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The Queen's cousin offers a personal glimpse

This last Thursday would have been the 111th birthday of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. The Queen Mum died on Easter Saturday 2002, having lived through the entire 20th century and a year of the 21st. Margaret Rhodes, daughter of the Queen Mother's older sister, has written a new book,...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 6, 2011 8:15 AM

Parliamentary deadlock

It was fascinating to watch the results roll in. Polls closed at 10 pm in Britain and it wasn't until early the next morning before the result was mathematically certain, confirming the exit polls from the night before: No party would have a majority of the 650 seats in the...

Posted by Michael Bates on May 7, 2010 11:02 PM

UK general election, May 6, 2010

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called a general election for Thursday, May 6, 2010, just a few weeks shy of the fifth anniversary of the previous election. This will be the first election in which Brown will carry the Labour Party's banner; Labour won the 1997, 2001, and 2005...

Posted by Michael Bates on April 8, 2010 8:10 AM