Politics

Visualising ages and life trajectories of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom

Winston Churchill

Rick Wicklin, over at The DO Loop blog, published an interesting graph showing the ages of US Presidents at the beginning and end of their terms, from George Washington to the current occupant of the White House.1 Inspired by his analysis, we extracted data2 from Wikipedia on ages of the Prime Ministers (PMs) of the UK – from Robert Walpole in 1721, regarded as the first PM, to the incumbent, Theresa May.

Continue Reading

Brexit: Britain has spoken… or has it?

Brexit illustration

The “Brexit” referendum on the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union (EU) took place on 23 June 2016. The result was essentially 52-48 in favour of Leave, as the observed proportion of Leavers was 51.9%. On this basis, statements like “the majority of the UK chose to leave the EU” or “the British people have voted to leave the European Union” or “the will of the British people is…” have pervaded political discourse and newspaper articles since. However, all those statements are untrue or – at best – unproven.

Continue Reading

People living near mass shootings “more likely to support gun control”

gun control

Analysis of public opinion surveys in the US suggests that increased proximity to mass shootings is associated with heightened support for stricter gun control. The research, by political scientists Benjamin Newman and Todd Hartman, was published online the day after a gunman shot and killed 58 people, wounding 546 others, at a Las Vegas music festival.

Continue Reading