Carl Baker
@carlbaker.bsky.social
Head of the Social and General Statistics team at the House of Commons Library in the UK Parliament. Personal account for posts on stats, maps, dataviz, games, travel, and misc.
I thought the suggestion might be "don't drive", but my bad. I'm sure it's the pedestrians.
June 20, 2025 at 4:34 PM
I thought the suggestion might be "don't drive", but my bad. I'm sure it's the pedestrians.
Found my undergraduate transcript today. I loved my philosophy degree but being reminded of course titles like "The Structure of Reality" and "Being" definitely raised a smile.
March 15, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Found my undergraduate transcript today. I loved my philosophy degree but being reminded of course titles like "The Structure of Reality" and "Being" definitely raised a smile.
Nice note in the acknowledgements highlighting my predecessor's notable contribution to this field over many years:
March 6, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Nice note in the acknowledgements highlighting my predecessor's notable contribution to this field over many years:
Lucky enough to visit map HQ today 🗺️
January 6, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Lucky enough to visit map HQ today 🗺️
Thoroughly enjoyed Pentiment, a medieval murder mystery set in Bavaria - exceeded expectations for sure
November 17, 2024 at 9:32 PM
Thoroughly enjoyed Pentiment, a medieval murder mystery set in Bavaria - exceeded expectations for sure
Taiwan highlights 2/2
October 21, 2024 at 6:46 PM
Taiwan highlights 2/2
We loved our time in Taiwan - here are just two posts of some memorable places and times.
1/2
1/2
October 21, 2024 at 6:42 PM
We loved our time in Taiwan - here are just two posts of some memorable places and times.
1/2
1/2
My Grandad was part of the Salvation Army's response in Aberfan. Going through his things, my family found these newspapers from the time. Thought they may be of interest.
September 28, 2024 at 9:47 AM
My Grandad was part of the Salvation Army's response in Aberfan. Going through his things, my family found these newspapers from the time. Thought they may be of interest.
I was particularly interested in putting together this part - comparing Labour and Lib Dem performance to their previous recent highs in 1997 and 2005.
Both parties won a larger proportion of available seats in the south this time round.
Both parties won a larger proportion of available seats in the south this time round.
September 24, 2024 at 11:02 AM
I was particularly interested in putting together this part - comparing Labour and Lib Dem performance to their previous recent highs in 1997 and 2005.
Both parties won a larger proportion of available seats in the south this time round.
Both parties won a larger proportion of available seats in the south this time round.
I see there are direct flights from London to Tbilisi on sale for next year - both BA and Easyjet. Makes Georgia much easier to access from the UK than it has been for a while (it's usually required a change).
I thoroughly, heartily recommend a trip.
(Not pictured: the wine. And the food.)
I thoroughly, heartily recommend a trip.
(Not pictured: the wine. And the food.)
September 20, 2024 at 6:50 PM
I see there are direct flights from London to Tbilisi on sale for next year - both BA and Easyjet. Makes Georgia much easier to access from the UK than it has been for a while (it's usually required a change).
I thoroughly, heartily recommend a trip.
(Not pictured: the wine. And the food.)
I thoroughly, heartily recommend a trip.
(Not pictured: the wine. And the food.)
The tournament was great, and I didn't press this button, so a big success all round.
September 15, 2024 at 7:02 PM
The tournament was great, and I didn't press this button, so a big success all round.
Here's one of our 2019 maps. These are more complex than simple hex maps but, in some ways, more informative.
The main barrier to recreating this for 2024 was that constituencies can now cross county boundaries. So the whole concept came undone. commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...
The main barrier to recreating this for 2024 was that constituencies can now cross county boundaries. So the whole concept came undone. commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...
August 23, 2024 at 6:39 PM
Here's one of our 2019 maps. These are more complex than simple hex maps but, in some ways, more informative.
The main barrier to recreating this for 2024 was that constituencies can now cross county boundaries. So the whole concept came undone. commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...
The main barrier to recreating this for 2024 was that constituencies can now cross county boundaries. So the whole concept came undone. commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...
This week my colleague published an updated briefing on UK defence personnel statistics - an excellent overview
commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...
commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...
