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Is this is proof that David Cameron is the most popular PM ever? – politicalbetting.com
Is this is proof that David Cameron is the most popular PM ever? – politicalbetting.com
Fascinated by this way of measuring a Prime Minister's popularity… By the same measure, here's the number of babies given the first name of our PMs one year into office:Keir: 0Rishi: 37Liz: 24Boris: 43Theresa: 20David: 1,163Gordon: 14Tony: 135Source: ONS https://t.co/1v4dPg67mb
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Scottish_independence_referendum
The number of babies named Kier has soared, and yet no one is talking about it.
And this really has to be decided by AV, er, middle names as well.
I’m sure that will have a major impact on knife crime !
I listened to a fascinating interview yesterday on BBC R4 between James Naughtie and Steve Baker. I have never before come across such remarkable self-belief. Baker explained that he really has no desire to return to frontline politics because he's enjoying running rightwing think tanks, but he feels he has to make the sacrifice because he is the only politician capable of leading Britain to those post Brexit sunny uplands that he promised. Well worth a listen.
- estate agents seem honest
- Trump seem logical
- prostitutes seem reputable and
- Frenchmen seem humble
and what they do will make much more sense.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/datasets/babynamesenglandandwalesbabynamesstatisticsboys
Isaac and Ezra at 37 and 38. Is this from African Christians, who often favour Old Testament names?
I see Leon is sinking fast, only scraping in at 100.
Good morning, everyone.
OTOH I doubt if anyone would name their child Lucifer if they weren't secular people. Or maybe they were just hedging their bets, not knowing what gender the child would choose.
Elizabeth is the 62nd most common girls name:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/datasets/babynamesenglandandwalesbabynamesstatisticsgirls
Of course @TSE is trolling us. He should know to look under "Dave" to register the popularity of the PM who famously instructed "Call me Dave"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praise-God_Barebone
I think Ezra was historically in the same bracket as say Eli, which is also Old Testament but most of us have forgotten (including me until I checked).
Amongst black communities the Pentecostal tradition is parallel, but separate ("Black Lead Churches" was the category used - maybe still is?), with an overlapping set of names.
* Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Mary etc are obviously just as biblical but have gone into the wider culture over centuries. There's a comparison to football anthems being assimiliated - "When The Saints Go Marching In" is probably a late Victorian Gospel Song that came in via jazz.
I think his carer as a soul musician must have been quite a distraction from running the country, perhaps explaining some of the mess we are in now. MPs shouldn't have second jobs.
A good bet for another Truss, I hope he recovers.
The only name which increased in popularity because of a person which we can be certain of is Kylie (did the same in Aus too)
I suspect religiosity makes little difference to these names. Noah is probably more because of the association with animals, which is rather a distraction from the point of the Bible story. I see the story of Noah as demonstrating the futility of trying to wipe out evil by killing bad people. Soon enough the world was in the same mess and God swore never to repeat.
Issac isn't one that I would choose, being a child sacrifice in one of the more disturbing OT stories. Nor Ezra, who was quite intolerant in his approach to the intermarrige of Jews and other tribes on the return from Babylonian exile.
Anthony in 1998: 795
James in 2008: 5,170
Alexander in 2021: 1,830
Mary in 2023: 145
*Usually @TimS would be the person to ask about young Chardonnays but this isn’t the case here.
"Modesty Eagles" might have suited you.
For a brief moment I considered "Perseverance" for one of my kids.
Common sense prevailed...
... they really hate the name Common.
Which was not at all confusing.
(I should stress it wasn't a very large choir, but still.)
Getting the formation done properly over reused land. It's not just the tarmac/concrete on top.
And so on.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/01/heathrow-submits-shovel-ready-plans-for-third-runway
"Middle of the road" or village churches will tend to have a culture following their legal duty to "residents of, or associated with, the geographical parish". Whereas those same types of settings with an evangelical consciousness may well have a policy around a "blessing" to everyone, with an emphasis for "baptism" on "bringing the child up in the family of the church".
That's practically walking a path between "everyone" and a "gathered membership".
Then somewhere with a gathered congregation (eg there are plenty of places in cities with essentially ZERO residents in the parish), somewhere like say HTB or St Helens Bishopsgate will probably have a bit of a mixture.
Dave in 2011: 9
Also, London prices.
Hence the proposal for a shorter third runway for about half the amount.
