1.
House of Commons of the United Kingdom
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The House of Commons of the United Kingdom is the lower house of the countrys parliament. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster, officially, the full name of the house is, The Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled. The House is a body consisting of 650 members known as Members of Parliament. Members are elected to represent constituencies by first-past-the-post and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved, under the Parliament Act 1911, the Lords power to reject legislation was reduced to a delaying power. The Government is primarily responsible to the House of Commons and the prime minister stays in office only as long as he or she retains the support of a majority of its members. Although it does not formally elect the prime minister, the position of the parties in the House of Commons is of overriding importance, by convention, the prime minister is answerable to, and must maintain the support of, the House of Commons. Since 1963, by convention, the minister is always a member of the House of Commons. The Commons may indicate its lack of support for the Government by rejecting a motion of confidence or by passing a motion of no confidence, confidence and no confidence motions are sometimes phrased explicitly, for instance, That this House has no confidence in Her Majestys Government. Many other motions were considered confidence issues, even though not explicitly phrased as such, in particular, important bills that form a part of the Governments agenda were formerly considered matters of confidence, as is the annual Budget. Parliament normally sits for a term of five years. Subject to that limit, the minister could formerly choose the timing of the dissolution of parliament. By this second mechanism, the government of the United Kingdom can change without a general election. In such circumstances there may not even have been a party leadership election, as the new leader may be chosen by acclaim. A prime minister may resign if he or she is not defeated at the polls. In such a case, the premiership goes to whoever can command a majority in the House of Commons, in practice this is usually the new leader of the outgoing prime ministers party. Until 1965, the Conservative Party had no mechanism for electing a new leader, when Anthony Eden resigned as PM in 1957 without recommending a successor and it fell to the Queen to appoint Harold Macmillan as the new prime minister, after taking the advice of ministers. By convention, all ministers must be members of the House of Commons or of the House of Lords, a handful have been appointed who were outside Parliament, but in most cases they then entered Parliament either in a by-election or by receiving a peerage. Since 1902, all ministers have been members of the Commons
2.
Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)
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The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdoms lower chamber of Parliament. The office is held by John Bercow, who was initially elected on 22 June 2009. He was returned as an MP in the 2010 general election and was re-elected as Speaker when the House sat at the start of the new Parliament on 18 May 2010. He was again returned as an MP in the 2015 general election and was re-elected, unopposed, the Speaker presides over the Houses debates, determining which members may speak. The Speaker is also responsible for maintaining order during debate, the Speaker does not take part in debate or vote. Aside from duties relating to presiding over the House, the Speaker also performs administrative and procedural functions, the Speaker has the right and obligation to reside in Speakers House at the Palace of Westminster. The office of Speaker is almost as old as Parliament itself, the earliest year for which a presiding officer has been identified is 1258, when Peter de Montfort presided over the Parliament held in Oxford. Early presiding officers were known by the title parlour or prolocutor, Edward III was frail and in seclusion, his prestigious eldest son, Edward the Black Prince, terminally ill. It was left to the son, a furious John of Gaunt. He arrested De la Mare and disgraced other leading critics, in the next, Bad Parliament, in 1377, a cowed Commons put forward Gaunts steward, Thomas Hungerford, as their spokesman in retracting their predecessors misdoings of the previous year. On 6 October 1399, Sir John Cheyne of Beckford was elected speaker, the powerful Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Arundel, is said to have voiced his fears of Cheynes reputation as a critic of the Church. Eight days later, Cheyne resigned on grounds of ill-health, although he remained in favour with the king, in such a situation, the influence of the speaker should not be underestimated. Sir Thomas More was the first speaker to go on to become Lord Chancellor, until the 17th century, members of the House of Commons often continued to view their Speaker as an agent of the Crown. As Parliament evolved, however, the Speakers position grew into one that involved more duties to the House than to the Crown, such was definitely the case by the time of the English Civil War. This change is said to be reflected by an incident in 1642. The development of Cabinet government under King William III in the late 17th century caused further change in the nature of the Speakership, Speakers were generally associated with the ministry, and often held other government offices. For example, Robert Harley served simultaneously as Speaker and as a Secretary of State between 1704 and 1705, the Speaker between 1728 and 1761, Arthur Onslow, reduced ties with the government, though the office did remain to a large degree political. The Speakership evolved into its modern form—in which the holder is an impartial and apolitical officer who does not belong to any party—only during the middle of the 19th century, over 150 individuals have served as Speaker of the House of Commons
3.
John Bercow
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John Simon Bercow is a British politician who has been the Speaker of the House of Commons since June 2009. Prior to his election to Speaker, he was a member of the Conservative Party and he served as a councillor from 1986 to 1990 and unsuccessfully contested parliamentary seats in the 1987 and 1992 general elections. In the 1997 general election, Bercow was elected the MP for Buckingham and he held posts in the shadow cabinets of Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard. In November 2002, he resigned from the cabinet over disputes concerning the Adoption and Children Act. In September 2004, Bercow was sacked after disagreements with Howard, following the resignation of Speaker Michael Martin, Bercow announced his intention to stand for the Speakership election on 22 June 2009 and was successful. He remained Speaker and was re-elected in his constituency at the election on 7 May 2015. He was re-elected as Speaker, unopposed, when the House sat at the start of the new parliament on 18 May 2015, in 2014 Bercow was appointed Chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire. Bercow was born to an English Jewish family in Edgware, London and his paternal grandparents were Jews from Romania who arrived in England a century ago. The son of a driver, Bercow attended Frith Manor Primary School in Woodside Park, and Finchley Manorhill. In his youth, Bercow had been ranked Britains No.1 junior tennis player, Bercow graduated with a first-class honours degree in government from the University of Essex in 1985. Professor Anthony King said When he was a student here, he was very right-wing, pretty stroppy, as a young activist, Bercow was a member of the right-wing Conservative Monday Club, becoming secretary of its immigration and repatriation committee. However, at the age of 20 he left the club, in 1981, Bercow had stood as a candidate for the national executive of the Monday Club and called for a programme of assisted repatriation of immigrants. He has since then called his participation in the club utter madness, after graduating from the University of Essex, Bercow was elected as the last national chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students, 1986–87. After a spell in merchant banking, Bercow joined the lobbying firm Rowland Sallingbury Casey in 1988, with fellow Conservative Julian Lewis, Bercow ran an advanced speaking and campaigning course for over 10 years, which trained over 600 Conservatives in campaigning and communication techniques. He has also lectured in the United States to students of the Leadership Institute, in 1986, Bercow was elected as a Conservative councillor in the London Borough of Lambeth, and served for four years. In 1987, he was appointed the youngest deputy leader in the United Kingdom. In 1995, Bercow was appointed as an adviser to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. After Aitkens resignation to fight an action, Bercow served as a special adviser to the Secretary of State for National Heritage
4.
Alan Haselhurst
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He was Chairman of Ways and Means from 14 May 1997 to 8 June 2010, and later Chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association between 2011-14. He is currently the oldest Conservative MP and he was elected President of the Oxford University Conservative Association in 1958 and, for two years, served as Secretary and Treasurer of the Oxford Union from 1959. Before his election to Parliament, he worked in management in the chemicals industry and he was the Chairman of the Manchester Youth and Community Service from 1974 until being returned to Parliament. Haselhurst worked as an agent for Robin Balniel, Conservative MP for Hertford. Being elected in 1964, he served for two years as the Chairman of the National Young Conservatives. He was elected to the House of Commons at the 1970 general election for the Lancashire seat of Middleton and Prestwich, however, Haselhurst lost the seat at the next February 1974 general election to Labour by just 517 votes. The Conservative MP for the Essex seat of Saffron Walden, Sir Peter Kirk, died on 17 April 1977, Haselhurst won the seat with a majority of 12,437 and has been returned as the constituencys MP ever since. He served on the European Legislation Select Committee for fifteen years from 1982 and he was invited to ask the first question in Margaret Thatchers final Prime Ministers Questions on 27 November 1990. Following the 1997 general election, he was elected Chairman of Ways and Means, remaining in that post under successive Speakers Betty Boothroyd, Michael Martin, Haselhurst was a contender to succeed Michael Martin after Martins resignation as Commons Speaker on 19 May 2009. Haselhurst was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum and he was elected Chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Associations Executive committee, serving until October 2014, overseeing parliamentary procedure throughout the Commonwealth. Alan Haselhurst married Angela Margaret Bailey on 16 April 1977, and he is a very vocal supporter of community-based projects and was for a time a Director of Turning Point, a charity working with socially excluded young people, for five years from 1981. A noted Europhile, he is regarded as a one-nation Conservative and he was knighted in 1995 and sworn of the Privy Council in 1999. Saffron Walden Profile, dodonline. co. uk, accessed 21 October 2015
5.
