luke.thunk.it

Incredibly lazy photo search from the Metro (look at the...

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:40:57 +0100

Incredibly lazy photo search from the Metro (look at the caption) (from: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/835511-flying-ants-plague-london)

David Mitchell deals with Climate Change (via...

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:20:01 +0100

David Mitchell deals with Climate Change (via davidmitchellsoapbox)

Wimbledon 2010 live blog: 23 June | Xan Brooks | Sport | guardian.co.uk

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 21:51:05 +0100

Wimbledon 2010 live blog: 23 June | Xan Brooks | Sport | guardian.co.uk :

This is fantastic.

please vote for my cousins' cousin to be in neighbours, vote again, get your friends to vote.

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 09:53:34 +0100

please vote for my cousins' cousin to be in neighbours, vote again, get your friends to vote.

IS Parade

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 13:38:45 +0100

IS Parade:

Twitter Parade, pointless, but a bit fun.

Gjhgkjhchkjhvbkj…More gibberish, this time from the Daily Mail |...

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 10:38:54 +0100

Gjhgkjhchkjhvbkj…More gibberish, this time from the Daily Mail | Axegrinder

This is honestly the front page of the Times and Citizen.

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 11:08:47 +0100

This is honestly the front page of the Times and Citizen.

Lost Poster Mash-Ups

Fri, 21 May 2010 22:12:17 +0100

Lost Poster Mash-Ups

Coalition: Real jobs in a real government | The Guardian

Thu, 13 May 2010 11:39:52 +0100

Coalition: Real jobs in a real government | The Guardian

"Gove’s book is a confused epic of simplistic incomprehension, riddled with more factual errors and..."

Thu, 13 May 2010 11:04:00 +0100

“Gove’s book is a confused epic of simplistic incomprehension, riddled with more factual errors and misconceptions than any other text I have come across in two decades of reviewing books on this subject.”

- A review of a book by our new Education Secretary (though, we’re lucky he’s not in charge of the foreign office) - A global crisis of understanding review | Non-fiction book reviews - Times Online

New Statesman - The Liberal Democrat surrender

Wed, 12 May 2010 16:46:41 +0100

New Statesman - The Liberal Democrat surrender

Gordon Brown leaves Buckingham Palace (via ChortleUK)

Wed, 12 May 2010 12:45:29 +0100

Gordon Brown leaves Buckingham Palace (via ChortleUK)

AV and a fully elected Lords? In the confusion Labour have somehow managed to get some of their manifesto included.

Wed, 12 May 2010 12:35:51 +0100

From the Labour Party Manifesto:

“To ensure that every MP is supported by the majority of their constituents voting at each election, we will hold a referendum on introducing the Alternative Vote for elections to the House of Commons.

We will ensure that the hereditary principle is removed from the House of Lords. Further democratic reform to create a fully elected Second Chamber will then be achieved in stages. At the end of the next Parliament one third of the House of Lords will be elected; a further one third of members will be elected at the general election after that. Until the final stage, the representation of all groups should be maintained in equal proportions to now. We will consult widely on these proposals, and on an open-list proportional representation electoral system for the Second Chamber, before putting them to the people in a referendum.”

Gordon Brown’s last moments inside No 10 | guardian.co.uk

Wed, 12 May 2010 11:44:57 +0100

Gordon Brown’s last moments inside No 10 | guardian.co.uk

I’ve never voted Tory before, but I like their plans to...

Wed, 12 May 2010 11:25:00 +0100

I’ve never voted Tory before, but I like their plans to give me a job.

[not my own work]

"the best hope was that in the middle of the confusion Caroline Lucas of the Green Party might nip to..."

Wed, 12 May 2010 11:09:59 +0100

“the best hope was that in the middle of the confusion Caroline Lucas of the Green Party might nip to the palace to say to the Queen “Tell you what, I’ll take over shall I?” and run the place while the other parties didn’t even notice”

- Mark Steel’s Blog : Adventures in politics

"one smartly dressed man was so overcome by the day’s high tension that he was reduced to..."

