1.
Member of the Order of the British Empire
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There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. Recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire were at first made on the nomination of the United Kingdom, the self-governing Dominions of the Empire, nominations continue today from Commonwealth countries that participate in recommending British honours. Most members are citizens of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth realms that use the Imperial system of honours and awards. Honorary knighthoods are appointed to citizens of nations where the Queen is not head of state, occasionally, honorary appointees are, incorrectly, referred to as Sir or Dame – Bill Gates or Bob Geldof, for example. In particular, King George V wished to create an Order to honour many thousands of those who had served in a variety of non-combatant roles during the First World War, when first established, the Order had only one division. However, in 1918, soon after its foundation, it was divided into Military. The Orders motto is For God and the Empire, at the foundation of the Order, the Medal of the Order of the British Empire was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. In 1922, this was renamed the British Empire Medal, in addition, the BEM is awarded by the Cook Islands and by some other Commonwealth nations. The British monarch is Sovereign of the Order, and appoints all members of the Order. The next most senior member is the Grand Master, of whom there have been three, Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, Queen Mary, and the current Grand Master, the Duke of Edinburgh. The Order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross,845 Knights and Dames Commander, and 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the number of members of the fourth and fifth classes. Foreign recipients, as members, do not contribute to the numbers restricted to the Order as full members do. Though men can be knighted separately from an order of chivalry, women cannot, and so the rank of Knight/Dame Commander of the Order is the lowest rank of damehood, and second-lowest of knighthood. Because of this, Dame Commander is awarded in circumstances in which a man would be created a Knight Bachelor, for example, by convention, female judges of the High Court of Justice are created Dames Commander after appointment, while male judges become Knights Bachelor. The Order has six officials, the Prelate, the Dean, the Secretary, the Registrar, the King of Arms, the Bishop of London, a senior bishop in the Church of England, serves as the Orders Prelate. The Dean of St Pauls is ex officio the Dean of the Order, the Orders King of Arms is not a member of the College of Arms, as are many other heraldic officers. From time to time, individuals are appointed to a higher grade within the Order, thereby ceasing usage of the junior post-nominal letters
2.
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
3.
Leader of the House of Lords
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The Leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The role is held in combination with a formal Cabinet position, usually one of the sinecure offices of Lord President of the Council. Unless the Leader is also a minister, being Leader constitutes the bulk of his or her government responsibilities. The Office of the Leader of the House of Lords is a ministerial department, though the Leader of the House is a member of the cabinet and remains a partisan figure, he or she also has responsibilities to the House as a whole. In contrast to the House of Commons, where proceedings are controlled by the Speaker, proceedings in the Lords are controlled by peers themselves, under the rules set out in the Standing Orders. The Leader is often called upon to advise on procedures and points of order, however, like the Lord Speaker, the Leader of the House has no power to rule on points of order or to intervene during an inappropriate speech. Those functions were transferred to the Lord Speaker, however, it may have been used as early as 1689, applied to George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax, when he was Speaker of the House of Lords during the Convention Parliament of that year. The role developed during the first quarter of the century, at the same time as the role of Prime Minister. It was therefore necessary for a member of the government to take responsibility for steering government legislation through each House, the Earl of Sunderland, initiated aspects of the role during the Whig Junta under Queen Anne. Sunderland and the other Whigs were dismissed from office in reaction to their co-ordination of government matters, Sunderland returned to power under George I, as Lord Privy Seal. When the Prime Minister sat in the House of Lords, which was common until the beginning of the twentieth century, when the Prime Minister sat in the Commons, the position of Leader of the Lords was often held by the Foreign Secretary or Colonial Secretary. In some coalition governments, it was held by the party leader who was not Prime Minister, since the end of the Marquess of Salisburys last government, in 1902, the position clearly exists in its own right as a member of the cabinet. The first female Leader of the Lords was Janet Young, Baroness Young in 1981–1983, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury served as Leader of the House of Lords from 1885 to 1886, from 1886 to 1892 and from 1895 to 1902. His son James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury served as Leader from 1925 to 1929 and his grandson, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, served as Leader from 1994 to 1997, as Viscount Cranborne, again by means of a writ of acceleration. Douglas Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham served as Leader of the House of Lords from 1931 to 1935 and his son Quintin Hogg, 2nd Viscount Hailsham served as Leader from 1960 to 1963. Because the post is a one and not a ministerial office in its own right, it is not always included in official lists of government offices. This can make it difficult to determine who the Leader of the House of Lords was in a particular ministry, House of Lords Leader of the House of Commons Leader of the House of Lords Official site
4.
David Cameron
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David William Donald Cameron is a British politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. He served as the Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016 and was Member of Parliament for Witney from 2001 to 2016, Cameron identifies as a One-Nation Conservative, and has been associated with both economically liberal and socially liberal policies. Born in London to wealthy upper middle-class parents, Cameron was educated at Heatherdown School, Eton College, from 1988 to 1993 he worked at the Conservative Research Department, assisting the Conservative Prime Minister John Major, before leaving politics to work for Carlton Communications in 1994. Becoming an MP in 2001, he served in the shadow cabinet under Conservative leader Michael Howard. Cameron sought to rebrand the Conservatives, embracing an increasingly liberal position. The 2010 general election led to Cameron becoming Prime Minister as the head of a government with the Liberal Democrats. His administration introduced large-scale changes to welfare, immigration policy, education and it privatised the Royal Mail and some other state assets, and legalised same-sex marriage. When the Conservatives secured a majority in the 2015 general election he remained as Prime Minister. To fulfil a manifesto pledge, he introduced a referendum on the UKs continuing membership of the EU, Cameron supported continued membership, following the success of the Leave vote, he resigned to make way for a new Prime Minister and was succeeded by Theresa May. Cameron has been praised for modernising the Conservative Party and for decreasing the United Kingdoms national deficit, conversely, he has been criticised by figures on both the left and right, and has been accused of political opportunism and elitism. Cameron is the son of Ian Donald Cameron a stockbroker, and his wife Mary Fleur, a retired Justice of the Peace. Camerons parents were married on 20 October 1962, the journalist Toby Young has described Camerons background as being upper-upper-middle class. Cameron was born in Marylebone, London, and raised in Peasemore, Berkshire and he has a brother, Alexander Cameron, QC, a barrister, and two sisters, Tania Rachel and Clare Louise. Blairmore was built by Camerons great-great-grandfather, Alexander Geddes, who had made a fortune in the trade in Chicago, Illinois. Blairmore was sold soon after Ians birth, Cameron has said, On my mothers side of the family, her mother was a Llewellyn, so Welsh. Im a real mixture of Scottish, Welsh, and English and he has also referenced the German Jewish ancestry of one of his great-grandfathers, Arthur Levita, a descendant of the Yiddish author Elia Levita. From the age of seven, Cameron was educated at two independent schools, at Heatherdown School in Winkfield in Berkshire, which counts Prince Andrew, owing to good grades, Cameron entered its top academic class almost two years early. At the age of thirteen, he went on to Eton College in Berkshire and his early interest was in art
5.
