Justice Secretary the minister announced a limited posthumous pardon to Ruth Ellis, the last woman hanged in the UK, signalling a shift in historical perspective, in which the execution took place. A review led by the UK Attorney General, also Shabana Mahmood, found Ellis’s death sentence inappropriate due to her history of abuse, which the review highlighted as a key factor. Ellis was shot and killed David Blakely in 1955, a crime that shocked the nation. The pardon does not expunge her criminal record but formally recognizes the mistreatment she endured and the flawed nature of capital punishment, in that era.