THE SPECTATOR Set by Christopher Booker

1 Freaks

(i) Which two living people have stood for Parliament most often?

(ii) What unique distinction in post-war politics is shared by Tony Benn and the Sinn Fein member elected for Mid-Ulster in 1955?

(iii) In which constituency did a candi- date record the lowest winning vote since the war?

(iv) How and where did Mr. L. Smith receive the largest majority ever won by an election candidate in the Un- ited Kingdom?

(v) In which constituency did the win- ning candidate receive the largest number of votes in 1983, even though he had twice come third and bottom of the poll in the same constituency?

Which MP had the largest majority in 1983, even though the election was a personal disaster for him?

(vii) Which candidate received the smal- lest number of votes ever recorded since universal franchise — five?

(viii) Which constituency was won by three votes after a record seven recounts?

(ix) In the closest-ever three-way result, which former Cabinet minister lost his seat by coming third, although only 61 votes separated the three candidates?

(x) Name the three English constituen- cies which have been Conservative, Labour and Liberal since the war.

2 Slogans Who:

(i) asked for `a doctor's mandate'? promised `Tranquillity'?

urged `Safety First'?

called their manifesto `One More Heave'?

lost an election on the slogan 'We've never had it so good'?

3 Turncoats Which:

(i) former Labour Cabinet minister be- came a Tory knight of the shire?

(ii) former Tory MP became a Labour minister (and baronet)?

(iii) former Liberal Cabinet minister be- came leader of another party?

(iv) former Labour minister became Tory MP for West Derbyshire?

(v) son of a Liberal MP became a Tory MP, stood for Labour and is now standing for the SDP?

4 Fours

(i) Name the four prime ministers this century who never won a general election? (vi) (ii) Which four former Labour ministers became leaders of another party? (iii) Name the four brothers who sat in either or both Houses of Parliament.

(iv) Which is the only British constituen- cy to have been represented by four parties since the war?

(v) Which four seats were Alliance gains during the last Parliament?

5 Against the odds Which Prime Minister:

(i) took office although he had not sat in the House of Commons for 12 years and had to fight a by-election to get back in?

(ii) took office although another party had an overall majority of 62 in the House of Commons?

(iii) stayed in office although his party won only 13 seats in a general election?

(iv) lost office although his party had a 12 per cent lead in the opinion polls at the start of the election campaign? (v) resigned shortly before losing his seat at a general election by 17,000 votes?

6 Etymology

(i) What was the original meaning of the word `vote'?

(ii) What is the derivation of `psepholo- gy,?

(iii) What does a `candidate' have in common with `candid'?

(iv) What do 'hustings' have in common with 'soviet'?

(v) What does the word 'canvass' have in common with 'cannabis'? 7 Loser Takes All

(i) Which was the last general election when a party formed a government without getting the largest number of votes?

(ii) In which year did a party lose an election despite getting the largest number of votes and the highest total it has ever won?

(iii) When did a party win the second largest majority of votes in history, despite getting fewer votes than at the previous election?

(iv) Which party gained office despite getting only 10,000 votes more than at the previous election, which it had lost by 100 seats?

(v) At which election did no party win the support of more than 23 per cent of those eligible to vote?

8 Diaries and Letters

Who wrote, of which general election: (i) Election day, the day before yesterday, was a prodigious suprise. I went to White's at about 11. Results were already coming in on tape, and in an hour-and-a- half it was plainly an overwhelming de- feat. Practically all my friends are out. Chris and Hugh Fraser the hope of the Catholics. 10,000 votes against Winston in his constituency for an obvious lunatic. (ii) Early on July 26th the Prime Minister, Beaverbrook, Brendan Bracken and David Margesson seated themselves 111 Churchill's own map room . . special arrangements had been made for the results to be flashed on a screen as each was announced. After half-an-hour it was evident that there was going to be a landslide to the Labour Party. Nobody was more surprised than Attlee who, driving to Chequers three weeks later, told me that in his most optimistic dreams he had reckoned that there might, with luck, be a Conservative majority of only some 40 seats.

(iii) Went and voted in the morning . • • strange in a way to be voting Conserva- tive, but felt quite clear that this was the best thing to do in the circumstances. To the Savoy at 10.30 p.m. to vast Camrose election night party. Practically everyone I've ever heard of was there, champagne flowing, ran into numbers of people, whole thing slightly macabre and eve of the Battle of Waterloo flavour about it the bourgeoisie shivering before the de- luge to come. Results started appearing from 11 p.m. onwards. It became clear very soon that there was no real swing against the Government. Sat with Harold Macmillan part of the time.