Frederick Curzon, 7th Earl Howe
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Frederick Richard Penn Curzon, 7th Earl Howe, PC is a Conservative front bench member of the House of Lords. He is Minister of State for Defence and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords, Lord Howe was the son of the Royal Navy commander and film actor George Curzon, grandson of The 3rd Earl Howe and Jane Victoria Fergusson. After leaving university in 1973, he joined Barclays Bank and served in a number of managerial and senior managerial posts in London and in other countries. After succeeding his cousin as 7th Earl Howe in 1984, he left banking to concentrate on his Parliamentary activities and on running the family farm. In 1991, Howe became a Lord in Waiting with responsibilities, successively, for transport, employment, defence, Howe was opposition spokesman for Health and Social Services in the House of Lords between 1997 and 2010. Howe was unique in being the member of the Conservative Party to shadow the same portfolio throughout the thirteen years of opposition. Since the House of Lords Act 1999, hereditary peers do not have the right to sit in the Lords. However the Act provides for 92 hereditary peers to remain, at the election in 1999, Howe was the sixth most popular Conservative peer. Apart from his frontbench responsibilities, his interests include penal affairs. He is a member of the all-party groups on penal affairs, abuse investigations, pharmaceuticals, adoption, mental health, following the resignation of Lord Strathclyde in January 2013, Earl Howe became the longest continuously serving Conservative frontbencher. In 1999 Howe was appointed chairman of the London and Provincial Antique Dealers Association. A trustee of Miltons Cottage President of the Epilepsy Society, formerly the National Society for Epilepsy, the Earl Howe PC Lord Howe married Elizabeth Helen Stuart, elder daughter of Captain Burleigh Edward St Lawrence Stuart, on 26 March 1983. Profile for Earl Howe @ Conservatives. com Register of Lords Interests – Earl Howe, page on House of Lords website containing a register of Earl Howes interests Register of Lords Interests – Earl Howe. Archived from the original on 24 March 2010, page on House of Lords website containing a register of Earl Howes interests Hansard 1803–2005, contributions in Parliament by the Earl Howe
6.
Jonathan Hill, Baron Hill of Oareford
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Jonathan Hopkin Hill, Baron Hill of Oareford CBE PC is a British Conservative politician and former European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union. Hill was Leader of the House of Lords and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 2013 to 2014, prior to that, he served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools from 2010 to 2013 in the Conservative-Lib Dem Government. Prime Minister David Cameron put Hills name forward, on 15 July 2014, to be the next British EU Commissioner, on 10 September 2014, President Juncker appointed Hill as the European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union. Jonathan Hill was born in Highgate, London, on 24 July 1960 and he was appointed CBE in the 1995 New Year Honours List. Subsequently, Hill worked at Bell Pottinger Group from 1994 until 1998 as a senior consultant, there are reports that in July 2012, he attempted, unsuccessfully, to resign as a Minister. On 10 September 2014 Lord Hill was announced as EU Commissioner-designate for the Financial Stability, Financial Services, with some diplomatic smoothing of the way by Juncker, Hill it is said managed to give satisfactory answers as to the UKs position regarding European banking union. Lord Hill secured the endorsement of sceptical MEPs at his second EU hearing in Brussels and he holds shareholdings in Huntsworth plc, an international public relations company. 1960–1995, Mr Jonathan Hill 1995–2010, Mr Jonathan Hill CBE 2010–2013, the Lord Hill of Oareford CBE 2013–, The Rt Hon. The Lord Hill of Oareford CBE PC Debretts People of Today www. cracroftspeerage. co. uk www. dodspeople. com www. ec. europa. eu www. elections2014. eu
7.
Lord Privy Seal
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The Lord Privy Seal is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. The office is one of the sinecure offices of state. Originally, its holder was responsible for the personal seal. Today, the holder of the office is given a seat in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. Since the premiership of Clement Attlee, the position of Lord Privy Seal has frequently been combined with that of Leader of the House of Lords or Leader of the House of Commons. The office of Lord Privy Seal, unlike those of Leader of the Lords or Commons, is eligible for a ministerial salary under the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975. The office does not confer membership of the House of Lords, leading to Ernest Bevins remark on holding office that he was neither a Lord, nor a Privy. During the reign of Edward I, prior to 1307, the Privy Seal was kept by the Controller of the Wardrobe, the Lord Privy Seal was the president of the Court of Requests during its existence
8.
Andrew Lansley
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Andrew David Lansley, Baron Lansley, CBE, PC is a British Conservative politician who served as Member of Parliament for South Cambridgeshire from 1997 to 2015. Lansley was born in Hornchurch, Essex and studied Politics at the University of Exeter and he worked in the civil service before entering politics. He ran the 1992 general election while at the Conservative Research Department, Lansley was the Shadow Secretary of State for Health from 2004 until 2010, the Secretary of State for Health from 2010 until 2012, and Leader of the House of Commons from 2012 until 2014. As Health Secretary, Lansley was responsible for the governments controversial Health and he announced his intention to stand down as an MP in 2015, and was awarded a life peerage in 2015 Dissolution Honours. Born in Hornchurch, Essex, Lansley was educated at Brentwood School, in 1977 while at Exeter University, Lansley was elected President of the Guild of Students, as a Tory Reform Group candidate. His father Thomas worked in a laboratory, and became co-founder of the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine. Before entering politics, Lansley had a career in the civil service. Lansley worked for Norman Tebbit for three years as his secretary at the Department of Trade and Industry. This encompassed the period of the IRAs 1984 Brighton hotel bombing at the Conservative Party Conference in which Tebbit was seriously injured, Lansley and others have been praised by Tebbit for their support at that time. Lansley went on to more fully involved in politics. In 1990, he was appointed to run the Conservative Research Department and he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for political service in the 1996 New Year Honours. Lansley sought to enter parliament and was selected for the South Cambridgeshire seat where he was elected as an MP in 1997. He immediately joined the House of Commons health select committee, at the 2001 election he again took on a strategy role as a Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party. As part of his duties Shadow Ministers had to clear the timing of their announcements with Lansley and he fitted them into a timetable known as the Stalingrid. The 2001 election was not a success for the Conservative Party and party leader, William Hague, iain Duncan Smith, the new leader, offered Lansley a position after the election but he turned this down and, until Michael Howard became Leader, Lansley was a backbencher. Lansley was appointed a Privy Counsellor on 13 May 2010, after Howards election as party leader, Lansley soon returned to the Conservative frontbench. He served as the Shadow Secretary of State for Health, in his post he developed policies centred on using choice to improve the National Health Service, and was author of a chapter in The Future of the NHS. After becoming Prime Minister in May 2010, David Cameron named Lansley as Health Secretary in the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government
9.
