Fit for a king
King Charles III, it has been reported, is reluctant to move into Buckingham Palace. Who was the first monarch to live there? – The core of what is now the palace was built as a townhouse, Buckingham House, for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 and purchased by George III as a home for Queen Charlotte and her children – while he lived at St James’s Palace.
– His successor, George IV, started work on enlarging what by then was already called a palace, intending to use it for his own residence. He died before it was complete, however, as did William IV. William IV was not so keen on it as a residence but considered moving parliament there.
– The first monarch to live there permanently was Queen Victoria upon her accession in 1837. But she would not have recognised its facade today – that was only added by George V in 1913.
Green shoots
How is the government’s drive to create ‘green jobs’ going? Office for National Statistics figures for the ‘low carbon and renewable energy economy’:
2014
Employment 235,900
No. of businesses 93,500
Turnover £43.7bn
Exports £4.47bn
Imports £5.46bn
2020
Employment 207,800
No. of businesses 81,000
Turnover £41.2bn
Exports £6.11bn
Imports £6.33bn
Below the belt
Liz Truss has spoken of easing building restrictions on the green belt. How much of England falls under this classification? As of 31 March, 1.6m hectares were classified as green belt, 13% of the land area of England. The net area increased by 1.5% over the year. Percentages of land area designated as green belt, by region:
London 22%
West Midlands 20%
North West 18%
Yorkshire and Humber 17%
South East 16%
East 12%
North East 12%
East Midlands 5%
South West 4.5%
Party capitals
Which cities have been most successful at attracting Labour and Conservative party conferences since 2000?
Manchester (Lab 5, Con 8) 13
Brighton (Lab 10, Con 0) 10
Birmingham (Lab 0, Con 6) 6
Blackpool (Lab 1, Con 4) 5
Bournemouth (Lab 2, Con 3) 5
Liverpool (Lab 3, Con 0) 3
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