But yes, it does seem a bit much.
But I suspect we'll see pigs taking off from the third runway before £49bn gets spent on transport in Yorkshire.
There was a rash of Archie’s and Albert’s about ten/years ago, loads of people thinking they were giving their son a cool name, a bit old fashioned but playful, will he grow up a loveable rogue like Bertie Wooster? Then after a few years they would be walking down a street and hearing some grim person in a Wolf Image t-shirt and slides shouting for their “Ahhhchee, come here you little shit, we need to get to Iceland before Kerry Katona’s prawn ring sells out”.
Never name your child after a celeb’s child or a trend.
Chastity, she was well anything but
It got nicked whilst it had one of those gear lever-handbrake sleeve things on it, which was a reminder that cheap 1976 cars usually had screw off gear knobs.
The thieves abandoned it after half a mile.
The linked anecdote is people who tell you that things were better decades ago. I once nearly got into somebody else's similar car because I opened the door with my key - it was one foot in before the thought occurred that "I don't have a handbag like *that*".
Ah, hold on, now I get it.
But yes, the price is silly. Lots of layers of contracting out.
Vide also the failure to link HS1 and HS2 for the cost of a few bedsits and vape shops in Camden.
There was no such given name as Tracy before Spencer Tracy.
Originally it was a male name.
Wigan used to have an "uncompromising" second rower with bright red hair incongruously named Tracy Grundy.
Does the M4 spur or M25 need moving though - I presume that'll be national highways and probably cost £50Bn just for that bit in the end lol.
Jennifer Williams
@jenwilliamsft.bsky.social
· 1h
This has been a slow burn. The combined effect of various policies - policing cuts, screening out of crime, service closures - started to really kick in in a lot of places a good ten years ago. Was at an MP’s coffee morning last wk; top complaints, apart from small boats? State of the area, no cops
https://bsky.app/profile/jenwilliamsft.bsky.social/post/3lvd3elmc2k2v
It's getting increasingly costly and unnecessarily onerous to do anything within the laws which have proliferated over the last two or three decades.
There's a trade off between costs and benefits of any new regulation or law. We've overestimated the latter, and often almost completely ignored the former.
I'd potentially expect Tommy Robinson (or a Tommy Robinson alike, or a henchman) to attempt a takeover in Reform at some stage, but the timing is unclear, and depends on how it goes for Farage.
On the other side the party is set up to avoid Farage being challenged, but in part he's also an old man in a hurry, and there are a significant minority amongst the Reform support base who like TR.
Farage has trimmed in taking on the groups much more extreme than himself eg via the vetting system which he has now relaxed. That is a change of habit. AFAICS he is not taking on people who (imo at least) are problem individuals, unless there is criminality (eg Court appearances, arrests) or the front pages of populist media involved.
Back to boring old politics for a moment - interesting local council by-election result in Barking & Dagenham last evening.
Labour held the seat of Thames View on a 24% turnout - result from vote 2012, changes from the 2022 election:
Lucy Sara LEE (Lab) 334 (36.11%, -25.93%)
Paul David POWLESLAND (Green) 277 (29..95%, New)
Lewis Reece HOLMES (Reform) 197 (21.5%, New)
Andrew BOFF (Conservative) 117 (12.65%, -10.62%)
Strong numbers for Green and Reform and the old duopoly taking a right kicking. Does this tell us anything about the locals in London next year? We know there are a number of inner London Boroughs where the Greens are polling strongly against Labour but oddly enough Reform coming in can act as a spoiler and this may help Labour hold seats (and that's before we get any kind of presence from the Corbyn/Sultana party on the ground). The plethora of alternatives which may be available for those wanting to kick the old duopoly parties may end up maintaining the duopoly rather than breaking it.
Apparently the Conservatives had the obligatory Facebook pic with the candidate and volunteers to create the illusion of activity (might not have been an illusion) but it did little for them.
The Thames View Estate is a 1950s development to the south of the A13 between that road and the river - it was built primarily as a new estate for the former inhabitants of Creekmouth, who had been forced to evacuate during the 1953 flood.
No wonder they are trying to rig the electoral boundaries for 2026.
Florence wasn't used as a name before Florence Nightingale. (She was named that for being born there.)
I think that will make Ten.
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/republicans-release-proposed-new-texas-congressional-map-could-add-5-gop-seats/