House of Lords
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The House of Lords of the United Kingdom, referred to ceremonially as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster, officially, the full name of the house is, The Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled. Unlike the elected House of Commons, all members of the House of Lords are appointed, the membership of the House of Lords is drawn from the peerage and is made up of Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal. The Lords Spiritual are 26 bishops in the established Church of England, of the Lords Temporal, the majority are life peers who are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, or on the advice of the House of Lords Appointments Commission. However, they include some hereditary peers including four dukes. Very few of these are female since most hereditary peerages can only be inherited by men, while the House of Commons has a defined 650-seat membership, the number of members in the House of Lords is not fixed. There are currently 805 sitting Lords, the House of Lords is the only upper house of any bicameral parliament to be larger than its respective lower house. The House of Lords scrutinises bills that have approved by the House of Commons. It regularly reviews and amends Bills from the Commons, while it is unable to prevent Bills passing into law, except in certain limited circumstances, it can delay Bills and force the Commons to reconsider their decisions. In this capacity, the House of Lords acts as a check on the House of Commons that is independent from the electoral process, Bills can be introduced into either the House of Lords or the House of Commons. Members of the Lords may also take on roles as government ministers, the House of Lords has its own support services, separate from the Commons, including the House of Lords Library. The Queens Speech is delivered in the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament, the House also has a Church of England role, in that Church Measures must be tabled within the House by the Lords Spiritual. This new parliament was, in effect, the continuation of the Parliament of England with the addition of 45 MPs and 16 Peers to represent Scotland, the Parliament of England developed from the Magnum Concilium, the Great Council that advised the King during medieval times. This royal council came to be composed of ecclesiastics, noblemen, the first English Parliament is often considered to be the Model Parliament, which included archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, and representatives of the shires and boroughs of it. The power of Parliament grew slowly, fluctuating as the strength of the monarchy grew or declined, for example, during much of the reign of Edward II, the nobility was supreme, the Crown weak, and the shire and borough representatives entirely powerless. In 1569, the authority of Parliament was for the first time recognised not simply by custom or royal charter, further developments occurred during the reign of Edward IIs successor, Edward III. It was during this Kings reign that Parliament clearly separated into two chambers, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The authority of Parliament continued to grow, and, during the fifteenth century
10.
Lords Temporal
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This article is about the secular members of the British House of Lords. For the fictional lords of time, see Time Lords, in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Lords Temporal are secular members of the House of Lords. Before the enactment of the House of Lords Act 1999, all peers were members of the House of Lords, membership of the Lords is now limited to life peers and a number of elected hereditary peers. The Lords Temporal are all members of the Peerage, formerly, they were all hereditary peers. A similar arrangement was made in respect of the Kingdom of Ireland when that nation merged with Great Britain in January 1801 to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. However, when most of Ireland left the United Kingdom as the Irish Free State in December 1922, by the Peerage Act 1963, the election of Scottish representative peers also ended, and all Scottish peers were granted the right to sit in Parliament. Under the House of Lords Act 1999, only life peerages automatically entitle their holders to seats in the House of Lords. Of the hereditary peers, only 92 – the Earl Marshal, the Lord Great Chamberlain and 90 elected by other peers – retain their seats in the House
11.
Beeston, Nottinghamshire
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Beeston is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is 3.4 miles southwest of Nottingham city centre, to the immediate northeast is the University of Nottinghams main campus, University Park. The pharmaceutical and retail chemist group Boots has its headquarters at a large campus 0.6 miles east of the centre of Beeston, on the border of Broxtowe, to the south lies the River Trent and the village of Attenborough, with its extensive wetlands. Beeston is to a degree separated from Bramcote to the northwest by the Beeston Fields Golf Course, the Broxtowe-City of Nottingham border runs immediately to the east of the town and essentially forms the towns eastern edge. The last serious flood, in 1947, reached far beyond the railway line, the construction of strengthened flood defences has reduced the risk of flooding to a probability of once every fifty years. A series of flood defence improvements, costing £51 million and designed to reduce incidents of flooding to once every one hundred years, the eastern edge of Beeston abuts the University of Nottinghams University Park campus, through which runs Beeston Lane. Although most of the University is within the City of Nottinghams boundaries, nearer still to the town centre is Albion House, which is associated with the main Broadgate Park site. Beeston has a population of postgraduate students, who supposedly prefer its quieter atmosphere compared to Dunkirk and Lenton. Beeston is subdivided into four wards for local government/electoral purposes within the borough of Broxtowe and these are Beeston North, Beeston Central, Beeston Rylands and Beeston West. Beestons town centre falls within the West and Central wards. The North ward includes some residential estates north of the A52, to the west of this lies Bramcote Hills and the Bramcote ward. The original Beeston-Bramcote boundary is marked on the A52. The Rylands ward also extends north of the line to Queens Road. To the west of Beeston Rylands lies the Attenborough ward, while the Chilwell East ward lies to the west of Beeston West, the ward boundaries were reviewed in 2000 and resulted in two notable changes to Beestons western boundary. The original boundary between the old Beeston and Chilwell parishes can still be identified by the change in name at the site of the Hop Pole pub. The four wards of Beeston each return two councillors to Broxtowe Borough Council, in the 2007 local elections the Liberal Democrats won all seats in the North and West wards, whilst Labour won all seats in the Central and Rylands wards. The next elections to Broxtowe Borough Council will be held in 2011, for elections to Nottinghamshire County Council the town is covered by two electoral divisions, Beeston North and Beeston South & Attenborough. For elections to Parliament the town is part of the Broxtowe constituency, from 1974 to 1983 a Beeston constituency existed
12.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
13.
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
14.
