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1992 in the United Kingdom

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1992 in the United Kingdom
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Events from the year 1992 in the United Kingdom.

Overview

1992 in the United Kingdom is notable for a fourth term General Election victory for the Conservative Party; "Black Wednesday" (16 September), the suspension of Britain's membership of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism; and an Annus Horribilis for the Royal Family.

Incumbents

Events

  • January - Statistics show that economic growth returned during the final quarter of 1991 after five successive quarters of contraction.[1]
  • 9 January
    • Alison Halford, Britain's most senior policewoman, is suspended from duty for a second time following a police authority meeting.[2]
    • Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown proposes a £3billion package which would cut create 400,000 jobs in 12 months.
  • 10 January - The first full week of 1992 sees some 4,000 jobs lost across Britain, as the nation's recession continues. Almost 20% of those job cuts have been by GEC, Britain's leading telecommunications manufacturer, where 750 redundancies are announced today.
  • 14 January - The Bank of Credit and Commerce International goes into liquidation.
  • 17 January
    • In an IRA bomb attack near Omagh, seven construction workers are killed and seven others injured. This is the highest number of casualties in an IRA attack since 1988.
    • The first MORI poll of 1992 shows the Conservatives three points ahead of Labour on 42%, while the Liberal Democrats have their best showing yet with 16% of the vote.[3]
  • 18 January - John Major announces that the general election will be held on 9 April.
  • 22 January - Estate agent Stephanie Slater, 25, is held hostage at a Birmingham house by a man demanding a £175,000 ransom from her employers. He has threatened to kill Ms Slater unless he receives the money.[4]
  • 29 January - The Department of Health reveals that AIDS cases among heterosexuals increased by 50% between 1990 and 1991.
  • 30 January
    • John Major agrees a weapons control deal with new Russian premier Boris Yeltsin at 10 Downing Street.
    • Stephanie Slater is safely returned to her family after her captor releases her from his car near her home in Birmingham.
  • 2 February - Neil Kinnock, Labour Party leader, denies reports that he had a "Kremlin connection" during the 1980s.
  • 5 February - Kevin Keegan, the former Liverpool F.C. and England striker, is appointed manager of Newcastle United.
  • 6 February - The Queen celebrates her Ruby Jubilee.
  • 7 February - Signature of the Maastricht Treaty.[5]
  • 8 February–23 February - Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, but do not win any medals.
  • 9 February - Prime Minister John Major speaks of his hopes that the recession will soon be over as the economy is now showing signs of recovery.
  • 15 February - Neil Kinnock, Labour Party leader, speaks of his belief that the Conservative government's failure to halt the current recession will win his party the forthcoming general election.
  • 18 February - David Stevens, head of community relations, blames the recession for the recent rise in crime across Britain - most of all in deprived areas.
  • 20 February
  • 23 February - The London Business School predicts an economic growth rate of 1.2% for this year, sparking hopes that the recession is nearing its end.
  • March - Toyota launches the TMUK-built Carina E at the Geneva Motor Show.
  • 6 March - Parliament passes the Further and Higher Education Act, allowing polytechnics to become new universities.
  • 11 March
    • John Major announces that the election will be held on 9 April.
    • Shadow Chancellor John Smith condemns the recent Budget as a "missed opportunity" by the Conservatives, saying that they did "nothing" for jobs, training, skills, construction or economic recovery.
  • 13 March - The first ecumenical church in Britain, the Christ the Cornerstone Church in Milton Keynes is opened.[6]
  • 17 March - Shadow Chancellor John Smith announces that there will be no tax reductions this year if Labour win the election.
  • 19 March
    • Buckingham Palace announces that Duke and Duchess of York are to separate after six years of marriage.[7]
    • Unemployment has reached 2,647,300 - 9.4% of the British workforce, the highest level since late 1987.
  • 24 March
  • 25 March - Aldershot Football Club, bottom of the Football League, go out of business after a two-year financial crisis that saw them unable to pay off hundreds of thousands of pounds of debts. The club was founded in 1926 and had been members of the Football League since 1932.
  • 26 March - Television entertainer Roy Castle (59), who currently presents Record Breakers, announces that he is suffering from lung cancer.
