I’ve written a lot of stories for Bloomberg over the years. Some of them are sadly lost from the internet, including the Lego election, Gordon Brown’s printer-smashing and Cherie Blair calling Brown a liar. But others have survived. These are a few that stand out for me:
2019: How The Exit Poll is Made
It’s the first clue we get as to how the election has gone. Inside the room with the nerds.
2019: A Guide to House of Commons Votes
This was incredibly popular with readers trying to understand what was happening when they were taking part in 2019’s surprise new pastime: watching Commons votes.
2018: Counting The Votes for Theresa May’s Deal
These stories caused a certain amount of excitement, including in the government whips office, where they were counting on rather more Labour votes.
2018: Pick Your Own Brexit
This was an insane amount of fun to do, and very popular. And looking back, its conclusion, that you needed an election to break the deadlock, stood the test of time.
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-pick-your-own-brexit/
2016: Googlewhacked
“A Googlewhack is usually defined as an Internet search that returns a single answer. On Thursday, the Public Accounts Committee of the British Parliament spent 85 minutes whacking Google Inc. executives, and got a single answer, quite a lot.”
2015: Welcome to Britain. Thanks For the Hard Work. Now Get Lost
“Miwa Hirono has packed her bags and returned to Japan from Britain. Her problem wasn’t her job: she worked at Nottingham University from 2008, and her employer wanted her to stay. Her research into China’s foreign policy was valuable, and she collaborated with the U.K. Ministry of Defence and Foreign Office. Her problem was a promise made by David Cameron.”
2015: Tories Message Discipline Goes Over The Top
“The prime minister is the only one of the leaders who feels he has to keep assuring people that he wants to win the election.”
2015: Russell Brand meets Ed Miliband
“There’s a technique politicians use when dealing with a difficult interviewer, giving very long answers in an effort to run down the clock. In a first for British politics, Ed Miliband found his interviewer was trying to talk him out.”
2014: Farage Dodges the UKIP Carnival of Colour
“The candidates were there, the press were there, even the steel band was there. All that was missing from the U.K. Independence Party’s “Carnival of Colour” was the party leader, Nigel Farage.”