Conservative Party (UK)
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The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a political party in the United Kingdom. It is currently the party, having won a majority of seats in the House of Commons at the 2015 general election. The partys leader, Theresa May, is serving as Prime Minister. It is the largest party in government with 8,702 councillors. The Conservative Party is one of the two major political parties in the United Kingdom, the other being its modern rival. The Conservative Partys platform involves support for market capitalism, free enterprise, fiscal conservatism, a strong national defence, deregulation. In the 1920s, the Liberal vote greatly diminished and the Labour Party became the Conservatives main rivals, Conservative Prime Ministers led governments for 57 years of the twentieth century, including Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. Thatchers tenure led to wide-ranging economic liberalisation, the Conservative Partys domination of British politics throughout the twentieth century has led to them being referred to as one of the most successful political parties in the Western world. The Conservatives are the joint-second largest British party in the European Parliament, with twenty MEPs, the party is a member of the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe Europarty and the International Democrat Union. The party is the second-largest in the Scottish Parliament and the second-largest in the Welsh Assembly, the party is also organised in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. The Conservative Party traces its origins to a faction, rooted in the 18th century Whig Party and they were known as Independent Whigs, Friends of Mr Pitt, or Pittites. After Pitts death the term Tory came into use and this was an allusion to the Tories, a political grouping that had existed from 1678, but which had no organisational continuity with the Pittite party. From about 1812 on the name Tory was commonly used for the newer party, the term Conservative was suggested as a title for the party by a magazine article by J. Wilson Croker in the Quarterly Review in 1830. The name immediately caught on and was adopted under the aegis of Sir Robert Peel around 1834. Peel is acknowledged as the founder of the Conservative Party, which he created with the announcement of the Tamworth Manifesto, the term Conservative Party rather than Tory was the dominant usage by 1845. In 1912, the Liberal Unionists merged with the Conservative Party, in Ireland, the Irish Unionist Alliance had been formed in 1891 which merged anti-Home Rule Unionists into one political movement. Its MPs took the Conservative whip at Westminster, and in essence formed the Irish wing of the party until 1922. The Conservatives served with the Liberals in an all-party coalition government during World War I, keohane finds that the Conservatives were bitterly divided before 1914, especially on the issue of Irish Unionism and the experience of three consecutive election losses
15.
Alma mater
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Alma mater is an allegorical Latin phrase for a university or college. In modern usage, it is a school or university which an individual has attended, the phrase is variously translated as nourishing mother, nursing mother, or fostering mother, suggesting that a school provides intellectual nourishment to its students. Before its modern usage, Alma mater was a title in Latin for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele. The source of its current use is the motto, Alma Mater Studiorum, of the oldest university in continuous operation in the Western world and it is related to the term alumnus, denoting a university graduate, which literally means a nursling or one who is nourished. The phrase can also denote a song or hymn associated with a school, although alma was a common epithet for Ceres, Cybele, Venus, and other mother goddesses, it was not frequently used in conjunction with mater in classical Latin. Alma Redemptoris Mater is a well-known 11th century antiphon devoted to Mary, the earliest documented English use of the term to refer to a university is in 1600, when University of Cambridge printer John Legate began using an emblem for the universitys press. In English etymological reference works, the first university-related usage is often cited in 1710, many historic European universities have adopted Alma Mater as part of the Latin translation of their official name. The University of Bologna Latin name, Alma Mater Studiorum, refers to its status as the oldest continuously operating university in the world. At least one, the Alma Mater Europaea in Salzburg, Austria, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, has been called the Alma Mater of the Nation because of its ties to the founding of the United States. At Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, the ancient Roman world had many statues of the Alma Mater, some still extant. Modern sculptures are found in prominent locations on several American university campuses, outside the United States, there is an Alma Mater sculpture on the steps of the monumental entrance to the Universidad de La Habana, in Havana, Cuba. Media related to Alma mater at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of alma mater at Wiktionary Alma Mater Europaea website
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Central College Nottingham
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Central College Nottingham is a further education college based over ten sites in Nottinghamshire, England. The college was formed from the merger of Castle College Nottingham, the Peoples College was the oldest further education college in England, having been founded in 1847. Following a public consultation, which ran from December 2010 to January 2011, it was decided that Castle College, the colleges officially merged on 1 July 2011. The merged college was renamed Central College Nottingham in November 2012, today the college employs over around 1000 full-time staff. Its main centres are at Maid Marian Way in the City Centre, the College offers courses from level 1 entry and foundation programmes to HNDs and foundation degrees. The Beeston centre houses Salon Central, a salon with 40 hairdressing stations &32 beauty treatment beds. It also provides courses in Art & Design, Business & IT, Digital Technologies, ESOL, Foundation Studies, Health & Social Care, Science, Teacher Training, the Centre is also the base for the Colleges International provision. The centre is situated on Chilwell High Road adjacent to the Central College stop on the Nottingham Express Transit tram system. The Centre, in the heart of the City, provides courses in Access, Business & IT, Childcare, Digital Technologies, ESOL, Foundation Learning, Health & Medical Sciences and Health & Social Care. Farnborough Road, Clifton, houses the Visual Arts department, Uniformed Public Services, highfields is located on University Boulevard. Created in association with Toyota, the Centre has ten workshops, a car showroom and this centre is home to Emtec as well some of the industrys training providers. Training takes place in facilities in Ruddington where automotive training in conjunction with motor manufacturers has been taking place for over 15 years, the Centre provides specialist facilities for students with a range of physical and learning difficulties and disabilities as well as for other Foundation Learning courses. Courses on offer include Accounting, Business and Computing, Childcare, Engineering, Science and Criminal Justice, Sport Coaching, Travel and Tourism and Visual Arts and Photography
17.
GCE Ordinary Level (United Kingdom)
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The General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level, also called the O-level or O level, was a subject-based academic qualification. Later the complementary and more vocational Certificate of Secondary Education was added to broaden the subjects available, the O-Level and CSE were replaced in the United Kingdom in 1988 by the GCSE and later complementary IGCSE exams. The Scottish equivalent was the O-grade, an O-level branded qualification is still awarded by Cambridge International Examinations in select locations. O-levels were predominantly exam-based, this had advantages for students in part-time or evening education, some commentators criticised this mainly exam-based approach as offering only partial proof of the students overall ability in comparison with other methods. There was no summative school certificate, each subject was a separate O-level in its own right, madsen Pirie found that the O-level was advantageous to boys because of exam-based learning. From 1975 standardized alphabetic grades where introduced with grades A, B, C, D, and E were passes, between 1965 and 1985 grades were allocated primarily on a norm-referenced basis, assigning a fixed proportion of each cohort to each grade. The pass rate and top awards by the Oxford & Cambridge board were also higher than the other boards e. g. In 1976, 27% of Latin entrants gained an A, and ~17% of French, German and Music candidates, in 1982, the pass rates were, Northern Ireland 62%, England 58% Wales 53%. In the final year DES statistics were available 6. 8% achieved an A, O-levels incorporate an element of negative marking, with marks deducted for incorrect answers, poor spelling, grammar or handwriting. For subjects where an equivalent O-level paper existed approximately 36% of the pupils entered for either exam, after 1976, sat the O-Level, the remainder sat the CSE paper. The proportion taking CSE exams increased following the raising of the school leaving age to 16, in 1973. The O-level qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were replaced by the General Certificate of Secondary Education, however, the O-level brand is still used in many Commonwealth countries, such as Bangladesh, Mauritius and Singapore, instead of or alongside the IGCSE qualifications. Some British schools also reverted to exams based on the O-levels, the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination was also benchmarked against the O-levels for comparable subjects. But it has switched to benchmark against the IGCSE, the School Certificate of Mauritius continues to use the O-level exams. Approximately 12 million candidates from more than 200 countries register annually for O-level examinations across the world, institutions that offer O-levels include Cambridge International Examinations. O level is an education of India, full form of O level Currently, CIE offers curricula for approximately 40 different subjects. The O-Level qualifications are recognized for admission into universities worldwide
18.