Wed, 12 May 2010 10:36:52 +0100

“one smartly dressed man was so overcome by the day’s high tension that he was reduced to making semi-incoherent declarations to almost anyone who would listen. But on closer inspection he turned out to be the BBC’s political editor, Nick Robinson.”

- The Guardian

1,197 people away from a LabLib majority

Mon, 10 May 2010 14:23:00 +0100

If just 1,197 people (0.004% of voters), in key marginal seats, had voted for Labour or the Lib Dems instead of the Conservatives, then a LabLib coalition would have had a majority.

Here’s where those votes needed to be:

Warwickshire North = 27 [C -> Lab]
Camborne and Redruth = 33 [C -> LD]
Thurrock = 46 [C -> Lab]
Hendon = 53 [C -> Lab]
Oxford West and Abingdon = 88 [C -> LD]
Cardiff North = 97 [C -> Lab]
Sherwood = 107 [C -> Lab]
Stockton South = 166 [C -> Lab]
Lancaster and Fleetwood = 167 [C -> Lab]
Broxtowe = 195 [C -> Lab]
Truro and Falmouth = 218 [C -> LD]

Anyone who refused to vote tactically in one of those seats should be hanging their head in shame right about now.

Also that 0.004% change in vote share would have given a 1.7% change in seat share (425 times greater increase in share of seats than share of votes)

The 15,667,992 people whose vote didn't matter

Mon, 10 May 2010 11:44:50 +0100

Last Wednesday 15,667,992 people voted for a candidate who did not win. That’s 53% of the people who voted. Less than half of the people who voted will be represented by the candidate they supported.

Here is a breakdown by party, it shows the number of “wasted” votes the party received, and also gives that as a percentage of the total number of votes the party received.

OTHER = 575689 (100.00%)
UKIP = 917175 (100.00%)
BNP = 564321 (100.00%)
Green = 269378 (94.31%)
SNP = 403024 (82.02%)
LD = 5596089 (81.96%)
PC = 129651 (78.39%)
Alliance = 29923 (69.98%)
SDLP = 59374 (53.50%)
Lab = 3600427 (41.86%)
SF = 69652 (40.51%)
C = 3404308 (31.87%)
DUP = 48981 (29.12%)

You can see why a lot of people think there is no point voting for a minority party under our broken electoral system. 94% of people who voted for the Green party needn’t have bothered, and 82% of those who voted LibDem were in the same boat, and everyone who voted for a party other than the handful who won seats needn’t have bothered at all.

The LibDems are in the strongest position they have possibly ever been in to change this, lets hope they don’t let us down.

The 7,992 people whose votes really mattered

Mon, 10 May 2010 10:44:00 +0100

If just 7,992 people, in key marginals, had voted differently (for the Conservatives, rather than the winning party), the Conservatives would have secured an overall majority.

That’s just 0.03% of the total number of people who voted.

This is where the Tories needed those votes:

Hampstead and Kilburn = 22 [Lab]
Bolton West = 47 [Lab]
Solihull = 88 [LD]
Southampton Itchen = 97 [Lab]
Dorset Mid and Poole North = 135 [LD]
Wirral South = 266 [Lab]
Derby North = 307 [Lab]
Dudley North = 325 [Lab]
Great Grimsby = 358 [Lab]
Wells = 401 [LD]
Telford = 490 [Lab]
Walsall North = 496 [Lab]
Morley and Outwood = 551 [Lab]
Birmingham Edgbaston = 638 [Lab]
St Austell and Newquay = 657 [LD]
Halifax = 737 [Lab]
Newcastle-under-Lyme = 777 [Lab]
Plymouth Moor View = 795 [Lab]
Sutton and Cheam = 805 [LD]

This increase in vote share of 0.03% would have given a 3% (100 times greater) increase in the share of seats.