Chorley (UK Parliament constituency)
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Chorley is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Lindsay Hoyle of the Labour Party. 1885–1918, The Sessional Division of Leyland Hundred, and part of the Sessional Division of Leyland, 1950–1983, The Municipal Borough of Chorley, the Urban Districts of Adlington and Leyland, and the Rural District of Chorley. 1983–1997, The Borough of Chorley, and the District of West Lancashire wards of Parbold, Chorley constituency consists of the majority of the borough of Chorley. As well as the market town of Chorley itself, the seat extends into southern Lancashire rural hinterland with three major villages and minor villages. Chorleys expansion is assured with the building of Buckshaw Village, an urban development sprawling over the former Royal Ordnance Site east of Leyland in the seat. Chorley constituency was one of the largest in electorate at the start of the review and these changes took away from the seat all the areas to the west of the M6 motorway, namely Croston, Eccleston, Bretherton and Mawdesley. Since the 1945 general election Chorley has proved to be a bellwether, Chorley itself is Labours strongest area in the seat, with the rural hinterland and smaller towns and villages more inclined to vote Conservative. The Member of Parliament for the seat since 1997, Lindsay Hoyle of the Labour Party, is a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, endorsed by Coalition Government General Election 1914/15, Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915
6.
Chorley
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The towns wealth came principally from the cotton industry. Chorley is the home of the Chorley cake, at the 2011 Census, it had a population of 34,667. The name Chorley comes from two Anglo-Saxon words, Ceorl and ley, probably meaning the peasants clearing, ley is a common element of place-name, meaning a clearing in a woodland. Ceorl refers to a person of similar to a freeman or a yeoman. There was no known occupation in Chorley until the Middle Ages, there are various remains of prehistoric occupation on the nearby Anglezarke Moor, including the Round Loaf tumulus which is believed to date from 3500 BC. During the Roman era a Roman road ran near Chorley between Wigan and Walton-le-Dale, hoards dating from the Roman period have also been found at nearby at Whittle-le-Woods and Heapey. Chorley was not listed in the Domesday Book, though it is thought to be one of the twelve berewicks in the Leyland Hundred. Chorley first appears in records in the mid thirteenth century as part of the portion of the Croston Lordship acquired by William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby. The Earl established Chorley as a borough comprising a two row settlement arranged along what later became Market Street. It appears that the borough was short-lived as it not appear in a report of a commission on the Leyland Hundred in 1341. The manorial history of Chorley is complex as the manor had no single lord throughout most of period as it had been split into moieties and was managed by several different families. It is believed the borough of Chorley was not a success in this period because of the lack of manorial leadership and the dispersed nature of the small population. As happened in other instances following the dissolution of the monasteries. A market was held every Tuesday in Chorley and a fair was held annually on the feast of St Lawrence since 1498, Chorley, like most Lancashire towns, gained its wealth from the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century which was also responsible for the towns growth. Chorley was a cotton town with many mills littering the skyline up to the late twentieth century. Most mills were demolished between the 1950s and 2000s with those remaining converted for business purposes. Today only a minority remain in use for actual manufacturing, also Chorley in its location on the edge of Lancashire Coalfield was vital in coal mining. Several pits existed in Duxbury Woods, the Gillibrand area and more numerously in Coppull, chisnall Hall Colliery at Coppull was considered the biggest Lancashire pit outside of Wigan and one of many located in the Chorley suburb
7.
Lancashire
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Lancashire is a non-metropolitan ceremonial county in north west England. The county town is Lancaster although the administrative centre is Preston. The county has a population of 1,449,300, people from Lancashire are known as Lancastrians. The history of Lancashire begins with its founding in the 12th century, in the Domesday Book of 1086, some of its lands were treated as part of Yorkshire. The land that lay between the Ribble and Mersey, Inter Ripam et Mersam, was included in the returns for Cheshire, when its boundaries were established, it bordered Cumberland, Westmorland, Yorkshire, and Cheshire. Lancashire emerged as a commercial and industrial region during the Industrial Revolution. Liverpool and Manchester grew into its largest cities, dominating global trade, the county contained several mill towns and the collieries of the Lancashire Coalfield. By the 1830s, approximately 85% of all cotton manufactured worldwide was processed in Lancashire, Accrington, Blackburn, Bolton, Burnley, Bury, Chorley, Colne, Darwen, Manchester, Nelson, Oldham, Preston, Rochdale and Wigan were major cotton mill towns during this time. Blackpool was a centre for tourism for the inhabitants of Lancashires mill towns, the detached northern part of Lancashire in the Lake District, including the Furness Peninsula and Cartmel, was merged with Cumberland and Westmorland to form Cumbria. Lancashire lost 709 square miles of land to other counties, about two fifths of its area, although it did gain some land from the West Riding of Yorkshire. Today the county borders Cumbria to the north, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south and North and West Yorkshire to the east, with a coastline on the Irish Sea to the west. The county palatine boundaries remain the same with the Duke of Lancaster exercising sovereignty rights, including the appointment of lords lieutenant in Greater Manchester, the county was established in 1182, later than many other counties. During Roman times the area was part of the Brigantes tribal area in the zone of Roman Britain. The towns of Manchester, Lancaster, Ribchester, Burrow, Elslack, in the centuries after the Roman withdrawal in 410AD the northern parts of the county probably formed part of the Brythonic kingdom of Rheged, a successor entity to the Brigantes tribe. During the mid-8th century, the area was incorporated into the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria, in the Domesday Book, land between the Ribble and Mersey were known as Inter Ripam et Mersam and included in the returns for Cheshire. Although some historians consider this to mean south Lancashire was then part of Cheshire and it is also claimed that the territory to the north formed part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It bordered on Cumberland, Westmorland, Yorkshire, and Cheshire, the county was divided into hundreds, Amounderness, Blackburn, Leyland, Lonsdale, Salford and West Derby. Lonsdale was further partitioned into Lonsdale North, the part north of the sands of Morecambe Bay including Furness and Cartmel
8.
Labour Party (UK)
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The Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom. Labour later served in the coalition from 1940 to 1945. Labour was also in government from 1964 to 1970 under Harold Wilson and from 1974 to 1979, first under Wilson and then James Callaghan. The Labour Party was last in government from 1997 to 2010 under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, beginning with a majority of 179. Having won 232 seats in the 2015 general election, the party is the Official Opposition in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the party also organises in Northern Ireland, but does not contest elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Labour Party is a member of the Party of European Socialists and Progressive Alliance. In September 2015, Jeremy Corbyn was elected Leader of the Labour Party, the first Lib–Lab candidate to stand was George Odger in the Southwark by-election of 1870. In addition, several small socialist groups had formed around this time, among these were the Independent Labour Party, the intellectual and largely middle-class Fabian Society, the Marxist Social Democratic Federation and the Scottish Labour Party. In the 1895 general election, the Independent Labour Party put up 28 candidates, Keir Hardie, the leader of the party, believed that to obtain success in parliamentary elections, it would be necessary to join with other left-wing groups. Hardies roots as a lay preacher contributed to an ethos in the party led to the comment by 1950s General Secretary Morgan Phillips that Socialism in Britain owed more to Methodism than Marx. The motion was passed at all stages by the TUC, the meeting was attended by a broad spectrum of working-class and left-wing organisations—trades unions represented about one third of the membership of the TUC delegates. This created an association called the Labour Representation Committee, meant to coordinate attempts to support MPs sponsored by trade unions and it had no single leader, and in the absence of one, the Independent Labour Party nominee Ramsay MacDonald was elected as Secretary. He had the task of keeping the various strands of opinions in the LRC united. The October 1900 Khaki election came too soon for the new party to campaign effectively, only 15 candidatures were sponsored, but two were successful, Keir Hardie in Merthyr Tydfil and Richard Bell in Derby. Support for the LRC was boosted by the 1901 Taff Vale Case, the judgement effectively made strikes illegal since employers could recoup the cost of lost business from the unions. In their first meeting after the election the groups Members of Parliament decided to adopt the name The Labour Party formally, the Fabian Society provided much of the intellectual stimulus for the party. One of the first acts of the new Liberal Government was to reverse the Taff Vale judgement, the Peoples History Museum in Manchester holds the minutes of the first Labour Party meeting in 1906 and has them on display in the Main Galleries. Also within the museum is the Labour History Archive and Study Centre, the governing Liberals were unwilling to repeal this judicial decision with primary legislation
9.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
10.
