British Politics Guide

[Raphael]

I wonder if anyone might get creative inspiration from this recent combination of trending topics on Bluesky:

trends202606211255.png (5.11 KiB) Viewed 12395 times

(An excerpt from a screenshot showing the word "trending", followed by "Summer Solstice", "Labour Party", and "Film Noir".

[alice]

I wonder if anyone might get creative inspiration from this recent combination of trending topics on Bluesky:

trends202606211255.png

(An excerpt from a screenshot showing the word "trending", followed by "Summer Solstice", "Labour Party", and "Film Noir".

"Summer Solstice" and "FIlm Noir" are a reference to global warming and the impending heatwave, "Labour Party" is something to do with celebrating work, I think, or celebrating by working.

[bradrn]

Well, Sir Starmer is gone. Thoughts?

[Raphael]

I mainly wonder how long they'll take for the leadership election now.

[bradrn]

I mainly wonder how long they'll take for the leadership election now.

Apparently Wes Streeting is supporting Burnham now, so presumably not long.

[lëtzeshark]

Well, Sir Starmer is gone. Thoughts?

Only took about two years. Interesting, though at least not Liz Truss-level speed of collapse: not very surprising given the rumblings all around. Anyways, here's a possibly relevant song for the occasion.

[Raphael]

While we're at it, why didn't I notice before that about one and a half months ago, PC won the Senedd election? Was everyone too busy talking about England and maybe Scotland and, during the pogroms, Northern Ireland?

[Richard W]

Sir Starmer is gone.

Who? Do you mean Sir Keir?

[bradrn]

Sir Starmer is gone.

Who? Do you mean Sir Keir?

?

[Richard W]

Well, Sir Starmer is gone. Thoughts?

It would have made more sense to Burnham to immediately take over as prime minister. I'm not sure how long that takes - perhaps an hour? Remember that John Major resigned as Leader of the Conservative Party (subsequently re-elected) while retaining the prime ministership.

[bradrn]

Sir Starmer is gone.

Who? Do you mean Sir Keir?

?

Ah, looking on Wikipedia I see:

The prefix is used with the holder's given name or full name, but never with the surname alone. For example, in written or spoken address, "Sir Alexander" and "Sir Alexander Fleming" are each correct, whilst "Sir Fleming" is incorrect.

That’s interesting — I thought it would behave like other titles such as ‘Dr’ or ‘Prof’.

[Richard W]

Sir Starmer is gone.

Who? Do you mean Sir Keir?

?

Surely you've heard of Dame Edna?

[bradrn]

Who? Do you mean Sir Keir?

?

Surely you've heard of Dame Edna?

True, that.

[lëtzeshark]

The prefix is used with the holder's given name or full name, but never with the surname alone. For example, in written or spoken address, "Sir Alexander" and "Sir Alexander Fleming" are each correct, whilst "Sir Fleming" is incorrect.

That’s interesting — I thought it would behave like other titles such as ‘Dr’ or ‘Prof’.

And then you have titles like "Lord", "Baron", and "Cardinal" which traditionally behave very differently from the others like "Prof." or "Dr." in that they only attach to the surname (hence, "George Lord Byron"). Titles are funny. (And then in Austria and Germany, titles are very important and often stacked.)

[Raphael]

The prefix is used with the holder's given name or full name, but never with the surname alone. For example, in written or spoken address, "Sir Alexander" and "Sir Alexander Fleming" are each correct, whilst "Sir Fleming" is incorrect.

That’s interesting — I thought it would behave like other titles such as ‘Dr’ or ‘Prof’.

And then you have titles like "Lord", "Baron", and "Cardinal" which traditionally behave very differently from the others like "Prof." or "Dr." in that they only attach to the surname (hence, "George Lord Byron"). Titles are funny. (And then in Austria and Germany, titles are very important and often stacked.)

In case any newer ZBB members are reading this, I'm reminded of this old post of mine: https://www.verduria.org/viewtopic.php?t=227

[alice]

The prefix is used with the holder's given name or full name, but never with the surname alone. For example, in written or spoken address, "Sir Alexander" and "Sir Alexander Fleming" are each correct, whilst "Sir Fleming" is incorrect.

That’s interesting — I thought it would behave like other titles such as ‘Dr’ or ‘Prof’.

And then you have titles like "Lord", "Baron", and "Cardinal" which traditionally behave very differently from the others like "Prof." or "Dr." in that they only attach to the surname (hence, "George Lord Byron"). Titles are funny. (And then in Austria and Germany, titles are very important and often stacked.)

And you have to get them in the correct order: "Mr. Sir Zompist" might have very different rights and privileges from "Sir Mr. Zompist." And that's even without the abbreviations.

[lëtzeshark]

That’s interesting — I thought it would behave like other titles such as ‘Dr’ or ‘Prof’.

And then you have titles like "Lord", "Baron", and "Cardinal" which traditionally behave very differently from the others like "Prof." or "Dr." in that they only attach to the surname (hence, "George Lord Byron"). Titles are funny. (And then in Austria and Germany, titles are very important and often stacked.)

And you have to get them in the correct order: "Mr. Sir Zompist" might have very different rights and privileges from "Sir Mr. Zompist." And that's even without the abbreviations.

Oh, fun. At least there's a conventional order of stacking in German (highest goes first), but what was confusing to me is that, at least in US usage, doctor is sometimes treated as a higher title than professor. (Some universities allow faculty to have a form of a professor title, like assistant or associate professor, without a doctorate; I had a few of those during my Bachelor's.)


More on topic about the ongoing Anarchy in the UK, it appears there's somebody (Andy Burnham) who just won a by-election to the House of Commons and who a lot of people are pegging to be the new PM. Whether or not that happens is maybe a bit in the air due to the leadership election procedure and whether or not there'll be multiple candidates... so an interesting summer is possibly ahead. (Or an uneventful one. Maybe a mix.)

[Raphael]

I just discovered someone on Bluesky who goes by the name "Cameron", and I kind of like his take on British politics: https://bsky.app/profile/cameroncorduro ... v6sltvo22n

i don't follow British politics at all in the slightest but to the very passive observer it seems like Brexit happened and then they spent a decade getting a new Prime Minister every year who promised to ban the internet even harder than the last one

[malloc]

More on topic about the ongoing Anarchy in the UK, it appears there's somebody (Andy Burnham) who just won a by-election to the House of Commons and who a lot of people are pegging to be the new PM. Whether or not that happens is maybe a bit in the air due to the leadership election procedure and whether or not there'll be multiple candidates... so an interesting summer is possibly ahead. (Or an uneventful one. Maybe a mix.)

Let's just hope this doesn't lead to the current government imploding and giving Reform an opportunity to take power in elections.

[bradrn]

More on topic about the ongoing Anarchy in the UK, it appears there's somebody (Andy Burnham) who just won a by-election to the House of Commons and who a lot of people are pegging to be the new PM. Whether or not that happens is maybe a bit in the air due to the leadership election procedure and whether or not there'll be multiple candidates... so an interesting summer is possibly ahead. (Or an uneventful one. Maybe a mix.)

Let's just hope this doesn't lead to the current government imploding and giving Reform an opportunity to take power in elections.

Well, this has happened in large part because Burnham just proved his ability to win against Reform.