Events from the year 1926 in the United Kingdom. The year was dominated by the general strike.

Incumbents Monarch – George V Prime Minister – Stanley Baldwin (Conservative)

Events 1 January – Law of Property Act 1925 and Administration of Estates Act 1925 come into effect modernising the laws on real estate and intestacy. 2 January – Contributory old age pensions payable to those between 65 and 70 years of age under the provisions of the Widows', Orphans', and Old-Age Contributory Pensions Act of 1925. 16 January – A British Broadcasting Company radio play by Ronald Knox about workers' revolution in London causes a panic among those who have not heard the preliminary announcement that it is a satire on broadcasting. 26 January – Scottish inventor John Logie Baird demonstrates his pioneering mechanical television system (which he calls a "televisor") at his London laboratory for members of the Royal Institution and a reporter from The Times. 31 January – British and Belgian troops leave Cologne. 9 February – Flooding of London suburbs. c. February – K2 red telephone box introduced, chiefly in London area. 6 March – The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon is destroyed by fire. 17 March – University of Reading chartered, the only institution to be newly granted full university status in the U.K. in the interwar period. 30 April – A state of emergency is proclaimed under the Emergency Powers Act 1920 on account of the "threat of cessation of work in Coal Mines".Hansard, House of Commons, 5th Series, vol. 195, col. 35 (3 May 1926). 1 May – Coal miners' lockout begins in Britain over planned pay reductions. 3 May – A general strike begins in support of the miners' strike at midnight 3–4 May. 4 May – The BBC broadcasts five news bulletins a day as no newspapers are published due to the general strike. 10 May – Talks between government and strikers begin. 12 May – The general strike ends at midnight 12–13 May without concessions to the strikers; coal miners remain on strike. 15 July – Re-Election of Ministers Act (1919) Amendment Act abolishes ministerial by-elections. 24 July – First greyhound racing track in Britain opens in Manchester. 6 August – American swimmer Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim the English Channel, from France to England. 7 August – The first British Grand Prix held at the Brooklands circuit near Weybridge. 18 August – The Miners' Federation of Great Britain begins negotiations with the government. 30 August – Cricketer Jack Hobbs scores 316 runs in a match at Lord's, the highest individual total scored at that ground. 29 November – Coal miners agree to end their national dispute and return to work. A majority of the Miners Federation have voted to continue the strike but with less than the required two-thirds majority. December – Imperial Chemical Industries formed by merger of Brunner Mond, Nobel Explosives, the United Alkali Company, and the British Dyestuffs Corporation. 2 December – The Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin ends the state of emergency that had been declared due to the miners' strike. 3 December – Agatha Christie disappears from her home in Surrey; on 14 December she is found in a Harrogate hotel (under her husband's mistress's surname) by journalist Ritchie Calder. 7 December – The Council for the Preservation of Rural England, later the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), is founded by Patrick Abercrombie to limit urban sprawl and ribbon development. 15 December Legitimacy Act 1926 permits the legitimisation of a child born to unmarried parents by their subsequent marriage to each other. Judicial Proceedings (Regulation of Reports) Act, intended to restrict press reporting of salacious details in divorce cases. Electricity (Supply) Act creates the Central Electricity Board to set up the National Grid. 31 December – Hadow report on The Education of the Adolescent published.

Undated New Ways, a house for Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke in Northampton, is designed by German architect Peter Behrens; it is "a pioneer of modern architecture in Britain". First appearance of the Gill Sans sans-serif typeface, designed by Eric Gill for Douglas Cleverdon.

Publications Patrick Abercrombie's tract The Preservation of Rural England. Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Georgette Heyer's historical romance novel These Old Shades. D. H. Lawrence's novel The Plumed Serpent. Hugh MacDiarmid's Scots language poem A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle. A. A. Milne's children's book Winnie-the-Pooh. Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey novel Clouds of Witness.