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
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The Ministry of Defence is the British government department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by Her Majestys Government and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. The MoD states that its objectives are to defend the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and its interests and to strengthen international peace. The MoD also manages day-to-day running of the forces, contingency planning. As rearmament became a concern during the 1930s, Stanley Baldwin created the position of Minister for Coordination of Defence. Winston Churchill, on forming his government in 1940, created the office of Minister of Defence to exercise control over the Chiefs of Staff Committee. The post was held by the Prime Minister of the day until Clement Attlees government introduced the Ministry of Defence Act of 1946, the new ministry was headed by a Minister of Defence who possessed a seat in the Cabinet. These departments merged in 1964, the functions of the Ministry of Aviation Supply merged into the Ministry of Defence in 1971. The Ministers in the Ministry of Defence are as follows, The Ministers and Chiefs of the Defence Staff are supported by a number of civilian, scientific, the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence is the senior civil servant at the MoD. His or her role is to ensure the MoD operates effectively as a department of the government, Permanent Under-Secretary of State, Stephen Lovegrove—commencing April 2016 Defence Equipment & Support CEO - Tony Douglas — commencing 2016 Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Vernon C. He is supported by the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, vice-Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Gordon Messenger, Royal Marines. First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sir Philip Jones, Royal Navy Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Nick Carter, the Surgeon General, represents the Defence Medical Services on the Defence Staff, and is the clinical head of that service. These forces must be capable of representing Britain as lead nation in any coalition operations, the ability, at longer notice, to deploy forces in a large-scale operation while running a concurrent small-scale operation. The MoD has since been regarded as a leader in elaborating the post-Cold War organising concept of defence diplomacy, the UK is establishing air and naval bases in the Persian Gulf, located in the UAE and Bahrain. A presence in Oman is also being considered, the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 included £178 billion investment in new equipment and capabilities. The review set a policy with four primary missions for the Armed Forces, Defend and contribute to the security and resilience of the UK. Contribute to improved understanding of the world through strategic intelligence and the defence network. Reinforce international security and the capacity of our allies, partners. Conduct operations to restore peace and stability, conduct major combat operations if required, including under NATO Article 5
19.
Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington, D.C.
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British Embassy, Washington is the United Kingdoms diplomatic mission to the United States. It is located at 3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW in Washington, D. C. The embassy also operates consulates general in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, the embassy is situated in a compound that is home to the ambassadors residence and the old and new chanceries. The residence was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens to resemble an English country manor, part of the old chancery was converted into staff quarters, and the rest is currently occupied by the offices of the British Council. The British government was the first nation to build an embassy in the area that would become known as Embassy Row. Outside the British ambassadors residence stands a statue of Sir Winston Churchill, one of the statues feet is inside the marked embassy grounds, the other is within the District of Columbia. The embassys website states that this symbolizes Churchills Anglo-American parentage and his status as a citizen of the United States. The gardens of the residence were planted by Elizabeth Sherman Lindsay. Lady Lindsay was a gardener and wife of lifelong British diplomat Sir Ronald Lindsay. The embassy is one of the largest in Washington, employing 210 diplomats, the current ambassador as of 2016 is Sir Kim Darroch. On February 11,1964, a reception was held there for the Beatles, on July 7,2005, the United States Army Band played God Save the Queen outside the embassy in remembrance of the victims of the 7 July 2005 London bombings. The embassy was depicted in fiction in the 2006 BBC Television miniseries The State Within, diplomatic missions of the United Kingdom List of British Ambassadors to the United States List of diplomatic missions in Washington, D. C. Official site A History of the Gardens of the Ambassadors Residence, British Embassy, Washington
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United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
21.
10 Downing Street
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Situated in Downing Street in the City of Westminster, London, Number 10 is over 300 years old and contains approximately 100 rooms. A private residence occupies the floor and there is a kitchen in the basement. At the rear is a courtyard and a terrace overlooking a garden of 0.5 acres. Adjacent to St Jamess Park, Number 10 is near Buckingham Palace, the London residence of the British monarch, and the Palace of Westminster, originally three houses, Number 10 was offered to Sir Robert Walpole by King George II in 1732. Walpole accepted on the condition that the gift was to the office of First Lord of the Treasury rather than to him personally, Walpole commissioned William Kent to join the three houses and it is this larger house that is known as Number 10 Downing Street. The arrangement was not an immediate success, despite its size and convenient location near to Parliament, few early Prime Ministers lived there. Costly to maintain, neglected, and run-down, Number 10 was close to being demolished several times but the property survived and became linked with many statesmen, in 1985 Margaret Thatcher said Number 10 had become one of the most precious jewels in the national heritage. Number 10 Downing Street was originally three properties, a mansion overlooking St Jamess Park called the House at the Back, a house behind it. The town house, from which the building gets its name, was one of several built by Sir George Downing between 1682 and 1684. Downing, a spy for Oliver Cromwell and later Charles II, invested in property. In 1654, he purchased the lease on land south of St Jamess Park, Downing planned to build a row of town houses for persons of good quality to inhabit in. The street on which he built them now bears his name, straightforward as the investment seemed, it proved otherwise. The Hampden family had a lease on the land that they refused to relinquish, Downing fought their claim, but failed and had to wait thirty years before he could build. When the Hampden lease expired, Downing received permission to build on land further west to take advantage of recent property developments. The new warrant issued in 1682 reads, Sir George Downing. to build new, subject to the proviso that it be not built any nearer than 14 feet of the wall of the said Park at the West end thereof. Between 1682 and 1684, Downing built a cul-de-sac of two-storey town houses with coach-houses, stables, over the years, the addresses changed several times. In 1787 Number 5 became Number 10, Downing employed Sir Christopher Wren to design the houses. Although large, they were put up quickly and cheaply on soft soil with shallow foundations, the fronts were façades with lines painted on the surface imitating brick mortar
22.