  • 29 March - John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer and father of Princess Diana, dies suddenly from pneumonia at the age of 68.[9]
  • April - Statistics show that the first quarter of this year saw the economy grow for the second quarter running, the sequel to five successive quarters of detraction, though the growth was still too narow for the recession to be declared over.
  • 1 April - The latest opinion polls show a narrow lead for Labour, which would force a hung parliament in the election next week.
  • 3 April - Gary Lineker, who is due to leave Tottenham Hotspur at the end of this season and join Grampus Eight of Japan, is voted FWA Player of the Year.
  • 4 April - Party Politics becomes the tallest horse to win the Grand National.
  • 5 April - At his pre-election speech, Neil Kinnock promises a strong economic recovery if he leads the Labour party to election victory on Thursday.
  • 6 April - Women's Royal Army Corps disbanded, its members being fully absorbed into the regular British Army.
  • 7 April - The final MORI poll before the general election shows Labour one point ahead of the Conservatives on 39%, while the Liberal Democrats continue to enjoy a surge in popularity with 20% of the vote. Most opinion polls show a similar situation, hinting at either a narrow Labour majority or a hung parliament.[3]
  • 9 April - General Election: The Conservative Party are re-elected for a fourth term, in their first election under John Major's leadership. Their majority is reduced to 21 seats but they have attracted more than 14,000,000 votes - the highest number of votes ever attracted in a general election. Notable retirements from parliament at this election include Margaret Thatcher (Conservative prime minister for over eleven years until her resignation seventeen months ago) and the former Labour Party leader Michael Foot.[5]
  • 10 April
    • Provisional Irish Republican Army detonates two bombs at the Baltic Exchange in central London, killing three.[6]
    • With the government's victory in the election confirmed, John Major assures the public that he will lead the country out of recession that has blighted it for nearly two years.
  • 11 April - Publication of The Sun newspaper's iconic front page headline 'It's The Sun Wot Won It', as the tabloid newspaper claims it won the general election for the Conservatives with its anti-Kinnock front page headline on election day.
  • 12 April - Manchester United win the Football League Cup for the first time in their history with a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest at Wembley Stadium in which Brian McClair scores the only goal of the game.
  • 13 April
  • 16 April - Unemployment has now risen 23 months in succession, but the March rise in unemployment was the smallest monthly rise so far.
  • 17–20 April - Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall first opened to the public.[11]
  • 26 April - Leeds United are confirmed champions of the Football League First Division (which becomes the FA Premier League next season) as they defeat Sheffield United 3-2, while their nearest rivals Manchester United lose 2-0 at Liverpool, who will also collect silverware for this season if they win the FA Cup final on 9 May.
  • 27 April - Betty Boothroyd, 62-year-old Labour MP for West Bromwich West in the West Midlands, is elected as Speaker of the House of Commons, the first woman to hold the position.[5]
  • 6 May - John Major promises British voters improved services and more money to spend.
  • 9 May - Liverpool F.C. win the FA Cup for the fifth time with a 2-0 win over Sunderland in the final at Wembley Stadium. Ian Rush scores his fifth goal in an FA Cup final for Liverpool (having scored twice in the 1986 and 1989 finals) and the other goal comes from Michael Thomas. It is their first major trophy under the management of Graeme Souness, who was appointed just over a year ago.
  • 12 May - Plans are unveiled for a fifth terminal at Heathrow Airport, which is now the busiest airport in the world.
  • May - Twenty-two "Maastricht Rebels" vote against the government on the second reading of the European Communities (Amendment) Bill.
  • 17 May - Nigel Mansell gains the 26th Grand Prix win of his racing career at Imola, San Marino. He is now the most successful British driver in Grand Prix races, and the fourth worldwide.
  • 22 May - Stephen Owen is cleared of attempted murder at Maidstone Crown Court, six months after shooting Kevin Taylor, the lorry driver who had caused his son's death while under the influence of alcohol in 1988.
  • 25 May - Blackburn Rovers, owned by steel baron Jack Walker and managed by the Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish, defeat Leicester City 1-0 in the Second Division playoff final at Wembley Stadium to seal a place in the new FA Premier League and end a 26-year exile from the top division of English football.
  • 28 May - David Platt, the England midfielder who joined Bari from Aston Villa last year, becomes the most expensive British player when an £8million move sees him join Juventus.
