Events from the year 1972 in the United Kingdom.
January
- 4 January – Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey.
- 9 January – The National Union of Mineworkers holds a strike ballot in which 58.8% vote in favour of industrial action.[1] Coal miners begin a strike which will last for seven weeks,[2] including picketing of Saltley coke depot in Birmingham.
- 19 January – The government announces the lifting of all restrictions on broadcasting hours on television and radio. Daytime television hours will be extended in October.
- 20 January – Unemployment exceeds the 1,000,000 mark for the first time since the 1930s,[3] almost double the 582,000 who were unemployed when Edward Heath's Conservative government came to power less than two years ago.[4]
- 30 January – 'Bloody Sunday' in Northern Ireland: fourteen Catholics are killed when troops open fire on unarmed demonstrators in Derry.
April
- 1 April – William Whitelaw is appointed as the first Northern Ireland Secretary.[5]
- 6 April – As announced in March, Ford launches its new executive model, the Granada, available as a saloon, coupé or estate, which replaces the Zephyr on the UK market and will be produced at the Dagenham plant as well as Ford's Cologne plant in West Germany.[15] It is designed to compete with the likes of the Rover P6 and Vauxhall Victor and will also be sold as the Ford Consul in mainland Europe.
- 11 April – The BBC Radio 4 parodic panel show I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue is broadcast for the first time.
- 19 April – A report into the Bloody Sunday shootings by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Widgery, exonerates the British troops of blame because the demonstration had been illegal.[16] This report will be completely discredited by the Saville Inquiry published on 15 June 2010, on which day the British prime minister David Cameron will acknowledge in the House of Commons, among other things, that the paratroopers had fired the first shot, had fired on fleeing unarmed civilians, and shot and killed one man who was already wounded; he will then apologise on behalf of the British Government.
- 22 April – Sylvia Cook and John Fairfax finish rowing across the Pacific.
- 30 April – The Brighton Belle Pullman car train makes its final journey from London to Brighton.[17]
August
- 6 August – Expulsion of Asians from Uganda: Idi Amin, dictator of Uganda, announces that 50,000 Asians with British passports will be expelled from Uganda to the United Kingdom within the next three months as they have been (according to him) "sabotaging the Ugandan economy".
- 9 August – The Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Jesus Christ Superstar makes its West End debut.[17]
- 26 August–10 September – Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Olympics in Munich, West Germany, and win 4 gold, 5 silver and 9 bronze medals.
- 28 August – Prince William of Gloucester, a cousin of the Queen, is killed in an air crash near Wolverhampton. He is thirty years old, a bachelor and ninth in line to the British throne at this time. This means that Prince Richard, the Duke of Gloucester's only other son, automatically becomes heir to the dukedom.[36]
September
- 1 September – Raising of school leaving age in England and Wales from fifteen to sixteen for pupils leaving school at the end of the academic year begins. Many temporary new buildings are erected in secondary modern and comprehensive schools to accommodate the older pupils, while some authorities raise the secondary school transfer age from 11 to 12 or 13.[37][38] The age is also raised in Scotland and Northern Ireland.[39]
- 11 September – The BBC1 television quiz programme Mastermind is broadcast for the first time.[17]
- 12 September – The sinking of two British trawlers by an Icelandic gunboat triggers the second Cod War.[17]
- 13 September – Hypermarkets make their debut in the United Kingdom some twenty years after their appearance in France, when French retail giant Carrefour opens one in Caerphilly, South Wales.[40]
- 18 September – Thousands of Ugandan Asians arrive in the UK after being deported by Idi Amin.[41]
- 19 September – A parcel bomb kills a diplomat at the Israeli embassy in London. It is one of 8 such bombs delivered to diplomats, the others being discovered in time to avoid injury.[42]
October
- Three previously all-male Colleges of the University of Cambridge begin admitting female undergraduates.
- 2 October – Following January's lifting of restrictions on broadcasting hours, daytime television is extended. BBC1's afternoon schedule launches with the first edition of a new lunchtime magazine programme Pebble Mill at One from its Birmingham studios.
- 5 October – United Reformed Church is formed by merger of most of the Congregational Church of England and Wales with the Presbyterian Church of England.[43]
- 10 October – Sir John Betjeman's appointment as Poet Laureate in succession to Cecil Day-Lewis is announced.[17]
- 13 October – Bank rates are abolished and replaced with the Minimum Lending Rate.[17]
- 16 October
- As part of ITV's new afternoon service, the first episode of Emmerdale Farm, a soap opera set in rural Yorkshire, is broadcast on ITV produced by Yorkshire Television.[44]
- Rioting Maze Prison inmates in Northern Ireland cause a fire that destroys most of the camp.
- 17 October – Elizabeth II visits the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
- 19 October – Royce Ryton's play about the Abdication Crisis of Edward VIII, Crown Matrimonial, premieres at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London, for the first time including the portrayal of a living member of the Royal Family (Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother as The Duchess of York) on the legitimate stage.
- 22 October – Gordon Banks, the England national football team goalkeeper, suffers a serious eye injury in a car crash in Staffordshire.[45]
- 23 October – Access credit cards are introduced.[17]
Undated
- Inflation falls slightly during the year to 6.4% from 8.6%.[50]
- Marriage rates peak.[51]
- British car production peaks at more than 1,900,000 units, despite regular strikes and increasing competition from overseas.
