title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: Khan successfully defended his title for the third time against Maidana. Khan knocked Maidana down with a combination of two body shots in the first round. Maidana was saved by the bell but regained composure and continued to battle on. Khan dominated the scoring until tiring around round seven. Maidana rallied and midway through round ten stunned Khan with a heavy right hand. Maidana followed up with a series of uppercuts and right hands. Khan then rallied to win rounds eleven and twelve to solidify a UD win. The scores were 114–111 twice, and 113–112. Khan was open to a rematch. Khan landed 273 of 603 punches thrown (45%) and Maidana landed 156 of 767 thrown (20%). The fight was awarded Fight of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: On 4 February 2011, Khan announced a deal had been signed to defend his WBA title against European champion Paul McCloskey in his next fight, who was unbeaten in 22 fights and was ranked world number 10. The fight was scheduled to take place at the MEN Arena on 6 April. Khan won a sixth-round TD after McCloskey was cut by an accidental clash of heads and could not go on in the estimation of the ring doctor. The heads of Khan and McCloskey collided about two minutes into the sixth round, causing a bad cut on the inside of McCloskey's left eyebrow. Another tactical few rounds followed, with Khan the main aggressor. In the decisive sixth, a five-punch combination from Khan staggered McCloskey and moments later the pair went toe-to-toe before McCloskey reeled away and noticed blood coming from around his left eye. Khan had some trouble with the awkward and resilient southpaw, who was difficult to hit cleanly, but he was both too quick and too busy for McCloskey, winning all six rounds on all three cards. Frank Warren stated that the fight's Primetime pay-per-view sold four times as many buys as the network's previous record holder, Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler, which sold 50,000 buys, thus the KhanMcCloskey fight sold about buys. The fight was shown in the US on HBO where it averaged 1.2million viewers.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: On 31 May 2011, Khan agreed to fight 33-year-old two-weight champion Zab Judah (41–6, 28 KOs) in attempt to unify the WBA, and IBF light-welterweight titles in Las Vegas on 23 July. Judah had reclaimed the IBF title two months earlier against Kaizer Mabuza. Khan was unhappy that a fight with Bradley could not be made. He said, "Bradley was the guy I wanted to fight but he chickened out. I offered him 50% of UK revenue, which is unheard of, and 50% of all revenue in America, that's how much I wanted to fight him, but he didn't want it." The fight was broadcast on Primetime in UK and HBO in the US. Round one saw a busy Khan as he fought from the outside and kept Judah away with jabs and straights. All four rounds were taken by Khan. Ultimately in the fifth round Judah was taken down with a right uppercut to the body, in which at first commentators believed it was a low blow, since Judah was showing signs of agonising pain, but when it was seen from a different camera angle, it was right on the belt, leading to an 18th knockout (KO) for Khan in his career so far. Khan later rejected claims for the low blow saying, "He went down. It was above the belt. Zab's a great fighter. I respect him a lot. But it was nowhere near below [the belt]. It was a great shot." Over five rounds, Khan landed 61 of 284 total punches (21%) and Judah landed 20 of 115 (17%). For the fight, Khan earned $1,072,500 and Judah had a $500,000 purse. The fight averaged 1.4million viewers on HBO, peaking at 1.417million viewers.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: Following the Judah victory, Khan began chasing a big money fight with top pound for pound fighter Floyd Mayweather Jr. Mayweather seemed uninterested, and instead said that Khan should fight the Mayweather Promotions prospect Jessie Vargas, an option that Khan dismissed. In October 2011, it was announced that Khan would defend his WBA and IBF light-welterweight against mandatory challenger Lamont Peterson (29–1–1, 15 KOs). The fight would take place on 10 December in Peterson's home town of Washington, D.C. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: In front of a near sell out crowd of 8,647, Peterson defeated Khan by split decision (SD) in controversial fashion. Khan was docked a point in rounds seven and twelve by referee Joe Cooper for pushing, although illegal pushing is not usually met with such harsh consequences. Peterson was dropped to the canvas twice, although the first time was counted as a slip instead of a legitimate knockdown. Both fighters boxed well and two judges scored it 113–112 to Peterson, with the other 115–110 to Khan.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: ESPN's Dan Rafael scored the fight 114–111 in favour of Khan. HBO's unofficial scorer, Harold Lederman, scored it 113–112, also for Khan. Deadspin described it as a robbery. After the fight, Khan said, "It was like I was against two people, the referee and Lamont himself. I was the cleaner fighter; he was so wild. The referee wasn't giving me a chance. I heard the referee give me a warning [for pushing], but there was nothing I could do. He kept coming in with his head. There hasn't been [HBO] boxing in D.C. for the last [18] years because this is what happens." Khan earned a base purse of $1.1million, while Peterson earned a career-high $650,000 purse.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: Khan appealed the decision to the sanctioning bodies, citing the poor refereeing, and the presence of a "mystery man" at ringside who could have interfered with the scoring. As soon as the WBA agreed and ordered an immediate rematch, Khan withdrew his appeal with the IBF.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: A rematch was due to take place in May, but in the run up to the fight, Peterson tested positive for synthetic testosterone. The Nevada Athletic Commission denied Peterson a licence to box, and the fight was cancelled. The WBA reinstated Khan as champion, the IBF did not.