  • June - Cones Hotline introduced enabling members of the public to complain about traffic cones being deployed on a road for no apparent reason.
  • 7 June - A controversial new biography of Diana, Princess of Wales, Diana: Her True Story, written by Andrew Morton, is published, revealing that she has made five suicide attempts following her discovery that Prince Charles had resumed an affair with his previous girlfriend Camilla Parker-Bowles shortly after Prince William's birth in 1982.[12]
  • 11 June - The England national football team begin their European Championships campaign in Sweden with a goalless draw against Denmark in Malmö.
  • 14 June - England draw 0-0 with France in Malmö, meaning that they have to defeat host nation Sweden in their final group game if they are to qualify for the semi finals.
  • 17 June
    • Almost 2,700,000 people are now out of work as unemployment continues to rise.
    • There is disappointment for the England football team whose 2-1 defeat against Sweden ends their hopes of reaching the semi finals of the European Championships. It is the last international appearance for Gary Lineker, the 31-year-old England striker who has scored 48 goals in his career - one short of the record set by Bobby Charlton more than 20 years ago.
  • 25 June - GDP is reported to have fallen by 0.5% in the first quarter of this year as the recession continues.
  • 26 June - Despite England's dismal performance at the European Championships, there is joy for an English based footballer at the final of the competition as Denmark triumph 2-0 against Germany with Manchester United's Peter Schmeichel in goal. Also in the line-up is former Manchester United defender John Sivebaek (now playing France), while one of Denmark's goals was scored by midfielder John Jensen who is reportedly a transfer target for English club Arsenal.
  • 30 June - Margaret Thatcher takes her place in the House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher, nineteen months after resigning as Prime Minister.[13]
  • July - Statistics show that the economy contracted during the second quarter of this year.
  • 2 July - The IRA admits to murdering three men whose bodies were found by the army at various locations around Armagh last night. The men are believed to have been informers employed by MI5.[14]
  • 10 July - One of the first major signs of economic recovery is shown as inflation falls from 4.3% to 3.9%.
  • 17 July
  • 21 July - British Airways announces a takeover of USAir.
  • 23 July
    • 62 people are arrested in connection with rioting in Blackburn, Burnley and Huddersfield.
    • Three months after losing the general election, Labour finish four points ahead of the Conservatives in a MORI poll, with 43% of the vote.[3]
  • 25 July–9 August - Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Olympics in Barcelona and win 5 gold, 3 silver and 12 bronze medals.
  • 27 July - Alan Shearer becomes Britain's most expensive footballer in a £3.6million transfer from Southampton to Blackburn Rovers. Shearer, who turns 22 next month, was a member of England's Euro 92 national squad, having scored on his debut in a friendly international against France earlier this year.[15]
  • 15 August - The first Premier League football matches are played. Brian Deane of Sheffield United is the scorer of the first Premier League goal. Meanwhile, financially-troubled Division Three side Maidstone United have their first game of the season cancelled and are given 48 hours to guarantee that they will be able to fulfill this season's fixtures.
  • 17 August - Maidstone United resign from the Football League after the club's directors gave up hope of being able to fulfill this season's fixtures. They only joined the Football League three years ago.
  • 20 August - Intimate photographs of the Duchess of York and a Texan businessman, John Bryan, are published in the Daily Mirror.[16]
  • 27 August - Hugh McKiben (aged 19) becomes the 3,000th victim of the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland which began in 1969.
  • 5 September - Italian supercar manufacturer Ferrari announces that its Formula One division will be designing and manufacturing cars in Britain.
  • 13 September - Nigel Mansell announces his retirement from Formula One racing.
  • 16 September - "Black Wednesday" sees the government suspending Britain's membership of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism following a wave of speculation against the Pound.[17]
  • 17 September - There is more bad news for the economy as unemployment is at a five-year high of 2,845,508, and experts warn that it will soon hit 3,000,000 for the first time since early 1987.
  • 24 September - David Mellor resigns as Heritage Minister amid tabloid press speculation that he had been conducting an adulterous affair with actress Antonia de Sancha.[18]