John Major
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Sir John Major, KG, CH, PC is a British politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. A cabinet minister from 1987, he served Margaret Thatcher in the Treasury, Major was Member of Parliament for Huntingdon from 1979 to 2001. He is currently the oldest living former Prime Minister, following the death of Thatcher on 8 April 2013, at the beginning of his premiership, Major presided over British participation in the Gulf War in March 1991 and negotiated the Maastricht Treaty in December 1991. Shortly after this, even though a supporter of the ERM. This event led to a loss of confidence in Conservative economic policies, Major went on to lose the 1997 general election months later, in one of the largest electoral defeats since the Great Reform Act of 1832. After defeat, Major resigned as Prime Minister and was succeeded as Leader of the Conservative Party by William Hague and he went on to retire from active politics, leaving the House of Commons at the 2001 general election. Major was born in 1943 at St Helier Hospital in Sutton, Surrey and he was christened John Roy Major but only John was recorded on his birth certificate. He used his name until the early 1980s. He attended primary school at Cheam Common and from 1954 he attended Rutlish School, in 1955, with his fathers garden ornaments business in decline, the family moved to Brixton. He also credited a chance meeting with former Prime Minister Clement Attlee on the Kings Road shortly afterwards, Major left school at the age of 16 in 1959 with three O-levels in History, English Language and English Literature. He later gained three more O-levels by correspondence course, in the British Constitution, Mathematics and Economics, Majors first job was as a clerk in the insurance brokerage firm Pratt & Sons in 1959. Major joined the Young Conservatives in Brixton at this time, Major was almost 19 years old when his father died at the age of 82 on 27 March 1962. His mother died eight and a years later in September 1970 at the age of 65. After Major became Prime Minister it was misreported that his failure to get a job as a bus conductor resulted from his failing to pass a maths test and he had in fact passed all of the necessary tests but had been passed over owing to his height. After a period of unemployment, Major started working at the London Electricity Board in 1963 which is incidentally his successor as Prime Minister, Tony Blair. He later decided to undertake a course in banking. Major took up a post as an executive at the Standard Chartered Bank in May 1965 and he was sent to work in Jos, Nigeria, by the bank in 1967 and he nearly died in a car accident there. Major was interested in politics from an early age, encouraged by fellow Conservative Derek Stone, he started giving speeches on a soap-box in Brixton Market
23.
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
24.
Conservative Campaign Headquarters
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The Conservative Campaign Headquarters, formerly known as Conservative Central Office is the headquarters of the British Conservative Party, housing its central staff and committee members. As of July 2016, the post of Conservative Party chairman is held by Patrick McLoughlin, the establishment of Conservative Central Office dates back to 1871, with the creation of professional support for the Party by Sir John Gorst. Following election defeats in 1906 and 1910, in 1911 the post of Party Chairman was created to oversee the work of the Central Office, until 1958 CCO was based at Abbey House, Victoria Street, London, then moving to No.32 Smith Square, Westminster. This was the scene of many televised historic moments in Conservative history from Margaret Thatchers victory rallies to Iain Duncan Smiths resignation, CCO moved in 2004 to nearby 25 Victoria Street for more high-tech facilities, and has subsequently been known as Conservative Campaign Headquarters. On 6 March 2007, CCHQ moved again, this time to 30 Millbank, Westminster, part of the property portfolio of David, on 10 February 2014, CCHQ moved to 4 Matthew Parker Street, London SW1H. On 10 November 2010,30 Millbank was attacked by student protesters as part of a demonstration against rises in tuition fees
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William Hague
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William Jefferson Hague, Baron Hague of Richmond PC FRSL is a British Conservative politician and life peer. He represented Richmond, Yorkshire as Member of Parliament from 1989 to 2015, Hague was educated at Wath-upon-Dearne Grammar School, the University of Oxford and INSEAD, subsequently being returned to the House of Commons at a by-election in 1989. Hague quickly rose through the ranks of the government of John Major and was appointed to Cabinet in 1995 as Secretary of State for Wales. Following the Conservatives landslide defeat at the 1997 general election by the Labour Party and he returned to the backbenches, pursuing a career as an author, writing biographies of William Pitt the Younger and William Wilberforce. He also held several directorships, and worked as a consultant, after David Cameron was elected Leader of the Conservative Party in 2005, Hague was reappointed to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Foreign Secretary. He also assumed the role of Senior Member of the Shadow Cabinet, after the formation of the Coalition Government in 2010, Hague was appointed First Secretary of State and Foreign Secretary. Cameron described him as his de facto political deputy, Hague was elevated as a Life Peer in the 2015 Dissolution Honours List and created Baron Hague of Richmond, of Richmond in the County of North Yorkshire, on 9 October. Hague was born on 26 March 1961 in Rotherham, Yorkshire and he initially boarded at Ripon Grammar School and then attended Wath-upon-Dearne Comprehensive, a State-secondary school near Rotherham, previously Wath Grammar School. His parents, Nigel and Stella Hague, ran a soft drinks manufacturing business where he worked during school holidays and his childhood nurse, Bessie Camm, went on to be the oldest living person in Britain as of 2017, at age 112. He first made the news at the age of 16 by addressing the Conservatives at their 1977 Annual National Conference. In his speech he told the delegates, half of you wont be here in 30 or 40 years time, but that others would have to live with consequences of a Labour Government if it stayed in power. Hague read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Magdalen College, Oxford and he was President of the Oxford University Conservative Association, but was convicted of electoral malpractice in the election process. Hague was playing the game of using his powers as President to keep his faction in power. There were accusations of blatant ballot box stuffing and he also served as President of the Oxford Union, an established route into politics. After Oxford, Hague went on to study for a Master of Business Administration degree at INSEAD and he then worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, where Archie Norman was his mentor. After Lamont was sacked in 1993, Hague moved to the Department of Social Security where he was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the following year he was promoted as Minister of State in the DSS with responsibility for Social Security and Disabled People. His fast rise up through Government was attributed to his intelligence and he continued serving in Cabinet until the Conservatives were replaced by New Labour at the 1997 general election. At the age of 36, Hague was tasked with rebuilding the Conservative Party by attempting to build a modern image
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BBC
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The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. It is headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, the BBC is the worlds oldest national broadcasting organisation and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees. It employs over 20,950 staff in total,16,672 of whom are in public sector broadcasting, the total number of staff is 35,402 when part-time, flexible, and fixed contract staff are included. The BBC is established under a Royal Charter and operates under its Agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. The fee is set by the British Government, agreed by Parliament, and used to fund the BBCs radio, TV, britains first live public broadcast from the Marconi factory in Chelmsford took place in June 1920. It was sponsored by the Daily Mails Lord Northcliffe and featured the famous Australian Soprano Dame Nellie Melba, the Melba broadcast caught the peoples imagination and marked a turning point in the British publics attitude to radio. However, this public enthusiasm was not shared in official circles where such broadcasts were held to interfere with important military and civil communications. By late 1920, pressure from these quarters and uneasiness among the staff of the licensing authority, the General Post Office, was sufficient to lead to a ban on further Chelmsford broadcasts. But by 1922, the GPO had received nearly 100 broadcast licence requests, John Reith, a Scottish Calvinist, was appointed its General Manager in December 1922 a few weeks after the company made its first official broadcast. The company was to be financed by a royalty on the sale of BBC wireless receiving sets from approved manufacturers, to this day, the BBC aims to follow the Reithian directive to inform, educate and entertain. The financial arrangements soon proved inadequate, set sales were disappointing as amateurs made their own receivers and listeners bought rival unlicensed sets. By mid-1923, discussions between the GPO and the BBC had become deadlocked and the Postmaster-General commissioned a review of broadcasting by the Sykes Committee and this was to be followed by a simple 10 shillings licence fee with no royalty once the wireless manufactures protection expired. The BBCs broadcasting monopoly was made explicit for the duration of its current broadcast licence, the BBC was also banned from presenting news bulletins before 19.00, and required to source all news from external wire services. Mid-1925 found the future of broadcasting under further consideration, this time by the Crawford committee, by now the BBC under Reiths leadership had forged a consensus favouring a continuation of the unified broadcasting service, but more money was still required to finance rapid expansion. Wireless manufacturers were anxious to exit the loss making consortium with Reith keen that the BBC be seen as a service rather than a commercial enterprise. The recommendations of the Crawford Committee were published in March the following year and were still under consideration by the GPO when the 1926 general strike broke out in May. The strike temporarily interrupted newspaper production and with restrictions on news bulletins waived the BBC suddenly became the source of news for the duration of the crisis. The crisis placed the BBC in a delicate position, the Government was divided on how to handle the BBC but ended up trusting Reith, whose opposition to the strike mirrored the PMs own
27.
