The 1885 UK parliamentary constituencies for Ireland were re-created in 2017 as part of a conference paper delivered at the Southern Irish Loyalism in Context conference at Maynooth University. The intial map only included the territory of the Irish Free State and was created by Martin Charlton and Jack Kavanagh. The remaining six counties of Ulster were completed by Eoin McLaughlin in 2018-19, the combined result is a GIS map of all the parliamentary constituecies across the island of Ireland for the period 1885-1918. The map is available in both ESRI Shapefile format and as a GeoPackage (GPKG). The methodology for creating the constituencies is outlined in detail below.

Methodology

A map showing the outlines of the 1855 – 1918 Constituency boundaries can be found on page 401 of Parliamentary Elections in Ireland, 1801-1922 (Dublin, 1978) by Brian Walker. This forms the basis for the creation of a set of digital boundaries which can then be used in a GIS. The general workflow involves allocating an 1885 Constituency identifier to each of the 309 Electoral Divisions present in the boundaries made available for the 2011 Census of Population data release by CSO. The ED boundaries are available in ‘shapefile’ format (a de facto standard for spatial data transfer). Once a Constituency identifier has been given to each ED, the GIS operation known as ‘dissolve’ is used to remove the boundaries between EDs in the same Constituency. To begin with Walker’s map was scanned at 1200 dots per inch in JPEG form. A scanned map cannot be linked to other spatial data without undergoing a process known as georeferencing. The CSO boundaries are available with spatial coordinates in the Irish National Grid system. The goal of georeferencing is to produce a rectified version of the map together with a world file. Rectification refers to the process of recomputing the pixel positions in the scanned map so that they are oriented with the ING coordinate system; the world file contains the extent in both the east-west and north-south directions of each pixel (in metres) and the coordinates of the most north-westerly pixel in the rectified image.

Georeferencing involves the identification of Ground Control Points – these are locations on the scanned map for which the spatial coordinates in ING are known. The Georeferencing option in ArcGIS 10.4 makes this a reasonably pain free task. For this map 36 GCPs were required for a local spline transformation. The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 provides the legal basis for the constituencies to be used for future elections in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Part III of the Seventh Schedule of the Act defines the Constituencies in terms of Baronies, Parishes (and part Parishes) and Townlands for Ireland. Part III of the Sixth Schedule provides definitions for the Boroughs of Belfast and Dublin.

The CSO boundary collection also includes a shapefile of Barony boundaries. This makes it possible code a barony in two ways: (i) allocated completely to a Division or (ii) split between two Divisions. For the first type, the code is just the division name, and for the second the code includes both (or more) division names. Allocation of these names to the data in the ED shapefile is accomplished by a spatial join operation. Recoding the areas in the split Baronies is done interactively using the GIS software’s editing option. EDs or groups of EDs can be selected on the screen, and the correct Division code updated in the attribute table. There are a handful of cases where an ED is split between divisions, so a simple ‘majority’ rule was used for the allocation. As the maps are to be used at mainly for displaying data at the national level, a misallocation is unlikely to be noticed. The final set of boundaries was created using the dissolve operation mentioned earlier. There were a dozen ED that had initially escaped being allocated a code, but these were quickly updated. Similarly, a few of the EDs in the split divisions had been overlooked; again updating was painless. This meant that the dissolve had to be run a few more times before all the errors have been corrected.

For the Northern Ireland districts, a slightly different methodology was deployed which involved linking parishes and townlands along side baronies, using open data sources from the OSM Townlands.ie project and OpenData NI.

