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Some examples of our analysis. See more on our twitter page @DataLobo.
MP's additional income
The average MP earns around £9,200 in addition to their parliamentary salary. Some MPs, however, earn far more than others: 13 MPs account for over half of earnings outside of Parliament. Theresa May leads the way, earning £2.5mn in the past three years. However, men generally earn more than women. Conservatives earn more than MPs from other parties.
We analysed 900,000 tweets by UK MPs. Here's 10 things we found.
Angry tweets get 10x as many likes as positive tweets, one MP tweets over 16 times a day, MPs are five-times more likely to own an iPhone than an Android phone, generally Labour MPs get over twice as many likes as Tory MPs.
England fans weren't that excited about 'football coming home' from Qatar.
'Three Lions' was hardly played on matchdays, and beer sales were lower than landlords would have hoped. TV ratings remained strong, however, which will please FIFA as broadcasting rights account for around 56% of their revenue. So its the pubs and fans that suffer most, as they struggle to summon the enthusiasm for a winter tournament only made possible by the fatal labour of migrant workers and energy-intensive air conditioning in an undemocratic country.
How unusual is Trussenomics?
Truss isn’t the first to attempt tax cuts when interest rates are rising. Thatcher did something similar in the 80s and lost her job soon after. Generally governments - as shown in the chart - attempt to moving taxes in line with interest rates.
Taking a train in Britain is almost always more expensive than driving
Whilst we’re all talking about train strikes and the cost of living, a reminder that taking a train in Britain is almost always more expensive than driving (even once you include all the non-fuel costs associated with owning a car). Take travelling to the North West as an example. An anytime single from Islington to Liverpool costs £176. All-in, a car journey would cost around £70.
How much will Liz Truss' energy bill cap cost?
Liz Truss’ government will cap average household energy bills at £2500 for the next two years. The cost of this policy will depend on prices in energy derivative markets. As these have varied wildly over the past 6 weeks, so too has the potential cost of the policy: between £50bn and £160bn. That’s an extraordinarily wide range for a public policy decision. The latest data suggest it would cost around £77bn, roughly the cost of the COVID furlough scheme.
How often have markets lost confidence in the UK government?
Twitter users were shocked when, in the wake of Truss’ “mini-budget”, UK five-year government bond yields briefly climbed above those for Italian and Greek government bonds. But historically UK debt has regularly paid a higher-rate than these Eurozone countries: yields alone aren’t a perfect proxy for investor confidence in a government. It’s better to look at how both the exchange rate and bond-yield have changed. When these both fall significantly - as has happened three times in the last 50 years - then you know markets have lost confidence in the government.
How many directors of UK companies are fake?
Common names - like David Smith or David Jones - are over-represented in the list of UK company directors. They are disproportionately in charge of companies which fail to publish timely accounts, suggesting the effect is driven by the incorporation of companies with fake personal details.
Profiling the UK's trade unions.
The cost of living has increased by around 8% over the past year. To protect their members’ standard of living, trade unions have sought to negotiate pay-rises and - as the recent strikes organised by RMT demonstrated - are willing to take industrial action to achieve this. This article profiles the UK’s trade unions to help our readers interpret the inevitable news flow covering industrial action.
Are hedge funds shorting the pound?
The depreciation of the pound has been blamed, by some, on hedge funds. That’s not supported by data. Hedge funds’ short positions in GBP/USD futures contracts barely changed after Truss became PM
Characters in children’s books typically work in higher-paid, male-dominated professions
Children's books tend to feature people that visibly “turn-up and save they day” – doctors, fire-officers, police, pilots, judges – that sort of thing. Hidden are those which enable society to function: carers, shop assistants, factory workers and cleaners.
Public transport after the pandemic
The Covid-19 pandemic normalised working from home for those with desk-based jobs. With far fewer people commuting into London as a result, the number of daily tube and bus journeys has plummeted. Use of London’s hire-bicycles has, however, increased significantly. And those additional cycle-trips are primarily for leisure rather than commuting, pointing towards a shift in how London’s public transport is used. Less for work, more for fun. TFL’s budget should pivot accordingly.
The proportion of people able to buy a typical UK house is near 2006/07 levels.
That makes a fall in house prices more likely, but not inevitable.
Introducing the “Lobby Index”
Our “lobby-index” shows the proportion of UK government contracts awarded to companies with links to politicians or lobbyists. The index peaked in mid-2019, but remained high throughout 2020, and is currently around 8%
MP's additional income (2017 - 2019)
Since the last general election (2017), the average MP has earned around £12,900 in addition to their parliamentary salary. Some MPs have, however, earn far more than others: 15 MPs account for over half of earnings outside of Parliament. Boris Johnson leads the way, earning an additional £27400 each month. Men generally earn more than women. Conservatives earn more than MPs from other parties.
How “London-centric” was Corbyn’s cabinet?
The MPs in Corbyn’s shadow cabinet represented constituencies on average only 117 miles from Westminster. That’s lower than under previous Labour leaders. Given the scale of Labour losses in Northern seats over the past decade, these data may be of interest to those analysing Labour’s recent electoral performances.
The gender pay gap for the UK government’s “strategic suppliers”
The companies that win the most UK government contracts have a bigger gender pay gap than their competitors. They typically pay men 19% more than women, but they represent industries where the average pay gap is 15%.
Does the government get ripped-off when buying goods and services?
The government typically pays 4% less than retail price for IT equipment. But there are many examples of it paying far more than retail price, pointing towards flaws in the procurement process.
The surprising geography of the “mansion tax”
Boris Johnson has hinted the 2020 budget will include a mansion tax. We’ve analysed Land Registry data to see which constituencies will be most impacted.
Donations and hospitality received by MPs
In the 2017 – 2019 UK Parliament, MPs recieved £6.7mn in donations and hospitality. On average: (1) male MPs received more than female MPs and (2) Lib Dems received more than MPs from other parties. Boris Johnson recieved more than any other individual MP.
Poorly rated, larger and less well-funded care homes have seen more residents die from coronavirus
At least 6% of English care home residents have died as a result of coronavirus. That national average is tragically high. And yet it disguises even higher excess-death rates – of upto 17% – in certain parts of the country. Deaths have been greater in areas where homes are poorly rated, larger and receive less funding.
Government procurement in 2020 – not that unusual.
The media has highlighted a range of other issues with government procurement in 2020, noting that many contracts were awarded without competition, and the details of contract awards were published late. Our analysis suggests these issues were not specific to 2020. They are long-running features of UK government procurement. 2020 did see, however, a large increase in the proportion of contracts awarded to companies that donate to political parties.
Coronavirus and the price of face masks
Prices of face masks on Amazon have increased around sevenfold since the breakout of coronavirus.
Are Chinese data on new coronavirus cases dodgy?
Everyday, China reports new coronavirus cases – though many doubt the veracity of their reporting. Chinese data do, however, pass one check for dodgy data: Benford’s Law.