United Kingdom general election, 1997
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The United Kingdom general election of 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. Under the leadership of Tony Blair, the Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition and won the election with a landslide victory, winning 418 seats. Blair, as a result, became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, under Blairs leadership, the Labour Party had adopted a more centrist policy platform under the name New Labour. This was seen as moving away from the traditionally more left-wing stance of the Labour Party, the Labour campaign was ultimately a success and the party returned an unprecedented 418 MPs and began the first of three consecutive terms for Labour in government. However,1997 remains the last election in which Labour had a net gain of seats, a record number of women were elected to parliament,120, of whom 101 were Labour MPs. This was in thanks to Labours policy of using all-women shortlists. The Conservative Party was led by incumbent Prime Minister John Major and ran their campaign emphasising falling unemployment, however, future Prime Minister Theresa May was elected to the safe Conservative seat at Maidenhead, and future Speaker John Bercow in the seat at Buckingham. The Scottish National Party returned 6 MPs, double their total in 1992, as with all general elections since the early 1950s, the results were broadcast live on the BBC, the presenters were David Dimbleby, Peter Snow and Jeremy Paxman. Labour had elected John Smith as its party leader in 1992, Blair brought the party closer to the political centre and abolished the partys Clause IV in their constitution, which had committed them to mass nationalisation of industry. Labour also reversed its policy on nuclear disarmament and the events of Black Wednesday allowed Labour to promise greater economic management under the Chancellorship of Gordon Brown. Fast-track punishment for persistent young offenders by halving the time from arrest to sentencing, cut NHS waiting lists by treating an extra 100,000 patients as a first step by releasing £100 million saved from NHS red tape. Get 250,000 under-25-year-olds off benefit and into work by using money from a levy on the privatised utilities. No rise in tax rates, cut VAT on heating to 5 per cent. Disputes within the Conservative government over European Union issues, and a variety of sleaze allegations had affected the governments popularity. The previous Parliament first sat on 29 April 1992, therefore, the latest date the election could have been held on was 22 May 1997. British elections have been held on Thursdays by convention since the 1930s, Prime Minister John Major called the election on Monday 17 March 1997, ensuring the formal campaign would be unusually long, at six weeks. The election was scheduled for 1 May, to coincide with the elections on the same day. This set a precedent, as the three subsequent general elections have also held alongside the May local elections
11.
Warrington North (UK Parliament constituency)
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Warrington North is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election, the current MP is Helen Jones of the Labour Party — the constituency has always been a safe Labour seat. The constituency is one of two covering the unitary authority of Warrington, Cheshire, the other being Warrington South and it covers the northern and eastern parts of the town, including Birchwood, Orford, Padgate and Woolston, in effect suburbs that are contiguous. It also includes the villages of Burtonwood, Culcheth and Winwick, the southern boundary is the River Mersey. The constituency was created in 1983 from parts of the abolished Warrington and Newton constituencies, political history Although in 2010 the Labour Party saw a 6. Hoyle stood down at the 1997 general election, and was replaced by Helen Jones, the constituency includes half of the historic but industrious town, which saw significant economic and population growth in the 20th century. UKIP originally selected Andrew Fairfoull as candidate for 2015, but later announced Trevor Nicholls, list of Parliamentary constituencies in Cheshire Notes References
12.
Gibraltar
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Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. It has an area of 6.7 km2 and shares its border with Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the landmark of the region. At its foot is a populated city area, home to over 30,000 Gibraltarians. An Anglo-Dutch force captured Gibraltar from Spain in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession on behalf of the Habsburg claim to the Spanish throne, the territory was subsequently ceded to Great Britain in perpetuity under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Today Gibraltars economy is based largely on tourism, online gambling, financial services, the sovereignty of Gibraltar is a major point of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations as Spain asserts a claim to the territory. Gibraltarians overwhelmingly rejected proposals for Spanish sovereignty in a 1967 referendum, under the Gibraltar constitution of 2006, Gibraltar governs its own affairs, though some powers, such as defence and foreign relations, remain the responsibility of the British government. The name Gibraltar is the Spanish derivation of the Arabic name Jabal Ṭāriq, earlier, it was known as Mons Calpe, a name of Phoenician origin and one of the Pillars of Hercules. The pronunciation of the name in modern Spanish is, evidence of Neanderthal habitation in Gibraltar between 28,000 and 24,000 BP has been discovered at Gorhams Cave, making Gibraltar possibly the last known holdout of the Neanderthals. Within recorded history, the first inhabitants were the Phoenicians, around 950 BC, subsequently, Gibraltar became known as one of the Pillars of Hercules, after the Greek legend of the creation of the Strait of Gibraltar by Heracles. The Carthaginians and Romans also established semi-permanent settlements, after the collapse of the Roman Empire, Gibraltar came briefly under the control of the Vandals. The area later formed part of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania from 414 AD until the Islamic conquest of Iberia in 711 AD, in 1160, the Almohad Sultan Abd al-Mumin ordered that a permanent settlement, including a castle, be built. It received the name of Medinat al-Fath, on completion of the works in the town, the Sultan crossed the Strait to look at the works and stayed in Gibraltar for two months. The Tower of Homage of the Moorish Castle remains standing today, from 1274 onwards, the town was fought over and captured by the Nasrids of Granada, the Marinids of Morocco and the kings of Castile. In 1462, Gibraltar was finally captured by Juan Alonso de Guzmán, after the conquest, King Henry IV of Castile assumed the additional title of King of Gibraltar, establishing it as part of the comarca of the Campo Llano de Gibraltar. In 1501, Gibraltar passed back to the Spanish Crown, the occupation of the town by Alliance forces caused the exodus of the population to the surrounding area of the Campo de Gibraltar. As the Alliances campaign faltered, the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht was negotiated and ceded control of Gibraltar to Britain to secure Britains withdrawal from the war. Unsuccessful attempts by Spanish monarchs to regain Gibraltar were made with the siege of 1727 and again with the Great Siege of Gibraltar, during the American War of Independence
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Bolton
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Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester in North West England. A former mill town, Bolton has been a centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th century, introducing a wool. The urbanisation and development of the town coincided with the introduction of textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution. The British cotton industry declined sharply after the First World War, close to the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is 10 miles northwest of Manchester. It is surrounded by smaller towns and villages that together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The town of Bolton has a population of 139,403, historically part of Lancashire, Bolton originated as a small settlement in the moorland known as Bolton le Moors. In the English Civil War, the town was a Parliamentarian outpost in a staunchly Royalist region, in what became known as the Bolton Massacre,1,600 residents were killed and 700 were taken prisoner. Football club Bolton Wanderers play home games at the Macron Stadium, Cultural interests include the Octagon Theatre and the Bolton Museum and Art Gallery, as well as one of the earliest public libraries established after the Public Libraries Act 1850. Bolton is a common Northern English name derived from the Old English bothl-tun, the first recorded use of the name, in the form Boelton, dates from 1185 to describe Bolton le Moors, though this may not be in relation to a dwelling. It was recorded as Bothelton in 1212, Botelton in 1257, Boulton in 1288, later forms of Botheltun were Bodeltown, Botheltun-le-Moors, Bowelton, Boltune, Bolton-super-Moras, Bolton-in-ye-Moors, Bolton-le-Moors. The towns motto of Supera Moras means overcome difficulties, and is a pun on the Bolton-super-Moras version of the meaning literally. A Bronze Age mound was excavated in Victorian times outside Haulgh Hall, the Romans built roads from Manchester to Ribchester to the east and a road along what is now the A6 to the west. It is claimed that Agricola built a fort at Blackrod by clearing land above the forest, evidence of a Saxon settlement exists in the form of religious objects found when the Victorian parish church was built. In 1067 Great Bolton was the property of Roger de Poitou and after 1100 and it became the property of the Pilkingtons who forfeited it in the Civil War and after that the Stanleys who became Earls of Derby. Great Bolton and Little Bolton were part of the Marsey fee, in 1212 Little Bolton was held by Roger de Bolton as plough-land, a charter to hold a market in Churchgate was granted on 14 December 1251 by King Henry III of England. Bolton became a town and borough by a charter from the Earl of Derby, William de Ferrers, on 14 January 1253. Burgage plots were laid out on Churchgate and Deansgate in the centre of the town close to where Ye Olde Man & Scythe public house. In 1337 Flemish weavers settled and introduced the manufacture of woollen cloth, more Flemish weavers, fleeing the Huguenot persecutions, settled here in the 17th century
14.
