South Wales. Don Touhig retains the seat for Labour, with nearly 70% of the vote. 17 February – The famous MG sports car brand, not seen on a volume sports car since 1980, is revived when the Rover Group unveils the new MGF sports car which will go on sale this Autumn. 21 February – George Graham, who has won six major trophies including two league titles in nearly a decade as manager of Arsenal F.C., is sacked over allegations that he accepted illegal payments from an agent when signing two players in 1992. 24 February – The Football Association bans Eric Cantona from football for eight months, meaning that he will not be able to play competitively until after 30 September. 26 February – Barings Bank, the UK's oldest merchant bank collapses following $1,400,000,000 of losses by rogue trader, Nick Leeson. 28 February – The Diary of Bridget Jones column first published in The Independent. March 9 March – The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visit Northern Ireland for the first time since the IRA and Loyalist ceasefire which came into force last year. 20 March – The Queen arrives in Cape Town for the first royal visit to South Africa in nearly fifty years. 23 March – Eric Cantona is sentenced to fourteen days imprisonment at Croydon Crown Court for his assault on a Crystal Palace fan two months ago. He remains free on bail pending an appeal against his sentence, but if this is unsuccessful he will be the first footballer to be jailed in Britain for an on-field offence. Gifted Scottish winger Davie Cooper dies of a brain haemorrhage after collapsing during filming of a coaching video. 31 March – Eric Cantona wins his appeal against his prison sentence, which is reduced to a 120-hour community service order. April 1 April – Daewoo begins selling cars in the United Kingdom. It offers a two-model range, the Nexia and Espero, updated versions of the 1984 Vauxhall Astra and 1981 Vauxhall Cavalier respectively. 8 April – British-born American national Nicholas Ingram, 31, is executed in Georgia for a murder committed in 1983. 16 April – PhONEday changes all telephone area dialing codes UK-wide. May 4 May – The Conservative government's fortunes continue to decline as the local council elections see them in control of a mere eight councils, while Labour control 155 councils and the Liberal Democrats