Talk:Bermondsey by-election, 1983
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[edit] Homophobic song lyrics
A 1994 Independent article by Nick Cohen gives the lyrics to the song sung by John O'Grady as:
Tatchell is a poppet, as pretty as can be,
But he must be slow if he don't know he won't be your MP
Tatchell is an Aussie, he lives in a council flat,
He wears his trousers back to front 'cos he don't know this from that.
('Profile: To fight the gay fight; One battle may have been lost but the war goes on. Nick Cohen on a radical with a cause', The Independent, February 27, 1994)
Is it worth including this in the article? On the one hand, I don't like the idea of including homophobic content unless it genuinely adds something to the article; on the other hand, I've heard people express confusion about the current newspaper reports which only mention the "trousers back to front" line, so maybe including more information about the song would be helpful? VoluntarySlave 19:55, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Amusing wording
I caught a snatch of a contemporary interview with Hughes from the by-election. He was asked about the campaign being unfair, and noted that he thought the Liberals had fought a "straight" campaign. I wonder to what extent that sense was popularly known back then - OED has cites going back to 1941. Morwen - Talk 15:19, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
[edit] 'Useless figures'
Can someone please explain to me why the change in majority in the by-election and the swing are 'useless'? Thanks. JJE 10:25, 19 March 2006 (UTC)
- The change in the majority is clearly utterly useless: it compares a Labour majority over Conservative with a Liberal majority over Labour. The swing in Bermondsey was +9.1%. I wouldn't have a problem in putting that in but some people think the swing should in some way involve the Liberal vote. David | Talk 20:42, 19 March 2006 (UTC)
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- Fair enough. What is the standard swing used on Wikipedia, by the way? Is it a Butler Swing (as I would expect) or a Steed Swing? JJE 21:20, 19 March 2006 (UTC)
[edit] "Straight"
In 1983 "straight" was widely used as an opposite to "gay" in the same way that heterosexual is used in opposition to homosexual.
The use of the word by Simon Hughes' campaign was no accident any more than was the presence of Liberal Party members in the constituency during the by-election wearing 'I've not been kissed by Peter Tatchell' badges. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 80.47.7.208 (talk • contribs) 15:50, 28 August 2006.
