Celebrity Deaths in the UK - May 2026

• 3 May – Joyce Hawkins, 95, costume designer (Doctor Who, Vanity Fair, The Hound of the Baskervilles).

• 4 May – Dame Shirley Porter, 95, British politician, leader of the Westminster City Council (1983–1991) and lord mayor of Westminster (1991–1992)(death announced on this date)

• 6 May – Jesse Hector, 78, English musician (The Gorillas)

• 7 May – Jake Hall, 35, actor, model and reality television star (The Only Way is Essex)(death reported on this date)

• 8 May – Michael Pennington, 82, English actor (Return of the Jedi, The Iron Lady), co-founder of the English Shakespeare Company and writer

• 9 May – Michael Sefi, 82, British philatelist

• 10 May

  • David Burke, 91, British actor (Sherlock Holmes, Reilly, Ace of Spies, The Love School)

  • Ralph Ottey, 102, Jamaican-born British author and World War II veteran

• 13 May – Peter Simpson, 81, English footballer (Arsenal)(death announced on this date)

• 14 May

  • Caroline Jones, 71, Welsh politician, MS (2016–2021)

  • Alan Rothwell, 89, English actor (Coronation Street, Brookside, Heartbeat) and television presenter

  • John Bryan Taylor, 97, British physicist

• 15 May

  • Dame Felicity Lott, 79, English soprano, cancer

  • Jimmy Mann, 73, English footballer (Bristol City, Barnsley, Doncaster Rovers) (death announced on this date)

• 17 May

  • Peter Checkland, 95, British management scientist and academic

  • Scott Hastings, 61, Scottish rugby union player (Watsonians, Edinburgh, national team)

  • M. J. K. Smith, 92, English cricketer (Leicestershire, Warwickshire, national team)

  • Jim Irvine, 85, Scottish footballer (Dundee United, Middlesbrough, Barrow)(death announced on this date)

  • Patrick Sookhdeo, 79, British activist, founder and director of Barnabas Aid (1993–2015)

• 19 May – John Middleton, 70, English footballer (Bradford City, Macclesfield Tow (death announced on this date)

• 20 May

  • Mike Galloway, 60, English-born Scottish football player (Halifax Town, Celtic, national team) and coach (death announced on this date)

  • Arthur Lewis, 84, Welsh rugby union player (Ebbw Vale, British Lions, national team)(death announced on this date)

• 21 May

  • Matthew Biggs, 65, British radio personality (Gardeners' Question Time)

  • Judith Chalmers, 90, English television presenter (Wish You Were Here...?)

• 22 May

  • Bill Albury, 92, English footballer (Portsmouth, Gillingham, Yeovil Town) (death announced on this date)

  • Sir Jeremy Hanley, 80, British politician, MP (1983–1997)

  • Dick Parry, 83, English saxophonist (Pink Floyd)

• 23 May

  • Brian Large, 87, English opera director

  • Trevor Meath, 82, English footballer (Walsall, Lincoln City) (death announced on this date)

• 24 May

  • Frank McGuigan, 70, Northern Irish Gaelic footballer (Tyrone)

  • Betty Roe, 95, English composer, singer and vocal coach(death announced on this date)

• 25 May – Flick Rea, 88, English politician, Camden Borough councillor (1986–2021)

• 26 May – Linda Mullins, 86, English greyhound racing trainer (death announced on this date)

• 27 May

  • Owain Rhys Davies, 44, Welsh actor (Twin Peaks, Alice Through the Looking Glass, A Serial Killer's Guide to Life

  • Maureen Duffy, 92, English poet, playwright and novelist

  • Daniel Ingham, 33, British motorcycle racer (Isle of Man TT)

• 28 May

  • Alec Penstone, 101, British World War II veteran

  • Meta Ramsay, Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale, 89, Scottish intelligence officer and peer, member of the House of Lords (since 1996)

• 29 May

  • Caroline Marland, 80, British advertiser and newspaper managing director (The Guardian), traffic collision(death announced on this date)

  • Geoff Keating, 88, British musician (The Master Singers)(death announced on this date)

  • Doug Shaw, 42, British musician (Gang Gang Dance, White Magic)(death announced on this date)

• 30 May – Steve Barrow, 80, British reggae producer and historiographer, co-founder of Blood and Fire(death announced on this date)

• 31 May

  • John Kear, 71, English rugby league coach (Sheffield Eagles, Wakefield Trinity, Welsh national team)

  • Matthew Spender, 81, English sculptor and writer (death announced on this date)

Information courtesy Wikipedia