to wonder why we have elections on a Thursday?

[TinfoilHattie]

Everyone else seems to do it on a Sunday which seems far more sensible - no time off school for kids whose schools are used as polling stations, more people off work and free to vote etc etc.

It's always been a Thursday here for as long as I can remember - there must be a reason for this?

People do work on Sundays. Polling stations have long opening hours. I always managed around work.

From the Guardian website;

Why are British elections always held on Thursdays?

UNTIL 1918, polling at General Elections took place over several days and at one time different constituencies could complete polling on different days, thereby - it was alleged - creating a bandwagon effect for a successful political party. The 1918 Representation of the People Act restricted polling to one day (except for Orkney and Shetland until 1929). Since 1918 a General Election has always been on a Thursday, except for 1918, 1922, 1924 and 1931. The reason for choosing Thursday, it is said, was as follows. On Fridays the voters were paid their wages and if they went for a drink in a public house they would be subject to pressure from the Conservative brewing interests, while on Sundays they would be subject to influence by Free Church ministers who were generally Liberal in persuasion. Therefore choose the day furthest from influence by either publicans or Free Church clergymen, namely Thursday. Although these influences are much less significant today, the trend towards Thursday becoming a universal polling day has continued, because Urban District Councils and Rural District Councils all polled on a Saturday until they were abolished under the 1972 Local Government Act. Their successor District Councils poll on a Thursday and the Parish Council polling day was changed from Saturday to Thursday at the same time.

E. M. Syddique (Research and Information Department,) Electoral Reform Society, London SE1.

Who is everyone else ?

Urban myth?: It's as far away as possible from payday so people are less likely to be drunk.

Obviously... but as I said in the OP, fewer people work on a Sunday than Monday - Friday.

So blame the church and the breweries!

@Figaro2017 put it much better

I can't post a link, but apparently since 1918 it's been a Thursday because it was payday Friday and everyone would be out on the town! Sundays were a no due to church going.

Practically these days a Sunday would be a pain as it would be relatively difficult to find staff for the stations - most are Council workers (who are paid to work the election), but many would be reluctant to give up their weekend for it no doubt (they work from 6am - 10:30pm and can't leave the station).

Wasn't aware of the history behind it - totally different times now though. More people are paid monthly, nobody (or very few) people get a wodge of cash handed to them at the end of the working week any more, church attendance declining, etc. The reasons behind hte decision aren't relevant any more.

Maybe we should be campaigning to move it to a Sunday!

I suppose ultimately though it was down to the reforms pushed through in the aftermath of the First World War and faster communication. I imagine that polling days being on different days wouldn't have mattered so much before the telephone/telegram?

Have done the poll clerking thing myself - and although it's not maybe the same everywhere in this area it was only 10% council workers and the rest of us were students, retired people, stay at home mums, part time workers. It's a fairly well paid job for what you do, it was a few years ago now and I got something like £160 for the day's work which is dead easy. I don't think they'd have a shortage of people willing to give up one Sunday every 5 years for £10 an hour sitting down and crossing names off a list.

It's also interesting how the day of the week and the weather can affect voting patterns.

A wet, cold day - and you are at home with loads of children - getting out to vote might be difficult if you haven't got a car.

Voting by post should change that.

And Thursday was always market day so more people were already in the area so the logic was they'd pop in to vote whilst at the market apparently

I quite like Thursday if I'm honest. I enjoy sitting up until the early hours watching the results come in. Bit nerdy I know!

I don't understand why we should campaign to move it to Sunday though? Stations are open for over 12 hours. Surely everyone has plenty of time to vote. Also Monday-Friday jobs are probably on par with weekend jobs these days anyway.

Weather and voting

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8659913.stm

Probably no difference,

But TV

But Howard says he cannot recall any terrible weather on polling day, and there were other external factors that could influence voting, such as what's on television.

"In 1964, Harold Wilson went to enormous lengths to get [BBC director general] Hugh Green to move Steptoe and Son because that was going out at 9pm and he thought, probably wisely, that it would be devastating for Labour.

Sundays would be a lot less disruptive for a lot of parents - our Primary school is used as a polling station so we have last Thursday off and will also be off on June 8th which is causing a nightmare for working parents.

It would be interesting to see how turnout varies in democracy and the different strategies they have to increase turnout.

I still remember South Africa after apartheid - and the people queuing to vote.

It's Saturday in Australia. The school out in s BBQ as a fundraiser during polling. You vote then have a democracy sausage.

I was shocked at my first UK polling station to find no BBQ

I've asked myself this several times over the past few days and hadn't got round to googling it. Interesting, thank you

ICJump

A democracy sausage

I love Australia. BBQs on the beach...just a shame about the sandflies.

It would be an interesting school discussion - why do we have them on a Thursday? I didn't know - but the reasons make sense.

Go to church, hear the sermon, go and vote.

“If you left off traditions because you didn’t know why they started you’d be no better than a foreigner.”

― Terry Pratchett, Hogfather

Voting in Australia is compulsory too - captive audience for your BBQ!