Events from the year 2013 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents Monarch – Elizabeth II Prime Minister – David Cameron (Coalition)
Events
January 1 January – the United Kingdom assumes presidency of the G8 group. The next G8 summit is to be held on the shores of Lough Erne, County Fermanagh in June. 4 January – Mark Cahill, a 51-year-old former pub landlord from West Yorkshire becomes the first person in the UK to receive a hand transplant. 10 January – April Casburn, a senior detective with the Metropolitan Police is found guilty of trying to sell information on the investigation into phone hacking to the News of the World, the newspaper at the centre of the scandal. On 1 February she is jailed for fifteen months. 11 January – publication of the Giving Victims a Voice report, initiated as a result of publicity surrounding the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal. 13 January – 86 year old Una Crown is found murdered at her home in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. 16 January – a helicopter crash in central London kills two people and injures 13 others. 19 January – an avalanche at Glencoe in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, kills four people. 22 January – a death sentence handed to British citizen Lindsay Sandiford by an Indonesian court for drug smuggling is condemned by the UK government. 28 January – Government plans to redraw Parliamentary constituency boundaries before the next general election are defeated in the House of Commons by 334 to 292. 30 January – Tony McCluskie is found guilty of the March 2012 murder of his sister, actress Gemma McCluskie, and jailed for life with a recommendation he serve a minimum term of 20 years.
February 4 February – former government Minister Chris Huhne pleads guilty to perverting the course of justice over claims he caused his ex-wife to accept speeding points he had incurred. He also announces his intention to resign his House of Commons seat. 5 February – the House of Commons votes 400 to 175 in favour of a vote on the bill to legalise same-sex marriage in England and Wales. 7 February – Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove confirms that plans to replace the General Certificate of Secondary Education with a new English Baccalaureate qualification have been abandoned. 23 February – the UK loses its top AAA credit rating for the first time since 1978 after being downgraded by the ratings agency Moody's. 25 February – Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Britain's most senior Roman Catholic cleric, resigns as the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh due to allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour towards priests in the 1980s. 27 February – Archbishop of Glasgow Philip Tartaglia is appointed apostolic administrator of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh following the resignation of Cardinal Keith O'Brien. 28 February – the Eastleigh by-election, triggered by the resignation of Chris Huhne, sees the Liberal Democrats hold the seat despite a UKIP surge that pushes the Conservatives into third place.
March 4 March Queen Elizabeth II is admitted to hospital for observation after experiencing symptoms of gastroenteritis. Buckingham Palace have described it as a "precaution". She is discharged the following day. Psychiatric patient Nicola Edgington, who stabbed a woman to death six years after killing her mother is jailed for life with a minimum of 37 years. 7 March Foreign Secretary William Hague announces the UK will send armoured vehicles and body armour to opposition forces in Syria to help save lives. The Office of Fair Trading gives the leading 50 companies providing payday loans in the United Kingdom 12 weeks to change their practices after identifying "widespread irresponsible lending". Mid Ulster by-election results in Sinn Féin retaining the seat vacated by Martin McGuinness. Vicky Pryce, ex-wife of former Cabinet Minister Chris Huhne, is convicted of perverting the course of justice after accepting speeding penalty points on Huhne's behalf. Closure of Daw Mill colliery following a major fire, the last mine in the Warwickshire coalfield. 11 March – Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce are each jailed for eight months for perverting the course of justice. 14 March Prime Minister David Cameron says talks between himself and the leaders of the UK's other main political parties on the recommendations of the Leveson report have broken down and that he intends to publish a Royal Charter on press regulation. Labour Party peer Lord Ahmed is suspended from the party after claiming a conspiracy by Jewish-owned media organisations was responsible for his imprisonment for dangerous driving. 16 March Lance Corporal James Ashworth, who died in southern Afghanistan in 2012 while protecting his colleagues from a grenade blast, is to be awarded the Victoria Cross. 62 people are arrested by Warwickshire Police following civil unrest in Nuneaton town centre ahead of a football match between Nuneaton Town and Lincoln City. 18 March – the final BBC news bulletins are transmitted from Television Centre, after 43 years of occupying the building, as the corporation moves its entire news operation to Broadcasting House in central London. 21 March The date for the Scottish independence referendum is announced as 18 September 2014. A man is killed when his vehicle is hit by a First Great Western express train on Athelney Level Crossing on the Reading–Taunton line in Somerset. 23 March – a blizzard which brings the heaviest March snow for 50+ years hits the north of England. 26 March Former Foreign Secretary David Miliband confirms he is to resign as an MP and move to the United States to become head of the International Rescue Committee in New York. A teenage girl is found dead by police at a house in the Atherton area of Greater Manchester where four "out of control" dogs are subsequently put down. Police said her injuries are consistent with those of a dog attack. She is named the following day as 14-year-old Jade Anderson.
