In amongst the list of 42 bills proposed by right-wing Conservative MPs this morning, was one to rename the August Bank holiday Margaret Thatcher Day. But why just Mrs T? We could – it occurred to me (when I should have been doing some work) – rename all our bank holidays after Prime Ministers.
I offered up a couple of suggestions on Twitter.
Brown Day bank holiday is one that people look forward to, but it's always a terrible let down.
— Philip Cowley (@philipjcowley) June 21, 2013
The Attlee Day bank holiday is freezing cold and miserable, but people look back on it fondly.
— Philip Cowley (@philipjcowley) June 21, 2013
And then they just flooded in. These are a very small selection of the 200 or so that people suggested.
@philipjcowley Heath Day: play piano in the morning. Go sailing in the afternoon. Have no friends to share any of it with.
— Terry Stiastny (@terrystiastny) June 21, 2013
@philipjcowley Chamberlain Day, when the written agreement about towels on sun loungers turns out to be meaningless.
— Stuart Wilks-Heeg (@StuartWilksHeeg) June 21, 2013
@philipjcowley Thatcher Day – goes on and on but ends in tears
— adrian mcmenamin (@adrianmcmenamin) June 21, 2013
@philipjcowley do we get one or two Churchill days, and is the second inevitably a disappointment?
— A C McGregor (@A_C_McGregor) June 21, 2013
.@philipjcowley Palmerston Day: a non-stop festival of drinking, revelling, fighting foreigners and scandalising the Monarchy.
— James Kirkup (@jameskirkup) June 21, 2013
.@philipjcowley Perceval Day: shake fist at Prince of Wales in morning. Get shot in afternoon. Find you're a pub quiz question by evening.
— Stephen Tall (@stephentall) June 21, 2013
@philipjcowley Gladstone day. People claim it is their favourite holiday but only a minority remember when it actually is or what happened
— Chris Terry (@CJTerry) June 21, 2013
@philipjcowley Lord North day is traditionally the day when Brits return home from the USA
— I. Levitt (@levitter) June 21, 2013
@philipjcowley I await Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman Day and the customary all-day nap with great excitement.
— Tim Oliver (@Aremay) June 21, 2013
@philipjcowley Bonar Law Day. Everyone forgets when it is.
— James Vaughan (@EquusontheBuses) June 21, 2013
There were a lot of John Major Day suggestions. Here’s just three:
@philipjcowley You don't have much fun on Major Day, but looking back it does not seem so bad
— Jonathan Calder (@lordbonkers) June 21, 2013
@philipjcowley John Major day – a summer bank holiday when we all drive to the coast only to get stuck in traffic cone hell
— Patrick Hennessy (@PatJHennessy) June 21, 2013
@philipjcowley John Major Day – when you round off the day with a Currie
— A Libertarian Rebel (@A_Liberty_Rebel) June 21, 2013
David Boothroyd wins Most Obscure Entry. Yet again.
@philipjcowley Portland Day, which is in two parts, neither of which are effective, and ends with your two best friends fighting each other
— David Boothroyd (@220_d_92_20) June 21, 2013
And then we got onto Days For People That Haven’t Even Been PM:
@philipjcowley Rab Butler day is the best bank holiday we never had.
— Adam Spencer (@AdamGSpencer) June 21, 2013
@philipjcowley Neil Kinnock Day: get over-excited at a party the night before, then wake up and realise it's not a bank holiday after all.
— Robert Hutton (@RobDotHutton) June 21, 2013
@philipjcowley At least we were spared Bevan Day where William Hague would have to visit a nudist beach …
— Nick Stanton (@Riverside_Nick) June 21, 2013
.@PhilipJCowley David Davis Day: wait until mid-afternoon, then resign your job "FOR FREEDOM". Come in next day, pretend nothing happened.
— Steve Van Riel (@steve_vr) June 21, 2013
@philipjcowley Now that you are on to non-PMs. John Stonehouse Day – a trip to the beach followed by long-term absence from work.
— Philip Lynch (@DrPhilipLynch) June 21, 2013
I’m sure there are a lot more out there…
glamorscene