The country has won the contest five times: in 1967, with "Puppet on a String" performed by Sandie Shaw; in 1969 (a four-way tie), with "Boom Bang-a-Bang" by Lulu ; in 1976, with "Save Your Kisses for Me" by Brotherhood of Man; in 1981, with "Making Your Mind Up" by Bucks Fizz; and in 1997, with "Love Shine a Light" by Katrina and the Waves.

The BBC has allowed the public to choose the British entry in the contest through a national selection process on many occasions.

Its top ten positions in this period are third in 2002 with "Come Back" by Jessica Garlick, fifth in 2009 with "It's My Time" by Jade Ewen, and second in 2022 with "Space Man" by Sam Ryder.

[1] However, it's also believed that the United Kingdom had selected Shirley Abicair to perform "Little Ship" at the contest, but withdrew due to her nationality being Australian.

[3] At their second attempt in the contest in 1959, the UK achieved the first of its record sixteen runner-up positions, when Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson sang "Sing Little Birdie".

The UK would go on to achieve four more second-place finishes with Bryan Johnson in 1960, The Allisons in 1961, Matt Monro in 1964 and Kathy Kirby in 1965, before eventually winning for the first time in 1967.

The UK's second victory was provided by the Scottish singer Lulu, who won with the song "Boom Bang-a-Bang" in 1969, in a four-way tie with France, Spain and the Netherlands.

The group was created especially for the UK televised selection contest, A Song for Europe (a programme which in later years would be renamed to Making Your Mind Up).

The UK's fifth victory came in 1997, when Katrina and the Waves, famous for their 1980s hit "Walking on Sunshine", comfortably won the contest with the song "Love Shine a Light".

In the final, she performed the song "Children of the Universe", which she co-wrote with Anders Hansson and finished in 17th place with 40 points, having been regarded as one of the favourites to win the contest.

[8] In October 2014, Guy Freeman stated that the BBC were still engaging with record companies and the BBC Introducing platform in order to find an entry for the 2015 contest via the internal selection process, but announced that in addition, for the first time since 2008, it would be giving the general public the option to submit an entry for consideration.

[9][10] Ultimately, the entry for 2015 came through open submission, with the song "Still in Love with You" performed by the duo Electro Velvet finishing in 24th place with five points.

[22] Ahead of the 2020 contest, the BBC stated that it would return to internally selecting its representative, in collaboration with record label BMG.

[27] He was praised by the media for his positive attitude and desire to change the UK public and press' perception of the contest.

[28] However, they were unable to replicate the previous year's success, with Mae Muller and her entry "I Wrote a Song" finishing in 25th place on home soil in Liverpool, with 24 points in total.

[33] On 9 August 2024, it was announced that BBC Studios had retained the tender to produce the live UK coverage for two years starting in May 2026.

[34] In 1999, a rule change allowed the United Kingdom, along with France, Germany, and Spain, to automatically qualify for the final (irrespective of their recent scores and without entering a semi-final), due to their participant broadcasters being the largest financial contributors to the EBU.

As well as broadcasting the contest each year, the BBC also organises the selection process for the entry, often with a televised national final (historically titled A Song for Europe).

This resulted in the national selection process being suspended; however, this returned in 2016, re-titled Eurovision: You Decide, with viewers once again choosing which song to enter into the contest.

[40][41][42][43] Below is a list of all songs and their respective performers that have represented the United Kingdom in the contest:[44] Although the United Kingdom was entered twice into Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest, with Cliff Richard's 1968 runner-up entry "Congratulations" and Brotherhood of Man's 1976 winning song "Save Your Kisses for Me", the BBC decided not to air the event or participate in the voting, but instead aired an hour-long special programme in May 2006, titled Boom Bang-a-Bang: 50 Years of Eurovision and hosted by Terry Wogan.

The programme featured archive footage and highlights of past contests, along with a performance of that year's UK entry by Daz Sampson.

Following the cancellation of the 2020 contest due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the BBC decided to host Eurovision: Come Together, a competitive special on the night of what would have been the 2020 final.

[47] In 2015, London hosted Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits, an event to commemorate the 60th anniversary, which was recorded for television on 31 March 2015 and was shown in 26 countries, starting with the UK and Ireland on 3 April 2015.

[58] Additionally, several British conductors have conducted for other countries (not counting instances where a British musical director had to step in for another country that didn't bring their own conductor), including: Each participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event.

The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the performers, songwriters, composers, and backing vocalists, among others.

[81] In the 1998 contest, hosted in Birmingham, Terry Wogan acted as both commentator and on-stage presenter (together with Ulrika Jonsson).

Graham Norton performed a similar role in the final of the 2023 contest, hosted in Liverpool, with Mel Giedroyc serving as co-commentator.

[293] The 2023 spokesperson was based in the host venue Liverpool Arena, and in 2024, the background of the UK voting presentation was reverted to London's Tower Bridge (despite still broadcasting from Salford).

MEP Alyn Smith has said in the European Parliament: "Other small countries have done it [entered the competition] and I will be happy to help any of the broadcasting companies through the progress.

However, to date, these proposed changes have not occurred, and the United Kingdom still participates in the Eurovision Song Contest as a single entrant.