Timeline from 2000 to 2023 in the UK

By: Priscila Vaca Cuellar

Year Important events:

2000 -UK forces intervene in the civil
war in Sierra Leone.
-Parliament passes the Freedom
of Information Act, granting
public right of access to
information held by public
authorities, with certain
limitations.
-The Big Brother reality TV series
launched on Channel 4. It
featured eleven contestants,
isolated from the outside world
for several weeks in a custom-
built house, where they were
filmed and recorded.
2001 -Foot and mouth crisis hits
farmers.
-The Eden Project opens in
Cornwall.
-Libyan intelligence agent,
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is found
guilty of the 1988 bombing of
Pan Am Flight 103.
-9/11. On 11th September,
Islamic al-Qaeda terrorists
hijacked four aircraft and flew
them at targets in the USA. Two
are flown into the twin towers
of the World Trade Center in
New York, a third into the
Pentagon and a fourth crashes
after passengers tackle the
hijackers. Almost 3,000 people
are killed (67 of them British)
and thousands more injured.
 -Prime Minister Tony Blair offers
US President Bush British support
for a campaign against
international terrorism. The RAF
joins in strikes against targets in
Afghanistan. British troops are
deployed as part of a NATO
force. US, British and other
allied forces remained in
Afghanistan for 20 years.
2002 -HM Queen Elizabeth II
celebrates her Golden Jubilee -
50 years.
-The last coal mine in Scotland
closes.
-Meanwhile…on 29 March,
Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia
and Slovenia became members
of NATO. It was the largest
enlargement in the alliance’s
history.
2003 -The UK joins a US-led military
invasion of Iraq, ostensibly to
end the country’s support for
terrorism and because it is
alleged to have ‘weapons of
mass destruction’.
-England wins the Rugby World
Cup, narrowly defeating
Australia 20-17 in the final.
2004 -The Hutton Report, the result
of an investigation into the
suicide of government scientist
David Kelly, clears the
government of any wrongdoing.
-Ten new states join the
European Union - Cyprus, the
Czech Republic, Estonia,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,
 Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and
Slovenia.
-Facebook is launched in the
USA.
-The Indian Ocean tsunami kills
in excess of 200,000 people.
2005 -London bombings of 7/7 - 52
people are killed and about 700
injured in four Islamist suicide
bomb attacks on London's
transport network.
2006 -21 April - HM The Queen’s
80th birthday.
-Russian defector Alexander
Litvinenko is murdered in
London having ingested
radioactive polonium. Suspicion
later falls on ex-KGB agent
Andrei Lugovoi, sparking a
diplomatic row with Russia.
-Daniel Craig stars as the latest
James Bond in Casino Royale.
2007 -Gordon Brown replaces Tony
Blair as Prime Minister and
leader of the Labour Party.
-Bulgaria and Romania join the
European Union.
-Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows, the 7th and final book
in the series, is published.
-The surviving members of Led
Zeppelin perform their first full-
length concert in 27 years at
London’s O2 Arena.
-Meanwhile – Apple launch the
iPhone.
2008 -Global financial crisis plunges
the UK into recession.
2009 -Britain withdraws most of its
troops from southern Iraq.
 -Meanwhile - Albania and
Croatia joined NATO.
2010 -The general election in May
leaves the Conservative Party as
winners but without an overall
majority in the House of
Commons. Conservative leader
-David Cameron forms the first
coalition since the Second World
War, with the Liberal Democrats
led by Nick Clegg.
-The coalition government
announces large-scale public
spending cuts aimed at reducing
UK's budget deficit.
2011 -In a wider context – the Arab
Spring - revolutions and protests
in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and
several other Arab countries.
The Syrian civil war begins.
Britain plays a prominent part in
the international intervention in
the conflict in Libya.
-Prince William married
Catherine (Kate) Middleton in
Westminster Abbey on 29 April.
They subsequently took the titles
the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge.
-The government announces a
public inquiry, the Leveson
Inquiry, into phone hacking and
police bribery by now defunct
the News of the World
newspaper, and the culture and
ethics of the British newspaper
industry in general.
-Jimmy Savile, DJ, fund-raiser
and eccentric media personality,
died. After his death, it emerged
 that he had been a prolific and
predatory sex offender.
-The killing of 29-year old Mark
Duggan by police is a catalyst for
widespread rioting and looting
in many poorer areas of
London, and in several other
English cities.
2012 -HM the Queen’s Diamond
Jubilee - 60 years.
-Britain hosts the hugely
successful Summer Olympics and
Paralympics.
2013 -British Army Drummer Lee
Rigby is hacked to death in
south London by two Islamic
extremists.
-The Duchess of Cambridge gives
birth to a son George – heir to
the throne after his grandfather,
Charles, and father, William.
-The House of Commons votes
against UK military involvement
in Syria.