(iv) Now that I have got as much soap as I need at home I don't mind so much about the Election. But darling, I DO DO DO DO DO DO DO mind. I am really unhappy deep inside about the condition of my beloved country. I do love it so, and its woods and its people. I fear I am just as bad as an old blimp colonel

ELECTION QUIZ

thinking it is going to the dogs. Yah boo! Vote for Deedes indeed! Bloodsucker! (v) (27 March) I would still hold to my forecast that we shall have a majority of eighty.

(1 April) It has come out just as I and all the polls — predicted . . we have got a majority of 100.

9 Losers Which party won the seat when the follow- ing candidates lost:

(9 Robin Day (u) Ludovic Kennedy (!11) Auberon Waugh (iv) William Rees-Mogg (v) William Rushton

10 Writers

Which well-known: (I) poet was elected MP for Kent in 1386?

poet became the youngest MP ever when he was elected for Amersham in 1621 at the age of 15? poet became MP for Hull in 1659? writer of horror stories became MP for Callington in 1741?

journalist and author became Radic- al MP for Oldham in 1832?

novelist failed to win Beverley as a Liberal in 1868, although the town was subsequently disfranchised for electoral malpractice?

author and writer of comic verse became Liberal MP for South Sal- ford in 1906?

thriller writer became Tory MP for Scottish Universities in 1927? humorous writer became Indepen- dent MP for Oxford University in 1935?

playwright failed to win Edinburgh South as a Liberal in 1957?

11 Oddities (I) Which ex-Prime Minister took his title from the seat which had kicked him out by 8,664 votes?

(ii) Which future Prime Minister orga- nised the Midlothian Campaign? Which future party leader beat the son of another at Devonport in 1945?

Which Foreign Secretary had to res- ign because he lost a by-election?

12 Launched

Whose parliamentary career began when he won a by-election at: (1) St George's Westminster in 1932? Oxford in 1938?

Kettering in 1940? Central Southwark in 1948? Leeds North-East in 1956? Southend West in 1959? Worcester in 1961?

(viii) Oswestry in 1962?

(ix) Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles in 1965?

(x) Enfield West in 1970?

13 Silly Names Who was the MP in the last Parliament for:

(i) Blaby (ii) Waveney (iii) Mole Valley (iv) Islwyn (v) Torfaen (vi) Blaenau, Gwent (vii) Hertsmere (viii) Copeland (ix) Yns Mon (x) Lagan Valley

14 PM-MP

Which Prime Minister at one time sat for: (i) Greenwich (ii) Shrewsbury (iii) Old Sarum (iv) Rye (v) Limehouse

15 Fiction

Who wrote, in which novel:

(i) The General Election means choosing people to rule the country,' said Henry. 'There's four sorts of people trying to get to he rulers. They all want to make things better. But they want to make 'em better in different ways. There's Conservatives, and they want to make things better by keeping 'em just like what they are now. And there's Liberals, and they want to make things better by altering them just a bit — but not so as anyone would notice. And there's Socialists — and they want to make things better by taking everyone's money away from them. And then there's Communists — and they want to make things better by killing everyone except themselves.'

(ii) The election went according to plan, or rather according to the plan of Roger's friends. Their party came back with a majority of sixty. as prophesied by Mrs Henneker at that dinner party in Lord North Street. Roger duly got office.

(iii) At four o'clock, when the poll was over, Browborough was declared to have won on the post by seven votes. He was that evening declared by the Mayor to have been elected sitting member for the borough, and he again assured the people in his speech that the prosperity of England depended on the Church of her people.

(iv) The speeches of the two candidates, though differing in any other respect, afforded a beautiful tribute to the merit and high worth of the electors . . . both expressed their opinion that a more independent, a more enlightened, a more public spirited, a more noble-minded, a more disinterested set of men than those who had promised to vote for him, never existed on earth; each darkly hinted his suspicions that the electors in the oppo- site interest had certain swinish and besotted infirmities which rendered them unfit for the important duties which they were called on to discharge.

(v) After fourteen days of oratory, the free citizens of Eldonhorough and District went to the ballot boxes, and at noon on the day after polling day. the returning officer announced to a crowd of some ten thousand people, that after three re- counts the result of the election was: Mr Ernest Dodds, 21,043 votes; Sir Henry Wootton, 21,043 votes — and the result was therefore a tie. Both candidates then thanked the returning officer, both claimed the result as a smashing victory for their respective principles, both emphasised the cleanliness and true Brit- ish sportsmanship of the contest, and then they shook hands amid deafening cheers.