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: On 23 May 2012, ESPN announced that Khan would next fight against undefeated WBC champion Danny García. In the run up to the fight, García's father and trainer, Angel García, made disparaging comments about Khan's race and religion.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: Khan entered the fight as heavy favourite and through the first two rounds and most of the third, he heavily outlanded García. The tide turned late in the third round as García was able to land a hard left hook counterpunch off a missed right. Khan hit the canvas and was clearly hurt, on unsteady legs, for the remaining seconds of the round. García kept pressing in round four, forcing Khan to take a second eight count after he touched the canvas with his glove. Khan regrouped and was temporarily able to go back at García, but with less than a minute left in the round Khan was dropped a third time. Referee Kenny Bayless stopped the fight despite Khan assuring him he could continue. After the fight, Khan said, "It wasn't my night. I was coming in with my hands down and Danny took advantage of that. He countered very well against me." Khan's trainer Roach credited his opposite number, Angel García, for successfully goading Khan into fighting a slugfest, leaving himself vulnerable.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: According to CompuBox, Khan landed 92 of 206 punches thrown (45%), with 46 jabs and 46 power shots landed. García landed 65 of his 216 thrown (30%), 60 of which were power shots. Khan earned $950,000, while García had a $520,000 purse. Nevada State Athletic Commission announced the fight generated a total gate of $426,152 from 3,147 tickets sold. The fight averaged 1.3million viewers on HBO World Championship Boxing.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: Khan split with trainer Freddie Roach following the García defeat and started training under Virgil Hunter. It was hoped that the new coach could improve Khan's defensive skills. Khan's next fight was against undefeated lightweight prospect Carlos Molina (17–0–1, 7 KOs). Molina would be moving up in weight for his first twelve-round fight. The fight was aired on Showtime, on 15 December 2012, and took place in the LA Sports Arena in California.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: Khan defeated Molina by TKO in the tenth round and won the WBC Silver light-welterweight title. Khan pushed Molina onto the back foot and landed a sharp right hand that cut Molina over the left eye. Khan was stiffened by a right hook in the second before steadying the ship and resuming control of the contest. With Molina's cut deteriorating badly and taking plenty of punishment, referee Jack Reiss suggested his corner pull him out at the end of the ninth, however Molina was sent out for more, despite it being abundantly clear that he did not have the ability to do Khan much damage. Khan started to let his hands go more in round ten, after which his corner finally decided it had seen enough. Khan landed 312 of 679 punches thrown (46%), an equal amount of jabs and power shots were landed. Molina was less busy, landing 87 of 335 (26%). The fight averaged 616,000 viewers.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: Following his victory over Molina, Khan returned to the UK for a fight against 33 year old Julio Díaz (40–7–1, 29 KOs) on 27 April 2013 in a 143 lbs catch-weight bout. The fight took place at the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield. Khan was able to control some of the fight and managed to survive a fourth-round knockdown from Díaz. Khan managed to hold on throughout the fight to go onto win by UD. The scorecards read 115–113, 115–112, and 114–113. In the aftermath, Khan praised Díaz, "He caught me while I was off balance, and I couldn't get my stance back. I went down. I kept moving to recompose myself. That's what happens. There are little things to work on when we go back in the gym." Khan stated the fight could be his last in the UK.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: Despite interest in a bout with Khan, Floyd Mayweather announced that he would fight Marcos Maidana (35–3, 31 KOs) on 3 May 2014. On 24 March, Khan decided to fight 32-year-old former champion Luis Collazo (35–5, 18 KOs) on the undercard at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. The fight was for the vacant WBA International welterweight title and WBA title eliminator, as well as the vacant WBC Silver title. Khan was too fast and too disciplined for Collazo, flooring him in the fourth round and twice in the tenth. The judges scored the fight 119–104, and 117–106 twice in Khan's favour. Khan and Collazo both incurred point deductions in round eight. Collazo hit Khan with a low blow while Khan was holding his head down. Collazo's failed approach resulted in a mismatch on the scorecards. Collazo fought with his hands down most of the night, unafraid of Khan, believing Khan had no power and he would eventually knock him out. In the post-fight interview in the ring, Khan credited his twelve months of boxing training with Virgil Hunter for his success. Khan's purse for the fight was $1.5m while Collazo earned $350,000.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: Khan looked to fight one more time in 2014, targeting Devon Alexander or Robert Guerrero. On 21 October, it was announced that Khan would fight former two-weight world champion Alexander (26–2, 14 KOs). The fight took place on 13 December at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Showtime in the US and Sky Sports in the UK.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: In front of 7,768 in attendance, Khan produced a dominant performance to secure a unanimous points victory over Alexander. All three judges scored heavily in Khan's favour, 120–108, 119–109 and 118–110. ESPN's Dan Rafael scored it a 120–108 shutout for Khan. Alexander followed Khan around the ring throughout but was unable to land more than one punch at a time as Khan met him in his tracks with hard combinations. After his victory Khan reiterated his desire to fight Floyd Mayweather. Promoter Oscar De La Hoya said, "So now I know why Mayweather doesn't want to fight him. He was brilliant. I wouldn't have fought him. He is hitting his peak just now. He looked incredible." Khan outlanded Alexander 243 to 91, according to CompuBox, and connected on 43% of his shots, compared to just 20% for Alexander. Khan earned $950,000 and Alexander was paid $600,000 for the fight. The fight averaged 762,000 and peaked 887,000 viewers.