BBC Trust
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The BBC Trust was the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation between 2007 and 2017. It was operationally independent of BBC management and external bodies, on 12 May 2016, it was announced in the House of Commons that the regulatory functions of the BBC Trust are to be transferred to Ofcom. The Trust was established by the Royal Charter for the BBC which came into effect on 1 January 2007, the Trust, and a formalised Executive Board, replaced the former Board of Governors. In summary, the roles of the Trust are in setting the overall strategic direction of the BBC, including its priorities. The Trust will perform these roles in the public interest, particularly the interest of licence fee payers, — BBC Royal Charter Finally, the BBC Trust closed on 2 April 2017 just after 10 years. The Royal Charter established that the Trust should have twelve trustees, including a Chairman, a Vice-Chairman, appointments to the BBC Trust are made by Queen in Council, on the recommendation of UK government ministers. Richard Ayre – former Deputy Chief Executive of BBC News, mark Damazer CBE - Master of St Peters College, Oxford and former controller of BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 7. Mark Florman - the Trustee for England, co-founder and former CEO of the merchant banking group Maizels, bill Matthews – the Trustee for Scotland. Aideen McGinley OBE – the Trustee for Northern Ireland, a former NI civil servant, nicholas Prettejohn - a senior City executive. Elan Closs Stephens CBE – the Trustee for Wales, a chairman of Welsh-language broadcaster S4C. Suzanna Taverne – a former managing director of the British Museum, Lord Williams of Baglan – a former diplomat, appointed as International Trustee. Trustees served for terms of up to five years, after which they may be re-appointed. Since 2006 the following people were members of the BBC Trust, Michael Grade CBE, now Lord Grade of Yarmouth – former Chairman, dermot Gleeson – finished two terms, as a BBC Governor and a BBC Trustee. Richard Tait CBE – finished two terms, as a BBC Governor and a BBC Trustee, chitra Bharucha MBE – former Vice Chairman, and acting Chairman, retired after one term. Alison Hastings – former National Trustee for England, finished two terms, a regional newspaper editor. Janet Lewis-Jones – former National Trustee for Wales, retired after one term, David Liddiment – finished two terms, a former Director of Programmes at ITV. Jeremy Peat OBE – former National Trustee for Scotland, finished two terms, as a BBC Governor and a BBC Trustee, Sir Michael Lyons – former Chairman, retired after one term. Patricia Hodgson DBE – who resigned to take up a position on the board of media regulator Ofcom, rotha Johnston CBE – finished two terms as BBC Trustee for Northern Ireland
28.
Nottinghamshire
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Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditional county town is Nottingham, though the county council is based in West Bridgford in the borough of Rushcliffe, the districts of Nottinghamshire are Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Broxtowe, Gedling, Mansfield, Newark and Sherwood, and Rushcliffe. The City of Nottingham was administratively part of Nottinghamshire between 1974 and 1998 but is now an authority, remaining part of Nottinghamshire for ceremonial purposes. In 2011 the county was estimated to have a population of 785,800, over half of the population of the county live in the Greater Nottingham conurbation. The conurbation has a population of about 650,000, though less than half live within the city boundaries. Nottinghamshire lies on the Roman Fosse Way, and there are Roman settlements in the county, for example at Mansfield, the county was settled by Angles around the 5th century, and became part of the Kingdom, and later Earldom, of Mercia. However, there is evidence of Saxon settlement at the Broxtowe Estate, Oxton, near Nottingham, the name first occurs in 1016, but until 1568 the county was administratively united with Derbyshire, under a single Sheriff. In Norman times the county developed malting and woollen industries, in the 18th and 19th centuries, mechanised deeper collieries opened and mining became an important economic sector, though these declined after the 1984–85 miners strike. Until 1610, Nottinghamshire was divided into eight Wapentakes, sometime between 1610 and 1719 they were reduced to six – Newark, Bassetlaw, Thurgarton, Rushcliffe, Broxtowe and Bingham, some of these names still being used for the modern districts. Oswaldbeck was absorbed in Bassetlaw, of which it forms the North Clay division, Nottinghamshire is famous for its involvement with the legend of Robin Hood. This is also the reason for the numbers of tourists who visit places like Sherwood Forest, City of Nottingham, to reinforce the Robin Hood connection, the University of Nottingham in 2010 has begun the Nottingham Caves Survey with the goal to increase the tourist potential of these sites. The project will use a 3D laser scanner to produce a three dimensional record of more than 450 sandstone caves around Nottingham. Nottinghamshire was mapped first by Christopher Saxton in 1576, the first fully surveyed map of the county was by John Chapman who produced Chapmans Map of Nottinghamshire in 1774. Nottinghamshire, like Derbyshire and South Yorkshire, sits on extensive coal measures, up to 900 metres thick, there is an oilfield near Eakring. These are overlaid by sandstones and limestones in the west and clay in the east, the north of the county is part of the Humberhead Levels lacustrine plain. The centre and south west of the county, around Sherwood Forest, principal rivers are the Trent, Idle, Erewash and Soar. The Trent, fed by the Soar and Erewash, and Idle, composed of many streams from Sherwood Forest, run through wide and flat valleys, the lowest is Peat Carr, east of Blaxton, at sea level, the Trent is tidal below Cromwell Lock. Nottinghamshire is sheltered by the Pennines to the west, so receives relatively low rainfall at 641–740 mm annually, the average temperature of the county is 8. 8–10.1 degrees Celsius
29.