2014 -Support surges for the UK
Independence Party (UKIP) in
local and European elections.
-Thousands of yellow bikes
appear in Yorkshire to celebrate
the start of the 101st Tour de
France.
-In September, a referendum in
Scotland rejects independence
(cessation from the UK), with
55% opting to remain within
the United Kingdom and 45%
favouring departure.
-Same-sex marriage becomes
legal in England, Wales and
Scotland.
 -The UK ends combat operations
in Afghanistan.
2015 -At the general election in May,
the Conservative Party win a
majority – against the
predictions of pollsters. Its
coalition partners, the Liberal
Democrats, lose all except 8
seats. UKIP wins nearly 4
million votes, but just 1 seat; and
the Scottish National Party wins
all but 3 seats in Scotland,
becoming third largest party in
parliament.
-On 9 September, Queen
Elizabeth II became the longest-
reigning UK monarch ever, after
Queen Victoria who reigned for
63 years and 7 months.
2016 -21 April - HM The Queen’s
90th birthday.
-Iranian-British citizen Nazanin
Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained
by the Iranian authorities on
spying charges, marking the
beginning of a long-running saga
to free her from captivity.
-Outsiders Leicester City Football
Club win the Premier League.
-MP Jo Cox was fatally shot and
stabbed as she was about to
hold a constituency surgery in
Birstall, West Yorkshire. Her
murderer, right-wing terrorist
Thomas Mair, was subsequently
given a whole life sentence. Jo
Cox famously said, ““We are far
more united and have far more
in common than that which
divides us.”
 -In a national referendum in
June, the UK narrowly voted to
leave the European Union.
Prime Minister David Cameron
resigned and was succeeded by
former home secretary, Theresa
May.
2017 -Queen Elizabeth II celebrated
her Sapphire Jubilee – 65 years.
-On 29 March, the Prime
Minister invoked Article 50 of
the Treaty on European Union,
beginning the UK’s withdrawal
(nicknamed ‘Brexit’), from the
European Union (EU).
-Islamist Khalid Masood kills five
people, including a police
officer, and injured 45, driving a
car along the pavement on
Westminster Bridge and
attempting to break into
Parliament.
-In May, a homemade bomb
packed with shrapnel killed 23
people and injured more than
500 at Manchester Arena after a
concert by the American singer
Ariana Grande.
-In June, three Islamic terrorists
drove a van at people on
London Bridge and subsequently
rampaged through the area with
knives. 8 were killed and 48
injured. The terrorists were shot
dead by police.
-A disastrous fire at Grenfell
Tower, a block of flats in North
Kensington, London, in which 71
people died, highlights
inadequate safety measures in
tower blocks.
 -The June general election called
by Prime Minister Theresa May,
in the hope of increasing her
majority, resulted in a narrow
Conservative victory and a
minority government supported
by the Northern Irish
Democratic Unionists.
2018 -In February, the UK was
battered by some of the worst
weather in decades, nicknamed
‘the Beast from the East’. 17
people died.
-Ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal
and his daughter Yulia were
poisoned with a nerve agent,
novichok, in the historic city of
Salisbury. Britain blamed Russia
for the attack, sparking a
diplomatic crisis. 153 Russian
diplomats were expelled from
29 countries.
-Political consulting firm
Cambridge Analytica was
exposed for gathering data from
more than 50 million Facebook
profiles without people's
consent.
-Home Secretary Amber Rudd
resigned in the wake of the
Windrush scandal, in which
people, mostly of Caribbean
heritage, were illegally denied
rights, or even deported from
the UK.
-Prince Henry Charles Albert
David of Wales married US
actress Rachel Meghan Markle in
St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
They took the titles the Duke
and Duchess of Sussex.
 -England was defeated 2-1 by
Croatia in the semi-finals of the
World Football Cup in Russia.
-A Trump baby blimp flew over
London during the US
President’s visit to Britain.
-The 96-year old Duke of
Edinburgh undertook his last
solo public engagement.
-In December, Prime Minister
Theresa May survived a vote of
no confidence in her leadership,
but her Brexit plan had still not
been agreed by Parliament.
2019 -The Office for National Statistics
reported that knife crime in
England and Wales was at its
highest level since records began
in 1946.
-Inspired by the teenage Swedish
environmental activist Greta
Thunberg, thousands of school
pupils across the UK went on
strike as part of a global
campaign for action on climate
change.
-Flooding in Derbyshire resulted
in the evacuation of 1500
residents of Whaley Bridge and
nearby communities.
-Security concerns arose over the
Chinese telecoms firm Huawei’s
involvement in the UK’s 5G
network.
-11.7 million UK TV viewers
watched England lose 1-2 to the
USA in the FIFA Women's World
Cup. It was the most-watched
British television broadcast of
the year.