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: After Khan himself initially announced the fight on his wife's YouTube channel on 3 April, a welterweight bout against former WBO light-welterweight champion Chris Algieri (20–1, 8 KOs) was later finalised to take to place on 29 May 2015, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Khan won the bout by UD, winning on all three judges scorecards (117–111 twice and 115–113). Khan counterpunched effectively from the outside after being surprised with Algieri's aggression. Algieri fought a far better fight than he did against Manny Pacquiao, throwing more punches and landing some power shots. Khan landed 218 of 609 punches thrown (36%), while Algieri landed on 199 of 703 (28%), most of which were in the opening six rounds. Following the victory, Khan was now 5–0 against New York opponents. He again called out Mayweather saying, "I think everybody knows Amir Khan wants to fight Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather is a champion, so let's make it happen." Khan made $1.5million and Algieri earned a $500,000 purse. The fight, which took place on Spike, averaged 1million viewers and peaked at 1.2million.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: In early 2016, it was announced that Khan is moving up two weight divisions to middleweight, to fight Canelo Álvarez (46–1–1, 32 KOs) WBC, "The Ring", and lineal middleweight titles. The fight took place on 7 May 2016, at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The bout was on HBO PPV.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: Khan lost to Álvarez by way of knockout in round six. Although many believe Khan was ahead on points including ESPN, two of the ringside judges had Álvarez ahead after five rounds (49–46 and 48–47), the third judge had Khan ahead (48–47). With the scorecards heading towards a SD halfway through the fight, Khan admitted, "it may have been a blessing being knocked out in the sixth round, rather than an upset loss on the scorecards after twelve rounds. According to CompuBox, Álvarez landed 64 of 170 (38%) and Khan landed 48 of 166 punches (29%).


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: Alvarez' official purse for the bout was $3.5 million and Khan had a base purse of $2 million. With the event hitting at least 500,000 buys, Alvarez would see his earning reach up to $20 million and Khan's earnings around $13 million, plus his BoxNation TV deal.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: The fight generated a live gate of $7,417,350, according to figures released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. That total came from 13,072 tickets sold, far short of a sellout. The Álvarez-Khan gross placed it 34th-best in Nevada history. On PPV, the fight sold around 600,000 PPV buys and grossed more than $30million. This made it one of the biggest recent PPV fights, behind Miguel Cotto vs. Canelo Álvarez, and surpassing Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley III and Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Andre Berto.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: On 26 February 2017, Khan and reigning WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao both tweeted a deal had been reached between both camps for a 'super fight' worth potentially £30million to take place on 23 April in the United Arab Emirates. Pacquiao was initially in negotiations to fight Jeff Horn in Australia, but held a poll asking the fans who he should fight next. Khan won the poll, thus setting up the fight. The Sevens Stadium in Dubai, Zayed Sports City Stadium and Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi were being considered as venues. Speaking to Bob Arum on 1 March, Pacquiao's adviser Michael Koncz confirmed the fight would place on 20 May in the United Arab Emirates. Only a week later, Bob Arum told ESPN that, "It's kaddish for the UAE deal. It's dead." Arum also said that Khan would not be Pacquiao's next opponent.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: On 10 January 2018, during a live press conference in London, Khan signed a three-fight deal with Eddie Hearn at Matchroom Sport. The deal meant Khan would fight exclusively on Sky Sports, with his return bout in the UK taking place on 21 April at the Echo Arena in Liverpool. on 29 January, Phil Lo Greco (28–3, 17 KOs) was announced as his opponent. At the official press conference, a brawl broke out after Lo Greco made comments about Khan's personal life, "After the Canelo loss you went on a losing streak – family, wife and then you go out and tweet to the heavyweight champion of the world. What is wrong with you, mate?" Khan responded by throwing his glass full of water towards Lo Greco. The bout was fought at a catchweight of 150pounds, as requested by Lo Greco's team. Khan trained with Joe Goosen for the fight, with Virgil Hunter unavailable due to ill health. The fight would be the first boxing main event to stream on ESPN's new streaming service ESPN+.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: Khan knocked Lo Greco out in 39 seconds of round one, setting a new record for himself. The first knockdown occurred after just 15 seconds when Khan landed a right hand to the head. Lo Greco appeared hurt, but managed to beat the 10 count. When the action resumed, Khan quickly moved on Lo Greco, putting him against the ropes with a flurry of punches until he dropped once more. Referee Victor Loughlin called a halt to the fight immediately. After the fight, rival Kell Brook, who was on pundit duty, entered the ring and the two boxers traded words. Khan said, "The weight is an issue with Kell, I'm a 147 lbs fighter. I will fight and beat Kell Brook and the world knows it." During the post-fight press conference, Khan named a number of top welterweights including Keith Thurman and Errol Spence, but stated he would like to bring Adrien Broner over to the UK for a big fight.