  • 30 September - The Royal Mint introduces a new 10-pence coin which is lighter and smaller than the previous coin.
  • October
    • First Cochrane Centre opens.[19]
    • Statistics show a return to economic growth for the third quarter of this year.[20]
  • 9 October - Two suspected IRA bombs explode in London, but there are no injuries.
  • 13 October - The government announces the closure of a third of Britain's deep coal mines, with the loss of 31,000 jobs.[21]
  • 14 October - The England football team begins its qualification campaign for the 1994 FIFA World Cup with a 1-1 draw against Norway at Wembley Stadium.
  • 15 October - The value of the pound sterling is reported to have dipped further as the recession deepens.
  • 16 October - The government attempts to tackle the recession by cutting the base interest rate to 8% - the lowest since June 1988.
  • 19 October - John Major announces that only ten deep coal mines will be closed.
  • 25 October - Around 100,000 people protest in London against the government's pit closure plans.
  • 26 October - British Steel announces a 20% production cut as a result in falling demand from its worldwide customer base.
  • 30 October - IRA terrorists force a taxi driver to drive to Downing Street at gunpoint and once there they detonate a bomb, but there are no injuries.
  • 11 November - The Church of England votes to allow women to become priests.[22]
  • 12 November
    • British Telecom reports a £1.03billion profit for the half year ending 30 September - a fall of 36.2% on the previous half year figure, as a result of the thousands of redundancies it has made this year due to the recession.
    • Unemployment has continued to climb and is now approaching 2,900,000. It has risen every month since June 1990, when it was below 1,700,000. The current level has not been seen since mid-1987.
  • 17 November - Vinnie Jones, the Wimbledon midfielder, receives a record £20,000 fine and a six-month suspension (the latter suspended for three years) for bringing the game into disrepute following his comments in the video "Soccer's Hard Men".
  • 16 November - Hoxne Hoard discovered by metal detectorist Eric Lawes in Suffolk.
  • 19 November - The High Court rules that doctors can disconnect feeding tubes from Tony Bland, a 21-year-old man who has been in a coma since the Hillsborough disaster on 15 April 1989. Mr Bland, of Liverpool, suffered massive brain damage in the disaster which claimed the lives of 95 people and doctors treating him say that there is no reasonable possibility that he could recover consciousness and in his current condition would be unlikely to survive more than five years.[23]
  • 20 November - Fire breaks out in Windsor Castle, badly damaging the castle and causing over £50 million worth of damage.[24]
  • 24 November - The Queen describes this year as an Annus Horribilis (horrible year) due to various scandals damaging the image of the Royal Family, as well as the Windsor Castle fire.
  • 26 November - The Queen is to be taxed from next year, marking the end of almost 60 tax-free years for the British monarchy.[25]
  • 29 November - Ethnic minorities now account for more than 3,000,000 (over 5%) of the British population.
  • 3 December - 65 people are injured by an IRA bomb in Manchester city centre but there are no fatalities.[26]
  • 8 December - A Mandir in West Bromwich is destroyed in an arson attack, while one in Birmingham and another in Coventry is damaged. Police fear that anti-Hindu violence by Islamic extremists is spilling into Britain.[4]
  • 9 December - The separation of Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales is announced following months of speculation about their marriage, but there are no plans for a divorce and prime minister John Major announces that Diana could still become Queen.[5]
  • 11 December - The last MORI poll of 1992 shows Labour thirteen points ahead of the Conservatives on 47%, just three months after several polls had shown the latter in the lead. Black Wednesday, which has damaged much of the government's reputation for monetary excellence, is largely blamed for the fall in Conservative support.[3]
  • 12 December - Marriage of Anne, Princess Royal, and Timothy Laurence.[5]
  • 16 December - Four people are injured by IRA bombs in Oxford Street, London.
  • 16 December - The first car ever made by TMUK in Derbyshire rolls off the production line.
  • 17 December - The national unemployment level has risen to more than 2,900,000, with the unemployment rate in the south-east of England now above 10% for the first time.
  • 23 December - The Queen's Royal Christmas Message is leaked in The Sun newspaper, 48 hours ahead of its traditional Christmas Day broadcast on television.[27]
  • 31 December - The ORACLE teletext service is discontinued on ITV and Channel 4 to be replaced by a new service operated by the Teletext Ltd. consortium. It had been launched on ITV in 1974 and had been used by Channel 4 since its inception in 1982.

