UK General Discussion Thread: mayy lmao

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I think we can all cheerfully ignore voting intention polls for the time being.

[Donerail]

Charles Kennedy has died.

[retromike22]

Charles Kennedy has died.

This is such an annus horribilis for the Liberal Dems.

[morgieb]

WTF. Wasn't old either. RIP.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

WTF. Wasn't old either. RIP.

One has to wonder about the cause. Sadly.

[BaconBacon96]

Well that was unexpected. RIP, FF.

[Phony Moderate]

Well damn. RIP.

[YL]

RIP

Alastair Campbell's blog is worth reading.

[Oakvale]

That's horrible, RIP. He clearly wasn't well on Question Time a while back.

[Talleyrand]

Terrible news. RIP to a great man.

[Silent Hunter]

WTF. Wasn't old either. RIP.

One has to wonder about the cause. Sadly.

Police are saying no suspicious circumstances, but haven't released cause of death. Horrible news; I may not have agreed with him, but he had strong principles - being the only Lib Dem MP to vote against going into coalition.

RIP.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Yeah, this is really sad.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Wow that's pretty awful. RIP. Also RIP the decency of the Liberal Democrats most likely.

[ObserverIE]

That's horrible, RIP. He clearly wasn't well on Question Time a while back.

There was a photograph of him campaigning with, I think, Jo Swinson during the election where he looked shockingly unwell.

It was heartbreaking on the night to see him losing his seat, while Clegg, who led the sect who have wrecked the party probably beyond rescue, held on.

Air dheis Dè gu robh a anam uasal.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Any word on a cause of death?

[Angel of Death]

Robin Cook and Charles Kennedy die early, but I'm sure the likes of Tony Blair are going to give Robert Mugabe a run for his money.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

WTF. Wasn't old either. RIP.

One has to wonder about the cause. Sadly.

Police are saying no suspicious circumstances, but haven't released cause of death. Horrible news; I may not have agreed with him, but he had strong principles - being the only Lib Dem MP to vote against going into coalition.

RIP.

That's usually code for "there was nothing suspicious" - so that could be anything, short of murder.

[Silent Hunter]

Any word on a cause of death?

No official one, just speculation.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Yes, people can't help themselves sometimes can they. Makes a bit of a mockery of some of the 'respectful tributes'.

[Joe Republic]

Betteridge's Law:  http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-32972880

[DC Al Fine]

I know the old ABC1C2DE system is outdated and has little relevance to today's politics, but can someone tell me what the letters corresponded to back when the system still mattered, and how those letters voted?

[afleitch]

I know the old ABC1C2DE system is outdated and has little relevance to today's politics, but can someone tell me what the letters corresponded to back when the system still mattered, and how those letters voted?

ABC1C2DE is to it's merit one of the best measures of 'class' so much so that the Census has adopted what was initially a simple market research technique. It stays consistent even as the structure of employment changes.

A is 'upper middle class' -  Higher managerial, administrative or professional
B is 'middle class' -          Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional
C1 is   'lower middle class' -   Supervisory or clerical and junior managerial, administrative or professional
C2 is   'skilled working class' - Skilled manual workers
D is 'working class' - Semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers
E is 'non working' - Casual or lowest grade workers, pensioners, and others who depend on the welfare state for their income

It is not a great measure of income for example as a mechanic would be C2 yet would earn remarkably more than a civil servant, a C1.

Here are voting intention trends since 1974

https://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/101/How-Britain-Voted-Since-October-1974.aspx?view=wide.

It is traditionally considered that C2's determine the outcome of an election. You can see how Thatcher seized that block and Major held it, only for it to revert back to Labour en masse. Labour apparently closed that gap in 2015, so it looks like the election was 'decided' by the ABC1's. There will need to be a lot of retrospection to work out what actually happened this year.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

ABC1C2DE is to it's merit one of the best measures of 'class' so much so that the Census has adopted what was initially a simple market research technique.

Actually no. The preferred census categories are NS-SEC and the Occupation Groups scale; estimates for the NRS system are made, but only because there's demand for them. Much of the attachment to them comes from the ease with which firm-looking class labels can be attached, which is a bit dubious in a service-sector driven economy.

[Silent Hunter]

Any word on a cause of death?

No official one, just speculation.

FWIW, the family have confirmed the cause of death. Sadly it's not that surprising.

[YL]

Have I Got News For You had a Charles Kennedy tribute at the end of the programme last night.  It featured this exchange between Kennedy and Jeremy Clarkson.