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: At an official press conference on 28 June, it was announced that Khan would return to Arena Birmingham for the first time since 2008, against Colombian Samuel Vargas (29–3–2, 14 KOs), who has been a five-fight unbeaten run since November 2016. Speaking of the fight, Khan said, "One of my aims this year was to be as active as possible, so I'm very happy to get back in the ring again so soon against Samuel Vargas. Vargas is a tough and well-schooled fighter, who has shared the ring with some top welterweights including Danny Garcia and Errol Spence Jr." Vargas weighed 146 lbs. At first attempt Khan weighed 147.2 lbs. He then took off his socks and weighed 147.1 lbs. Khan then took off his shorts, stripping completely naked and made the 147 lbs limit.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: The fight took place on 8 September 2018, Khan won the fight by UD, with scores of 119–108, 119–109 and 118–110. Khan knocked Vargas twice in the fight in dropping him in round two and three. Vargas dropped Khan once in round three. Khan fought well in round five in landing a lot of fast combinations to the head of Vargas, who suffered a nose injury. Vargas took the punishment and showed a lot of heart as he kept coming forward. Midway through the fight, Khan began to slow down and showed fatigue. He began to pick his combinations rather than just throw a flurry. Vargas focused mostly on the body attack for the fight. He managed to have Khan in trouble as he pinned him against the ropes, most notably in rounds six and ten. After the fight, Khan said, "I really wanted to go the distance. It's been three years since I went twelve rounds. There were a couple of times when I could have stopped him and I kind of stepped off him." Khan called for a fight against former sparring partner Manny Pacquiao and Eddie Hearn said it was 'now or never' for a Kell Brook fight. According to CompuBox stats, Khan landed 199 punches of 581 thrown (35%) and Vargas was credited with landing 142 of his 535 thrown (27%). Vargas landed 100 shots to Khan's body, 91 being power punches. Hearn announced that the fight set a viewership record, for the biggest live audience on UK subscription television in boxing history.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: On 9 December 2018, it was reported that Top Rank had offered Khan a guaranteed $5 million purse, plus a percentage of PPV revenue, to fight Terence Crawford on 23 March 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The fight was made official in January 2019, and it was set to take place at Madison Square Garden on 20 April. The fight would be broadcast live on ESPN PPV; UK broadcasting rights were later acquired by BT Sport Box Office. Khan, commenting on facing Crawford rather than long-time domestic rival Brook, believed winning a world title against a consensus pound-for-pound boxer would be a bigger achievement than defeating Brook. He also believed that win or lose against Crawford, the Brook opportunity would still be available. Khan returned to veteran trainer Virgil Hunter for the Crawford bout. Hunter was unable to train Khan for his previous two bouts due to ill health.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: Khan was comprehensively outboxed by Crawford, and was knocked down in the first round. In round six, Khan was hit by an accidental low blow, and during the allocated five-minute recovery time, trainer Virgil Hunter threw in the towel to hand Crawford a TKO victory. At the time of the stoppage, Crawford lead on all three scorecards, 50–44, and 49–45 twice. Following the fight, Khan had to respond to criticism that he quit in the ring.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: On 12 July 2019 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Khan defeated former IBF featherweight champion Billy Dib by technical knockout in the fourth round to win the vacant WBC International welterweight title. Dib took the fight on short notice in June after Khan's original opponent Neeraj Goyat was injured in a car crash. On the night, Khan sent Dib to the canvas in the second round with a left hook. In the fourth round, a double left hook followed by a rapid combination knocked Dib down again, prompting his corner to throw in the towel.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: On 19 February 2022, Khan was defeated with a sixth-round technical knockout at the hands of Kell Brook in a 149-pound catchweight bout at Manchester’s AO Arena.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: On 13 May 2022, Khan announced his retirement from boxing with a record of 34 wins from his 40 fights.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: Amir Khan is a promoter, the CEO of his own boxing promotion company, Khan Promotions. In March 2021 Khan officially announced his first-ever signing, Tal Singh and is now managing the former England amateur champion, who he is hoping to guide towards a historic world title triumph.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: Khan announced that he was building a boxing academy called the Amir Khan Academy to produce Pakistani boxing champions. Based in Islamabad, the Amir Khan Academy is planning to train Pakistani amateur boxers competing at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: In 2016, Khan was named co-owner of India's Super Fight League (SFL). He announced that he, along with Super Fight League, would introduce India's first team-based MMA league, with events expected to be held in India, the United States, Canada, and Dubai. SFL has had several Bollywood stars, including Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgn, Tiger Shroff, and Jacqueline Fernandez, as promoters and team ambassadors. SFL is the world's third largest MMA brand. It has had 67 live televised events, with over 100million views.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: In 2017, Khan and Bill Dosanjh founded Super Boxing League (SBL) after Super Fight League first season. The league is organised with the support of WBC and Professional Boxing Organisation India. The first season had 8 teams comprising both men and women pugilist. Both British Asian, Khan and Dosanjh have founded SBL to popularise professional boxing in India. SBL has had several Bollywood stars joining as team ambassadors, including Suniel Shetty, Rana Daggubati, Sushant Singh Rajput, Randeep Hooda, and Sohail Khan.