Brighton hotel bombing

Brighton hotel bombing
Part of the Troubles
The Grand Hotel on the morning after the bombing
Location	Brighton, England, UK
Coordinates	50°49′17″N 0°08′50″W
Date	12 October 1984 02:54 (GMT)
Target	Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet
Attack type	Bombing Assassination attempt
Weapons	Time bomb
Deaths	5
Injured	31
Perpetrator	Provisional IRA

The Brighton hotel bombing was an attack at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, England. It happened on 12 October 1984. A time bomb was planted in the hotel by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) member Patrick Magee. The purpose was to kill Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her ministers, who were staying at the hotel for the Conservative Party conference. Patrick Magee, an IRA volunteer, stayed in the hotel under the pseudonym "Roy Walsh" on the weekend of 14–17 September. During his stay, he planted the bomb under the bath in his room.

The bomb brought down a five-ton chimney stack, which crashed down through the floors into the basement.

Thatcher narrowly escaped injury. Five people were killed, including the Deputy Chief Whip Sir Anthony Berry, and 31 were injured. Margaret Tebbit, wife of Norman Tebbit had to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life.

At 4am Thatcher gave an impromptu interview to the BBC saying that the conference would go on as usual. Marks & Spencer opened early at 8:00 am so those who had lost their clothes in the bombing could purchase replacements.

The bombing was called "the most audacious attack on a British government since the Gunpowder Plot". It "marked the end of an age of comparative innocence. From that day forward, all party conferences in this country have become heavily defended citadels".