June - Beavers are bred in the wild, in Scotland, for the first time in 400 years.
- July 5 - Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announces that a referendum on introducing the alternative vote system for Westminster elections will be held on 5 May 2011.
- July 10 - After a week-long manhunt by Northumbria police, fugitive gunman Raoul Moat commits suicide.
- July 11 - Englishman Howard Webb referees the FIFA World Cup final.
- July 23 - Jon Venables, who sadistically murdered toddler James Bulger in 1993 aged 11, is sentenced to two years in prison after admitting distributing child pornography.
- July 28 - Home Secretary Theresa May announces plans to scrap the use of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders in England and Wales.
- August 3 - Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari arrives for a five-day visit, but is under pressure for being absent from his country during a major flooding disaster.
- September 1 - Former Prime Minister Tony Blair's memoirs entitled _A Journey_ is released.
- September 10 - The government unveils plans to privatise Royal Mail.
- September 16 - Pope Benedict XVI begins a four-day state visit to Scotland and England. This is the first papal visit to the UK since 1982.
- September 25 - Ed Miliband is elected leader of the Labour Party, narrowly defeating his brother David Miliband.
- October - All four countries of the UK participate in the Commonwealth Games.
- October 8 - Scottish aid worker Linda Norgrove is killed in an attempt to rescue her after she was kidnapped in Afghanistan.
- November 5 - Nigel Farage is re-elected as leader of the UK Independence Party.
- November 10 - First round of student protests against higher University tuition fees.
- November 11 - The Government unveils plans for the biggest shake up of the welfare system since the 1940s.
- November 16 - Prince William and Kate Middleton announce their engagement.
- November 19 - Two Scottish miners are amongst a group of 29 miners who are trapped after an explosion in the Pike River Mine in New Zealand. A second explosion five days later confirms their deaths.
- November 28 - Heavy snow falls across Britain, causing heacy disruption for weeks, leading, among others, to flight cancellations, and postponing of sports fixtures. It is the second prolonged cold spell within a year.
- December 2 - England's bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup fails.
- December 9 - MPs vote to increase University tuition fees. There are massive student demonstrations in response to it.
- December 17 - Joanna Yeates disappears in Bristol. She is found dead on Christmas Day.
- December 21 - Stephen Griffiths, known as the 'Crossbow Cannibal' is sentenced for the murders of three women.
- December 23 - Scottish politician Tommy Sheridan is found guilty of perjury.
- December 28 - Police in Bristol announce that Joanna Yeates died of strangulation.
- December 29 - England's national cricket team retains The Ashes against Australia.

## Births

- August 24 - Florence Cameron, daughter of Prime Minister David Cameron.
- December 29 - Savannah Phillips, first great-grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II.

## Deaths

- January 9 - Rupert Hamer, 39, journalist
- January 19 - Bill McLaren, 86, rugby commentator
- January 22 - Jean Simmons, 81, actress
- February 6 - John Dankworth, 82, musician
- February 11 - Alexander McQueen, 40, fashion designer
- February 19 - Lionel Jeffries, 83, actor
- March 1 - Kristian Digby, 32, television presenter
- March 2 - Winston Spencer-Churchill, 69, politician
- March 3 - Keith Alexander, 53, football manager
- March 3 - Michael Foot, 96, former Labour Party leader
- March 5 - Philip Langridge, 70, tenor
- March 7 - Kenneth Dover, 89, classicist
- March 15 - Ashok Kumar, 53, politician
- March 20 - Harry Carpenter, 84, sports commentator
- March 22 - James W. Black, 85, Nobel Prize laureate
- April 4 - Alec Bedser, 91, cricketer
- April 6 - Corin Redgrave, 70, actor and political activist
- April 7 - Christopher Cazenove, 64, actor
- April 8 - Malcolm McLaren, 64, former Sex Pistols manager
- April 25 - Alan Sillitoe, 82, writer
- May 2 - Lynn Redgrave, 67, actress
- May 8 - Florrie Baldwin, 114, supercentenarian
- May 23 - Simon Monjack, 39, screenwriter, producer and director
- June 7 - Stuart Cable, 40, musician
- June 16 - Ronald Neame, 99, cinematographer, producer and screenwriter
- June 21 - Stanley Lucas, 110, supercentenarian
- June 25 - Alan Plater, 75, writer
- July 1 - Geoffrey Hutchings, 71, actor
- July 2 - Beryl Bainbridge, 77, writer
- July 10 - Raoul Moat, 37, fugitive gunman
- July 21 - Anthony Rolfe Johnson, 69, tenor
- July 24 - Alex Higgins, 61, snooker player
- August 6 - Tony Judt, 62, historian
- August 10 - Jimmy Reid, 78, union leader
- August 17 - Edwin Morgan, 90, poet
- September 3 - Cyril Smith, 82, politician
- September 8 - Ian Cameron, 77, father of David Cameron
- October 3 - Philippa Foot, 90, philosopher
- October 4 - Norman Wisdom, 95, comedian and actor
- October 14 - Simon MacCorkindale, 58, actor
- October 18 - Elsie Steele, 111, supercentenarian
- October 28 - Gerard Kelly, 51, actor
- October 29 - Ronnie Clayton, 76, footballer
- November 23 - Ingrid Pitt, 73, actress
- November 25 - Bernard Matthews, 80, turkey farmer
- November 29 - Maurice Wilkes, 97, computer scientist
- December 12 - Tom Walkinshaw, 64, motor racing team boss
- December 17 - Joanna Yeates, 25, landscape architect
- December 19 - Anthony Howard, 76, journalist
- December 20 - Brian Hanrahan, 61, journalist
- December 24 - Elisabeth Beresford, 84, author