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: In addition to boxing, Khan enjoys cricket, basketball, and football. He supports his local Bolton Wanderers team and has previously used the club's training facilities.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: On 31 May 2013, Khan married Faryal Makhdoom at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. The couple then flew back to Khan's hometown of Bolton where a second celebration, a traditional Walima, took place in Manchester, which included 4,000 guests. They have two daughters. On 4 August 2017, Amir announced that he and Faryal had agreed to split. In November 2017, photos emerged of Khan and his wife together. Khan later stated that he and his wife had reconciled.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: In September 2013, Khan stated his plans to 'make Bolton better', by investing £5million into a wedding and banqueting hall in Washington Street, Deane. Original plans were to be ready within 18 months, with an all glass front. On 23 November 2016, Khan made an announcement of the other businesses that would open alongside the banqueting hall; this included FMK make-up shop run by his wife Faryal, Argeela Lounge shisha bar and restaurant, British-Asian curry firm My Lahore, another buffet restaurant and coffee shop.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: In 2014, he earned $15million, making him the sixth highest-earning boxer that year. In 2016, his earnings from the Canelo fight was an estimated £9 million ($13.1 million), the highest for a British boxer since Wladimir Klitschko vs. David Haye in 2011.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: Khan has past and present involvements in supporting charitable and community causes. After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, he was among those who raised money for its victims, and in the following year he visited Pakistan to dispense food in a camp set up after the Kashmir earthquake. He has also been involved with a campaign that promotes child safety around British railways, one that seeks improvements to the criminal justice system, and another that encourages men to play a role in ending violence against women.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: In December 2013, Khan hosted a fundraising dinner to support Islamic Relief's Philippines Appeal in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, raising £83,400.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: In 2015, he received an honorary degree from the University of Bolton for his contributions to sport and charity.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: Khan founded his own charity organisation, Amir Khan Foundation, with which he is involved in a number of charitable projects. The Water Wells project provides water wells in drought-stricken regions across Asia and Africa. Other projects include an orphanage in The Gambia, the #OrphanAID project in partnership with the Shilpa Shetty Foundation, providing aid in Syria in partnership with Islamic Relief, providing aid for Syrian refugees in Greece, and work with Barnardo's children's charity in Britain.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: Khan was involved in a TV programme for Channel 4, "Amir Khan's Angry Young Men", which consisted of three 50-minute episodes. The programme centred around troubled angry men and aimed to use the disciplines of boxing, coupled with faith and family values, to help re-focus their lives and steer them away from trouble in the future. It was screened in August/September 2007.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: On 29 March 2021, Khan appeared in an eight-part reality show on BBC One called "", alongside his wife Faryal.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: As a celebrity, he has participated in several game shows. These include "Countdown", "Beat the Star", "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", "Celebrity Juice", and "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!"


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: On 12 November 2017, Khan arrived in Brisbane, Australia to appear as a contestant on the seventeenth series of "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!". Khan was the highest-paid contestant in the history of the show, beating the previous record held by Katie Price. On 8 December 2017, Khan was the seventh person to be eliminated from the show, coming in 5th place overall. The episode which featured Khan's elimination aired in the UK on his 31st birthday. Khan donated part of his earnings to Barnado's, for whom he is an ambassador.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: The show's ratings averaged between 8million and 10million viewers every day for two weeks in the United Kingdom. The show peaked at 12.69million viewers for the first episode, while the final episode drew 10.68million viewers.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: On 23 October 2007, Khan was convicted of careless driving at Bolton Crown Court and given a six-month driving ban and a £1000 fine. The conviction related to an incident that occurred on 2 March 2006 in the centre of Bolton, when Khan's car hit and broke the leg of a pedestrian who was using a pelican crossing while Khan was travelling at 47 mph in a 30 mph zone and overtaking in the wrong lane. He was cleared of dangerous driving but charged with the lesser offence of careless driving.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: Khan was also summoned to appear in court in Rochdale on 26 October 2007, accused of travelling in excess of 140 mph on the M62 motorway on 31 December 2006. He failed to appear and the case was adjourned to 2 November 2007, with the District Judge warning that he would issue an arrest warrant if the accused did not appear by then. He was also charged with not producing his driving licence and insurance certificate. On 7 January 2008, Khan was fined £1000 and banned for 42 days for the speeding offence.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: In 2007, he was named ESPN prospect of the year. His defeat of Marcos Maidana in 2010 was awarded Fight of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America. He was a nominee for the 2011 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award after defeating Zab Judah.


