Events from the year 2015 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents Monarch – Elizabeth II Prime Minister – David Cameron (Coalition until 8 May; Conservative starting 8 May)
Events
January 2 January – Buckingham Palace denies "any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors" by Prince Andrew, Duke of York, after he was named in U.S. court documents related to a lawsuit against convicted sex offender, American financier Jeffrey Epstein. 3 January – Eight people are reported missing after a cargo vessel, the Cemfjord, capsizes in the Pentland Firth, Scotland. 4 January – The Höegh Osaka, a Singaporean cargo ship transporting luxury cars, runs aground near the Isle of Wight after it started listing shortly after leaving the Port of Southampton. An investigation is launched. 6 January Figures from the last three months show that England's hospital Accident & Emergency waiting time performance has dropped to its worst levels for a decade. Comedian and actor Stephen Fry confirms he is to marry his partner, Elliott Spencer. The couple are married two weeks later at a registry office in Norfolk. 7 January – The SMMT announce that car sales surged in 2014 with 2.47 million new cars registered; a 9% increase from 2013 and the best annual performance since 2004. 9 January Hurricane-force winds cause travel disruption and leave tens of thousands of homes without power across Scotland. Circle Holdings, the first private company to operate an NHS hospital, announces plans to withdraw from its contract to run Hinchingbrooke Hospital because it believes the franchise is "no longer viable under current terms". Chancellor George Osborne says that tackling terrorism is a "national priority" and security services will get all of the resources they need in light of the recent Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, and the MI5 confirming that three UK plots had been recently stopped. Abu Hamza, the former head of London's Finsbury Park Mosque who preached Islamic terrorism, is sentenced to life in prison by a US court. 11 January – Major London landmarks, including Trafalgar Square and Tower Bridge, are lit in the colours of the French national flag in tribute to the victims of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris. 12 January 19-year-old Lewis Daynes who murdered 14-year-old Breck Bednar in February 2014 after meeting him online, is sentenced to life in prison. Security chiefs meet with David Cameron to review the risk of a terrorist attack, similar to the recent attacks in Paris, as the likelihood of such an event becomes greater. David Cameron brands Fox News' terror expert a "complete idiot" after he claims that Birmingham is "totally Muslim" and "non-Muslims just simply don't go in". 13 January – Figures show that inflation rates fell to 0.5% in December, the joint lowest on record, mainly due to the drop in fuel prices. 14 January The Met Office warns that a storm, dubbed "Storm Rachel", will bring snow, ice, rain, floods and gale-force winds to the UK. This is after severe heavy snow and gales hit Scotland, and a tornado struck homes in Wales the previous night. Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage, the leaders respectively of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the UK Independence Party, write to Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader David Cameron to say that they will still take part in the planned pre-election televised debates even if he is not present. Cameron had said he would not take part unless the Green Party was included, but the other leaders call for the various broadcasters holding the debates to include an empty podium, enabling Cameron to be included if he changes his mind. 15 January A set of council offices, a funeral parlour, and a thatched cottage are extensively damaged after they are set ablaze due to a spate of arson attacks in South Oxfordshire. A suspect is arrested. Ethel Lang, the last person living in the UK who was born during the reign of Queen Victoria, dies aged 114. 16 January – UK counter-terrorism police warn that members of the Jewish community could be at risk following the recent terror incidents in Paris. 21 January Sir John Chilcot says that his report into the Iraq war will be published after the general election. A draft version has been completed, but time is needed for those criticised by the findings of the inquiry to respond. The Sun defiantly denies that it is to cease publishing topless women on Page 3 after posting a preview of its next publication featuring topless model Nicole Neal, calling the recent absence of the feature a "mammary lapse". 23 January – New proposals are published by the UK's major broadcasters to include the leaders of more political parties in the forthcoming televised debates. The BBC and ITV will now host seven-way debates between the leaders of the Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, UK Independence Party, the Green Party, the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru. Meanwhile, Channel 4 and Sky will host head-to-head debates between David Cameron and Ed Miliband. 24 January David Cameron and Prince Charles fly to Saudi Arabia to pay respects to the late King Abdullah who died the previous day. UK Independence Party MEP Amjad Bashir defects to the Conservative Party, describing his former party as one of "ruthless self-interest". In response, UKIP claims Bashir was suspended from the party over "extremely serious" financial issues, something Bashir dismisses as "absurd and made-up allegations". 26 January – Libby Lane becomes the first woman ordained as a bishop in the Church of England (suffragan Bishop of Stockport), at York Minster. 27 January – Helen Macdonald wins the 2014 Costa Book Awards with her autobiographical H is for Hawk. 28 January – An earthquake of magnitude 3.8 is felt across the East Midlands. 30 January – Commemorations are made for the fiftieth anniversary of Sir Winston Churchill's funeral, including a church service at Westminster Abbey, and the retracing of the same boat journey that carried Churchill's coffin along the River Thames in 1965. 31 January – The head of the Police Federation of England and Wales expresses his controversial support for all front-line police officers in England and Wales to be offered Tasers in light of the increased terrorism threat to the UK.