In November 2025, approximately 19 percent of people in the UK would vote for the governing Labour Party in a potential general election, behind Reform UK on 27 percent, with the Conservatives, and the Green Party in joint-third on 16 percent. Since returning to power, support for the Labour Party has fallen considerably, with the government's sinking approval rating approaching the unpopularity of the previous government. Labour's return to power in 2024 On May 22, 2024, Rishi Sunak announced his decision to hold the 2024 general election on July 4. Sunak's surprise announcement came shortly after some positive economic figures were released in the UK, and he may have hoped this would boost his poor job ratings and perhaps also his government's low approval ratings. This was a long-shot, however, and as predicted in the polls, Labour won the 2024 general election by a landslide, winning 412 out of 650 seats. The sting in the tale for the Labour Party was that despite this large majority, they won a relatively low share of the votes and almost immediately saw their popularity fall in the second half of 2024. Sunak's five pledges in 2023 After a tough 2022, in which Britain suffered through its worst cost of living crisis in a generation, the economy was consistently identified as the main issue facing the country, just ahead of healthcare. To respond to these concerns, Rishi Sunak started 2023 with five pledges; halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce national debt, cut NHS waiting times, and stop small boats. By the end of that year, just one pledge can be said to have been fully realized, with CPI inflation falling from 10.1 percent at the start of 2023 to 4 percent by the end of it. There is some ambiguity regarding the success of some of the other pledges. The economy shrank in the last two quarters of 2023 but started to grow again in early 2024. National debt increased slightly, while small boat arrivals declined compared to 2022, but were still higher than in most other years. The pledge to cut NHS waiting times was not fulfilled either, with the number of people awaiting treatment rising in 2023.

A PDF map that shows the counties and unitary authorities in the United Kingdom as at 1 April 2023. (File Size - 583 KB)

The United Kingdom: Political globalization index (0-100): The latest value from 2022 is 96.55 points, a decline from 97 points in 2021. In comparison, the world average is 63.95 points, based on data from 190 countries. Historically, the average for the United Kingdom from 1970 to 2022 is 94.59 points. The minimum value, 85.16 points, was reached in 1970 while the maximum of 97.9 points was recorded in 2017.

The geoBoundaries Global Database of Political Administrative Boundaries Database is an online, open license resource of boundaries (i.e., state, county) for every country in the world. Currently 199 total entities are tracked, including all 195 UN member states, Greenland, Taiwan, Niue, and Kosovo. Comprehensive Global Administrative Zones (CGAZ) is a set of global composites for administrative boundaries. Disputed areas are removed and replaced with polygons following US Department of State definitions. It has three boundary levels ADM0, ADM1, and ADM2, clipped to international boundaries (US Department of State), with gaps filled between borders. This dataset is part of CGAZ. It was ingested from version 6.0.0 of Global Composite Files with DBF_DATE_LAST_UPDATE=2023-09-13. It shows boundaries at level ADM0 (country-level boundaries).

In the century between Napoleon's defeat and the outbreak of the First World War (known as the "Pax Britannica"), the British Empire grew to become the largest and most powerful empire in the world. At its peak in the 1910s and 1920s, it encompassed almost one quarter of both the world's population and its land surface, and was known as "the empire on which the sun never sets". The empire's influence could be felt across the globe, as Britain could use its position to affect trade and economies in all areas of the world, including many regions that were not part of the formal empire (for example, Britain was able to affect trading policy in China for over a century, due to its control of Hong Kong and the neighboring colonies of India and Burma). Some historians argue that because of its economic, military, political and cultural influence, nineteenth century Britain was the closest thing to a hegemonic superpower that the world ever had, and possibly ever will have. "Rule Britannia" Due to the technological and logistical restrictions of the past, we will never know the exact borders of the British Empire each year, nor the full extent of its power. However, by using historical sources in conjunction with modern political borders, we can gain new perspectives and insights on just how large and influential the British Empire actually was. If we transpose a map of all former British colonies, dominions, mandates, protectorates and territories, as well as secure territories of the East India Trading Company (EIC) (who acted as the precursor to the British Empire) onto a current map of the world, we can see that Britain had a significant presence in at least 94 present-day countries (approximately 48 percent). This included large territories such as Australia, the Indian subcontinent, most of North America and roughly one third of the African continent, as well as a strategic network of small enclaves (such as Gibraltar and Hong Kong) and islands around the globe that helped Britain to maintain and protect its trade routes. The sun sets... Although the data in this graph does not show the annual population or size of the British Empire, it does give some context to how Britain has impacted and controlled the development of the world over the past four centuries. From 1600 until 1920, Britain's Empire expanded from a small colony in Newfoundland, a failing conquest in Ireland, and early ventures by the EIC in India, to Britain having some level of formal control in almost half of all present-day countries. The English language is an official language in all inhabited continents, its political and bureaucratic systems are used all over the globe, and empirical expansion helped Christianity to become the most practiced major religion worldwide. In the second half of the twentieth century, imperial and colonial empires were eventually replaced by global enterprises. The United States and Soviet Union emerged from the Second World War as the new global superpowers, and the independence movements in longstanding colonies, particularly Britain, France and Portugal, gradually succeeded. The British Empire finally ended in 1997 when it seceded control of Hong Kong to China, after more than 150 years in charge. Today, the United Kingdom consists of four constituent countries, and it is responsible for three crown dependencies and fourteen overseas territories, although the legacy of the British Empire can still be seen, and it's impact will be felt for centuries to come.

