Voting shares in British general elections since 1832

Creative destruction in media barons

The share market effects of British elections

Image

By-election and death watch starts in the House of Commons tomorrow!

With a razor-thin majority likely after the British general election today, by-elections will be of unusual significance in Parliament of 650 middle-aged and older parliamentarians working under great stress with easy access to alcohol, food and little exercise. Backbench revolts will also take on a new meaning when there is a razor-thin majority.

image

1992, 1998 and 2010 are the only calendar years in history without a single by-election in the House of Commons.

The British Labour governments elected in 1964 and 1974 had small majorities. The majority was three seats after the 1974 election; four seats after the 1964 election. There was an early election in 1966 and two elections in 1974.

The Fixed Term Parliament Act rules out another general election unless a government is voted down on a motion of no confidence and another government is not formed within 14 days.

The Callaghan government fell on a no-confidence vote by one vote in 1979 after seeing its majority eroded by defeats in by-elections.

One of the jobs of the whips in the British House of Commons is to marshal sick and dying MPs for crucial votes. They have a rule that a vote of an MP goes in on the nod as long as his ambulance is parked in the speaker’s courtyard.

At least two ambulances were so parked when the Callaghan government lost its no confidence vote in 1979.

Legend has it that the Tory party whip prodded one of the patients in the back of the ambulance to check if he was still alive. He was so that the Tory whip told the Labour party whip ‘you lose’ and the Callaghan government fell by one vote.

Sir Alfred Broughton, a Labour MP who was on his death bed was not asked to come in despite offering to do so. He died four days after the vote.

When asked to honour a gentlemen’s agreement about pairing sick MPs, Tory whip Bernard Weatherill said pairing had never been intended for votes on Matters of Confidence and it would be impossible to find a Conservative MP who would agree to abstain.

After a moment’s reflection, Weatherill offered to abstain because he felt it would be dishonourable to break his word to deputy Chief Whip for the Labour Party, Walter Harrison about pairing conventions, which was a gentlemen’s agreement.

Harrison was so impressed by Weatherill’s offer – which would have ended his political career – that he released Weatherill from his obligation and the Government fell by one vote on the agreement of gentlemen. Weatherill was later elected Speaker of the House of Commons.

In a most unpredictable election, 1 in 4 voters still undecided on election day

via General Election 2015: Britain prepares to go to the polls | Daily Mail Online.

The Sun adds colour to every British election

Labour stays silent over gender segregation at party rally

UK labour has gone one up from the credit card pledges

In a great irony, the stone monolith in the garden of No. 10 may not get local council planning permission, and more importantly, permission to alter an historic building from Historic England.

British economic recoveries compared

The UK Greens tax and spending plans

via Manifesto Check: Greens go big on environment but what’s the political end game?.

.

The Tories used to win a lot of votes in Scotland

Good to see the hard left are still at it in the British general election

The Scottish National Party manifesto

The six-way 2015 British general election is warming up

The Conservatives have pulled into a three-point lead, their biggest margin over Labour since 2010

The election is six way because the Scottish Nationalists are expected to sweep the Labour seats in Scotland, which will give them 40 seats or more at the expense of Labour. The Tories have one seat in Scotland.

The Greens are now polling enough to split enough votes away from Labour to allow the Tories or Liberal Democrats to win Labour seats. Many Liberal Democratic seats appear to be going back to the Tories now.

UK is pressing at the heels of the Conservative party in England. How that will work to the advantage of Labour coming through the middle in England is unknown.

Ed Miliband has managed to be more unpopular than Michael Foot.

Next Newer Entries

Bassett, Brash & Hide

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

Truth on the Market

Scholarly commentary on law, economics, and more

The Undercover Historian

Beatrice Cherrier's blog

Matua Kahurangi

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

Temple of Sociology

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

Velvet Glove, Iron Fist

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

Why Evolution Is True

Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.

Down to Earth Kiwi

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

NoTricksZone

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

Homepaddock

A rural perspective with a blue tint by Ele Ludemann

Kiwiblog

DPF's Kiwiblog - Fomenting Happy Mischief since 2003

The Dangerous Economist

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

Watts Up With That?

The world's most viewed site on global warming and climate change

The Logical Place

Tim Harding's writings on rationality, informal logic and skepticism

Doc's Books

A window into Doc Freiberger's library

The Risk-Monger

Let's examine hard decisions!

Uneasy Money

Commentary on monetary policy in the spirit of R. G. Hawtrey

Barrie Saunders

Thoughts on public policy and the media

Liberty Scott

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

Point of Order

Politics and the economy

James Bowden's Blog

A blog (primarily) on Canadian and Commonwealth political history and institutions

Science Matters

Reading between the lines, and underneath the hype.

Peter Winsley

Economics, and such stuff as dreams are made on

A Venerable Puzzle

"The British constitution has always been puzzling, and always will be." --Queen Elizabeth II

The Antiplanner

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

Bet On It

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

History of Sorts

WORLD WAR II, MUSIC, HISTORY, HOLOCAUST

Roger Pielke Jr.

Undisciplined scholar, recovering academic

Offsetting Behaviour

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

JONATHAN TURLEY

Res ipsa loquitur - The thing itself speaks

Conversable Economist

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

The Victorian Commons

Researching the House of Commons, 1832-1868

The History of Parliament

Articles and research from the History of Parliament Trust

Books & Boots

Reflections on books and art

Legal History Miscellany

Posts on the History of Law, Crime, and Justice

Sex, Drugs and Economics

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

European Royal History

Exploring the Monarchs of Europe

Tallbloke's Talkshop

Cutting edge science you can dice with

Marginal REVOLUTION

Small Steps Toward A Much Better World

NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert”. - J Robert Oppenheimer.

STOP THESE THINGS

The truth about the great wind power fraud - we're not here to debate the wind industry, we're here to destroy it.

Lindsay Mitchell

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

Alt-M

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

croaking cassandra

Economics, public policy, monetary policy, financial regulation, with a New Zealand perspective

The Grumpy Economist

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

International Liberty

Restraining Government in America and Around the World