title: Amir Khan (boxer)

text: In January 2013, he was nominated for the Best at Sport award at the British Muslim Awards. In 2014, he was given Pride of Performance from the President of Pakistan.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: The 2010 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 May 2010, with 45,597,461 registered voters entitled to vote to elect members to the House of Commons. The election took place in 650 constituencies across the United Kingdom under the first-past-the-post system.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: The election resulted in a large swing to the Conservative Party similar to that seen in 1979, the last time a Conservative opposition had ousted a Labour government. The Labour Party lost the 66-seat majority it had previously enjoyed, but no party achieved the 326 seats needed for a majority. The Conservatives, led by David Cameron, won the most votes and seats, but still fell 20 seats short. This resulted in a hung parliament where no party was able to command a majority in the House of Commons. This was only the second general election since the Second World War to return a hung parliament, the first being the February 1974 election.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: For the leaders of all three major political parties, this was their first general election contest as party leader. Prime minister Gordon Brown had taken office in June 2007 following the end of Tony Blair's 10-year reign as prime minister and 13 years as leader of the Labour Party, while David Cameron had succeeded Michael Howard in December 2005 and Nick Clegg had succeeded Menzies Campbell (who never contested a general election) in December 2007.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: However, a hung parliament had been largely anticipated by the opinion polls in the run-up to the election, so politicians and voters were better prepared for the constitutional process that would follow such a result. The coalition government that was subsequently formed was the first to result directly from a UK election. The hung parliament came about in spite of the Conservatives managing both a higher vote total and a higher share of the vote than the previous Labour government had done in 2005, when it had secured a comfortable majority (although vastly reduced from its landslide victories at the previous two elections). A total of 149 sitting MPs stood down at the election, the highest since 1945, including many former New Labour Cabinet ministers such as former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, Alan Milburn, Geoff Hoon, Ruth Kelly, James Purnell and John Reid. One reason for the very high number of MPs standing down was the parliamentary expenses scandal a year earlier.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Coalition talks began immediately between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, and lasted for five days. There was an aborted attempt to put together a Labour/Liberal Democrat coalition (although 11 seats from other smaller parties would have been required). To facilitate this, Gordon Brown announced on the evening of Monday 10 May that he would resign as Leader of the Labour Party. Realising that a deal between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats was imminent, Brown resigned the next day, on Tuesday 11 May, as Prime Minister, marking the end of 13 years of Labour government. This was accepted by Queen Elizabeth II, who then invited David Cameron to form a government in her name and become Prime Minister. Just after midnight on 12 May, the Liberal Democrats approved the agreement "overwhelmingly", sealing a coalition government of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: None of the three main party leaders had previously led a general election campaign, a situation which had not occurred since the 1979 election. During the campaign, the three main party leaders engaged in the first televised debates. The Liberal Democrats achieved a breakthrough in opinion polls after the first debate, in which their leader Nick Clegg was widely seen as the strongest performer. Nonetheless, on polling day their share of the vote increased by only 1%, with a net loss of five seats. This was still the Liberal Democrats' largest popular vote since the party's creation in 1988; they found themselves in a pivotal role in the formation of the new government. The share of votes for parties other than Labour or the Conservatives was 35%, the largest since the 1918 general election. In terms of votes it was the most "three-cornered" election since 1923, as well as in terms of seats since 1929. The Green Party of England and Wales won its first ever seat in the House of Commons, and the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland also gained its first elected member. The general election saw a 5.1% national swing from Labour to the Conservatives, the third-largest since 1945. The result in one constituency, Oldham East and Saddleworth, was subsequently declared void on petition because of illegal practices during the campaign, the first such instance since 1910.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: 150 new MPs were elected at the election. Notable newcomers who were elected to parliament in 2010 included future Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss, future Home Secretary Priti Patel, future Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg, future Health Secretary Matt Hancock and future Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Owen Smith.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: The prime minister, Gordon Brown, went to Buckingham Palace on 6 April and asked the Queen to dissolve Parliament on 12 April, confirming in a live press conference in Downing Street, as had long been speculated, that the election would be held on 6 May, five years since the previous election on 5 May 2005. The election took place on 6 May in 649 constituencies across the United Kingdom, under the first-past-the-post system, for seats in the House of Commons. Voting in the Thirsk and Malton constituency was postponed for three weeks because of the death of a candidate.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: The governing Labour Party campaigned to secure a fourth consecutive term in office, and to restore support lost since 2001. The Conservative Party sought to gain a dominant position in British politics after losses in the 1990s, and to replace Labour as the governing party. The Liberal Democrats hoped to make gains from both sides and hoped to hold the balance of power in a hung parliament. Since the televised debates between the three leaders, their poll ratings had risen to the point where many considered the possibility of a Liberal Democrat role in Government. Polls just before election day saw a slight swing from the Liberal Democrats back to Labour and Conservatives, with the majority of final polls falling within one point of Conservatives 36%, Labour 29%, Liberal Democrats 23%. However, record numbers of undecided voters raised uncertainty about the outcome. The Scottish National Party, encouraged by their victory in the 2007 Scottish parliament elections, set itself a target of 20 MPs and was hoping to find itself holding a balance of power. Equally, Plaid Cymru sought gains in Wales. Smaller parties which had had successes at local elections and the 2009 European elections (UK Independence Party, Green Party, British National Party) looked to extend their representation to seats in the House of Commons. The Democratic Unionist Party looked to maintain, if not extend, its number of seats, having been the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: This election had an unusually high number of MPs choosing not to seek re-election, with more standing down than did so at the 1945 general election (which on account of the extraordinary wartime circumstances came ten years after the preceding election). This has been attributed to the 2009 expenses scandal and the fact there was talk that redundancy-style payments for departing MPs might be scrapped after the election.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: In all, 149 MPs (100 Labour, 35 Conservatives, 7 Liberal Democrats, 2 Independents, 1 Independent Conservative and 1 member each from the SNP, Plaid Cymru, the DUP, and the SDLP) decided not to contest the election. Additionally, three seats were vacant at the time of the dissolution of Parliament; two due to the deaths of Labour MPs and one due to the resignation in January 2010 of a DUP member.