 -14 July was dubbed ‘Super
Sunday’. England narrowly
defeated New Zealand in a nail-
biting Cricket World Cup final at
Lord's; Lewis Hamilton won a
record sixth Formula 1 British
Grand Prix at Silverstone; and in
the Wimbledon men’s tennis
final, Serbian Novak Djokovic
beat Swiss Roger Federer in the
longest ever final at four hours
57 minutes.
-US citizen, Anne Sacoolas, was
involved in a fatal road accident
in which 19-year old
motorcyclist Harry Dunn had
died. Mrs Sacoolas claimed
diplomatic immunity and fled
the UK.
-39 Vietnamese immigrants were
found suffocated to death in a
refrigerated lorry container in
Essex.
-Prince Andrew, the Duke of
York, announced he was
stepping down from public
duties.
-In the general election on 12
December, the Conservative
Party achieved a majority of 80
in the House of Commons, with
365 seats. The Labour Party, led
by Jeremy Corbyn, was reduced
to 203 seats - their lowest
proportion of seats since 1935.
-On 20 December, MPs voted in
favour of the Brexit withdrawal
agreement by 358 to 234,
paving the way for the UK's exit
from the EU on 31 January
2020.
 -On 25 December, Gavin and
Stacy’s Christmas Day TV special
was watched by 11.6 million
people, the biggest festive
ratings success in more than a
decade.
2020 -Harry and Meghan, the Duke
and Duchess of Sussex,
announced plans to "step back as
senior members" of Britain's
royal family.
-The first two cases of
coronavirus in the United
Kingdom were confirmed on 31
January.
-The United Kingdom and
Gibraltar formally withdrew
from the European Union and
an 11-month transition period
began, during which they
remained in the Single Market
and Customs Union.
-The Government confirmed it
was looking at the feasibility of
building a bridge between
Scotland and Northern Ireland.
-A study showed that life
expectancy in England had not
grown for the first time in more
than 100 years.
-The first death from the
coronavirus in the UK was
confirmed on 5 March.
-The WHO declared the COVID-
19 outbreak a pandemic. The
Chancellor, Rishi Sunak,
announced the first of many
measures aimed to protect the
economy and jobs. These came
to include the furlough scheme,
which paid 80% of wages for
 those employed, but unable to
work, up to £2,500 per month.
-13 March – normal life began to
shut down in the UK. Local
elections were postponed, the
Premier Football League season
was suspended and there was
panic-buying at shops,
particularly of items such as
pasta, toilet paper and anti-
bacterial gel.
-16 March – Prime Minister
Johnson advised people to
avoid non-essential travel and
contact with others, including at
pubs and other social venues,
and to work from home if
possible.
-20 March - Cafes, pubs,
restaurants, nightclubs, theatres,
cinemas, gyms and leisure
centres were ordered to close.
- On 23 March, a UK-wide
lockdown was announced.
-26 March – the first of a
nationwide weekly ‘clap for
carers’ tribute, every Thursday at
8pm.
-Keir Starmer was elected as the
leader of the Labour Party,
succeeding Jeremy Corbyn.
-Queen Elizabeth II broadcast to
the nation, paying tribute to
health and other key workers,
saying that the UK will
ultimately succeed against the
coronavirus and thanking people
for following restrictions.
-Prime Minister Boris Johnson
went into intensive care
suffering from the coronavirus.
 -2 December – The UK
approved the new
Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19
vaccine, the first country in the
world to do so. Enough was
ordered to vaccinate 20 million
people. On 8 December, 90-
year-old Margaret Keenan
became the first person in the
world to be vaccinated with it.
-The Government announced
the identification of a new,
more infectious, strain of
COVID-19.
-The planned relaxation of
restrictions over Christmas was
limited to Christmas Day only.
Everyone was told to stay local
and non-essential shops were
closed. Scotland banned travel
to/from other parts of the UK.
Wales announced a return to
lockdown.
-24 December – after months of
sabre-rattling and seeming
deadlock over a Brexit deal, an
agreement between the UK and
the EU was finally, at the last
minute, reached.
-25 December – Britain enjoyed
the quietest Christmas anyone
had ever known. The Queen’s
Christmas message topped the
TV ratings, with an audience of
8.14 million. ‘Call The Midwife’
came second, with 5.43 million.
UK deaths from Coronavirus
exceeded 70,000. In under a
year, the virus killed more than
the total number of civilians
 killed in almost six years during
the Second World War.
2021 -On 4 January, due to massively
increasing infections and deaths,
the Government announced a
return to full lockdown in
England. Tougher restrictions
were announced in Scotland
too.
-A second vaccine against
COVID-19, developed by
Oxford–AstraZeneca, was rolled
out.
-Meghan, Duchess of Sussex,
made accusations of racism
against an unnamed member of
the Royal Family and revealed
suicidal thoughts on US TV.