August 17, 2024 at 9:40 AM
This week my colleague published an updated briefing on UK defence personnel statistics - an excellent overview
commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...
commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...
I am, already, so tired of this nonsense on every website
July 27, 2024 at 11:47 AM
I am, already, so tired of this nonsense on every website
Tashkent's metro stations are something else.
We found the country as a whole to be much easier for independent travel than we thought (and seemingly easier than it was a few years ago, according to the internet). Ubiquitous ATMs, card payment, taxi apps, English fairly widely spoken.
We found the country as a whole to be much easier for independent travel than we thought (and seemingly easier than it was a few years ago, according to the internet). Ubiquitous ATMs, card payment, taxi apps, English fairly widely spoken.
May 25, 2024 at 9:29 AM
Tashkent's metro stations are something else.
We found the country as a whole to be much easier for independent travel than we thought (and seemingly easier than it was a few years ago, according to the internet). Ubiquitous ATMs, card payment, taxi apps, English fairly widely spoken.
We found the country as a whole to be much easier for independent travel than we thought (and seemingly easier than it was a few years ago, according to the internet). Ubiquitous ATMs, card payment, taxi apps, English fairly widely spoken.
Uzbekistan was wonderful - unlike anywhere we've been before.
Already feels like a long time ago, having returned straight into the peak of pre-election fever.
Already feels like a long time ago, having returned straight into the peak of pre-election fever.
May 24, 2024 at 6:28 PM
Uzbekistan was wonderful - unlike anywhere we've been before.
Already feels like a long time ago, having returned straight into the peak of pre-election fever.
Already feels like a long time ago, having returned straight into the peak of pre-election fever.
Today: train 126 from Khiva to Bukhara, 7 hot hours through the desert, complete with some Uzbek food in the dining car 🇺🇿
May 14, 2024 at 5:51 PM
Today: train 126 from Khiva to Bukhara, 7 hot hours through the desert, complete with some Uzbek food in the dining car 🇺🇿
Comfortably the largest denomination note I've ever seen. It's worth the grand sum of £6.30.
May 10, 2024 at 3:08 PM
Comfortably the largest denomination note I've ever seen. It's worth the grand sum of £6.30.
I feel like it might be reasonable to expect an international airline to know about time zones
February 19, 2024 at 5:33 PM
I feel like it might be reasonable to expect an international airline to know about time zones
OpenRailwayMap is great for seeing how the British rail network compares to neighbours. Left is speeds (orange/red=highspeed lines), and right is electrification (black=not electrified).
openrailwaymap.org
openrailwaymap.org
February 16, 2024 at 12:08 PM
OpenRailwayMap is great for seeing how the British rail network compares to neighbours. Left is speeds (orange/red=highspeed lines), and right is electrification (black=not electrified).
openrailwaymap.org
openrailwaymap.org
A data wrangler's nightmare, this spreadsheet.
December 14, 2023 at 2:43 PM
A data wrangler's nightmare, this spreadsheet.
The headline cancer waiting time performance measures in England have been altered. The first data was released today.
The charts below show how the change affects performance on the 31-day and 62-day measures. 62-day performance is slightly higher on the new definition.
The charts below show how the change affects performance on the 31-day and 62-day measures. 62-day performance is slightly higher on the new definition.
December 14, 2023 at 10:59 AM
The headline cancer waiting time performance measures in England have been altered. The first data was released today.
The charts below show how the change affects performance on the 31-day and 62-day measures. 62-day performance is slightly higher on the new definition.
The charts below show how the change affects performance on the 31-day and 62-day measures. 62-day performance is slightly higher on the new definition.
Making a start to this excellent birthday present from the family.
December 9, 2023 at 12:55 PM
Making a start to this excellent birthday present from the family.
Can you name this UK city?
December 6, 2023 at 5:35 PM
Can you name this UK city?
New article from my colleague Mark Sandford on English devolution deals. I contributed a map.
commonslibrary.parliament.uk/english-devo...
commonslibrary.parliament.uk/english-devo...
November 30, 2023 at 1:43 PM
New article from my colleague Mark Sandford on English devolution deals. I contributed a map.
commonslibrary.parliament.uk/english-devo...
commonslibrary.parliament.uk/english-devo...