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Constituencies, wards and local councils

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Constituencies (a.k.a. parliamentary constituencies): each electing one Member of Parliament (MP) every 5 years to the House of Commons (Parliament). There are 650 constituencies in the UK.Wards (a.k.a. electoral divisions or electoral wards) is the primary unit of English electoral geography for borough and district councils, county councils or city councils. Each ward elects either one or two councillors to be members of the local council. There were 9,456 electoral wards/divisions in the UK and each ward has an average electorate of about 5,500 people, but ward population can vary substantially.Local council is made up of a number of Councillors (Cllr) who meet regularly to make decisions about the direction of the council and the work it does for the community. As elected bodies local councils are responsible to their local community. Attending a council meeting is the best way to find out what they do and how they make decisions. Members of public can attend public council meetin…
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BNP festival takes place on 14-16 August

By Jim Sheng
According to the Socialist party website, the Midland TUC has called a protest on 15 August against the racist BNP's Red White and Blue 'festival' that takes place on 14-16 August near Denby Village, Derbyshire.

Police in Derbyshire have imposed restrictions on protest planned against this weekend's BNP festival.

Using the Public Order Act, police and Amber Valley Borough Council have put in place designated times and locations for Saturday's protest march.

Last year, around 500 people protested against the event and two new groups (Amber Valley Campaign Against Racism and Fascism and Derby Campaign Against Racism and Fascism) were formed with the support of the Notts Stop the BNP (NSBNP) which played a key role in organising last year.

Police arrested more than 30 protesters at the site in Denby, near Ripley, but no one was charged.
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coat-of-arms

By Jim Sheng
Heraldry probably began with the knights in armour. When wearing a helmet in battle or in tournaments a knight could not be recognised; so he used symbols to decorate his shield and surcoat. The surcoat was the loose garment worn over the armour to protect it from rain or hot sun and actually was the "coat-of-arms"; it was decorated on the front and back with the same device as on the shield.
The correct expression for entire design is an achievement. An achievement consists of the shield, helmet, rest, wreath, mantling and motto. These are the main parts. To them can be added supporters and a compartment.

In the centre is the most important part, the shield. The surface of the shield is called the field and on it the colourful charges are placed. The shield is called the arms or coat-of-arms and can be drawn in any shape - in an upright position or slanting, which is the position it would fall into if hung on a peg. In Heraldry it slants to dexter.


The helmet denotes the ran…
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Is Aladdin a Chinese?

By Jim Sheng
Aladdin is an Arabic name, but he lived in China.  Is he a Chinese?
Aladdin's wonderful Lamp was included in the first European version of the Book of the Thousand and One Nights (1704-1717), but not in the original Arabic manuscript.
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BADROULBADOUR - And you will live here, dear Aladdin? ALADDIN -  Yes, And livery servants in most gorgeous dresses shall wait upon you - you shall hear the lark Sing from you…
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The Meaning of Derby City Council Logo

By Jim Sheng
The logo of Derby City Council looks quite abstract and modern. I wonder what's the meaning of it? The lower-left part of the logo looks like a snail (or the initial letter D in Derby?), the upper-right part seems a river, (Derwent river?) these two parts are connected by a straight line at the bottom.

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In this coats of arms, we can see the deers both in shield (arms) and supporter, but the…
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