ZWF: Could the U.K. elections foreshadow America's?
Zander's Weekend Facts #126: Sunday, July 7, 2024
Inside this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts, the U.K. makes a change in their parliamentary elections, and a look at what Zander’s been reading this past week. Plus, a compilation of the top headlines you need to know about from the last seven days.
Also, go listen to the latest episode of the Zander’s Facts Podcast! Episode 139 features a preview of this summer’s major international soccer tournaments, the UEFA EUROs and the CONMEBOL Copa América, with Zander’s Facts soccer guru Emma Adams. Download the Zander’s Facts podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
Here are Zander’s Weekend Facts for Sunday, July 7, 2024:
Labour wins landslide majority in U.K. elections
For the first time in 14 years, the Labour Party have control of the British Parliament.
Thursday’s United Kingdom parliamentary elections ousted the ruling Conservative Party and made Sir Kier Starmer the first prime minister hailing from Labour since Gordon Brown. Labour took 412 seats, 63% of the seats in the House of Commons, the lower house of parliament. The gain of 209 seats for Labour stands in stark contrast to the loss of 244 seats by the Conservatives, who now have 121 seats.
In the first general election in almost five years, voters punished the Tories, who have had three prime ministers in the last three years. Recent polls have shown that a majority of Brits now believe leaving the European Union was a mistake, while the Covid-19 lockdown partygate scandal under Boris Johnson and the financial crisis under Liz Truss also hampered voters’ views of the Conservatives.
In contrast, Starmer, who took over as head of Labour in 2020 after the underwhelming tenure of Jeremy Corbyn, made “change” the focal point of Labour’s campaign. Starmer will now be in charge of repairing many facets of the U.K.’s society, including its infrastructure and the struggling National Health Service. The U.N. recently found that the U.K. has the most children in poverty of any wealthy country.
The U.K. elections were just one of many being held across the world this year, including the French and Iranian elections which have been taking place this past week. Of course, the most notable of the world’s elections in 2024 is perhaps the United States presidential election, for now, a rematch of 2020 between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
With two of the most powerful Western democracies, which share many similarities, holding elections this year, one has to wonder whether the U.K.’s elections, which shifted power from the center-right to the center-left, could signal the results of the U.S.’ November elections. There is precedent, with the 2016 Brexit referendum foreshadowing a Donald Trump victory in the U.S. presidential election later that year.
However, there are some reasons to be wary of comparing Labour’s victory this year to what could occur in the U.S. this fall.
For one, the make-up of the U.K.’s parliament and the many parties that hold seats stand in stark contrast to the method of selecting the U.S. president and Congress. While Labour did win a landslide majority in terms of seats, their total vote share was only 34%. That was due to a far-right antagonist to the Conservatives taking away votes in many districts, allowing Labour to rise to the top spot. Reform UK, headed by Brexit advocate Nigel Farage, ended up taking just five seats but was able to capture second place in a large number of seats, which ended up tanking many Conservatives.
And of course, voters will not be voting for or against certain candidates and parties for the same reasons in the U.S. as voters did in the U.K. And with President Joe Biden’s candidacy still in question, and the many complexities of former President Donald Trump, there are many ways the election could go and many reasons why, at least four months out.
For now, however, Britain has a new prime minister, with the U.K. taking another divergence from the U.S. system and appointing the new leader the day after the election instead of waiting over two months.
For more information on this week’s top story, here’s an article from NPR - Britain swings to the center-left in a historic U.K. election landslide
What Zander’s been reading
It’s the age-old question: How many hours of sleep do I really need? Thankfully, an article in TIME magazine lets us know how many hours of sleep experts believe we should be getting a night.
Check out this week’s featured article in TIME - What's the Least Amount of Sleep You Need to Get? - (Apple News link)
Zander’s Facts Sporting Club
Here are the top headlines from the sports world in the Sporting Club:
UEFA EUROs: The semifinals of the UEFA European Championships are set, with England, France, Netherlands, and Spain advancing. In Friday’s quarterfinal matches, Spain beat Germany 2-1 in extra time, while France survived in penalties against Portugal. On Saturday, England avenged its EURO 2021 loss in the finals on penalties with a penalty shootout victory against Switzerland, while the Netherlands beat Türkiye 2-1. France will face Spain in the first semifinal on Tuesday at 3:00 pm ET on Fox. The second semifinal will take place on Wednesday, with England facing the Netherlands at 3:00 pm ET on Fox. The semifinal winners will play in the final next Sunday.
Copa América: Three out of the four quarterfinal matches in CONMEBOL Copa América had to be decided by penalties, setting up the semifinals. On Thursday, Argentina skimmed by Ecuador while Canada beat Venezuela on Friday to set up a semifinal matchup on Tuesday between the two winners. Argentina will face Canada on Tuesday at 8:00 pm ET on FS1 and Univision. On Saturday, Columbia stomped Panama 5-0 in the only quarterfinal match that didn’t go to penalties, while Uruguay beat Brazil in pens. Columbia will face Panama in the other semifinal match on Wednesday at 8:00 pm ET on FS1 and Univision. The semifinal winners will face each other on Sunday in the final, while the losers will play in the third-place match on Saturday.