Elizabeth II
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Elizabeth II has been Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand since 6 February 1952. Elizabeth was born in London as the eldest child of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive. She began to undertake duties during the Second World War. Elizabeths many historic visits and meetings include a visit to the Republic of Ireland. She has seen major changes, such as devolution in the United Kingdom, Canadian patriation. She has reigned through various wars and conflicts involving many of her realms and she is the worlds oldest reigning monarch as well as Britains longest-lived. In October 2016, she became the longest currently reigning monarch, in 2017 she became the first British monarch to commemorate a Sapphire Jubilee. Elizabeth has occasionally faced republican sentiments and press criticism of the family, however, support for the monarchy remains high. Elizabeth was born at 02,40 on 21 April 1926, during the reign of her paternal grandfather and her father, Prince Albert, Duke of York, was the second son of the King. Her mother, Elizabeth, Duchess of York, was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and she was delivered by Caesarean section at her maternal grandfathers London house,17 Bruton Street, Mayfair. Elizabeths only sibling, Princess Margaret, was born in 1930, the two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford, who was casually known as Crawfie. Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature and music, Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margarets childhood years entitled The Little Princesses in 1950, much to the dismay of the royal family. The book describes Elizabeths love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, others echoed such observations, Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant and her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved. During her grandfathers reign, Elizabeth was third in the line of succession to the throne, behind her uncle Edward, Prince of Wales, and her father, the Duke of York. Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen, many people believed that he would marry and have children of his own. When her grandfather died in 1936 and her uncle succeeded as Edward VIII, she became second-in-line to the throne, later that year, Edward abdicated, after his proposed marriage to divorced socialite Wallis Simpson provoked a constitutional crisis. Consequently, Elizabeths father became king, and she became heir presumptive, if her parents had had a later son, she would have lost her position as first-in-line, as her brother would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession
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John Taylor, Baron Taylor of Holbeach
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John Derek Taylor, Baron Taylor of Holbeach, CBE, PC, FRSA is a British Conservative politician and current Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords. Taylor is the son of Percy Otto Taylor and Ethel Brocklehurst and he was educated at Holbeach Primary School in Holbeach, Lincolnshire, St. Felix School in Felixstowe, and at Bedford School in the county town of Bedfordshire. He was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1992 for political service and he served as Chairman of the National Conservative Convention from 2000 to 2003. He was created a peer as Baron Taylor of Holbeach, of South Holland in the County of Lincolnshire. He is a member of Conservative Friends of Poland
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Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
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The department was created after the perceived failure of MAFF, to deal adequately with an outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease. The Department had about 9,000 core personnel, as of January 2008, the Departments main building is Nobel House on Smith Square, SW1. The Defra Ministers are as follows, The Permanent Secretary is Clare Moriarty, the Secretary of State wrote in a letter to the Prime Minister that he saw Defra’s mission as enabling a move toward what the World Wide Fund for Nature has called one planet living. Under this overarching aim, Defra has five strategic priorities, Climate change, sustainable consumption and production, including responsibility for the National Waste Strategy. Protecting the countryside and natural resource protection, a sustainable farming and food sector including animal health and welfare
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England and Wales
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The devolved National Assembly for Wales was created in 1999 by the Parliament of the United Kingdom under the Government of Wales Act 1998 and provides a degree of self-government in Wales. The powers of the Assembly were expanded by the Government of Wales Act 2006, which allows it to pass its own laws, there is no equivalent body for England, which is directly governed by the Parliament and the government of the United Kingdom. During the Roman occupation of Britain, the area of present-day England and Wales was administered as a single unit, at that time, most of the native inhabitants of Roman Britain spoke Brythonic languages, and were all regarded as Britons, divided into numerous tribes. After the conquest, the Romans administered this region as a single unit and this aimed to replace Welsh criminal law with English law. Welsh law continued to be used for civil cases until the annexation of Wales to England in the 16th century, the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 then consolidated the administration of all the Welsh territories and incorporated them fully into the legal system of the Kingdom of England. Prior to 1746 it was not clear whether a reference to England in legislation included Wales and this specified that in all prior and future laws, references to England would by default include Wales. The Wales and Berwick Act was repealed in 1967, although the definition of England it created is preserved for acts passed prior to its repeal. Since the Acts repeal what was referred to as England is now England and Wales, while references to England, England and Wales are treated as a single unit, for most purposes, because the two form the constitutional successor to the former Kingdom of England. The continuance of Scots law was guaranteed under the 1706 Treaty of Union that led to the Acts of Union 1707, thus, most laws applicable to England also applied to Wales. However, Parliament now passes laws applicable to Wales and not to England, examples are the Welsh Language Acts 1967 and 1993 and the Government of Wales Act 1998. Measures and Acts of the National Assembly for Wales passed since the Government of Wales Act 2006 also apply in Wales, following the Government of Wales Act, effective since May 2007, the National Assembly for Wales can legislate on matters devolved to it. Following a referendum on 3 March 2011, the Welsh Assembly gained direct law-making powers and this was the first time in almost 500 years that Wales had its own powers to legislate. Each piece of Welsh legislation is known as an Act of the Assembly, outside of the legal system the position is mixed. Some organisations combine as England and Wales, others are separate, some religious denominations organise on the basis of England and Wales, most notably the Roman Catholic Church, but also small denominations, e. g. the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Prior to the disestablishment of the Church in Wales in 1920, the Electoral Commission maintains a register of political parties, organised according to where the party operates. The order of precedence in England and Wales is distinct from those of Northern Ireland and Scotland, the national parks of England and Wales have a distinctive legislative framework and history. Courts of England and Wales Judiciary of England and Wales Cultural relationship between the Welsh and the English Geography of Wales Geography of England British Isles
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Department for Communities and Local Government
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The Department for Communities and Local Government is the UK Government department for communities and local government in England. It was established in May 2006 and is the successor to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and its headquarters is located at 2 Marsham Street, London. The Permanent Secretary is Melanie Dawes who took up her post on 1 March 2015, henry Smith was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on 26 May 2015. DCLG was formed in July 2001 as part of the Cabinet Office with the title Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, headed by the then Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott. In May 2002 the ODPM became a department after absorbing the local government and regions portfolios from the defunct Department for Transport, Local Government. The ODPM was criticised in some quarters for adding little value, during the 5 May 2006 reshuffle of Tony Blairs government, it was renamed and Ruth Kelly became the first Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. Ministers have since established the Commission on Integration and Cohesion, planning Inspectorate Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre The department also was previously responsible for two other agencies. On 18 July 2011 Ordnance Survey was transferred to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, initially announced as Communities England, it became operational in December 2008. This also includes the Academy for Sustainable Communities and its main counterparts in the devolved nations of the UK are as follows
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London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
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