1922 In The United Kingdom

Events from the year 1922 in the United Kingdom.

Irish affairs occupied an important place in politics throughout this year. 1922 saw the establishment of the Irish Free State in the south and west of the island.

Incumbents

* Monarch – George V
* Prime Minister - David Lloyd George (Coalition) (until 19 October), Bonar Law (Conservative) (starting 23 October)
* Parliament
** 31st (until 26 October)
** 32nd (starting 20 November)

Overview

The social and political problems of most prominence in this year showed a further departure from those that chiefly occupied public attention during the Great War, and the country had by then almost returned to its normal condition. Prices continued to fall during the early part of the year, but very slowly as compared with the previous decline, and in the latter half of the year the fall ceased almost entirely, prices becoming comparatively stabilized at about 80% above the level of July 1914. Labour problems, which occupied so much attention during and after the war, were less constantly in the public eye. The principle of inevitable reductions in wages had been accepted by the working classes as a whole, and there were few strikes on a large scale, the worst being that in the engineering trade. Unemployment continued to be very great, but it was recognised that little more could be done by government measures for its alleviation, and the subject was much less prominent in the political world than it had been in the previous year. A further indication of the return to normal conditions was in the gradual decay of the coalition government. The combination of parties brought about in the presence of a common danger no longer worked in peacetime. Very early in the year signs of disintegration became manifest in the coalition. On several occasions the two wings threatened to fall apart, but the government was successfully held together by the personality of Prime Minister David Lloyd George until the last quarter of the year, when the internal dissensions of many months reached a bursting point, and the coalition collapsed.

Events

* January – The year begins with the British Empire at its largest extent, covering one-quarter of the world and ruling over one in four people on earth.
* 1 January – Transport and General Workers' Union formed by merger of fourteen smaller unions under its first general secretary Ernest Bevin, forming by far the largest trade union.
* 7 January – In Ireland, Dáil Éireann ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
* 12 January
** The UK Government releases remaining Irish prisoners captured in the War of Independence.
** HMS ''Victory'' permanently dry docked at Portsmouth.
* 13 January – Flu epidemic has claimed 804 victims in Britain.
* 24 January – '' Façade – An Entertainment'', poems by Edith Sitwell recited over an instrumental accompaniment by William Walton, first performed, privately in London.
* 25 January – A letter written by Ifan ab Owen Edwards to the children's periodical ''Cymru'r Plant'' results in establishment in Wales of the youth organisation Urdd Gobaith Cymru.
* 1 February – Formal handing over of Beggars Bush Barracks takes place in Dublin, marking the first act of British military withdrawal from Ireland.
* 6 February – Washington Naval Treaty signed between the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, France and Italy.
*14 February – The world's first regular radio broadcasts for entertainment, made by Peter Eckersley, begin transmission on station 2MT from a hut at the Marconi Company laboratories at Writtle near Chelmsford in Essex. Initially they are for half an hour on Tuesday evenings.
* 28 February
** Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence by the United Kingdom ends its protectorate over Egypt and grants the country nominal independence, reserving control of military and diplomatic matters.
** Princess Mary marries Viscount Lascelles, elder son of the Earl of Harewood, in Westminster Abbey.
* 1 March – The Civil Aviation Authority is established.
* 6 March – An explosion at a Dudley Port (Tipton) factory kills nineteen girls aged 13–15 years employed on dismantling explosive cartridges under dangerous working conditions.
* 29 April – Huddersfield Town A.F.C. win the FA Cup with a 1–0 win over Preston North End in the final at Stamford Bridge, London. From next year, the final will be played at the new stadium being built at Wembley in North London.
* 10 May – Ivy Williams becomes the first woman member of the English Bar.
* 11 May – Radio station 2LO becomes the second to broadcast regularly in the UK, operating from Marconi House in London, initially for one hour a day.
* 16 May – The final group of British troops leave the Curragh Camp in Ireland.
* 20 May – P&O liner sinks in the English Channel off Ushant after a collision with 44 passengers, 294 crew and £1 million in bullion and coin onboard; 86 die.
* 29 May – Liberal MP Horatio Bottomley jailed for seven years for fraud.
* 1 June – Official founding of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
* 22 June – Irish Republican Army agents assassinate Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson in Belgravia; the assassins are sentenced to death on 18 July.
* 17 July – County Hall, London opened, as the new headquarters of the London County Council.
* 20 July – Infanticide Act effectively abolishes the death penalty for a woman who deliberately kills her newborn child while the balance of her mind is disturbed as a result of giving birth, by providing a partial defence to murder.
* 21 July – Launch of the iconic Austin 7 car, produced at Longbridge. The car will inspire numerous other automotive designs, and remain in production for another seventeen years until 1939.
* 17 August – Dublin Castle is formally handed over to the Irish Republican Army as the last British Army troops withdraw from the country.
* 5 September – An underground explosion at Haig Pit, Whitehaven, in the Cumberland Coalfield, kills 39 people.
* 8–9 September – Captain Frank L. Barnard wins the first King's Cup Race for aeroplanes, flying from Croydon Aerodrome (London) to Glasgow and back in 6 hours 32 minutes in an Airco DH.4A.
* 7 October – Speaking on the radio station 2LO, the Prince of Wales becomes the first member of the royal family to make a public broadcast.
* 17 October – First hunger march sets out, from Glasgow to London.
* 18 October – The British Broadcasting Company (BBC
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