- Honda, the Japanese manufacturer whose motorcycles are already popular with British buyers, begins importing passenger cars to the United Kingdom, beginning only with its recently launched small Civic hatchback, one of the first medium-sized cars sold in Europe to feature this bodystyle which competes with similar sized saloons including the Ford Escort.[52] A larger hatchback and saloon model is due within the next four years to compete with the likes of the Ford Cortina.[53]
- Japanese carmaker Nissan enjoys a surge in sales of its Datsun badged cars, with more than 30,000 cars sold in Britain this year compared to less than 7,000 in 1971. Popularity of imported Japanese products from Mazda and Toyota is also rising.
- Aardman Animations is founded.[54]
- The United Kingdom begins to train Special Air Service for anti-terrorist duties in response to the Munich massacre.
January–March
- 5 January – Philip Davies, politician
- 15 January – Claudia Winkleman, TV presenter
- 23 January – Gavin Barwell, politician
- 23 January - Lisa Snowdon, English television & radio presenter and fashion model
- 27 January
- 9 February – Darren Ferguson, Scottish-born footballer and manager
- 11 February – Steve McManaman, footballer
- 16 February – Vicki Butler-Henderson, motoring journalist (Auto Express, What Car?), TV presenter (Fifth Gear) and racing driver
- 19 February – Malky Mackay, footballer
- 20 February – Gareth Unwin, film producer[57]
- 22 February – Keir Simmons, journalist
- 6 March – Terry Murphy, snooker player
- 20 March – Alex Kapranos, rock singer and guitarist (Franz Ferdinand)
- 24 March – Charlie Creed-Miles, actor
- 28 March – Nick Frost, actor
- 29 March – Priti Patel, politician
April–June
- 3 April – Catherine McCormack, actress
- 7 April – Tim Peake, astronaut
- 16 April – John McGuinness, motorcycle racer
- 17 April – Vicky Lupton, English racewalker
- 21 April – Liz Carr, actress and disability rights activist
- 22 April – Sarah Patterson, actress
- 1 May – Patrick Grant, fashion designer and broadcaster
- 2 May – Paul Adcock, footballer
- 3 May
- 5 May – James Cracknell, Olympic winning rower
- 9 May – Martin Lewis, financial journalist and broadcaster
- 15 May – Richard Blackwood, comedian, actor and rapper
- 23 May – Martin Saggers, cricketer and umpire
- 27 May – Maggie O'Farrell, Northern Irish novelist
- 31 May – Archie Panjabi, screen actress
- 1 June – Daniel Casey, actor
- 3 June – Steve Crane, footballer
- 4 June – Debra Stephenson, actress
- 7 June – Curtis Robb, athlete
- 27 June – Marc Iliffe, strongman (died 2003)
- 30 June – James Martin, chef
July–September
- 1 July – Christopher Smith, film director and screenwriter
- 6 July – Mark Gasser, concert pianist[58]
- 10 July – Peter Serafinowicz, actor, voice actor, comedian and writer
- 12 July – Jake Wood, actor
- 19 July – David Lammy, politician
- 21 July
- 6 August
- 7 August – Sarah Cawood, television presenter
- 10 August – Lawrence Dallaglio, rugby union player
- 15 August – Jonathan Slinger, actor
- 16 August – Frankie Boyle, Scottish comedian and writer
- 17 August – David Ralph, Scottish field hockey forward
- 18 August – Victoria Coren Mitchell, writer, presenter and champion poker player
- 27 August – Denise Lewis, athlete and sports presenter
- 6 September
- 9 September – Natasha Kaplinsky, newsreader
- 15 September – Jimmy Carr, comedian
- 18 September – David Jefferies, motorcycle racer (died 2003)
- 21 September
- 24 September – Conor Burns, politician
- 29 September – Robert Webb, comic actor
October–December
- 20 October – Debbie McLeod, Scottish field hockey goalkeeper
- 27 October – Lee Clark, English footballer
- 2 November – Samantha Janus, actress
- 7 November – Danny Grewcock, rugby player
- 7 November – Marcus Stewart, English footballer
- 6 November – Thandiwe Newton, actress
- 30 November – Dan Jarvis, army officer and politician
- 6 December – Ewan Birney, scientist
- 12 December – Nicky Eaden, English footballer and coach
- 14 December
- 20 December – Sarah Jones, politician
- 21 December – Gloria De Piero, English journalist and politician, Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
- 29 December – Jude Law, actor
April–June
- 11 May – E. V. Rieu, poet and editor (born 1887)
- 22 May
- 28 May – The Duke of Windsor (formerly Edward VIII, born 1894)
Becket, Andy. When the Lights Went Out. p. 63.
Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 433–434. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
Day, Alan (1997). Political violence in Northern Ireland: conflict and conflict resolution. Westport, CT: Praeger. p. 9. ISBN 9780275954147.
Baumann, Michael (2000). Wie alles anfing = How it all began: the personal account of a West German urban guerrilla. Vancouver: Pulp Press. p. 5. ISBN 9780889780453.
"Barber's Bounty". Daily Mirror. London. 22 March 1972. p. 2.
Legislation dated 20 January and 14 April respectively.
United Reformed Church Act 1972.
"Obituary". Variety. 13 December 1972. p. 63.