Screen printing
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Screen printing is a printing technique whereby a mesh is used to transfer ink onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open mesh apertures with ink, and this causes the ink to wet the substrate and be pulled out of the mesh apertures as the screen springs back after the blade has passed. Screen printing is also a method of print making in which a design is imposed on a screen of polyester or other fine mesh. Ink is forced into the mesh openings by the blade or squeegee and by wetting the substrate. As the screen away from the substrate the ink remains on the substrate. It is also known as silk-screen, screen, serigraphy, one color is printed at a time, so several screens can be used to produce a multicoloured image or design. There are various terms used for what is essentially the same technique, traditionally the process was called screen printing or silkscreen printing because silk was used in the process prior to the invention of polyester mesh. Currently, synthetic threads are used in the screen printing process. The most popular mesh in general use is made of polyester, there are special-use mesh materials of nylon and stainless steel available to the screen printer. There are also different types of mesh size which will determine the outcome, Screen printing first appeared in a recognizable form in China during the Song Dynasty. It was then adapted by other Asian countries like Japan, and was furthered by creating newer methods, Roy Beck, Charles Peter and Edward Owens studied and experimented with chromic acid salt sensitized emulsions for photo-reactive stencils. Commercial screen printing now uses sensitizers far safer and less toxic than bichromates, currently there are large selections of pre-sensitized and user mixed sensitized emulsion chemicals for creating photo-reactive stencils. Serigraphy is a word formed from Latin sēricum and Greek graphein. The Printers National Environmental Assistance Center says Screenprinting is arguably the most versatile of all printing processes, credit is generally given to the artist Andy Warhol for popularising screen printing as an artistic technique, identified as serigraphy, in the United States. Sister Mary Corita Kent, gained fame for her vibrant serigraphs during the 1960s and 1970s. Her works were rainbow colored, contained words that were political and fostered peace and love and caring. American entrepreneur, artist and inventor Michael Vasilantone started to use, develop, Vasilantone later filed for patent on his invention in 1967 granted number 3,427,964 on February 18,1969. The original machine was manufactured to print logos and team information on bowling garments, the Vasilantone patent was licensed by multiple manufacturers, the resulting production and boom in printed T-shirts made this garment screen printing machine popular
15.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
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It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories. Its head is the Sovereign of the United Kingdom and its seat is the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster, one of the boroughs of the British capital, the parliament is bicameral, consisting of an upper house and a lower house. The Sovereign forms the third component of the legislature, prior to the opening of the Supreme Court in October 2009, the House of Lords also performed a judicial role through the Law Lords. The House of Commons is an elected chamber with elections held at least every five years. The two Houses meet in separate chambers in the Palace of Westminster in London, most cabinet ministers are from the Commons, whilst junior ministers can be from either House. The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Treaty of Union by Acts of Union passed by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The UK parliament and its institutions have set the pattern for many throughout the world. However, John Bright – who coined the epithet – used it with reference to a rather than a parliament. In theory, the UKs supreme legislative power is vested in the Crown-in-Parliament. However, the Crown normally acts on the advice of the Prime Minister, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was created in 1801, by the merger of the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland under the Acts of Union. The principle of responsibility to the lower House did not develop until the 19th century—the House of Lords was superior to the House of Commons both in theory and in practice. Members of the House of Commons were elected in an electoral system. Thus, the borough of Old Sarum, with seven voters, many small constituencies, known as pocket or rotten boroughs, were controlled by members of the House of Lords, who could ensure the election of their relatives or supporters. During the reforms of the 19th century, beginning with the Reform Act 1832, No longer dependent on the Lords for their seats, MPs grew more assertive. The supremacy of the British House of Commons was established in the early 20th century, in 1909, the Commons passed the so-called Peoples Budget, which made numerous changes to the taxation system which were detrimental to wealthy landowners. The House of Lords, which consisted mostly of powerful landowners, on the basis of the Budgets popularity and the Lords consequent unpopularity, the Liberal Party narrowly won two general elections in 1910. Using the result as a mandate, the Liberal Prime Minister, Herbert Henry Asquith, introduced the Parliament Bill, in the face of such a threat, the House of Lords narrowly passed the bill. However, regardless of the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949, the Government of Ireland Act 1920 created the parliaments of Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland and reduced the representation of both parts at Westminster
16.
Borough of Chorley
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The Borough of Chorley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. The population of the Borough at the 2011 census was 104,155 and it is named after its largest settlement, the town of Chorley. Through boundary changes, Croston, Eccleston, Bretherton and Mawdesley were transferred to the South Ribble constituency, the current Member of Parliament for Chorley is Lindsay Hoyle, who was first elected to the seat in 1997
17.
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
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Her Majestys Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians, who are present or former members of either the House of Commons or the House of Lords, the Council also holds the delegated authority to issue Orders of Council, mostly used to regulate certain public institutions. The Council advises the sovereign on the issuing of Royal Charters, which are used to grant special status to incorporated bodies, otherwise, the Privy Councils powers have now been largely replaced by the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The Judicial Committee consists of judges appointed as Privy Counsellors, predominantly Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The Privy Council of the United Kingdom was preceded by the Privy Council of Scotland, the key events in the formation of the modern Privy Council are given below, Witenagemot was an early equivalent to the Privy Council of England. During the reigns of the Norman monarchs, the English Crown was advised by a court or curia regis. The body originally concerned itself with advising the sovereign on legislation, administration, later, different bodies assuming distinct functions evolved from the court. The courts of law took over the business of dispensing justice, nevertheless, the Council retained the power to hear legal disputes, either in the first instance or on appeal. Furthermore, laws made by the sovereign on the advice of the Council, powerful sovereigns often used the body to circumvent the Courts and Parliament. During Henry VIIIs reign, the sovereign, on the advice of the Council, was allowed to enact laws by mere proclamation, the legislative pre-eminence of Parliament was not restored until after Henry VIIIs death. Though the royal Council retained legislative and judicial responsibilities, it became an administrative body. The Council consisted of forty members in 1553, but the sovereign relied on a smaller committee, by the end of the English Civil War, the monarchy, House of Lords, and Privy Council had been abolished. The remaining parliamentary chamber, the House of Commons, instituted a Council of State to execute laws, the forty-one members of the Council were elected by the House of Commons, the body was headed by Oliver Cromwell, de facto military dictator of the nation. In 1653, however, Cromwell became Lord Protector, and the Council was reduced to thirteen and twenty-one members, all elected by the Commons. In 1657, the Commons granted Cromwell even greater powers, some of which were reminiscent of those enjoyed by monarchs, the Council became known as the Protectors Privy Council, its members were appointed by the Lord Protector, subject to Parliaments approval. In 1659, shortly before the restoration of the monarchy, the Protectors Council was abolished, Charles II restored the Royal Privy Council, but he, like previous Stuart monarchs, chose to rely on a small group of advisers. Under George I even more power transferred to this committee and it now began to meet in the absence of the sovereign, communicating its decisions to him after the fact. Thus, the British Privy Council, as a whole, ceased to be a body of important confidential advisers to the sovereign and it is closely related to the word private, and derives from the French word privé
18.
