Events from the year 1981 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents
Monarch – Elizabeth II
Prime Minister – Margaret Thatcher (Conservative) Parliament – 48th
Events
January
3 January – Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, daughter of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, and last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria, dies at Kensington Palace aged 97. 4 January – British Leyland workers vote to accept a peace formula in the Longbridge plant strike. 5 January Peter Sutcliffe, a 34-year-old lorry driver from Bradford arrested on 2 January in Sheffield, is charged with being the notorious serial killer known as the "Yorkshire Ripper", who is believed to have murdered thirteen women and attacked seven others across northern England since 1975. BBC Two's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy television adaptation begins airing; it subsequently receives a Royal Television Society award as "Most Original Programme" of the year. Cabinet reshuffle: Norman St John-Stevas and Angus Maude leave the Cabinet while Leon Brittan and Norman Fowler join the Cabinet. 7 January – A parcel bomb addressed to the Prime Minister is intercepted at the sorting office. 8 January A terrorist bomb attack takes place on the RAF base at Uxbridge The report of the Royal Commission on criminal procedure is published. 9 January – The funeral of Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, takes place at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, before her burial at Frogmore. 13 January – The prison officers' overtime ban ends. 14 January – The British Nationality Bill is published. 15 January – Two soldiers are found guilty of murder in Northern Ireland. 16 January Northern Ireland civil rights campaigner and former Westminster MP Bernadette McAliskey is shot at her home in County Tyrone. Inflation has fallen to 16.1%. 78% of British Steel Corporation workers vote in favour of the chairman's "survival" plan. 18 January – Ten people are killed in the New Cross house fire. On 25 January, another victim dies in hospital. 21 January Sir Norman Stronge and his son, both former Stormont MPs, are killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). Two divers trapped below the North Sea are brought to safety to the surface. 22 January – Australian newspaper owner Rupert Murdoch agrees to buy The Times provided an agreement can be reached with the unions. 24 January – A Labour Party conference at Wembley votes for election of the party leader by electoral college with 40% votes for unions, 30% Labour MPs and 30% constituencies. 25 January – The Limehouse Declaration: four right-wing Labour MPs, Shirley Williams, Roy Jenkins, Bill Rodgers and David Owen (the "Gang of Four"), announce plans to form a separate political party – the Social Democratic Party (SDP). On 26 January, nine more Labour MPs declare their support for the new party. 26 January – Sir Keith Joseph, Secretary of State for Industry, announces further financial support for British Leyland. 27 January – Bill Rodgers resigns from the Shadow Cabinet following his defection to the newly formed SDP. He is replaced by Tony Benn. 28 January Sir Hugh Fraser is removed as Chairman of the House of Fraser. Fresh damage is caused in cells at HM Prison Maze in Northern Ireland. 29 January – The UK Government welcomes plans by the Japanese car firm Nissan to build Datsun cars in Britain. 30 January – David Owen tells his constituency party that he will not stand again as Labour candidate.