Births

1 January – Laurie Clough, cricketer (died 2008) 3 January – George Martin, producer of The Beatles (died 2016) 4 January – Don Arden, music manager (died 2007) 5 January – Robin Leigh-Pemberton, Baron Kingsdown, peer, banker (died 2013) 13 January Craigie Aitchison, painter (died 2009) Michael Bond, author and creator of Paddington Bear (died 2017) 14 January – Warren Mitchell, actor (died 2015) 17 January – Moira Shearer, actress and dancer (died 2006) 19 January – Bob Wooler, disc jockey (died 2002) 20 January – Sarah Conlon, campaigner (died 2008) 25 January – Richard Davies, actor (died 2015) 26 January Ronnie Hilton, singer and radio presenter (died 2001) Charles Henderson Tidbury, brewing executive (died 2003) 2 February – David Whitfield, actor and singer (died 1980) 10 February Danny Blanchflower, footballer and football manager (died 1993) Hazel Court, actress (died 2008) 11 February – Alexander Gibson, conductor and founder of Scottish Opera (died 1995) 12 February – Paul Hamlyn, publisher and philanthropist (born in Germany; died 2001) 16 February David C. H. Austin, rose breeder (died 2018) John Schlesinger, film director (died 2003) 20 February – Gillian Lynne, choreographer (died 2018) 22 February – Kenneth Williams, actor (died 1988) 24 February – Reg Freeson, politician (died 2006) 1 March Barbara Clegg, actress and scriptwriter (died 2025) Bryan Jennett, neurosurgeon (died 2008) 2 March – George P. L. Walker, geologist (died 2005) 5 March – Norman Macfarlane, Baron Macfarlane of Bearsden, Scottish industrialist and politician (died 2021) 6 March – Ken Whyld, chess player and chess writer (died 2003) 8 March – Edith MacArthur, actress (died 2018) 11 March Derek Benfield, actor (died 2009) Dennis Wilshaw, footballer (died 2004) 12 March – Gudrun Ure, actress (died 2024) 14 March – Lita Roza, singer (died 2008) 19 March – Tony Collins, English football player and manager (died 2021) 22 March – Alastair Reid, Scottish poet and scholar of South American literature (died 2014) 24 March – Tony Streather, army officer (died 2018) 26 March – Frank Newby, structural engineer (died 2001) 27 March – Louis Blom-Cooper, lawyer (died 2018) 31 March – John Fowles, novelist (died 2005) 1 April – William Macpherson, Scottish High Court judge (died 2021) 2 April – Robert Holmes, scriptwriter (died 1986) 3 April – Timothy Bateson, actor (died 2009) 6 April – Ian Paisley, politician (died 2014) 8 April – David Neil MacKenzie, linguist (died 2001) 9 April – Gerry Fitt, politician (died 2005) 11 April – Gervase de Peyer, clarinetist (died 2017) 13 April – John Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough, aristocrat (died 2014) 17 April – Gordon Rollings, actor (died 1985) 20 April – Cy Laurie, clarinetist (died 2002) 21 April Arthur Rowley, footballer (died 2002) Queen Elizabeth II (died 2022) 22 April – James Stirling, architect (died 1992) 24 April – Lady Elizabeth Cavendish, aristocrat and courtier (died 2018) 26 April – David Coleman, television sports broadcaster (died 2013) 29 April – Leonard Fenton, actor and director (died 2022) 30 April – Edmund Cooper, author and poet (died 1982) 2 May – Clive Jenkins, trade union leader (died 1999) 3 May – Eric Sams, musicologist and Shakespeare scholar (died 2004) 4 May – David Stoddart, Baron Stoddart of Swindon, politician (died 2020) 5 May – Maurice Taylor, Scottish Roman Catholic bishop (died 2023) 8 May – David Attenborough, broadcaster and naturalist 12 May – John Shipley Rowlinson, chemist and academic (died 2018) 14 May – Eric Morecambe, comedian (died 1984) 15 May – Anthony Shaffer (died 2001) and Peter Shaffer (died 2016), playwrights 16 May - Glen Michael, television presenter and children's entertainer (died 2025) 17 May Cicely Berry, theatre director and voice coach (died 2018) Tenniel Evans, actor (died 2009) David Ogilvy, 13th Earl of Airlie, Scottish soldier, politician (died 2023) 19 May – Edward Parkes, engineer and academic (died 2019) 22 May – John Morrison, 2nd Viscount Dunrossil, peer and diplomat (died 2000) 23 May – Desmond Carrington, actor and broadcaster (died 2017) 24 May – Stanley Baxter, Scottish actor and screenwriter (died 2025) 25 May – David Wynne, sculptor (died 2014) 28 May – Colin Hutton, rugby union, rugby league player (died 2017) 29 May – Katie Boyle, Italian-British actress, television personality, and game-show panelist (died 2018) 1 June – Johnny Berry, footballer (died 1994) 4 June – Meredith Belbin, researcher and management consultant (died 2025) 8 June Cranley Onslow, politician (died 2001) David Williams, crime writer (died 2003) 10 June – Lionel Jeffries, actor and director (died 2010) 11 June – John Aspinall, zoo owner (died 2000) 17 June – Alan Walters, economist (died 2009) 20 June – Ernest Arthur Bell, biochemist (died 2006) 23 June – Lawson Soulsby, parasitologist (died 2017) 25 June – Dame Margaret Anstee, diplomat (died 2016) 26 June Felicity Green, fashion journalist (died 2026) Sir Rex Hunt, diplomat (died 2012) Reg Newton, professional football goalkeeper (died 1976) 29 June – Denys Graham, Welsh actor (died 2024) 4 July – Willoughby Goddard, actor (died 2008) 5 July – Anthony Purssell, brewing executive, businessman and former athlete 7 July – Bobby McIlvenny, Northern Irish footballer (died 2016) 8 July – Ian Gilmour, Conservative politician (died 2007) 12 July – Cec Thompson, rugby league footballer (died 2011) 18 July Elizabeth Jennings, poet (died 2001) Robert Sloman, actor and journalist (died 2005) 21 July Bill Pertwee, actor (died 2013) Karel Reisz, Czech-born film director (died 2002) 22 July – Bryan Forbes, film director (died 2013) 27 July – Nina Lawson, wig-maker (died 2008) 30 July – Thomas Patrick Russell, High Court judge (died 2002) 1 August – Hannah Hauxwell, farmer and TV personality (died 2018) 3 August – Anthony Sampson, journalist and biographer (died 2004) 9 August – Willie Finlay, Scottish professional football player and coach (died 2014) 11 August – Bernard Ashley, businessman (died 2009) 13 August – Dennis Eagan, field hockey player (died 2012) 16 August – Christopher Polge, biologist (died 2006) 17 August – George Melly, jazz singer (died 2007) 19 August George Daniels, horologist (died 2011) Martin Halliday, physician (died 2008) 27 August – Pat Coombs, actress (died 2002) 4 September – George William Gray, Scottish-born chemist, pioneer of liquid crystal technology (died 2013) 6 September Maurice Cowling, historian (died 2005) Arthur Oldham, composer and choirmaster (died 2003) 7 September – Patrick Jenkin, Conservative politician (died 2016) 12 September – Dave Valentine, Scottish representative rugby union and rugby league footballer (died 1976) 17 September – Reginald Marsh, actor (died 2001) 18 September – Thomas Hetherington, barrister (died 2007) 24 September – Aubrey Burl, archaeologist"(Harry) Aubrey (Woodruff) Burl". Contemporary Authors Online. Gale, 2005. Retrieved on 25 November 2009. (died 2020) 25 September – Stafford Beer, theorist and author (died 2002) 2 October – Jan Morris, born James Morris, travel writer (died 2020) 9 October – Ruth Ellis, nightclub hostess, last woman hanged in the UK (died 1955)