Scottish National Party
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The Scottish National Party is a Scottish nationalist and social-democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence and its leader, Nicola Sturgeon, is the current First Minister of Scotland. With the advent of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, the SNP became the second largest party, serving two terms as the opposition. The SNP came to power in the 2007 Scottish general election, forming a minority government, before going on to win the 2011 election, after which it formed Scotlands first majority government. The SNP is the largest political party in Scotland in terms of membership, reaching over 120,000 members in July 2016, currently the party has 63 MSPs,54 MPs and approximately 400 local councillors. The SNP also currently has 2 MEPs in the European Parliament, the SNP is a member of the European Free Alliance. The party does not have any members of the House of Lords, the SNP was formed in 1934 through the merger of the National Party of Scotland and the Scottish Party, with Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham as its first president. Young was imprisoned for refusing to be conscripted, the SNP first won a parliamentary seat at the Motherwell by-election in 1945, but Robert McIntyre MP lost the seat at the general election three months later. They next won a seat in 1967, when Winnie Ewing was the winner of a by-election in the previously safe Labour seat of Hamilton. This brought the SNP to national prominence, leading to the establishment of the Kilbrandon Commission, the SNP hit a high point in the October 1974 general election, polling almost a third of all votes in Scotland and returning 11 MPs to Westminster. This success was not surpassed until the 2015 general election, however, the party experienced a large drop in its support at the 1979 General election, followed by a further drop at the 1983 election. In May 2011, the SNP won a majority in the Scottish Parliament with 69 seats. The No vote prevailed in a campaign, prompting the resignation of First Minister Alex Salmond. Forty-five percent of Scottish voters cast their ballots for independence, with the Yes side receiving less support than late polling predicted. The SNP rebounded from the loss in the referendum at the UK general election in May 2015, led by Salmonds successor as first minister. The party went from holding six seats in the House of Commons to 56, all but three of the fifty nine constituencies in the country elected an SNP candidate. BBC News described the result as a Scots landslide. The party gained an additional 1. 1% of the vote from the 2011 election
19.
Ode to Joy
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Ode to Joy is an ode written in the summer of 1785 by German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller and published the following year in Thalia. A slightly revised version appeared in 1808, changing two lines of the first and omitting the last stanza, Ode to Joy is best known for its use by Ludwig van Beethoven in the final movement of his Ninth Symphony, completed in 1824. Beethovens text does not use the entirety of Schillers poem, and his tune was adopted as the Anthem of Europe by the Council of Europe in 1972, and subsequently the European Union. Friedrich Schiller later made some revisions to the poem which was then republished posthumously in 1808, the prominent experts Hans-Jürgen Schings, Wolfgang Riedel and Peter-André Alt accentuate the influence of the pietistic theologian Friedrich Christoph Oetinger upon Schillers philosophy of love. Josef Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince von Hohenzollern-Hechingen, an uncle of count Thun-Hohenstein, had ordered too such an astronomic machine. The ode is best known for its setting by Ludwig van Beethoven in the final movement of his Ninth Symphony. The basic melody was adopted for the hymn Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee by Henry van Dyke, as well as for the songs A Song of Joy by Miguel Ríos, and Road to Joy by Bright Eyes. It has been used in a number of contexts, notably in The Beatles second film. Stanley Kubricks 1971 film A Clockwork Orange and in the Die Hard film franchise, as well as the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, in 1996, it became the theme song for Triple H in the World Wrestling Federation until early 1998. A version of the song was used as the Everybody Loves Raymond theme song, recently, it is also used in the game Peggle. It is also used as a theme for both the Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics television broadcasts on many networks. Classical radio station KUSC uses it as the sign off for their pledge drive fundraising. Over the years, Beethovens Ode to Joy has remained a protest anthem, a 2013 documentary, Following the Ninth, directed by Kerry Candaele, follows its continuing popularity. Other musical settings of the include, Christian Gottfried Körner Carl Friedrich Zelter, for choir and accompaniment. Johann Friedrich Reichardt Ludwig-Wilhelm Tepper de Ferguson Johann Friedrich Hugo von Dalberg Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg Franz Schuberts song An die Freude, D189, for voice, unison choir, composed in May 1815, Schuberts setting was first published in 1829 as Op. post. The 19th century Gesamt-Ausgabe included it as a lied in Series XX, the New Schubert Edition groups it with the part songs in Series III. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, for singers, choir and orchestra in a Russian translation Pietro Mascagni cantata Alla gioia. Waltz by Johann Strauss II Z
20.
House of Commons
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In the UK and Canada, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the respective upper house of parliament. The leader of the majority party in the House of Commons usually becomes the prime minister, since 2010 the House of Commons of the United Kingdom has had 650 elected members, and since 2015 the House of Commons of Canada has had 338 members. The Commons functions are to consider through debate new laws and changes to existing ones, authorise taxes and it has the power to give a Government a vote of no confidence. The House of Commons of the Kingdom of England evolved from an undivided parliament to serve as the voice of the subjects of the counties. Knights of the shire, elected from county, were usually landowners. These members represented subjects of the Crown who were not Lords Temporal or Spiritual, the House of Commons gained its name because it represented communities. After the Reformation, these bishops were those of the Church of England, since the 19th century, the British and Canadian Houses of Commons have become increasingly representative, as suffrage has been extended. Both bodies are now elected via universal adult suffrage, however, from the Middle Ages until the 18th century there was a tendency to limit the suffrage in various ways, creating by the 18th century a large number of rotten boroughs. Although it is common to associate the title of House of Commons with the Westminster system in general, in practice, only two states actually use the title
21.
First Minister of Scotland
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The First Minister of Scotland is the leader of the Scottish Government. The First Minister chairs the Scottish Cabinet and is responsible for the formulation, development. The First Minister is a Member of the Scottish Parliament and nominated by the Scottish Parliament before being appointed by the monarch. Members of the Cabinet and junior ministers of the Scottish Government as well as the Scottish law officers, are appointed by the First Minister. As head of the Scottish Government, the First Minister is directly accountable to the Scottish Parliament for their actions, nicola Sturgeon of the Scottish National Party is the current First Minister of Scotland. The process was known as devolution and was initiated to give Scotland some measure of home rule or self-governance in its affairs, such as health, education. The Secretary of State was a member of the British Cabinet, since 1999, the Secretary of State has a much reduced role as a result of the transfer of responsibilities to the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government. The First Minister is nominated by the Scottish Parliament from among its members at the beginning of each term and he or she is then formally appointed by the monarch. In theory, any member of the Scottish Parliament can be nominated for First Minister, however, the government must be answerable to, and acceptable to, the Scottish Parliament to gain supply. For this reason, the First Minister is almost always the leader of the largest party, there is no term of office for a First Minister, he or she holds office at Her Majestys pleasure. In practice, he or she holds office as long as he or she retains the confidence of the chamber, given the additional member system used to elect its members, it is difficult for a single party to gain an overall majority of seats in the Scottish Parliament. The SNP gained a majority of seats in the 2011 election. After the election of the Scottish Parliament, a First Minister must be nominated within a period of 28 days. Under the terms of the Scotland Act, if the Parliament fails to nominate a First Minister, within this frame, it will be dissolved. If an incumbent First Minister is defeated in a general election, the First Minister only leaves office when the Scottish Parliament nominates a successor individual. After accepting office, the First Minister takes the Official Oath, the oath is tendered by the Lord President of the Court of Session at a sitting of the Court in Parliament House in Edinburgh. The oath is, I, do swear that I will well and truly serve Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in the office of First Minister, the period in office of a First Minister is not linked to the term of Members of the Scottish Parliament. The Scotland Act set out a maximum term for each session of Parliament
22.
Alex Salmond
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Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond is a Scottish politician who served as the fourth First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. He was the leader of the Scottish National Party for over twenty years and he is currently the Member of Parliament for Gordon and is the SNP International Affairs and Europe spokesperson in the House of Commons, following his election to the UK House of Commons in 2015. From 1987 to 2010, Salmond previously served as MP for Banff, Salmond served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament for Gordon from 2007 to 2011, and for Aberdeenshire East from 2011 to 2016. Salmond resigned as SNP leader in 2000 and did not seek re-election to the Scottish Parliament and he did however retain his Westminster seat in the 2001 general election. Salmond was once again elected SNP leader in 2004 and the year held his Banff. After the SNP secured confidence and supply support from the Scottish Green Party, during his first term, he headed a minority Scottish Government. Politically, Salmond is one of the foremost proponents of Scottish independence, Salmond has campaigned on global warming and in government has committed Scotland to legislation on emission reduction and the generation of renewable energy. He was succeeded as SNP leader by his deputy, Nicola Sturgeon and he submitted his resignation as First Minister on 18 November, and was succeeded by Sturgeon the following day. Salmond was born in his parents home at 101 Preston Road, Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland and he is the second of four children born to Robert Fyfe Findlay Salmond, born 1921, and Mary Stewart Salmond, both of whom were civil servants. Robert Salmond, who served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, had worked as an electrician. Salmond attended the local Linlithgow Academy from 1966 to 1972, during his time at St Andrews, Salmond lived in Andrew Melville Hall. He was elected as Vice-President of the Students Representative Council in 1977 and was nominated to join St Andrews Community Council that year. Salmond graduated with a 2,2 Joint Honours MA in Economics, in 1978 he entered the Government Economic Service as an Assistant Economist in the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland, part of the now defunct Scottish Office. Two years later he joined the staff of the Royal Bank of Scotland where he worked for seven years, in 1982 he was appointed Oil Economist, and from 1984 he worked as a bank economist as well as continuing to hold the position of Oil Economist. While with the Royal Bank, he wrote and broadcast extensively for both domestic and international outlets and he also contributed regularly to oil and energy conferences. In 1983 Salmond created a Royal Bank/BBC oil index that is still used, Salmond married Moira McGlashan in 1981. Moira was a civil servant 17 years his senior. They closely protect their lives and live in a converted mill in Strichen
23.