Undated

Publications

Births

Full date unknown

Deaths

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ "1992: Top policewoman suspended from duty". BBC News. 1992-01-09. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
  3. ^ a b c d "Poll tracker: Interactive guide to the opinion polls". BBC News. 29 September 2009.
  4. ^ a b http://www.expressandstar.com/days/1976-2000/1992.html
  5. ^ a b c d e f Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
  6. ^ a b Palmer, Alan (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. p. 460. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "1992: Fergie and Andrew split". BBC News. 1992-03-19. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
  8. ^ "1992: Punch ends 150 years of satire". BBC News. 1992-03-24. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
  9. ^ [2]
  10. ^ "1992: Labour's Neil Kinnock resigns". BBC News. 1992-04-13. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
  11. ^ "Our Timeline". The Lost Gardens of Heligan. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
  12. ^ "1992: Controversial Diana book published". BBC News. 1992-06-16. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
  13. ^ "1992: Thatcher takes her place in Lords". BBC News. 1992-06-30. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
  14. ^ "1992: IRA murders 'informers'". BBC News. 1992-07-02. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
  15. ^ INM (27 July 1992). "Football: Shearer set to sign for Blackburn". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 2009-05-10. Retrieved 2009-04-09. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ "1992: Duchess of York in photos row". BBC News. 1992-08-20. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
  17. ^ "1992: UK crashes out of ERM". BBC News. 1992-09-16. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
  18. ^ "1992: Mellor resigns over sex scandal". BBC News. 1992-09-24. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
  19. ^ "About the Cochrane Library". The Cochrane Library. Retrieved 2011-01-25.
  20. ^ "UK recovery 'to take five years'". BBC News. 22 July 2009.
  21. ^ "1992: Thousands of miners to lose their jobs". BBC News. 1992-10-13. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
  22. ^ "1992: Church of England votes for women priests". BBC News. 1992-11-11. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
  23. ^ "1992: Hillsborough victim allowed to die". BBC News. 1992-11-19. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
  24. ^ "1992: Blaze rages in Windsor Castle". BBC News. 1992-11-20. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
  25. ^ "1992: Queen to be taxed from next year". BBC News. 1992-11-26. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
  26. ^ "1992: Bomb explosions in Manchester". BBC News. 1992-12-03. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
  27. ^ "1992: Queen's Christmas speech leaked". BBC News. 1992-12-23. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
  28. ^ http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/rp99/rp99-020.pdf
  29. ^ Brooks, Richard (16 January 2005). "Hirst's shark is sold to America". The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved 14 October 2008.
  30. ^ Davies, Serena (8 January 2005). "Why painting is back in the frame". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 15 October 2008.

See also

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