Christmas quiz results

5 Jan 06
We at Public Finance are very impressed with all of you who took part in our annual quiz.

06 January 2006

The Public Finance Christmas quiz – which is fast becoming as essential an accompaniment to the festive season as cranberry sauce and mince pies – shows how well informed you are. So how well did you do?

The quality of entries to our quiz were of an exceptionally high standard, so well done to all of you who took part. Congratulations to our winner, Nick Haverly of Park Gate in Hampshire, who wins the superb prize of a Hewlett-Packard Jornada 568 Pocket PC organiser. We have decided to award a prize of a bottle of champagne to runner-up Sue Miles of Bath in Somerset. So, overall, which questions proved the most troublesome? Well, many of you believe that David Davis is the new chair of the Public Accounts Committee, when of course that honour recently went to Edward Leigh. And considering the publicity that Jo (burying bad news) Moore received, a surprising number of you thought the bad news in question was Railtrack… All the more reason to read your Public Finance carefully so you, too, can be as well informed as our winners!

1. Which senior politician claimed this year that war 'was not a matter of conscience'?
C – Hilary Armstrong

2. What happened outside Rhyl's Little Theatre in May?
C – John Prescott was involved in a kerbside punch-up

3. What name has Tory party leader Iain Duncan Smith given to the frog that appears in his throat when he speaks publicly?
C – Freddie

4. Jo Moore, government spin doctor, said in her infamous e-mail after the September 11 attacks
that it 'would be a good day' to 'bury' bad news. What was this bad news?
B – Councillors' expenses

5. Richard Taylor, the independent MP elected for Wyre Forest, received the backing of which local rock legend?
D – Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant

6. What did Cuba offer to send to help crisis-hit UK this year?
B – Veterinary surgeons

7. At which conference was the prime minister due to give a speech when he was told about the September 11 attacks?
D – TUC

8. How many millions is media billionaire Michael Bloomberg estimated to have spent on his campaign to become mayor of New York?
D – $41

9. Jack McConnell became Scotland's first minister recently. But what did he admit to before he was elected?
C – He had had an extra-marital affair

10. Which council set the highest band D rate of £1,171 for the current financial year, although it froze council tax for a third successive year?
A – Liverpool

11. In May, plans to build the first what in Cornwall were given the go-ahead?
C – University

12. Which two countries in the eurozone were the first to issue the new pan-European currency on January 1 – because they are an hour ahead of the other ten nations?
A – Finland and Greece

13. Who is the transport commissioner for London?
A – Bob Kiley

14. What distinction did the constituency of Liverpool Riverside hold on election night?
D – The lowest turnout in the country

15. How many seats did the Conservative Party win at the General Election?
D – 166

16. Who is the new chair of the Public Accounts Committee?
D – Edward Leigh

17. Elizabeth Filkin is to leave her post as what?
B – Parliamentary standards commissioner

18. Which city offered to host the 2005 World Athletics Championships after the collapse of the plan to build a new national sports stadium in north London?
D – Sheffield

19. When Railtrack collapsed in October, what was the size of its debts?
A – £3.3bn

20. Who is the leader of Plaid Cymru?
B – Ieuan Wyn Jones

21. The country's first mayoral referendum – outside London – was held this year. Where?
D – Berwick-upon-Tweed

22. In July, Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced what?
A – He was going to be a father

23. 'I am a fighter, not a quitter'. Which former minister told the world this when he was re-elected as an MP in June?
B – Peter Mandelson

24. Which Conservative-turned-Labour MP was embarrassed by his butler?
A – Shaun Woodward

25. Who admitted after being approached by a drunk on a recent trip to Paris that he could not speak French?
C – Ken Livingstone

PFjan2006

Did you enjoy this article?

AddToAny

Top