Ken Livingstone

Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English politician who has twice held the leading political role in London regional government. He served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the Council was abolished in 1986, and then as the first elected Mayor of London from the creation of the office in 2000 until 2008. He also served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brent East from 1987 to 2001. A member of the Labour Party, he was situated on the party's hard left, ideologically identifying as a democratic socialist.

Born to a working-class family in Lambeth, Livingstone joined Labour in 1968 and was elected to represent Norwood at the GLC in 1973, Hackney North and Stoke Newington in 1977, and then Paddington in 1981. That year, he was internally elected leader of the GLC by Labour members. Attempting to reduce London Underground fares, his plans were challenged in court and declared illegal; more successful were his schemes to benefit women and underprivileged minorities, despite facing stiff opposition. Livingstone was heavily criticised in the mainstream media for supporting controversial issues like republicanism, LGBT rights and a United Ireland, and given the moniker of "Red Ken" for his socialist beliefs. Livingstone was a vocal opponent of the Conservative Party government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and in 1986 Thatcher's administration abolished the GLC, leaving Livingstone unemployed. Turning to a parliamentary career, he represented Brent East as an MP from 1987, becoming closely involved in anti-racist campaigns. Unsuccessfully standing for the position of Labour Party leader on a leftist platform in both 1992 and 1994, he became a vocal critic of the New Labour project that pushed the party to the centre.

Westminster

Coordinates: 51°29′58″N 0°08′00″W / 51.4995°N 0.1333°W / 51.4995; -0.1333

Westminster (/ˈwɛsᵗmɪnstər/) is an area of central London within the City of Westminster on the north bank of the River Thames. Westminster's concentration of visitor attractions and historic landmarks, one of the highest in London, includes the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral.

Historically the area lay within St Margaret's parish, City & Liberty of Westminster, Middlesex.

The name Westminster originated from the informal description of the abbey church and royal peculiar of St Peter's (Westminster Abbey), literally West of the City of London, indeed until the Reformation there was a reference to the 'East Minster' at Minories (Holy Trinity Priory, Aldgate) east of the City; the abbey was part of the royal palace that had been created here by Edward the Confessor. It has been the home of the permanent institutions of England's government continuously since about 1200 (High Middle Ages' Plantagenet times) and is now the seat of British government.

Westminster (UK Parliament constituency)

Westminster was a parliamentary constituency in the Parliament of England to 1707, the Parliament of Great Britain 1707–1800 and the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801. It returned two members to 1885 and one thereafter.

The constituency was first known to have been represented in Parliament in 1545 and continued to exist until the redistribution of seats in 1918. The constituency's most famous former representatives are Charles James Fox and John Stuart Mill.

Boundaries and boundary changes

The City of Westminster is a district of Inner London. Its southern boundary is on the north bank of the River Thames. It is located to the west of the City of London, to the south of Holborn and St. Pancras and to the east of Kensington and Chelsea.

Before 1545 the area which became this borough constituency was represented as part of the county constituency of Middlesex. Until 1885 the constituency had two representatives.

In the 1885 redistribution of seats the Westminster area (within the expanded boundaries of what became the Metropolitan Borough of Westminster which was created in 1900) was divided into three single-member seats. The south-eastern part, including the traditional heart of Westminster and such important centres of power as the Houses of Parliament and the seat of government in Whitehall, continued to be a constituency called Westminster. The official definition of the areas included was "the Westminster district and Close of the Collegiate Church of St Peter". In the north-east was the constituency of Strand and to the west that of St George's, Hanover Square.

Westminster St Margaret and St John

St Margaret was an ancient parish in the City and Liberty of Westminster and the county of Middlesex. It included the core of modern Westminster, including the Palace of Westminster and the area around, but not including Westminster Abbey. In 1727 it was divided into St Margaret's and St John's, to coincide with the building of the Church of St John the Evangelist, constructed by the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches in Smith Square to meet the demands of the growing population, but there continued to be a single vestry for the parishes of St Margaret and St John. This was reformed in 1855 by the Metropolis Management Act, and the two parishes formed the Westminster District until 1887. In 1889 St Margaret and St John became part of the County of London. The vestry was abolished in 1900, to be replaced by Westminster City Council, but St Margaret and St John continued to have a nominal existence until 1922.

Governance

St Margaret was an ancient parish, governed by a vestry and within the City and Liberty of Westminster. Before 1542 the parish included territory between the church of St Clement Danes and the Palace of Westminster, that became part of the parish of St Martin in the Fields.

Goes

Goes ( pronunciation ) is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on Zuid-Beveland, in the province of Zeeland. The town of Goes has approximately 27,000 residents.

History

Goes was founded in the 10th century on the edge of a creek: de Korte Gos (the Short Gos). The village grew fast, and in the early 12th century it had a market square and a church devoted to Mary Magdalene. In 1405 Goes received city rights from William, Duke of Bavaria, by his right as count of Holland, and in 1417 it was allowed to build town walls. The prosperity of the city was based upon the cloth industry and the production of salt. In the 16th century Goes declined. Its connection to the sea silted up and in 1554 a large fire destroyed part of the city.

In Autumn 1572, during the course of the Eighty Years' War, Goes, in the Spanish Netherlands, was besieged by Dutch forces with the support of English troops. The siege was relieved in October 1572 by Spanish Tercios, who waded across the Scheldt to attack the besieging forces. In 1577 the Spanish soldiers who occupied Goes were driven out by Prince Maurits of Nassau. The prince built a defence wall around Goes, which is still partly standing. From the 17th century Goes did not play an important role, except as an agricultural centre. In 1868 a railway was constructed through it, but this did not lead to industrialisation. Agriculture remains the most important economic activity.

Goes (genus)

Goes is a genus of longhorn beetles, containing the following species:

References

GOES 11

GOES 11, known as GOES-L before becoming operational, is an American weather satellite, which is part of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system. It was launched in 2000, and operated at the GOES-WEST position, providing coverage of the west coast of the United States, until December 6, 2011.

Launch

GOES-L was launched aboard an International Launch Services Atlas IIA rocket, flying from Space Launch Complex 36A at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The launch occurred at 07:07 GMT on 3 May. The launch was originally scheduled for 15 March 1999, however it was delayed to allow the Eutelsat W3 satellite to be launched first. Following this, it was rescheduled for 15 May. On 30 April, the Centaur upper stage of a Titan IV(401)B failed during the launch of USA-143. Since a version of the Centaur was also used on the Atlas II, the launch of GOES-L was delayed a week to ensure that the same problem would not affect its launch. Less than five days after the Titan failure, a Delta III failed to launch Orion 3. The failure occurred during the second stage restart, and as the Delta III and Atlas II both used RL10 engines on their second stages, this resulted in a further delay.