A collection of 1:250 000 scale geophysical maps in the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) projection, covering the United Kingdom and continental shelf areas between 1975 – 1990. Mapping is divided into squares which cover 1 degree by 1 degree of latitude / longitude. A geophysical map is a graphical representation of data collected through various geophysical methods to investigate the subsurface characteristics of the Earth. Geophysics is the study of the physical properties and processes of the Earth using measurements of physical quantities such as gravity, magnetic fields, seismic waves, electrical resistivity, and others. The collection includes aeromagnetic anomaly maps (1975 – 1990), Bouguer gravity anomaly maps (1975 – 1989) and a small number of free air anomaly maps (1981 – 1989). These maps are hard-copy paper records stored in the National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC) and are delivered as digital scans through the BGS website.

It is still unknown which factors of physical activity behaviour (PAB) may be effective and how they may influence PAB in UK children. The objective of the current study was to generate a conceptual analysis of the factors of PAB in UK children (5-12 years) using the input of researchers in the field of physical activity (PA experts; PAE) and researchers in other fields (non-PA experts; non-PAE). The concept mapping approach was used to identify potential (new) factors of PAB in children, assess their importance based on rating of potential modifiability and effect, and generate a concept map depicting the associations between them. In the first (brainstorming) stage (n=32 experts) yielded 93 factors, including 14 (new) not identified in previous reviews. In the second (rating and sorting) stage (n=26 experts), 32 factors were rated as important and four-cluster concept map was generated including themes related to Society/community, Home/social setting, Personal/social setting, and Psychological/emotional factors. Two additional concept maps were generated for PAE and non-PAE. From expert opinion, we identified new factors of PAB that warrant further research and we highlight the need to consider the interaction between intrapersonal and external factors when designing interventions to promote PA in UK children.The data has been downloaded from Ariadne (minds21.org) and includes the raw data and the analysed data (clustering and rating data). Participant information has been removed from the data files and replaced with participant numbers.

The UKSeaMap Predictive Habitats Map 2025 (version 1) is a broad-scale prediction that uses physical models of depth, light, sediment and energy to predict the physical seabed habitats for the whole UK seabed. This map covers the UK extended Continental Shelf as defined by the Continental Shelf (Designation of Areas) Order 2013, but excluding the intertidal zone, Dee Estuary and Morecambe Bay.

Two habitat classification systems are present in the final output:

EUNIS habitat classification system version 2007-11 The Marine Habitat Classification for Britain and Ireland (https://mhc.jncc.gov.uk/) version 22.04 The attribute table includes a column for each of level 2, level 3 and level 4 of each of these two classification schemes. In some cases, there were 2-3 options of habitat type, which were both included and separated by the word “OR“. There is also a column containing the most detailed unique habitat type for each of the two classification systems.

