Port of London Authority “leaks” General Election Date?
I happen to be on the mailing list for maritime notices from the Port of London Authority.
Most are about regulations about using the river. However, some are useful as a “this area is to be closed off” type alert often lets me know that Something Interesting is going to happen, that I then sometimes add to the events diary if they sound like people might be interested in watching the event.
They also tend to be useful for river based fireworks as I have advance notice of where the barge will be moored – so can have a sort of insider knowledge of the best spot to get the best view of the barge.
Anyhow – today came the alerts for various gun salutes fired from the Tower of London which need the nearby river to be closed off. There are others during the year, but these are the Big Ones.
Sat    06 February 1pm HM Queen's Accession to the throne Wed   03 March noon State Visit Wed   21 April    1pm Birthday of HM Queen TBC   May         noon Election Wed   02 June     1pm  HM Queen's Coronation Thur  10 June     1pm  Birthday of HRH Duke of Edinburgh Sat    12 June     1pm Official Birthday of HM Queen TBC   Jul/Aug/Sept/Oct TBC  State Visit TBC   November        noon State Opening of Parliament Mon   15 November      1pm  Birthday of HRH Prince of Wales
OK, they don’t know the exact date in May, but does the PLA have some secret inside knowledge that the General Election is definitely set for May?
For the avoidance of doubt, I guess they probably just put the note in the calendar and chose May as it is the most likely month, and they don’t really know the date any more than the rest of us.
Incidentally, is it normal for the Tower to fire a gun salute during a General Election?
I doubt they normally fire a salute for the election per se, but regardless of the outcome there will presumably have to be a further State Opening of Parliament and Queen’s Speech after the election, which would get a salute. I’d have thought, in fact, there’d be a strong chance of no State Opening in November and that we’d get an 18 month parliament.
Hopefully yes… with the entire government standing in front of the barrel!!!! 🙂