April 1 April – Police Scotland begins operations, merging all the former forces in the country. 3 April – 17-year-old Paris Brown is appointed as the first youth Police and Crime Commissioner by Kent PCC Ann Barnes. Her job is to represent young people's views on policing in Kent. 8 April – former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher dies in London following a stroke. Street parties are held in a number of cities across the UK to "celebrate".
9 April – six days after being appointed as Britain's first Youth Police and Crime Commissioner, Paris Brown steps down from the role after controversy over postings she made on Twitter. 10 April – "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead" charts at number 10 in the Official Midweek Charts as opponents of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher have been buying copies of the song following her death two days earlier. 17 April – the funeral of Margaret Thatcher takes place at London's St Paul's Cathedral. 19 April – the Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester is granted full university status as the Royal Agricultural University. 22 April A London house goes on sale for a record £250 million, 700 times greater than the average £370,000 cost of a property in the city. Manchester United are crowned champions of England for the 20th time. It is their 13th Premier League title. 23 April – businessman James McCormick is convicted at the Old Bailey on three counts of fraud after selling fake bomb detectors, based on a device for finding golf balls, to countries including Iraq and Georgia. On 2 May he is jailed for ten years. 25 April – passing of the following Acts of Parliament: Defamation Act 2013. Succession to the Crown Act 2013 alters the laws of succession to the British throne in accordance with the 2011 Perth Agreement to replace male-preference primogeniture with absolute primogeniture for those in the line of succession. This comes into effect in the UK and Commonwealth realms in 2015.Succession to the Crown Act 2013.
May 2 May 2013 local elections show gains for the Labour Party and UKIP and losses for the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative Party. Labour's Emma Lewell-Buck retains the South Shields Parliamentary seat for the party following the by-election triggered by the resignation of David Miliband. However, Labour's majority is reduced significantly after the UK Independence Party secures almost a quarter of the votes cast. 8 May – Sir Alex Ferguson, the most successful manager in English football during his 27 years as manager of Manchester United, announces his retirement after the end of the Premier League season later in the month. 9 May – David Moyes, who has managed Everton for 11 years during which they have qualified for European competitions on five occasions, is announced as the successor to Sir Alex Ferguson. 11 May – Wigan Athletic win the FA Cup with a 1–0 win over Manchester City. Ben Watson scores the winning goal, a header from Shaun Maloney's corner, in the 90th minute of the game. 13 May – Stuart Hazell, 38, admits the murder of Tia Sharp, 12-year-old granddaughter of his partner Christine Sharp, who was found dead in New Addington, London, nine months ago. His murder trial at the Old Bailey began six days ago but he has previously denied the charge against him. The following day, he is sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended minimum term of 38 years. 14 May The Conservative Party publishes a draft European Union (Referendum) Bill aimed at holding a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union by 2017. Prime Minister David Cameron had previously said a referendum would be held if he could renegotiate the terms of Britain's EU membership, but Tory MPs have been unhappy that legislation for a referendum was not included in the recent Queen's Speech. Three days after winning the FA Cup, Wigan Athletic are relegated from the Premier League after a 4–1 defeat to Arsenal, making history as the first team to win the FA Cup and get relegated in the same season. 15 May In the House of Commons, an amendment to the Queen's Speech expressing regret that it did not contain legislation for a referendum on Britain's EU membership is defeated 277–131. MPs debate government proposals to tighten the law governing dangerous dogs following the death of Jade Anderson in March. The legislation would give police greater powers to deal with attacks on private property. 16 May – UKIP leader Nigel Farage is heckled by angry protesters during a campaign visit to Edinburgh. 21 May – MPs vote 366–161 in favour of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill taking an important step towards allowing gay marriage in England and Wales. 22 May – murder of Lee Rigby in Woolwich: off-duty British soldier Fusilier Lee Rigby, a former drummer serving with 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, is killed in the street. Two men carrying knives and a meat cleaver are subsequently apprehended by police. The government treats the killing as a terrorist incident. The victim's identity is confirmed the following day. 24 May – a 24-year-old zoo worker is seriously injured after being attacked by a Sumatran tiger at South Lakes Wild Animal Park in Cumbria. Sarah McClay subsequently dies in hospital as a result of her injuries. Police launch an investigation into the attack. 25 May – 48 people are rescued from a trip boat which begins taking on water after colliding with a rock off the coast of Pembrokeshire. 30 May – a court in Mold, Wales, finds Mark Bridger guilty of abducting and murdering five-year-old April Jones in October 2012. The trial judge recommends that 47-year-old Bridger should never be released from prison. Only bone fragments of April Jones are ever found. 31 May – Conservative MP Patrick Mercer resigns the Tory whip following allegations he broke the rules on lobbying. He will not contest his seat in the next general election.
June