February 2 February – London's population hits a record high of 8,600,000 which it hasn't seen since the beginning of the Second World War in 1939, and is forecast to reach 11,000,000 people by 2050. 3 February – MPs approve a controversial new technique to allow babies created from three people. If passed by the House of Lords, the UK will become the first country in the world to offer this medical procedure. 4 February The entire cabinet of Rotherham Borough Council announces its intention to resign from office, following a report into the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal concludes the council's handling of the scandal was "not fit for purpose". Home Secretary Theresa May appoints New Zealand judge Lowell Goddard to lead a new statutory inquiry into historical child sexual abuse. 5 February – Former pop star Gary Glitter is found guilty of sexually abusing three young girls between 1975 and 1980. 6 February Huge changes to England's NHS in recent years have been "disastrous" and distracted from patient care, a report by the King's Fund says. The Investigatory Powers Tribunal rules that GCHQ breached human rights laws by failing to disclose shared full details of information it shared with the United States that was garnered from data from mass internet surveillance. 9 February – A child and three adults are killed whilst four others are left seriously injured after a tipper truck crashes down a hill in Bath. An investigation is launched. 11 February – The government announces a review into road regulations and maintenance checks in preparation for driverless car technology. 13 February Former TV weather presenter Fred Talbot is convicted of indecently assaulting two boys while he worked at a school in Greater Manchester, and remanded in custody to await sentence. He is cleared of a further eight charges. The Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition sign a cross-party, non-partisan agreement to tackle climate change, seek a strong global climate deal, and to end the use of coal for power generation in the UK. 14 February – Four people are killed following two separate accidents on major motorways; three die after a coach collides with a stationary car on the M1 and one person dies in a forty vehicle pileup on the M40. 16 February – A study by King's College London indicates an increased risk of psychosis among those who smoke potent cannabis. 17 February Consumer price inflation fell to 0.3% in January, according to latest official figures, its lowest level since records began. Abid Naseer, a man who plotted a terrorist attack on a shopping centre in Manchester in 2009, which would have reportedly only come second to the September 11 attacks in its impact, stands trial in the United States. Five Britons are announced to be amongst the 100 Mars One applicants shortlisted for a one-way trip to Mars to become the first humans to set foot on the planet. 18 February – The Metropolitan Police says it will examine video footage appearing to show fans of Chelsea football club preventing a black man from boarding a train on the Paris Metro. 20 February – Police appeal for help after it is feared that three London schoolgirls who have gone missing, are travelling to Turkey with the intention of crossing the border into Syria and joining a terror group ISIL. 21 February – The government pledges £300,000,000 for tackling dementia, aiming to become a "world leader" in research with a global fund to produce new treatments by 2025. 24 February – Conservative MP Sir Malcolm Rifkind resigns as Chair of the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee, and announces he will vacate his seat at the general election, following a cash for access scandal. 26 February An independent report finds that Jimmy Savile sexually abused 63 people connected to Stoke Mandeville Hospital between 1968 and 1992, but the one formal complaint made was ignored. The masked Islamic State militant known as "Jihadi John", responsible for the beheadings of numerous Western hostages, is named as Mohammed Emwazi from West London. 27 February – Following his guilty verdict on 5 February, former pop star Gary Glitter is sentenced to sixteen year's imprisonment.
March 3 March – Disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris is stripped of his British honours. 4 March – The stepbrother of 16-year-old Becky Watts, a schoolgirl reported missing two weeks previously, is charged with her murder after body parts are found at a house in Barton Hill, Bristol. 5 March – David Cameron is accused of "cowering" from the public as he confirms that he will only take part in one televised debate ahead of the general election, rejecting proposals for a head-to-head with Labour leader Ed Miliband. 6 March A 13-year-old boy pleads guilty to the murder of 53-year-old Christopher Barry who was fatally stabbed in Edmonton, London, in December. The UK's major broadcasters confirm they will press ahead with plans for three televised debates, even though David Cameron said he would only participate in one of them. 7 March Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg says he will take David Cameron's place in the forthcoming television debates, if Cameron is unwilling to participate. A pitch invasion by Aston Villa fans temporarily halts the club's FA Cup quarter-final match against West Bromwich Albion. Several fans run onto the pitch during stoppage time to prematurely celebrate Villa's 2–0 victory over West Brom, forcing referee Anthony Taylor to stop the game until order is restored, before hundreds of fans then invade the pitch on the final whistle. The incident will be investigated by the Football Association.