The habitats were determined by combining 4 categorical input layers called 'habitat descriptors', which are the basis for describing physical habitats in the Marine Habitat Classification for Britain and Ireland. These are also present in the geodatabase.

Habitat descriptor data layers:

Seabed substrate type - created using the British Geological Survey's national broad-scale predictive sediment map - Marchant et al. (2025) and the JNCC-BGS-Cefas national broad-scale predictive rock map (JNCC, 2019) Biological zone (also known as biozone) - created using the depth to seabed, wave disturbance at the seabed and amount of light reaching the seabed. Kinetic energy at the seabed - created using energy from tidal currents and energy from waves Salinity regime - created using the Annex I Habitats Regulations datasets for coastal lagoons and estuaries features A methods report will be published in due course.

The UKSeaMap Predictive Map forms part of the UK Atlas of Seabed Habitats (UKASH), a suite of mapping products, offering the most complete characterisation of seabed habitats in the UK in the Marine Habitat Classification for Britain and Ireland and the European standard classification system, EUNIS. UKASH is composed of:

UKASH Library of Localised Maps: A standardised collection of individual, ground-truthed habitat maps from various sources. UKASH Mosaic of Localised Maps: A unified, non-overlapping map product that prioritises the most reliable maps from the UKASH Library of Localised Maps. UKSeaMap Predictive Map: A seamless, full-coverage predictive map of physical seabed habitats in the UK. UKASH Combined Map: The UKASH Mosaic of Localised Maps, with gaps filled by the UKSeaMap Predictive Map.

Further info: https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/uk-atlas-of-seabed-habitats-ukash/#ukseamap

As of October 2025, the political party that 18 to 24 year-old's in Great Britain would be most likely to vote for was the Labour Party, at 30 percent, with Labour also the joint-most popular party among those aged 25 to 49 along with Reform UK. Reform was the most popular party for the 50 to 64 age group, with 32 percent of voters saying they would vote for them. For the oldest age group, Reform was also the most popular, with 31 percent of over 65s intending to vote for them. Reform surge in the polls Since winning the last UK general election in July 2024, the ruling Labour Party have steadily become more unpopular among voters. After winning 33.7 percent of the vote in that election, the party was polling at 24 percent in April 2025, only slightly ahead of Reform UK on 23 percent. A right-wing populist party, Reform benefited from the collapse in support for the center-right Conservative Party in the last election, winning several seats at their expense. While the next UK general election is not due to be held until 2029, the government will be keen to address their collapsing approval ratings, in the face of Reform's rising support. Economic headaches for Labour in 2025 Although Labour inherited a growing economy, with falling inflation, and low unemployment from the Conservatives, the overall economic outlook for the UK is still quite gloomy. The country's government debt is around 100 percent of GDP, and without large tax rises and spending cuts, the government hopes to create a stronger, more resilient economy to reduce the deficit. While this is still a possibility, the UK's economic prospects for 2025 were recently slashed, with growth of one percent forecast, down from an earlier prediction of two percent. Although mainly due to external factors such as the threat of increasing tariffs, and general geopolitical instability, the UK's faltering economy will add further problems to the embattled government.

The map application displays hydrogeological maps that were processed during the solution of various types of projects in the CGS. The extent of hydrogeological units is derived from the geological map on a scale of 1: 50,000 and the HydroGEOČR50 layer, which was created within the R&D project of the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic SP/2e1/153/07. Within the individual regions, the values of the transmissivity of the hydrogeological units, the type of the hydrogeological environment and the sequence of collectors and aquicludes in the Czech Cretaceous basin are shown in the hydrogeological maps. Data on the chemical composition of groundwater and hydraulic properties of rocks are presented for selected archival wells. Descriptions, results of field measurements and photo documentation are available for individual hydrogeological objects documented in the field (eg springs).