Knight Bachelor
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The appointment of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic and lowest rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch, Knights Bachelor are the most ancient sort of British knight, but Knights Bachelor rank below knights of the various orders. There is no counterpart to Knight Bachelor. The lowest knightly honour that can be conferred upon a woman is Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire – which, also, foreigners are not created Knights Bachelor, instead they are generally made honorary KBEs. It is generally awarded for service, amongst its recipients are all male judges of Her Majestys High Court of Justice in England. Sir Patrick Stewart, and Sir Tom Jones are Officers of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, like other knights, Knights Bachelor are styled Sir. Since they are not knights of any order of chivalry, there is no post-nominal associated with the award. This style is adopted by Knights Bachelor who are also peers, baronets or knights of the various statutory orders, such as Sir William Boulton, Bt, Kt, or The Lord Olivier. Until 1926 Knights Bachelor had no insignia which they could wear, the Knights Bachelor badge may be worn on all such occasions upon the left side of the coat or outer garment of those upon whom the degree of Knight Bachelor has been conferred. In 1974, Queen Elizabeth II issued a warrant authorising the wearing on appropriate occasions of a neck badge, slightly smaller in size. In 1988 a new certificate of authentication, a knights only personal documentation, was designed by the College of Arms. The Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor was founded for the maintenance and consolidation of the Dignity of Knights Bachelor in 1908, the Society keeps records of all Knights Bachelor, in their interest
24.
Prime Minister's Questions
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PMQs forms an important part of British political culture. In 1953, when Winston Churchill was prime minister, it was agreed that questions would be submitted on fixed days, a Procedure Committee report in 1959 recommended that questions to the prime minister be taken in two fixed-period, 15-minute slots on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. The recommendations were put into practice under Harold Macmillan during an experiment from 18 July 1961 to the end of the session. The very first question was delivered by Labour MP Fenner Brockway, PMQs were made permanent in the following parliamentary session, with the first of these on 24 October 1961. The style and culture of PMQs has changed gradually over time, one of Tony Blairs first acts as prime minister was to replace the two 15-minute sessions with a single 30-minute session on Wednesdays, initially at 3 p. m. but since 2003 at noon. The allocated number of questions in each session for the Leader of the Opposition was doubled from three to six, and the leader of the third-largest party in the Commons was given two questions, the first PMQs to use this new format took place on 21 May 1997. Speaker John Bercow has routinely allowed the session to overrun its allotted 30 minutes by 10 to 15 minutes to more questions. During the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government from 2010–2015, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, as a member of the government, backbench MPs wishing to ask a question must enter their names on the Order Paper. The names of entrants are then shuffled in a ballot to produce an order in which they will be called by the Speaker. The Speaker will then call on MPs to put their questions, usually in an alternating fashion, the Leader of the Opposition usually asks six questions at PMQs, either as a whole block or in two separate groups of three. If the first question is asked by a government backbencher, the Leader of the Opposition is the second MP to ask questions. If the first question is asked by an opposition MP, this will be followed by a question from a government MP, the leader of the third largest parliamentary party would then ask two questions. The first formal question on the Order Paper, posed by simply saying Number one, the Prime Minister usually replies, Before listing the days engagements, the Prime Minister sometimes extends condolences or offers congratulations after significant events. During the Iraq War, Tony Blair introduced the practice of naming any British military personnel who had killed in service since the last time he addressed the House. The practice has continued by Blairs successors as prime minister. After this, the MP may ask a question about any subject which might occupy the Prime Ministers time. Occasionally the first question tabled is on an area of policy. At times of national or personal tragedy or crisis, PMQs have been temporarily suspended, Prime Ministers Questions was also suspended after the sudden death of the leader of the Labour Party, John Smith, in 1994
25.
John Whittingdale
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John Flasby Lawrance Whittingdale, OBE is a British Conservative Party politician and former UK Government minister. He is the Member of Parliament for the Maldon constituency, Whittingdale has been an MP since the 1992 general election, for a series of constituencies centred on the town of Maldon, Essex. He is Vice-Chairman of the 1922 Committee and he was a member of the Executive of Conservative Way Forward and the Conservative Party Board. Whittingdale was appointed Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport by David Cameron on 11 May 2015 and he was sacked by Theresa May on 14 July 2016 during a Cabinet reshuffle. The only son of John Whittingdale FRCS and Margaret née Napier, Whittingdale was educated at Sandroyd School and Winchester College, followed by University College London where he was Chairman of UCL Conservative Society. He graduated with a 2,2 in Economics in 1982, from 1982–84, Whittingdale was head of the political section of the Conservative Research Department. He then served as Special Adviser to three successive Secretaries of State for Trade and Industry, Norman Tebbit, Leon Brittan, and he worked on international privatisation at NM Rothschild in 1987 and in January 1988, became Political Secretary to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Upon her resignation Whittingdale was appointed OBE and continued to serve as her Political Secretary until being elected to Parliament in 1992, Whittingdale entered the House of Commons in 1992 as the MP for South Colchester and Maldon. He was later Shadow Culture Secretary from 2004 until the following the general election in 2005, at which he was returned as Member of Parliament for Maldon. In 2005 he was appointed to the Executive of Conservative Way Forward and he is a council member of The Freedom Association and of the European Foundation. In 2008, he was elected as a Parliamentary Member to the Board of the Conservative Party, in 2011 he was Chairman of the Football Governance Inquiry. In 2012 he was Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Privacy and he now serves as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Intellectual Property Group. Whittingdale was among the 175 MPs who voted against the Same-sex Marriage Bill in 2013 and he was in favour of Brexit during the 2016 referendum. On 14 July 2005, he became the Chairman of the Culture, Media, Whittingdale said, There are some very big questions, what I find worrying is the apparent unwillingness of the police, who had the evidence and chose to do nothing with it. Thats something that needs to be looked into, Whittingdale said Select Committees had taken such steps against individuals in the past and they had complied and continued I hope very much that the Murdochs will respond similarly. They both did, on 19 July, in one paper described as the most important Select Committee hearing in parliamentary history. For its successful work on the hacking scandal, Whittingdale accepted The Spectators 2011 Inquisitor of the Year award on behalf of the Culture, Media. In 2012 Whittingdale received £8,000 for 32 hours work as a director of Audio Network plc
26.
