Trivia

[David Ashforth]

[Pete Whitehead]

The Asquith dot is a bit out of place

[xenon]

Harold Wilson is the only Prime Minister to win four general elections, and won the most of any PM in the 20th century (the only PM since 1801 to win more is Lord Salisbury with five).

[David Ashforth]

[johnloony]

Dec 1, 2022 10:14:37 GMT David Ashforth said:

Even better is the direct link

victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2022/11/22/the-1872-secret-ballot-and-multiple-member-seats/

Short version: lots of people who wanted to vote for only one candidate in the two-member constituencies thought that they could vote with two Xes for the same candidate, instead of just one X, thereby risking that their ballot paper would be spoilt.

[David Ashforth]

[David Ashforth]

[greatkingrat]

Apr 20, 2023 9:54:37 GMT David Ashforth said:

If the boundary review was based on these figures, then Northern Ireland would gain a 19th seat, at the expense of London.

[johnloony]

While i was checking the answer to the Hemsworth question, i noticed that Gateshead had 3 different MPs in 1931, and (if things had been only slightly different, by a few weeks or months) nearly had 4. The MP elected in a by-election in June 1931 died in October 1931, the same day that Parliament was dissolved.

[johnloony]

Another thing i noticed is that the constituency of West Ham Silvertown didn’t qualify for the list (of constituencies which have been continuously Labour since 1918) because in 1918 it elected Jack Jones of the National Socialist Party (who subsequently defected to the Labour Party). But the reason why the NSP had its own candidate (in opposition to another Labour candidate) ((in contrast with a few other constituencies where the NSP candidate was officially endorsed as the Labour candidate)) was because the Labour candidate was a member of the ILP and was anti-war, whereas the NSP was pro-war.

[rcronald]

Apr 20, 2023 10:34:03 GMT greatkingrat said:

Apr 20, 2023 9:54:37 GMT David Ashforth said:

If the boundary review was based on these figures, then Northern Ireland would gain a 19th seat, at the expense of London.

If Stormont wasn't already shut down then an argument about the added seat would have shut it down anyway lol.

[jm]

The ward with the most candidates in England this year is Coldhurst ward in Oldham where there are 17 candidates standing for 3 seats. Previous winners were: (excluding by-elections)

2022
Deptgord ward, Lewisham - 16 candidates for 3 seats


2021
Downley division, Buckinghamshire - 15 candidates for 2 seats


2019
Harbour & Normanston, East Suffolk - 16 candidates for 3 seats

[johnloony]

Apr 26, 2023 11:04:41 GMT jm said:

The ward with the most candidates in England this year is Coldhurst ward in Oldham where there are 17 candidates standing for 3 seats. ...

I was expecting lots of parties (5 or 6) with various local issues, but there are only 3 main parties (3 candidates each for Lab, Con & LD) and 8 Independent candidates. No Greens, no TUSC or socialist or whatever. 16 of the 17 candidates have Asian names. I wonder what the demographics of the ward are?

P.S. The "Busk" area (whatever that is) is 74% Bangladeshi origin (according to the 2021 census); I couldn't find specifically ward-level census data

[greatkingrat]

Apr 26, 2023 14:44:41 GMT johnloony said:

Apr 26, 2023 11:04:41 GMT jm said:

The ward with the most candidates in England this year is Coldhurst ward in Oldham where there are 17 candidates standing for 3 seats. ...

I was expecting lots of parties (5 or 6) with various local issues, but there are only 3 main parties (3 candidates each for Lab, Con & LD) and 8 Independent candidates. No Greens, no TUSC or socialist or whatever. 16 of the 17 candidates have Asian names. I wonder what the demographics of the ward are?

P.S. The "Busk" area (whatever that is) is 74% Bangladeshi origin (according to the 2021 census); I couldn't find specifically ward-level census data

And two Abdul Maliks as well.

[David Ashforth]

"After six years in the role and with an increasing workload as a result of being a councillor... in 1932 she [Ada Moore] resigned as chairman. In an impressive token of gratitude for her work, the [Hallam Women’s Conservative] Association presented her with a motor car."

www.fulwoodhistory.uk/ada-moore/

[Davıd Boothroyd]

The 13 councils the Conservatives still had majority control of in 1996-97 have been noted in the Trafford thread (Buckinghamshire CC, Bromley LBC, Kensington and Chelsea LBC, Wandsworth LBC, Westminster LBC, Arun, Broxbourne, Huntingdonshire, Macclesfield, Runnymede, South Staffordshire, Spelthorne and Surrey Heath). Let's just note what happened in the years since.

Two have since been subject to local government reform. Buckinghamshire was reduced in size but made safer in 1997, and abolished in 2021 but its successor remains Conservative. Macclesfield was abolished in 2009 and its successor was lost in 2019.

Bromley was lost in 1998 (since won back).
Arun was lost in 2019.
Spelthorne was lost in 2021.
Huntingdonshire, Wandsworth and Westminster were lost in 2022.

So only Buckinghamshire, RBKC, Broxbourne, Runnymede, South Staffs and Surrey Heath have remained consistently Conservative.

[greenchristian]

May 4, 2023 11:05:22 GMT Davıd Boothroyd said:

The 13 councils the Conservatives still had majority control of in 1996-97 have been noted in the Trafford thread (Buckinghamshire CC, Bromley LBC, Kensington and Chelsea LBC, Wandsworth LBC, Westminster LBC, Arun, Broxbourne, Huntingdonshire, Macclesfield, Runnymede, South Staffordshire, Spelthorne and Surrey Heath). Let's just note what happened in the years since.

Two have since been subject to local government reform. Buckinghamshire was reduced in size but made safer in 1997, and abolished in 2021 but its successor remains Conservative. Macclesfield was abolished in 2009 and its successor was lost in 2019.

Bromley was lost in 1998 (since won back).
Arun was lost in 2019.
Spelthorne was lost in 2021.
Huntingdonshire, Wandsworth and Westminster were lost in 2022.

So only Buckinghamshire, RBKC, Broxbourne, Runnymede, South Staffs and Surrey Heath have remained consistently Conservative.

What's the equivalent list for Labour?

[andrewp]

According to my books, Huntingdonshire was also no overall control from 1973-76 and Runnymede was possibly technically NOC in 1996-97 at least to start with- Con 21, Lab 14, Ind 6, LD 1

[batman]

It may have been mentioned before, but if not, in 1995 the Tories retained control in Spelthorne despite polling fewer votes than Labour.

[Sg1]

May 4, 2023 21:05:26 GMT batman said:

It may have been mentioned before, but if not, in 1995 the Tories retained control in Spelthorne despite polling fewer votes than Labour.

Also in 2011 Labour won a majority of 1 on North Warwickshire despite Conservatives polling more votes across the borough. I'm sure there's many other examples.