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Each of the four national boundary commissions is required by the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 (as amended by the Boundary Commissions Act 1992) to conduct a general review of all the constituencies in its part of the United Kingdom every eight to twelve years to ensure the size and composition of constituencies are as fair as possible. Based on the Rallings and Thrasher studies using ward by ward data from local elections and the 2005 general election, the new boundaries used in 2010 would have returned nine fewer Labour MPs had they been in place at the previous election; given that there are to be four more seats in the next parliament this nationally reduces Labour's majority from 66 to 48.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Pursuant to Boundary Commission for England recommendations, the number of seats in England increased by four, and numerous changes were made to the existing constituency boundaries.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Northern Ireland continued to elect 18 MPs, but minor changes were made to the eastern constituencies in accordance with the Northern Ireland Boundary Commission's recommendations. For the first time, these changes include the splitting of an electoral ward between two constituencies.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Following the recommendations of the Boundary Commission for Wales, the total number of seats remained at 40, although new seats caused by radical redrawing of boundaries in Clwyd and Gwynedd were fought for the first time: Arfon and Dwyfor Meirionnydd replaced Caernarfon and Meirionnydd Nant Conwy, respectively; Aberconwy replaced Conwy. At the time of the election Welsh constituencies had electorates on average around 14,000 smaller than their counterparts in England.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Scotland saw its most recent large-scale review completed in 2004, so its 59 constituencies remained the same as at the 2005 general election.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: All three main parties went into the general election having changed leaders since 2005. David Cameron became Conservative leader in December 2005, replacing Michael Howard. Gordon Brown succeeded Tony Blair as leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister in June 2007. Nick Clegg was elected as leader of the Liberal Democrats in December 2007, succeeding Menzies Campbell who had replaced Charles Kennedy in January 2006. The last time all three main parties went into a general election with new leaders was in the 1979 election, when James Callaghan as Labour leader, Margaret Thatcher for the Conservatives, and David Steel with the then-Liberal Party took to the polls.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: The prospect of a coalition or minority government was being considered well before polling day. Gordon Brown made comments about the possibility of a coalition in January 2010. In 2009, it was reported that senior civil servants were to meet with the Liberal Democrats to discuss their policies, an indication of how seriously the prospect of a hung parliament was being taken. Nick Clegg and Menzies Campbell had continued the position of Charles Kennedy of not being prepared to form a coalition with either main party and of voting against any Queen's Speech unless there was an unambiguous commitment in it to introduce proportional representation.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Other parties with representation at Westminster after the previous general election included the Scottish National Party, with six parliamentary seats, Plaid Cymru from Wales with three seats, and Respect – The Unity Coalition and Health Concern, each of which held one parliamentary seat in England. Since that election, the SNP had won the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections and gained control of the Scottish Government, and also won the largest share of the 2009 European Parliament election vote in Scotland. In Wales, the Labour Party remained the largest party in the Welsh Assembly, although Plaid Cymru increased their share of the vote and formed a coalition government with Labour.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: In 2009 the Ulster Unionist Party and the Conservative Party announced they had formed an electoral alliance whereby the two parties would field joint candidates for future elections under the banner of "Ulster Conservatives and Unionists – New Force". However, this caused the sole UUP MP Lady Sylvia Hermon to resign from the party on 25 March 2010, leaving them with no representation at Westminster for the first time in their history.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Many constituencies were contested by other, smaller parties. Parties that won no representatives at Westminster in 2005 but have seats in the devolved assemblies or European Parliament included the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, the Progressive Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, the British National Party, the UK Independence Party (UKIP), and the Green parties in the UK: the Green Party of England and Wales, the Scottish Green Party, and the Green Party in Northern Ireland. In 2009, Nigel Farage announced his intention to resign as UKIP leader to focus on becoming an MP. Farage was replaced in an election by party members by Lord Pearson of Rannoch, whose stated intention was for the electoral support of UKIP to force a hung parliament. The Green Party of England and Wales voted to have a position of leader for the first time; the first leadership election was won by Caroline Lucas, who successfully contested the constituency of Brighton Pavilion.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: In addition, a new loose coalition, Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), contested a general election for the first time. TUSC was a grouping of left wing parties that participated in the 2009 European Parliament elections under the name of No2EU; members included the Socialist Workers Party, the Socialist Party, the Socialist Alliance, Socialist Resistance, and is supported by some members of UNISON, the National Union of Teachers, the University and College Union, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, and the Public and Commercial Services Union. Several members of these unions ran as candidates under the TUSC banner. However, some former members of NO2EU, such as the Liberal Party and the Communist Party of Britain, chose not to participate in the TUSC campaign. The coalition did not run candidates against left wing Labour or Respect candidates.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: The prospective Labour candidate for Moray, Stuart Maclennan, was sacked after making offensive comments on his Twitter page, referring to elderly voters as "coffin dodgers" and voters in the North of Scotland as "teuchters", and insulting politicians such as Cameron, Clegg, John Bercow and Diane Abbott.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: The UKIP candidate for Thirsk and Malton—John Boakes—died, causing the election in the constituency to be postponed until 27 May.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Philip Lardner, the Conservative candidate for North Ayrshire and Arran, was suspended from the party for comments he made about homosexuality on his website, describing it as not "normal behaviour". Andrew Fulton, the chairman of the Scottish Conservative Party, called the comments "deeply offensive and unacceptable", adding: "These views have no place in the modern Conservative party." However, he still appeared as a Conservative candidate because it was too late to remove his name from the ballot paper.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: A total of 2,378 postal voters in Bristol West were wrongly sent ballot papers for Bristol East by mistake. Bristol City Council officials asked people to tear up the wrong papers and said: "Every effort will be made to ensure delivery [of new ballot papers] by 30 April."