Bolton Wanderers
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Bolton Wanderers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Bolton, Greater Manchester. The club currently competes in League One, the tier of the English football league system. The club was formed as Christ Church Football Club in 1874, founder members of the Football League in 1888, Bolton have spent the highest number of seasons of any club in the top flight without winning the title. The closest they have come to the title is third in the First Division on three occasions, as of 2015, the club has spent more seasons in the top division than any other club outside the current Premier League. Bolton were a successful cup side in the 1920s, winning the FA Cup three times, the club won the cup a fourth time in 1958. A leaner spell followed, reaching a nadir in 1987 when the club spent a season in the Fourth Division, the club regained top-flight status in 1995 after a 15-year absence. In a period of success, the club qualified for the UEFA Cup twice, reaching the last 32 in 2005–06. The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895, on 9 March 1946, The Burnden Park disaster occurred, which was a human crush in which 33 Bolton fans lost their lives. In 1997 it moved out of town to the Reebok Stadium, the stadium was renamed the Macron Stadium in July 2014, to reflect the clubs new deal with Italian sportswear company Macron. The club was founded by the Reverend Joseph Farrall Wright, Perpetual curate of Christ Church Bolton and Thomas Ogden, the schoolmaster at the adjacent church school in 1874 as Christ Church F. C. It was initially run from the church of the name on Deane Road. The club left the following a dispute with the vicar. The name was chosen as the club initially had a lot of difficulty finding a permanent ground to play on, Bolton were one of the 12 founder members of the Football League, which formed in 1888. At the time Lancashire was one of the strongest footballing regions in the country, having remained in the Football League since its formation, Bolton have spent more time in the top flight than out of it. In 1894 Bolton reached the final of the FA Cup for the first time, a decade later they were runners-up a second time, losing 1–0 to local rivals Manchester City at Crystal Palace on 23 April 1904. In this period Bolton equalled their record finish of third twice, in 1920–21 and 1924–25, on 28 April 1923, Bolton won their first major trophy in their third final, beating West Ham United 2–0 in the first ever Wembley FA Cup final. The match, famously known as The White Horse Final was played in front of over 127,000 supporters, boltons centre-forward, David Jack scored the first ever goal at Wembley Stadium. Driven by long-term players Joe Smith in attack, Ted Vizard and Billy Butler on the wings, in 1928 the club faced financial difficulties and so was forced to sell David Jack to Arsenal to raise funds
27.
Diana, Princess of Wales
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Diana, Princess of Wales, was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, who is the eldest child and heir apparent of Queen Elizabeth II. Diana was born into a family of British nobility with royal ancestry and was the child and third daughter of John Spencer, Viscount Althorp. She grew up in Park House, situated on the Sandringham estate, in 1975, after her father inherited the title of Earl Spencer, she became known as Lady Diana Spencer. She came to prominence in February 1981 when her engagement to Prince Charles was announced and her wedding to the Prince of Wales on 29 July 1981, held at St Pauls Cathedral, reached a global television audience of over 750 million people. While married, Diana bore the titles Princess of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Duchess of Rothesay, the marriage produced two sons, the princes William and Harry, who were then respectively second and third in the line of succession to the British throne. As Princess of Wales, Diana undertook royal duties on behalf of the Queen and she was celebrated for her charity work and for her support of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. She was involved with dozens of charities including Londons Great Ormond Street Hospital for children, Diana remained the object of worldwide media scrutiny during and after her marriage, which ended in divorce on 28 August 1996. Media attention and public mourning were extensive after her death in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997, Diana was born on 1 July 1961, in Park House, Sandringham, Norfolk. She was the fourth of five children of John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, the Spencer family has been closely allied with the British Royal Family for several generations. Both of Dianas grandmothers had served as ladies-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, on 30 August 1961, Diana was baptised at St. Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham, with wealthy commoners as godparents. Diana had three siblings, Sarah, Jane, and Charles and her infant brother, John, died shortly after his birth one year before Diana was born. The desire for an added strain to the Spencers marriage. Diana grew up in Park House, situated on the Sandringham estate, the Spencers leased the house from its owner, Queen Elizabeth II. The Royal Family frequently holidayed at the neighbouring Sandringham House, and Diana played with Princes Andrew, Diana was seven years old when her parents divorced. Her mother later had an affair with Peter Shand Kydd and married him in 1969, Diana lived with her mother in London during her parents separation in 1967, but during that years Christmas holidays, Lord Althorp refused to let Diana return to London with Lady Althorp. Shortly afterwards he won custody of Diana with support from his former mother-in-law, Ruth Roche, in 1972, Lord Althorp began a relationship with Raine, Countess of Dartmouth, the only daughter of Alexander McCorquodale and Dame Barbara Cartland. They married at Caxton Hall, London in 1976, as an upper-class child at the time, Diana was first educated under the supervision of her governess, Gertrude Allen. She began her education at Silfield Private School in Gayton, Norfolk, and moved to Riddlesworth Hall School, an all-girls boarding school near Diss
28.
Heathrow Airport Holdings
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Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited, formerly BAA is the United Kingdom-based operator of London Heathrow Airport. The company also operated London Gatwick and Stansted airports, plus several other UK airports under its former name, in March 2009 the company was required to sell Gatwick and Stansted airports, and over the following years sold all its airports other than Heathrow. The company was renamed Heathrow Airport Holdings in 2012 to reflect its main business, the companys head office is located in The Compass Centre on the grounds of London Heathrow Airport in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The company makes money from charging landing fees to airlines and increasingly from ancillary operations within those airports such as retail, in the following few years, the authority acquired responsibility for Glasgow International Airport, Edinburgh Airport, Southampton Airport and Aberdeen Airport. The Authority took on the Ministry of Civil Aviation Constabulary in 1966, which was renamed to become the British Airports Authority Constabulary, the initial capitalisation of BAA plc was £1,225 million. In the early 1990s, the company sold Prestwick International Airport, in July 2006, BAA was taken over by a consortium led by Ferrovial, following a bid which valued the company at £10.1 billion. As a result, the company was delisted from the London Stock Exchange on 15 August 2006. Following the take-over, the decision was made to sell the stake in Ferihegy and this was completed in June 2007, when a consortium led by Hochtief AirPort of Germany purchased the stake. After an inquiry from August 2008 – March 2009, the UK Competition Commission announced that BAA would be required to sell three of the seven UK airports it owned at the time, the sales were forecast to raise between £3. 5bn and £4bn. BAA announced plans to sell Gatwick Airport on 17 September 2008, at that time, Gatwick Airport was valued at £1. Ferrovial and its partners had been seeking £1. 8bn- £2bn when they opened the bidding process, eventually, the sale was confirmed on 21 October 2009 and formally completed on 3 December 2009, for a fee of £1.51 billion. This was almost 25 per cent less than BAA had expected Gatwick would fetch when the sale was announced a year previously, BAA sold the airport to Global Infrastructure Partners, the fund backed by Credit Suisse and General Electric, who also operate London City Airport. Ferrovial, the majority holder in BAA, said that it expected to make a loss of around 142 million euros against its consolidated earnings following the sale. On 19 October 2011, BAA announced that Edinburgh Airport would be put up for sale in early 2012 with an aim to handing over the running of the site to a new owner by summer 2012, the airport was sold to Global Infrastructure Partners in 2012. On 18 January 2013, Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited announced the sale of Stansted to the Manchester Airports Group, in May 2014, Heathrow Airport Holdings announced the appointment of John Holland-Kaye, current Development Director, as chief executive officer, succeeding Colin Matthews on 1 July 2014. As BAA, the company was adamant that its name did not officially stand for anything and it was still widely referred to as the British Airports Authority by both the media and the public – even though the Authority was dissolved following the 1986 privatisation. The companys former logo, composed of three triangles, was created by John Lloyd and Jim Northover of the design consultancy, Lloyd Northover. The original BAA plc was acquired in 2006 by Airport Development and Investment Limited, in October 2008 ADI changed its name to BAA Limited, and on 15 October 2012, the company announced that it had changed its name to Heathrow Airport Holdings
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Heathrow Airport
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Heathrow Airport is a major international airport in London, United Kingdom. In 2016, it handled a record 75.7 million passengers, Heathrow lies 14 miles west of Central London, and has two parallel east–west runways along with four operational terminals on a site that covers 12.27 square kilometres. London Heathrow is the hub for British Airways and the primary operating base for Virgin Atlantic. In September 2012, the UK government established the Airports Commission, in July 2015, the commission backed a third runway at Heathrow and the government approved a third runway in October 2016. Heathrow is 14 mi west of central London, near the end of the London Borough of Hillingdon on a parcel of land that is designated part of the Metropolitan Green Belt. The airport is surrounded by the areas of Harlington, Harmondsworth, Longford and Cranford to the north and by Hounslow. To the south lie Bedfont and Stanwell while to the west Heathrow is separated from Slough in Berkshire by the M25 motorway, Heathrow falls entirely under the TW postcode area. As the airport is west of London and as its runways run east–west, for a chronicled history of Heathrow Airport, see History of Heathrow Airport. Heathrow Airport originated in 1929 as an airfield on land south-east of the hamlet of Heathrow from which the airport takes its name. At that time there were farms, market gardens and orchards there, there was a Heathrow Farm about where Terminal 1 is now, a Heathrow Hall and a Heathrow House. This hamlet was largely along a lane which ran roughly along the east. Development of the whole Heathrow area as a much larger airport began in 1944. But by the time the airfield was nearing completion, World War II had ended, the government continued to develop the airport as a civil airport, it opened as London Airport in 1946 and was renamed Heathrow Airport in 1966. Heathrow Airport is used by over 80 airlines flying to 185 destinations in 84 countries, the airport is the primary hub of British Airways and is a base for Virgin Atlantic. It has four terminals and a cargo terminal. Of Heathrows 73.4 million passengers in 2014, 93% were international travellers, the busiest single destination in passenger numbers is New York, with over 3 million passengers flying between Heathrow and JFK Airport in 2013. As the required length for runways has grown, Heathrow now has two parallel runways running east–west. These are extended versions of the two east–west runways from the original hexagram, from the air, almost all of the original runways can still be seen, incorporated into the present system of taxiways
30.
