| AI |
Artificial Intelligence, a term used in
computing to mean ... |
|
| AV |
Alternative Vote, a simplistic method of
determining the result of preferential voting in a
single-member constituency |
|
| BCS |
British Computer Society |
|
| CAB |
Citizens' Advice Bureau |
|
| Condorcet |
A method of determining the result of preferential voting in a single-member constituency. The winning candidate is the one who, according to the preferences recorded, would win the greatest number of notional head-to-head contests against all the other candidates. An excellent concept which unfortunately does not always yield a result. | |
| CT |
Corporation Tax |
|
| DSS |
Department of Social Security, the UK
government department responsible for UC, inter alia. |
|
| DUP |
The Democratic Unionist Party of NI |
|
| ERS |
Electoral Reform Society |
|
| enantiodromia | the process by which something becomes or is superseded by its opposite, especially the adopting of values, beliefs, etc opposite to those previously held [Chambers] | |
| EU |
European Union |
|
| evil | them | |
| FPTP |
First Past The Post, a crude voting system,
widely used in the UK, in which the candidate with the
highest number of votes wins an election |
|
| GB |
Great Britain, that part of UK comprising
England, Wales, and Scotland |
|
| GDP |
Gross Domestic Product |
|
| GNP |
Gross National Product | |
| good | us | |
| HMG |
Her Majesty's government, the government of
the UK |
|
| HMRC |
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, the UK
government department responsible for the collection of
taxes and customs duties. |
|
| HTML |
Hyper Text Mark-up Language, a standard for
text files containing instructions for (a) displaying the
given text on a screen, and (b) following links to other
files. |
|
| HTTP |
Hyper Text Transfer Protocol, a protocol for
the transfer and execution of HTML pages over the Internet |
|
| ICO |
Information Commissioner's office, a UK NGO
responsible for ... |
|
| IHT |
Inheritance Tax (sic), earlier known as Death
Duty |
|
| Internet |
A universal, general-purpose, uncontrolled,
free communications service supporting a range of
communications protocols, including HTTP, voice links,
e-mails, etc. |
|
| Lab |
The UK Labour Party |
|
| LibDems |
The UK Liberal Democrats party |
|
| ML |
Machine Learning, the process whereby a
computer system ... |
|
| MP |
Member of Parliament. Herein, a member of the
House of Commons of the UK parliament unless otherwise
stated |
|
| NAO |
National Audit Office, a UK government agency responsible for ... | |
| NATO |
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation |
|
| NBG | "not guaranteed to be universally acceptable" (non
bene gratia) |
|
| NGO |
Non-Governmental Organisation |
|
| NI |
Northern Ireland, one of the nations of the
UK |
|
| Ofcom |
..., a UK NGO responsible for ... | |
| PR |
Proportional Representation, Used of any
voting system in which the number of seats granted to a
party is designed to be proportional to the number of votes
cast for that party. Often misapplied to STV. |
|
| SNP |
Sottish Nationalist Party |
|
| STV |
Single Transferable Vote, a method of determining the result of preferential voting in a multi-member constituency. Flawed but strongly favoured by the ERS. Often misdescribed as PR. | |
| Tories |
The UK Conservative and Unionist Party |
|
| Tory |
(1) A member or supporter of the Tories; (2) pertaining to the Tories | |
| UC |
Universal Credit, a system for minimising the
distribution of UK welfare payments to those in need |
|
| UK |
United Kingdom, a notionally sovereign
nation, member of UN, NATO, and various other international
organisations, and (until recently) a member of EU.
Comprises England, Wales, and Scotland (together known as
Great Britain) plus Northern Ireland. Sometimes (mis)taken
to include Channel islands and Isle of Man. For some
purposes (e.g. EU elections, now defunct) deemed to include
Gibraltar. |
|
| UN |
United Nations |
|
| VAT |
Value Added Tax |
|
| Web |
The World Wide Web (aka www), a widely used
service based on HTTP operating over the Internet |
Please send all comments and suggested entries for inclusion to glossary [at] nonparty.org.uk
Revised: 27 July 2020