Answers, page 29

Election quiz answers

1. (i) Tony Benn and Screaming Lord Sutch of the Monster Raving Looney Party; (ii) Both were elected at a general election, subsequently disqualified (Benn because he inherited a peer- age, the Sinn Fein MP because he was in prison), fought and won a by-election and were disqualified again; (iii) Ladywood, Liberal candidate in 1969 by-election with 5,104 votes; (iv) As Euro-MP for Wales South-East in 1984; (v) Isle of Wight, Liberal Stephen Ross; (vi) Michael Foot; (vii) Commander Boaks, Hill- head by-election 1982; (viii) Peterborough 1966, by Sir Harmer Nicholls; (ix) Sir Archibald Sinclair, Liberal, Caithness and Sutherland 1945; (x) Huddersfield West, Bolton West, Rochdale.

2. (1) Ramsay MacDonald, 1931; (ii) Sonar Law, 1922; (iii) Baldwin, 1929; (iv) Liberals, October 1974; (v) Adlai Stevenson, 1952.

3. (i) Reg Prentice; (ii) Oswald Mosley; (iii) Winston Churchill; (iv) Aidan Crawley; (v) Humphry Berkeley.

4. (i) Balfour, Chamberlain, Douglas-Home, Callaghan; (ii) Mosley, MacDonald, Jenkins, Owen; (iii) John, Dingle, Hugh and Michael Foot, (iv) Caithness and Sutherland; (v) Port- smouth South, Brecon and Radnor, Ryedale, Greenwich.

5. (i) Douglas-Home; (ii) Campbell- Bannerman; (iii) MacDonald; (iv) Wilson; (v) MacDonald.

6 .(i) Latin votum, a wish; (ii) Greek psephos, a pebble, used for voting in Athens; (iii) Latin candidus, white. A Roman who sought elected office wore white, hence was known as a candidates. Candid similarly derived, means white, open, honest; (v) A husting was Old English for a council, from Old Norse hus, a house; ting, a thing, hence the elections to such a body — 'Soviet' is Russian for council; (v) To canvass originally meant to sift through coarse cloth or canvas, so called from hemp of which canvas is made — the Persian for hemp is cannabis.

7. (i) February 1974, Labour (ii) 1951, Labour; (iii) 1983, Conservatives; (iv) 1964, Labour; (v)

1918 (although Conservative and Liberal coali- tion candidates together totalled well over a third of the electorate, winning by a landslide. Lowest percentage for a single winning party was Labour's 28 per cent in October 1974).

8. (i) Evelyn Waugh, 1945; (ii) Sir John Colville, 1945; (iii) Malcolm Muggeridge, 1950; (iv) Harold Nicholson, 1951; (v) Richard Crossman, 1966.

9. (i) Conservatives; (ii) Labour; (iii) Conserva- tives; (iv) Labour; (v) Conservatives.

10. (i) Chaucer; (ii) Edmund Waller; (iii) Andrew Marvell; (iv) Horace Walpole; (v) William Cobbett; (vi) Anthony Trollope; (vii) Hilaire Belloc; (viii) John Buchan; (ix) A. P. Herbert; (x) William Douglas-Home.

11. (i) Lord Stockton; (ii) Rosebery; (iii) Michael Foot beat Randolph Churchill; (iv) Lord Dunglass (Home); (v) Patrick Gordon Walker.

12. (i) Duff Cooper; (ii) Lord Hailsham; (iii) John Profumo (iv) Roy Jenkins; (v) Keith Joseph; (vi) Paul Channon; (vii) Peter Walker; (viii) John Biffen; (ix) David Steel; (x) Cecil Parkinson.

13. (i) Nigel Lawson; (ii) James Prior; (iii) Kenneth Baker; (iv) Neil Kinnock; (v) Leo Abse; (vi) Michael Foot; (vii) Cecil Parkinson; (viii) Dr John Cunningham (ix) Keith Best; (x) James Molyneaux.

14. (i) Gladstone; (ii) Disraeli; (iii) William Pitt the Elder; (iv) Duke of Wellington; (v) Attlee.

15. (i) Richmal Crompton, William the Bad; (ii) C. P. Snow, Corridors of Power; (iii) Trollope, Phineas Redux ; (iv) Dickens, Pickwick Papers; (v) A. G. Macdonald, England Their England.