Hansard
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Hansard is the traditional name of the transcripts of Parliamentary Debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard, a London printer and publisher, though the history of the Hansard began in the British parliament, each of Britains colonies developed a separate and distinctive history. Before 1771, the British Parliament had long been a highly secretive body, the official record of the actions of the House was publicly available, but there was no record of the debates. The publication of remarks made in the House became a breach of Parliamentary privilege, as the populace became interested in parliamentary debates, more independent newspapers began publishing unofficial accounts of them. Several editors used the device of veiling parliamentary debates as debates of fictitious societies or bodies, the names under which parliamentary debates were published include Proceedings of the Lower Room of the Robin Hood Society and Debates of the Senate of Magna Lilliputia. The Senate of Magna Lilliputia was printed in Edward Caves The Gentlemans Magazine, the names of the speakers were carefully filleted, for example, Sir Robert Walpole was thinly disguised as Sr. R―t W―le. In 1771 Brass Crosby, who was Lord Mayor of the City of London, had brought him a printer by the name of John Miller who dared publish reports of Parliamentary proceedings. He released the man, but was ordered to appear before the House to explain his actions. Crosby was committed to the Tower of London, but when he was brought to trial, several judges refused to hear the case and after protests from the public, Crosby was released. Parliament ceased to punish the publishing of its debates as harshly, partly due to the campaigns of John Wilkes on behalf of free speech, there then began several attempts to publish reports of debates. Among the early successes, the Parliamentary Register published by John Almon and John Debrett began in 1775, cobbetts avocation for the freedom of the press was severely punished by the British Government. On June 5,1810 William Cobbett stood trial for libel for an article he wrote against the British Government which was published by Thomas Curson Hansard. Cobbett was found guilty, upon the fullest and most satisfactory evidence, the sentence was described by J. C Trewin as vindictive. Cobbetts Parliamentary Debates became Hansard Parliamentary Debates, abbreviated over time to the now familiar Hansard, from 1829 the name Hansard appeared on the title page of each issue. Neither Cobbett nor Hansard ever employed anyone to take notes of the debates. For this reason, early editions of Hansard are not to be relied upon as a guide to everything discussed in Parliament. The last attempt at a rival was The Times which published debates in the 1880s. In 1878 a subsidy was granted to the Hansard press and at that point reporters were employed, despite hiring contract reporters there were still widespread complaints about the accuracy of the debates
31.
The London Gazette
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The London Gazette claims to be the oldest surviving English newspaper and the oldest continuously published newspaper in the UK, having been first published on 7 November 1665 as The Oxford Gazette. This claim is made by the Stamford Mercury and Berrows Worcester Journal. It does not have a large circulation, in turn, The London Gazette carries not only notices of UK-wide interest, but also those relating specifically to entities or people in England and Wales. However, certain notices that are only of specific interest to Scotland or Northern Ireland are also required to be published in The London Gazette, the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes are published by TSO on behalf of Her Majestys Stationery Office. They are subject to Crown Copyright, the London Gazette is published each weekday, except for Bank Holidays. The official Gazettes are published by The Stationery Office, the content, apart from insolvency notices, is available in a number of machine-readable formats, including XML and XML/RDFa via Atom feed. The London Gazette was first published as The Oxford Gazette on 7 November 1665. Charles II and the Royal Court had moved to Oxford to escape the Great Plague of London, the Gazette was Published by Authority by Henry Muddiman, and its first publication is noted by Samuel Pepys in his diary. The King returned to London as the plague dissipated, and the Gazette moved too, the Gazette was not a newspaper in the modern sense, it was sent by post to subscribers, not printed for sale to the general public. Her Majestys Stationery Office took over the publication of the Gazette in 1889, publication of the Gazette was transferred to the private sector, under government supervision, in the 1990s, when HMSO was sold and renamed The Stationery Office. In time of war, dispatches from the conflicts are published in The London Gazette. People referred to are said to have mentioned in dispatches. When members of the forces are promoted, and these promotions are published here. Man tally-ho, Miss piano, Wife silk and satin, Boy Greek and Latin, the phrase gazetted fortune hunter is also probably derived from this. Notices of engagement and marriage were also published in the Gazette. Gazettes, modelled on The London Gazette, were issued for most British colonial possessions
32.
TheyWorkForYou
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It also helps create accountability for UK politicians by publishing a complete archive of every word spoken in Parliament, along with a voting record and other details for each MP, past and present. TheyWorkForYou does not publish original content, it scrapes from the sources, then presents debates. For example, TheyWorkForYou’s version of Hansard may be searched, and it also has a facility to alert users by email to speeches by an MP or specific words appearing in Hansard. In 2008, The Daily Telegraph rated it 41st in a list of the 101 most useful websites, TheyWorkForYou was not originally built by mySociety, but was adopted by them in 2006. As time passed, more features were added and more areas of Parliament were covered, such as debates, around the 2005 general election, Channel 4 used a branded version of TheyWorkForYou to supply their MP data. In summer 2006, the Department for Constitutional Affairs funded the creation of an API for the site so other sites could use the data from the site themselves. This has enabled a variety of uses, from MPs publishing out their most recent speeches onto their own websites, later that year, Matthew Somerville added the entire Northern Ireland Assembly Hansard and all MLAs to the site. As with most of other projects, TheyWorkForYou’s underlying code is open source. In April 2009, an Irish version of TheyWorkForYou was launched in beta form, called KildareStreet, it contains Irish parliamentary data from January 2004 to the present day. When the site launched, it did not have the right to reproduce Hansard, a licence was later given, and click-use licences for Parliamentary copyright information were created as a result. This led to a debate in the House of Commons on the increase in questions, the site removed absolute rankings and added some more explanatory text in response, and held a meeting at Parliament later in the year to discuss better metrics. In summer 2006, Jack Straw, Leader of the House of Commons also mentioned TheyWorkForYou as a site which seems to measure Members work in quantitative rather than qualitative terms, of a fair and accurate account of a debate in either House is protected
33.
Ralph Bernal Osborne
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Ralph Bernal Osborne of Newton Anner, County Tipperary, MP, born and baptised with the name of Ralph Bernal, Jr. was a British Liberal politician. He was the eldest son of London Sephardic Spanish Jewish Parliamentarian Ralph Bernal, himself an MP, who died in 1854, the younger Bernal entered the military in 1831, as an Ensign of the 71st Regiment of Foot. He later served with the 7th Regiment of Foot, and finally left the army in 1844 with the rank of Captain. He had already elected to Parliament in 1841 as a member for Chipping Wycombe, in the Liberal interest, and later sat for Middlesex, Dover, Liskeard, Nottingham. Beside being a Parliamentarian, he was also Secretary of the Admiralty, when he died, his house at Newtown Anner, Clonmel, County Tipperary, Munster, Ireland, was surrounded by more than 13,000 acres of land. His two daughters shared his estate and his older daughter, Edith Bernal Osborne, married at Slough, Ireland, on 7 February 1874 Sir Henry Arthur Blake. His younger daughter, Grace Bernal Osborne, married at Newtown Anner, County Tipperary, on 3 January 1874 William Amelius Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk and his grandson was Osborne Beauclerk, 12th Duke of St Albans. Charles Mosley, editor, Burkes Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition,3 volumes, volume 2, hansard 1803–2005, contributions in Parliament by Ralph Bernal Osborne
