Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom, has been given a conditional pardon, David Lammy has confirmed.
Ellis shot her lover David Blakely dead outside The Magdala pub in Hampstead, northwest London, on 10 April 1955, after he subjected her to emotional and physical abuse – including a punch in the stomach that led to her miscarrying a pregnancy.
Under cross-examination, Ellis admitted that she intended to kill Blakely, and the jury took just 20 minutes to convict her of murder – a charge that carried a mandatory death sentence.
She was later executed on 13 July 1955.
Her family have been calling for a pardon, saying evidence that Ellis was abused by Blakely was never heard at her trial.
The King has now accepted the government’s advice to grant Ellis a conditional pardon, Mr Lammy told MPs.
Ellis’s legacy has been cemented in the world of film, television and theatre, with the most famous film being Mike Newell’s moving Dance with a Stranger (1985), starring Miranda Richardson.
Lucy Boynton recently played Ellis in the ITV drama A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story, which also starred Toby Jones, Toby Stephens, Juliet Stevenson, and Laurie Davidson as Blakely.
Ellis was tried at the Old Bailey on 20 June 1955. Prosecutor Christmas Humphreys asked her just one question: “When you fired the revolver at close range into the body of David Blakely, what did you intend to do?”
She replied: “It’s obvious when I shot him I intended to kill him.”
She was executed at 9.01am on 13 July 1955 by the famed hangman Albert Pierrepoint.
As was customary with British executions, Ellis was buried in an unmarked grave in Holloway Prison. She was 28.
Her execution caused public outrage and contributed to growing support for the abolition of the death penalty, which was eventually suspended in 1965.
A petition signed by 50,000 people called for Ellis’s pardon on the grounds she could have been tried for manslaughter, and was submitted to the Home Office. It was ultimately rejected.
Further calls for her pardon, taking into account the abuse she had suffered, were brought forward in 2003 and 2007, but both failed to pass.
A family campaign
Ellis’s grandchildren presented Mr Lammy with an application for a conditional pardon in 2025.
They argued that Ellis had been subject to abusive and controlling behaviour, and a modern understanding of the impact on her would have resulted in a manslaughter conviction at most.
Laura Enston, Ellis’s granddaughter, told The Guardian at the time: “Ruth’s execution has had a devastating impact on our family. My mother and uncle suffered from trauma from which neither of them were able to recover, and as grandchildren we have felt these ripple effects.
“The evidence shared with the justice secretary makes clear that the punishment did not fit the crime.”
Ms Enston said that her family had suffered mental health problems – her mother, Ellis’s daughter, was a “very tormented woman”, while her uncle was diagnosed with schizophrenia and died by suicide, she told The Guardian.
She herself was bullied at school due to being Ellis’s granddaughter, she said.
On Wednesday, Ms Enston welcomed the pardon, saying that “justice has finally been done” for her grandmother.
“This pardon does not undo what happened 71 years ago. It does not restore the lives that were broken – the children left behind, the years lost,” she said.
“But it says, formally and finally, that Ruth should not have been executed, that the justice system failed her.
“That acknowledgement matters profoundly to our family.”
Katy Colton, a partner at Mishcon de Reya, which acted for Ellis’s grandchildren, said a conditional pardon “is a landmark moment” for justice in the UK and domestic abuse survivors.
Speaking outside the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday, she said: “The granting of a conditional pardon for Ruth Ellis is a landmark moment for the family, for the British justice system and for domestic abuse survivors who’ve been failed by the state.
“Our application demonstrated that Ruth suffered what is now known as battered woman syndrome and that the cumulative impact of the appalling abuse that she sustained would, under the law as it stands today, have led to a different outcome.”
The national domestic abuse helpline offers support for women on 0808 2000 247, or you can visit the Refuge website. There is a dedicated men’s advice line on 0808 8010 327. Those in the US can call the domestic violence hotline on 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via befrienders.org
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI) or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to befrienders.org to find a helpline near you
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