Wimbledon: The third tennis major of the year, The Championships, Wimbledon, is halfway complete as the fourth round begins today. Among the notable results that have taken place so far include top seed Iga Swiatek falling to Yulia Putintseva on Saturday. England’s Andy Murray, the only English man to have won a Wimbledon singles title in the Open Era, ended his Wimbledon career with a doubles loss featuring his brother Jamie as his partner. The notable matches taking place during Sunday’s fourth round include defending champion Carlos Alcaraz facing Ugo Humbert at 8:30 am ET and top men’s seed Jannik Sinner facing American Ben Shelton.
NBA Free Agency: The NBA free agency period has now been open for almost one week, with some big names changing teams. Among the notable moves, Paul George has moved to the Eastern Conference to join the Philadelphia 76ers while Klay Thompson has left Golden State to join the NBA Finals runner-ups Dallas Mavericks. The Warriors will attempt to replace Thompson by signing Buddy Hield, while the Sacramento Kings have reportedly added DeMar DeRozan. With LeBron James signing a two-year deal to stay with the Los Angeles Lakers, the biggest names still available include Saddiq Bey, Kyle Lowry, and Gary Trent Jr.
U.S. Men’s National Team: The United States Men’s National Team suffered humiliation in Copa América last week after falling out of the tournament in the group stage. The U.S. became the first host nation to exit Copa América in the group stage in the competition’s history after losing to Panama and Uruguay in their final two matches. The job status of manager Gregg Berhalter, who was rehired last year after initially being hired in 2019, is currently uncertain after the poor result. Fox Sports was the first to report on Friday that Berhalter’s status is expected to be announced later this week.
Rapid-fire Facts
These are top news headlines from the past week in rapid-fire fashion:
President Biden: The concerns surrounding President Joe Biden’s candidacy among Democrats continued last week. After the first presidential debate that occurred in June, many news reports have since surfaced highlighting anonymous sources expressing concern over whether Biden should stay in the race. Calls to withdraw became public last week, with five Democratic members of the House of Representatives having now called on Biden to leave the race. While several major Democratic donors have also asked Biden to step aside, the President has reiterated he will stay in the race.
Supreme Court Rulings: The Supreme Court released its final round of decisions for the term on Monday, including a ruling on a presidential immunity case. In a 6-3 decision, the court ruled that former presidents have immunity for official acts that fall within the “exclusive sphere of constitutional authority.” The court ruled that there is no immunity for unofficial, or private, acts and declined to dismiss the lawsuit against former President Donald Trump alleging that he attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election. However, the ruling was still seen as a victory for Trump as it likely ensures none of the remaining cases involving Trump will be brought to trial before Election Day.
Hurricane Beryl: Tropical Storm Beryl is set to make landfall in Texas on Monday after thrashing the Caribbean last week. As a Category 4 hurricane, Beryl skimmed the southern coast of Jamaica and made landfall in Mexico on Friday as a Category 2 hurricane. Beryl has since weakened to a tropical storm but is expected to re-strengthen into a hurricane on Sunday. Hurricane warnings are in effect for portions of the Texas coast, with landfall expected near Corpus Cristi, south of Houston. Some locations could receive up to 15 inches of rain, with up to 10 inches of rain forecasted for areas as inland as Arkansas.
French Elections: The second round of France’s parliamentary elections takes place on Sunday, with the far-right National Rally Party seeking to grab a majority. The RN’s strong result in June’s European Union elections resulted in President Emmanuel Macron calling a snap election. The RN also showed strength in the first round of the elections last week, but many candidates have since withdrawn in an attempt to block the RN from gaining governing power. The election begins a momentous month for the country, which will begin hosting the Olympics on July 26. Results are expected to be released later today.
Iran Presidential Election: Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian, a former cardiac surgeon, won the Iranian presidential election last week. Pezeshkian, who was the only moderate candidate allowed to run, will replace Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in April. Pezeshkian has pledged to ease tensions with Western countries in hopes of reviving a 2015 nuclear agreement. However, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is the country’s ultimate authority, meaning Pezeshkian will be limited in what he can implement.
Wrapping up the Facts
Before this edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts wraps up, here’s another reminder to check out the latest episodes of the Zander’s Facts Podcast. Download and listen to the latest episode of the podcast, along with every episode of Zander’s Facts, wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also listen to every episode of the podcast on this very website. All Zander’s Facts podcast episodes are now available on zandersfacts.com under the “Zander’s Facts” tab for your enjoyment!
That’s a wrap on this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts. The facts in print return next Sunday, July 14, 2024.
