1982 in the United Kingdom

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1982 in the United Kingdom:
Other years
1980 | 1981 | 1982 (1982) | 1983 | 1984
Individual countries of the United Kingdom
England | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales
Sport, Television and music

Events from the year 1982 in the United Kingdom. The year was dominated by the Falklands War.

Incumbents

Events

January

February

March

April

  • 1 April – A 12-year-old unnamed Birmingham boy becomes one of the youngest people in England and Wales to be convicted of murder after he admits murdering an eight-year-old boy, and is sentenced to be detained indefinitely.[1]
  • 2 April – Falklands War begins as Argentina invades the Falkland Islands.[2]
  • 4 April – Falklands War: The British Falkland Islands government surrenders, placing the islands in Argentine control.
  • 5 April – Falklands War: Royal Navy task force sets sail to the Falklands from Portsmouth.[17]
  • 7 April – Britain declares a 200-mile "exclusion zone" around the Falklands.
  • 17 April – By Proclamation of the Queen of Canada on Parliament Hill, Canada repatriates its constitution, granting full political independence from the United Kingdom; included is the country's first entrenched bill of rights.
  • 21 April – Walsall F.C.'s hopes of becoming the first Football League club to ground-share are dashed when officials condemn their plans to sell their Fellows Park stadium and become tenants at the Molineux (home of Wolverhampton Wanderers).[18]
  • 24 April
  • 25 April – Falklands War: Royal Marines recapture South Georgia.[17]
  • 29 April – Daniel and Christopher Smith, Britain's first test tube twins are born to parents Josephine and Stewart, at the Royal Free Hospital in London.
  • 30 April – The Conservatives have returned to the top of the opinion polls for the first time since late 1979, with the latest MORI poll showing that they have 43% of the vote, ahead of the SDP-Liberal Alliance.[19]

May

June

July

  • 2 July – Roy Jenkins is elected leader of the SDP.
  • 5 July – England draw 0-0 with hosts Spain and are eliminated from the World Cup in the second group stage. Ron Greenwood retires as England manager after five years and is succeeded by Ipswich Town manager Bobby Robson.
  • 9 July – Michael Fagan breaks into Buckingham Palace and spends 10 minutes talking to the Queen until he is apprehended.[25]
  • 20 July – Hyde Park and Regents Park bombings: The Provisional IRA detonates two bombs in central London, killing 8 soldiers, wounding 47 people, and leading to the deaths of 7 horses.
  • 21 July – HMS Hermes, the Royal Navy flagship during the Falklands War, returns home to Portsmouth to a hero's welcome.
  • 22 July
    • Production of the Ford Cortina ends after 20 years and five incarnations (the final two of which were virtually identical). The Cortina's successor, the Sierra, will be built at Dagenham and in Belgium, though in slightly lower volumes as the smaller Escort is now Ford's strongest-selling car.
    • Exclusion zone around the Falklands is lifted.
    • Margaret Thatcher rejects calls in parliament for a return of the death penalty for terrorist murder.

August

September

  • 7 September – Margaret Thatcher expresses her concern at the growing number of children living in single parent families, but says that she is not opposed to divorce.
  • 22 September – An estimated 14% of the workforce is now reported to be unemployed.[27]
  • 23 September – Nigel Lawson announces that no industry should remain in state ownership unless there is an "overwhelming" case.
  • 28 September – General Motors launches the Spanish built Opel Corsa, which will be sold in Britain from April next year as the Vauxhall Nova. The new front-wheel drive range of small hatchbacks and saloons will effectively replace the Chevette. However, the transport workers union has thrown the future of the new car, which is expected to sell around 50,000 units a year, into jeopardy by blocking imports to Britain.[28]
  • 30 September – Lord Denning delivers his last judgement as Master of the Rolls.

October

  • October – Government statistics for unemployment are now based on those claiming benefit rather than those registered unemployed.[citation needed]
  • 8 October – With the economy now climbing out of recession after more than two years, Margaret Thatcher vows to stick to her economic policies, and blames previous governments for the decline that she inherited when taking power more than three years ago.
  • 11 October – The Mary Rose, flagship of Henry VIII of England that sank in 1545, is raised from the Solent.[29]
  • 12 October – A victory parade is held in London to mark the end of the Falklands war.
  • 15 October – The Ford Sierra is launched as a replacement for the long-running Cortina, and its ultra-modern aerodynamic styling causes controversy among potential buyers who for years had been drawn to the conventional Cortina.[30]
  • 21 October – Sinn Féin win first seats on Northern Ireland Assembly, with Gerry Adams winning the Belfast West seat.[31]
  • 27 October – Three RUC officers killed by an IRA bomb near Lurgan in Northern Ireland.[32]

November

  • November – The government announces that more than 400,000 council houses have been sold off under the right-to-buy scheme in the last three years.[33]
  • 1 November
    • The Welsh language television station, S4C, launches in Wales.
    • Opinion polls show the Conservatives still firmly in the lead, suggesting that a General Election will be held by next summer.
  • 2 November – The fourth terrestrial television channel, Channel 4, begins broadcasting,[2] the first programme broadcast being the game show Countdown, hosted by Richard Whiteley. Another flagship programme is the Liverpool-based soap opera Brookside.[34]
  • 7 November – The Thames Barrier is first publicly demonstrated.
  • 12 November – Express Lift Tower in Northampton officially opened.
  • 15 November – Unemployment remains in excess of 3 million - 13.8% of the workforce.
  • 28 November – Opinion polls show the Conservative government with an approval rating of up to 44% and well on course for a second successive election win, 13 points ahead of Labour. Support for the Alliance has halved in the space of a year.[35]
  • 30 November – A letter bomb sent by Animal rights activists explodes in 10 Downing Street, with packages sent to the leaders of the other political parties. One member of Downing Street staff is burnt.[36]

December

Undated

Publications

Births

Deaths

References

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See also