-The decennial Census was held
in England, Wales, and Northern
Ireland.
-23 March – A minute's silence
was held to remember the
126,172 people who had died of
the COVID-19 virus since the
beginning of the national
lockdown exactly a year
previously.
-9 April – Prince Philip, Duke of
Edinburgh and husband of the
Queen, died at the age of 99.
He was the longest-serving royal
consort in history and widely
mourned. A TV audience of 13.6
million watched his funeral at
Windsor Castle on 17 April.
-In one of the worst miscarriages
of justice in British legal history,
the Court of Appeal cleared 39
sub-postmasters of theft, fraud
and false accounting. Some of
 the convicted were imprisoned,
lost their livelihoods and homes,
went bankrupt – and some died
before their names were cleared.
-Due to the pandemic,
government borrowing reached
£303.1bn - the highest level since
WW2.
--The Dukes of Cambridge and
Sussex, Princes William and
Harry, unveiled a statue of their
mother Diana, Princess of Wales,
at Kensington Palace. It would
have been her 60th birthday.
-In the Euro football
competition, England reached
the final of a major contest for
the first time since 1966 by
beating Denmark 2-1 at
Wembley.
-Southern Water was fined a
record £90m for deliberately
dumping billions of litres of raw
sewage into the sea off
Hampshire, Kent and West
Sussex.
-England lost to Italy 2-3 on
penalties in the European
Championship final at Wembley,
following a 1-1 draw after extra
time. Watched by an estimated
TV audience of c31 million, the
game was marred by thuggish
behaviour of some English fans,
including the racial abuse of
England players on social media.
-14 July – Record rainfall across
Western Europe caused rivers to
burst banks and significant
flooding, starting in Belgium,
Germany, the Netherlands, and
 Switzerland. There were 242
deaths.
Europe's largest battery storage
project, a 100-megawatt system
in Minety, Wiltshire, went
operational. It has the capacity
to provide electricity for up to
10,000 homes for 24 hours.
-19 July – Most remaining legal
restrictions on social contact in
England were removed.
UNESCO removed Liverpool’s
World Heritage status, saying
that waterfront developments
had resulted in a "serious
deterioration" of the historic site.
World Heritage Status was
awarded to the Slate Landscape
of Northwest Wales.
-Barbados, a member of the
Commonwealth and formerly
part of the British Empire,
became a republic.
-By 29 December 2021, the
number of deaths from COVID-
19 in the UK reached 148, 637.
At the end of December, 47.4
million people had received two
doses of vaccine and 33.9 had
received their third, booster,
dose.
2022 -Buckingham Palace announced
that Prince Andrew's military
affiliations and royal patronages
have been returned to the
Queen. He will no longer use
the style ‘His Royal Highness’.
-Reports emerge of further
potential breaches of COVID
restrictions at Downing Street.
Among these was the revelation
 that two staff parties were held
at Downing Street the night
before Prince Philip's funeral.
Downing Street apologised to
the Queen.
-6 February – The 70th
anniversary of Queen Elizabeth
II’s accession to the throne – her
Platinum Jubilee.
-A ‘no fault’ rule came into
effect in divorce law in England
and Wales. Couples no longer
have to separate for at least two
years.
-Home Secretary, Priti Patel,
apologised for delays in
accepting Ukrainian refugees to
the UK.
-10 May – Queen Elizabeth’s
‘episodic mobility problems’
prevent her from attending the
State Opening of Parliament.
Her heir, Charles, Prince of
Wales and Prince William, Duke
of Cambridge deputise for her.
-4 July – The number of pubs in
England and Wales fell below
40,000, the lowest ever
recorded.
-8 September – Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth II died at
Balmoral Castle, aged 96. Her
son succeeded to the throne as
Charles III.
-19 September – The State
Funeral of Queen Elizabeth took
place following a 10-day period
of national mourning, during
which hundreds of thousands
paid their respects as she lay in
state. The service was held at
 Westminster Abbey, followed by
a committal service at St
George's Chapel at Windsor
Castle. Thousands lined the
route through London and from
there to Windsor.
-20 October – after just 45 days
in office, Prime Minister Liz Truss
resigned, resulting in a further
Conservative Party leadership
competition. She is the shortest
serving Prime Minister in British
history.
-24 October – following an
accelerated process, Rishi Sunak
is chosen as leader of the
Conservative Party. There was
one other declared candidate,
Penny Mordaunt, who
withdrew at the last minute
having failed to reach the
required 100 MPs needed to
secure her nomination.

2023 -4 January – The Crown

Dependency of Jersey will issue
Jersey Post stamps featuring the
Royal cypher of King Charles III
from 5 January.
-Prince Harry's controversial
memoir Spare is released,
becoming "the fastest selling
non-fiction book of all time" on
the date of its release.