The United Kingdom was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1971 with the song "Jack in the Box", composed by John Worsley, with lyrics by David Myers, and performed by Clodagh Rodgers. The British participating broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), selected its entry through a national final, after having previously selected the performer internally.
As the 16th annual Eurovision Song Contest was being held in Dublin, the BBC were worried about the possible audience reaction to the British song due to the hostilities raging in Northern Ireland. They specifically selected a singer from Northern Ireland, Clodagh Rodgers, who was popular in both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, to ease any ill-feeling from the Irish audience. However, Rodgers still received death threats from the IRA for representing the United Kingdom.
Before Eurovision
A Song for Europe 1971
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) held the national final on 20 February 1971 as part of the BBC1 TV series It's Cliff Richard!, presented by Cliff Richard. Clodagh Rodgers, a singer and actress from Northern Ireland, best known for her hit singles including, 1969 hits "Come Back and Shake Me" and "Goodnight Midnight" sang all the six finalists in the contest, having been internally selected by the BBC to represent the United Kingdom, in part due to worries as to what reaction the British artist would face at the contest in Dublin. Rodgers performed each song weekly, before showcasing all six in the Song for Europe edition of the Cliff Richard Show, followed by a repeat playback of all six performances. Due to a postal strike, viewers were unable to cast votes for the songs this year, so 8 regional juries, consisting of 10 jurors with just one vote each for their favourite song, were constructed from members of the public. These juries were located in Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, London, Manchester, and Norwich.
{| class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; text-align:center;"
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|+ A Song for Europe 197120 February 1971
|-
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" | Song
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Songwriter(s)
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Votes
! scope="col" | Place
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 1
|align=left| "Look Left, Look Right"
|align=left| Alan Hawkshaw, Ray Cameron
| 6
| 5
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 2
|align=left| "In My World of Beautiful Things"
|align=left| Valerie Avon, Harold Spiro
| 12
| 4
|- style="background:gold; font-weight:bold;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 3
|align=left| "Jack in the Box"
|align=left| John Worsley, David Myers
| 22
| 1
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 4
|align=left| "Another Time, Another Place"
|align=left| Mike Leander, Eddie Seago
| 6
| 5
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 5
|align=left| "Wind of Change"
|align=left| Brian Bennett, Mike Hawker
| 17
| 2
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 6
|align=left| "Someone to Love Me"
|align=left| Ernie Ponticelli, Gordon Rees
| 17
| 2
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
|+