The UK government has granted a conditional posthumous pardon to Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in Britain, more than 70 years after she was hanged for the murder of her lover.

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Justice Secretary David Lammy announced the decision, saying the pardon recognises a "profound injustice" in what he described as an exceptional case.

Pardon Recognises Injustice

Ellis was executed in 1955 after being convicted of murdering her lover, David Blakely. She was the last woman to be hanged in the UK before capital punishment was later abolished.

Announcing the decision, Lammy said the conditional pardon does not declare Ellis innocent of the crime.

"While the pardon does not claim she was innocent, it replaces the death penalty with a sentence of life imprisonment to recognise a profound injustice in this exceptional case," he said.

The conditional pardon acknowledges that, under modern legal standards, Ellis would not have faced the death penalty.

Family Welcomes Decision

Ellis, who was from Rhyl in north Wales, has long been viewed by campaigners and historians as a victim of domestic abuse.

Her family welcomed the government's decision, describing it as long-overdue recognition of the circumstances surrounding her case.

In a statement, Ellis' granddaughter, Laura Enston, said: "Justice has finally been done."

She added, however, that the pardon "does not restore the lives that were broken."

Announcement Made in Parliament

The announcement came at the conclusion of Deputy Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, where discussion had focused largely on early prisoner release schemes.

Ellis' case has remained one of the most widely debated in British legal history, with supporters arguing for decades that her execution failed to take account of the abuse she suffered before the killing.

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8 July 2026

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If not for the film "Dance with a Stranger" I wouldn't have known who this is.

The outcry over the execution of Ruth Ellis was a major factor in the abolition of the death penalty in the U.K.

Eliis is said to have remained calm right up to the moment the trapdoor opened. When hangman Albert Pierrepoint entered her cell, she took off a pair of reading glasses she had been using and placed them on the table in front of her with the comment,"I won't be needing them anymore."

Pierrepoint said she gave him a broad smile as he placed the hood over her head, but didn't speak any last words.

71 years later and the government has finally decided, ‘Our bad.’

A political move to try and quell the increasing calls for the death penalty to be re-instated by the likes of Restore UK.

25 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

A political move to try and quell the increasing calls for the death penalty to be re-instated by the likes of Restore UK.

And hopefully successfully.

12 hours ago, webfact said:

The conditional pardon acknowledges that, under modern legal standards, Ellis would not have faced the death penalty.

Wow, what a revelation to state that in a country that does not have the death penalty she would not have been given the death penalty. She was a murderer and was executed according to the laws of the day.

Do Labour really have nothing better to do with their time than pointless virtue signalling?