This project collected survey and interview data to study Eurochildren, their families and their experience and responses to Brexit. The project aims to portray the emergence of a new politics of belonging, which reconfigures discursively and legally who belongs to a post-EU Britain. It also aims to establish a baseline for future research on migration and settlement decision making in families with EU27 nationals following the formal exit of the European Union.

The UK has been a member of the European Union for 40 years. Throughout that time there has been intermingling of people and institutions which can be most clearly seen in the growing number of bi- and mixed-nationality EU families in the UK and their children, many of whom born in the UK and holding a British passport. This is a growing, and yet understudied and underreported, segment of the British society. In a post-EU referendum context, where the rhetoric about curbing EU immigration has permeated political, media, and popular discourses, producing a stark 'us and them' narrative, the question left unasked and unanswered is what are the human and emotional costs of this abrupt geopolitical shift if 'us and them' are the same? Through the study of Eurochildren and their families and their experience and responses to Brexit, the project aims to portrait the emergence of a new politics of belonging which reconfigures discursively and legally who belong to a post-EU Britain and establish a baseline for future research on migration and settlement decision making in families with EU27 nationals following the formal exit of the European Union. In order to do so, it will: 1) Profile and map the population of UK- and EU-born children of EU nationals in the UK and examine, at the aggregate level, different types of EU families and measure their socio-economic inclusion into British society. 2) Investigate how families with at least one EU27 member experience and respond to the process of exiting from the European Union and identify factors that shape such responses. 3) Examine the impact of the EU referendum and its aftermath on different age cohorts of UK-born Eurochildren, examining in particular how they articulate their sense of belonging and attitudes vis-a-vis the UK and the EU. With a team comprising academic experts in the fields of migration and integration, third sector collaborators and legal experts, and using a mixed methods approach, this project provide an empirically-rich and in-depth account of how EU families, often including both UK and EU passport holders and members with dual citizenship, experience and plan to respond to Brexit, a baseline from which to further analyse the process family migration decision making following the formal exit from the EU. The project involves three interconnected work packages (WP). WP1, which is of a quantitative nature, will analyse historical Census and Live Birth data in order to profile and geographically map EU families and their children. Different configurations of EU families, based on their demographic, geographical, and inclusion circumstances, will be established via this data and will inform the qualitative work in WP2 and 3 and our analysis of legal and policy implications of Brexit on this population. In WP2 focus groups and in-depth interviews will be conducted with EU families, as well as reflexive research, in order to explore questions of belonging within the context of the exit from the EU. In WP3, interview with UK-born adult Eurochildren and EU-born parents of Eurochildren will be conducted in order to bring to the fore the ways in which children experience migration decision-making and belonging. This mixed methods study will generate ground-breaking new data on EU families and their EU and UK-born children in the UK, contributing to the strategic, political and policy responses of UK and EU policy makers and to a more informed public debate on the consequences of Brexit on UK and EU citizens alike. The project includes a strategy set to maximise dissemination and impact. This will be done via: producing robust, composite and promptly accessible evidence (journal articles, blogs, briefings, media and online materials); engaging from the outset with a wide network of researchers, policy makers and practitioners; and using tailored dissemination channels to reach out to relevant audiences.

The ArcGIS Server map service displays hydrogeological documentation of maps that were processed during the solution of various types of projects in the CGS. Data on the chemical composition of groundwater and hydraulic properties of rocks are presented for selected archival wells. Descriptions, results of field measurements and photo documentation are available for individual hydrogeological objects documented in the field (eg springs).

this dataset shows the results of the 2014 referendum on Scottish Independence which took place on the 18th September 2014. The data is broken down into the geographical areas such as Edinburgh, Midlothian, Fife and the Highlands. The data shows the number of Yes/No votes, the percentage and the difference between the two (positive depicts a No win). It is interesting to note that anyone over the age of 16 was eligible to vote, a change to the normal over 18 policy in general elections. Turnout was high with 84.6% of those eligible voting. The data was sourced from: http://www.cityam.com/1411046935/who-won-where-how-scottish-councils-voted-independence-referendum-results-map and then combined with Boundary Data from the OS Opendata that provided the geographical boundaries. Another good source of info and maps is http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-29255449. GIS vector data. This dataset was first accessioned in the EDINA ShareGeo Open repository on 2014-09-24 and migrated to Edinburgh DataShare on 2017-02-22.

