New UK bank holiday for 2025 in extra day off for millions of workers

A new Bank Holiday is being earmarked for 2025 - in a major boost for millions of workers. A four-day weekend could be marked to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, with VE Day typically marked on May 8, and VJ Day on August 15.

Both dates are being weighed up with an announcement soon, according to national newspaper reports. The proposal includes either creating a long weekend by clearing schedules from May 9 to 12 or adding August 22 as an extra day to the summer bank holiday on August 25, transforming it into a four-day celebration.

Current bank holidays include 1 January, a Wednesday, which is New Year’s Day, before 18 April sees Good Friday marked. Then, there is the 21 April Easter Bank Holiday, before the early May bank holiday on Monday 5 May, and late May bank holiday a few weeks later on 26 May.

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25 August, a Monday, is the next, otherwise known as the summer bank holiday, before 25 December and Boxing Day, over the Christmas period. Earlier this year, the UK was nearly handed an extra day off after England came close to winning the European Championships.

The Liberal Democrats led calls for an extra bank holiday after England claimed a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in the semi-final. Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour Party leader and Prime Minister, speaking at the Nato summit in Washington, said: “We should certainly mark the occasion, I don’t want to jinx it. I went to the last Euros final, I don’t want to go through that again.

“I don’t want to jinx anything but we must mark it in some way." The PM went on and also said: "But the most important thing is getting it over the line on Sunday.”