Economy of Great Britain
Misquoted in the press saying, "Crisis, what crisis?", returning from Guadaloupe
Permanent historical records · Updated 2026-11-03
1979 in Great Britain
Explore 273 historical events and records for Great Britain in 1979.
Historical records for Great Britain in 1979
Sorted by month and day. Records with no month are shown last. Showing 40 of 273 unique records.
273Unique records
1 of 7Page
28Named events on this page
27Named people on this page
9Places on this page
January
Joy Division
Curtis appears on the front cover of the NME due to the persistence of music journalist Paul Morley and that same month the band record their first radio session for BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel
Joy Division
Curtis appears on the front cover of the NME due to the persistence of music journalist Paul Morley and that same month the band record their first radio session for BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel
King Rocker Chart Entry
King Rocker enters the Official Singles Chart and reaches number eleven.
Conference of Guadeloupe
Attends an economic conference at Guadeloupe
Pay Norm
The pay norm in Cabinet is increased from 5% to 9.5%
Pay Norm
Made a type of "pay supremo" to enforce the pay norm over his Cabinet colleagues
State of Emergency
Callaghan wishes to declare a state of emergency but is over-ruled by his colleagues
Strike
Water workers go on strike. The road haulage drivers dispute is made official by the TGWU. Railway workers want 10% bomus on top of their 20% wage demand. Oil tanker drivers accept 15%. Lorry drivers demand 20%. Local authority workers call for 8%. Cabinet decides to buy off the road haulage workers with a 20% increase
The Wall
Ezrin works with Pink Floyd and Roger Waters on the structure of The Wall
Winter of Discontent
Britain is hit by a series of public sector worker strikes that came to be known as the "Winter of Discontent", in Camden Borough, council employees unionise under the National Union of Public Employees (NUPE).
Winter of Discontent
go on strike, demanding a 35 hour limit to their working week and a weekly wage increase to pounds 60, Livingstone backs the strikers, urging Camden Council to grant their demands, eventually getting his way.
February
Transfer
Moves from Birmingham City to Nottingham Forest as Britain's first £1 million footballer.
Death of Sid Vicious
Death of Sid Vicious, of a heroin overdose after a party held to celebrate his release on bail
Transfer
Signs Trevor Francis from Birmingham City in Britain's first £1 million football transfer.
Valley of the Dolls Album
Valley of the Dolls enters the UK albums chart during Generation X's second album campaign.
March
European Monetary System Launch
Welcomes the launch of the European Monetary System after sustained Commission advocacy.
Election
The Government loses a confidence motion by 1 vote. Forced to call a general election
No Confidence Vote
Faces the Commons defeat that brings down James Callaghan's Labour government.
Vote of Confidence
The Government loses a confidence motion by 1 vote
First Gravitational Lens
Co-discovers Q0957+561, the first confirmed gravitationally lensed quasar.
Assassination of Airey Neave
Killed by a car bomb in the House of Commons
Death of Airey Neave
Death of Airey Neave, assassinated
The Staircase Chart Entry
The Staircase Mystery enters the Official Singles Chart and reaches number twenty-four.
April
Valley of the Dolls Single
Valley of the Dolls enters the Official Singles Chart and reaches number twenty-three.
Black Rose
Produces Black Rose for Thin Lizzy during Gary Moore's return to the band.
Highly Inflammable Chart Entry
Highly Inflammable enters the Official Singles Chart during X-Ray Spex's final original-period releases.
Joy Division
The band begin recording their debut album Unknown Pleasures at Strawberry Studios, producer Martin Hannett contributes significantly to the final sound
Joy Division
The band begin recording their debut album Unknown Pleasures at Strawberry Studios, producer Martin Hannett contributes significantly to the final sound
Joy Division
The band begin recording their debut album Unknown Pleasures at Strawberry Studios, producer Martin Hannett contributes significantly to the final sound
Joy Division
The band begin recording their debut album Unknown Pleasures at Strawberry Studios, producer Martin Hannett contributes significantly to the final sound
Parisienne Walkways
The combination of Moores blues-based guitar and Lynotts voice produced "Parisienne Walkways", which reached the Top Ten in the UK Singles Chart in April 1979
May
Blaby Re-election 1979
Wins re-election as Conservative Member of Parliament for Blaby at the 1979 general election that brings Margaret Thatcher to government.
Conservative Government Returns
The Conservative Party entered government under Margaret Thatcher after the May 1979 general election.
Edinburgh South Election
Brown contests Edinburgh South but is not elected to Parliament.
Election
The Labour Party win 36.9% of votes cast & 269 MPs. The Labour Party lose the election after a 7% swing to the Conservatives
Election
The Liberals win 13.8% votes cast & 11 MPs
Election
The Conservatives win a majority of 45. Conservatives 339, Labour 268, Liberals 11, others 18
Election
Leads the Conservatives to victory and becomes Prime Minister.
Member of Parliament
Elected Member of Parliament for Huntingdon, majority of 21,563
How these records were prepared
Generated from the World History Database historical_events table. Identical display records are collapsed; descriptions otherwise retain the stored text. Coverage and source quality vary. Check primary and specialist sources before citing individual historical claims.