The introduction of the National Childcare Strategy in 1998 marked a radical shift in government policy and for the first time put childcare provision firmly on the political map. Since then a wide range of childcare initiatives and funding streams have been introduced, and hence there is a need for regular data to aid the evaluation of recent policy interventions in these areas. The Childcare and Early Years Provision survey series is divided into two survey strands: the Parents’ Survey and the Providers’ Survey.

The Parents’ Survey provides data on parents’ take-up, views and experiences of childcare. Families in England are randomly selected from the Child Benefit Records and all parents had children aged 0-14 years. They are asked about their use and experiences of childcare for all children in the family and to give more detailed information about childcare for a particular child (selected at random where there is more than one child in the family). The current Parents' Survey series replaces two previous surveys: the Survey of Parents of Three and Four-Year-Old Children and Their Use of Early Years Services (conducted between 1997 and 2002) and Parents' Demand for Childcare, conducted in 1999 and 2001 (see SNs 4380 and 4970 respectively).

The Providers' Survey monitors the characteristics and development of childcare and early years providers and the workforce in England. Information was collected on the number and characteristics of providers, the characteristics of the children enrolled, workforce composition, qualifications and training, recruitment and retention, and business operation. The 2016 survey underwent an extensive redesign, which means findings are not comparable with previous surveys.

The 2020 survey was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Further information is available on the GOV.UK Childcare and Early Years Statistics webpage.

The introduction of the National Childcare Strategy in 1998 marked a radical shift in government policy and for the first time put childcare provision firmly on the political map. Since then a wide range of childcare initiatives and funding streams have been introduced, and hence there is a need for regular data to aid the evaluation of recent policy interventions in these areas. The Childcare and Early Years Provision survey series is divided into two survey strands: the Parents’ Survey and the Providers’ Survey.

The Parents’ Survey provides data on parents’ take-up, views and experiences of childcare. Families in England are randomly selected from the Child Benefit Records and all parents had children aged 0-14 years. They are asked about their use and experiences of childcare for all children in the family and to give more detailed information about childcare for a particular child (selected at random where there is more than one child in the family). The current Parents' Survey series replaces two previous surveys: the Survey of Parents of Three and Four-Year-Old Children and Their Use of Early Years Services (conducted between 1997 and 2002) and Parents' Demand for Childcare, conducted in 1999 and 2001 (see SNs 4380 and 4970 respectively).

The Providers' Survey monitors the characteristics and development of childcare and early years providers and the workforce in England. Information was collected on the number and characteristics of providers, the characteristics of the children enrolled, workforce composition, qualifications and training, recruitment and retention, and business operation. The 2016 survey underwent an extensive redesign, which means findings are not comparable with previous surveys.

The 2020 survey was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Further information is available on the GOV.UK Childcare and Early Years Statistics webpage.

The Childcare and Early Years Provision: Parents’ Survey, 2019 had two key objectives. The first was to provide salient, up-to date information on parents' use of childcare and early years provision, and their views and experiences of particular childcare providers and childcare provision in general. The second was to continue the time series - which has now been running for over ten years - on issues covered throughout the survey series.

With respect to both these objectives, the study aims to provide information to help monitor the progress of policies in the area of childcare and early years education. Further information about this study can be found on the GOV.UK Childcare and early years survey of parents: 2019 web page.