On the night of the U.K. general election, I was on the phone with someone working for the campaigning MP Andrew Bridgen as the first two ballot boxes were opened at his count, and, as these were being verified, I was stunned by the bizarre news that there were only four ballot papers with his name selected in these boxes containing many hundreds of papers. My heart sank, because in that moment I entertained a thought I had never thought I would have about the British electoral system. And the feeling only got stronger. By the end of the night, Bridgen had scraped just 1,568 votes...from ...
Imagine being stabbed by a man with a big knife, who then offered to sell you some handy bandages at half price, before expecting you to be grateful for it. Here in the U.K., that lovely generous ...
When is winning an election also simultaneously to lose it? According to most pundits, this week’s July 4 General Election here in the U.K. is due to be a complete Labour landslide, with polls ...
I feel like Diogenes, the Ancient Greek who walked about sunny Athens with a lamp looking for an honest man. And I have found one in Nigel Farage, certainly the last politician ...
What’s your definition of bravery? Rushing into a burning building to save a sizzling baby? Holding off an entire platoon of soldiers from capturing your lonely position ...
There have been many legendary comments made in the House of Commons, the primary legislative chamber of the United Kingdom, and Sir Winston Churchill is responsible for many of ...
Like Macbeth in Dunsinane, British prime minister Boris Johnson is creating his enemies by ending their careers. Actually, the two share much in common, both having changed their ...
Britain’s international relations have acquired something of Paris in the spring of 1871. Having achieved a lightning defeat at the hands of Prussia, the inhabitants of the ...
William Gladstone, the great Victorian Liberal leader, the most successful electoral politician of the age, believed that success in politics depended on right timing. This was ...
It's important to restrict the power of government"any government. In Britain this used to be the task of Parliament, especially the House of Commons. Government was the ...
"The whole worl" is in a state o" chassis," says a character in a Sean O"Casey play. By "chassis" he meant "chaos," but "chassis," ...
In his op-ed in The Washington Post, Chris Grayling, leader of the House of Commons, made the case for British withdrawal from the European Union—in terms Americans can ...
Just after 10pm last Thursday, the BBC was allowed to broadcast the results of the exit poll it had been conducting outside voting stations during election day. Its conclusion ...
Britain's new multi-party politics has pundits and bookies salivating at the prospect of minority governments, hung parliaments, awkward alliances, and kingmakers after the May ...
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the most powerful commoner in the United Kingdom. On the 26th of March, an attempt to change the rules for electing the Speaker of the House ...
James Goad is the Chairman of the Worcester City branch of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). Despite the best efforts of many to dismiss the UKIP as a "fringe" ...
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