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: The SNP attempted but failed to ban the broadcast of the final party leaders' debate in Scotland, in a court action. They had argued that "the corporation [the BBC] had breached its rules on impartiality by excluding the SNP". The judge, Lady Smith, ruled that "the SNP's case 'lacks the requisite precision and clarity and added she could not "conclude the BBC had breached impartiality rules". Additionally, broadcasting regulator Ofcom ruled that it had not "upheld complaints received from the SNP and Plaid Cymru about The First Election Debate broadcast on ITV1 on Thursday 15 April 2010".


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: The leader of the UK Independence Party, Lord Pearson, wrote an open letter to Somerset newspapers, asking voters to support Conservative candidates, rather than UKIP candidates in the Somerton and Frome, Taunton Deane and Wells constituencies. This action was criticised by UKIP candidates who refused to stand down.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: The Labour candidate for Bristol East and former MP Kerry McCarthy revealed information about postal votes cast in the constituency on Twitter. Avon and Somerset Police said they were "looking into a possible alleged breach of electoral law". Bristol City Council stated: "This is a criminal matter and [it] will be for the police to decide what action to take."


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: The former Prime Minister Tony Blair returned to the campaign trail for Labour, visiting a polyclinic in Harrow West, after a troubled Labour campaign.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Postal voters in the marginal Vale of Glamorgan constituency had to be issued with new ballot papers after mistakenly being told they did not have to sign applications for postal votes.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: A group of entrepreneurs warned on the dangers of a Labour-Liberal coalition in an open letter to "The Times" on 29 April.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Gordon Brown, while in his Prime Ministerial Car on 28 April, privately described a 65-year-old woman and lifelong Labour voter, Gillian Duffy, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, a Labour-Liberal Democrat marginal seat, as a "bigoted woman". She had asked him about vulnerable people supposedly not receiving benefits because immigrants were receiving them, adding: "You can't say anything about the immigrants because you're saying that you're ... but all these eastern Europeans what are coming in, where are they flocking from?" He replied: "A million people have come from Europe but a million British people have gone into Europe." Brown's conversation with his communications director Justin Forsyth (JF) went:


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Brown's remarks were recorded by a Sky News microphone he was still wearing, and widely broadcast. It was later said that Brown had misheard Duffy and thought she had asked, "where are they fucking from?" Soon after the incident, Brown talked to Jeremy Vine live on BBC Radio 2 where he publicly apologised to Duffy. American comedian Jon Stewart commented that the clip showed the moment when Brown's "political career leaves his body". Subsequently, Brown visited her house for 43 minutes in order to apologise in person. Upon emerging, he described himself as a "penitent sinner", while Duffy refused to speak to the press and would not shake hands with him in front of the cameras. She said the incident had left her feeling more sad than angry and that she would not be voting for Labour or any other party. The incident was subsequently dubbed "Bigotgate", which was later added to the Collins English Dictionary. Despite this, Labour went on to gain the Rochdale seat from the Liberal Democrats, one of the few gains they made in the election.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: In Hornsey and Wood Green constituency 749 postal voters were sent ballot papers which asked voters to pick three candidates instead of one; Haringey Council had to send correct versions by hand.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: The Metropolitan Police launched an investigation in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. "The Times" reported on 2 May that the investigation had revealed some names on the register were fictitious, with a late surge in applications to be added to the electoral register (before 20 April deadline) leading to 5,000 additions without time for full checks. In terms of the outcome of the borough's two seats, the narrower majority in any event exceeded 5,000 votes in Poplar and Limehouse, at 6,030 votes.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: The Labour candidate for North West Norfolk, Manish Sood, described Gordon Brown as Britain's worst ever Prime Minister. The comments, which he repeated to a variety of news outlets, took attention away from the previous day's speech by Brown to Citizens UK, widely described as his best in the campaign.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: A Conservative Party activist in Peterborough was arrested after alleged postal voting fraud, calling into question 150 postal votes.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Simon Bennett resigned as the head of the British National Party's online operation then redirected its website to his own on which he attacked the party's leadership.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: On the morning of polling day, 6 May, the former and later leader of UKIP, Nigel Farage, standing in Buckingham against the Speaker, was injured when a light banner-towing aircraft in which he was a passenger crashed near Brackley, Northamptonshire.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Groups of voters waiting in queues at 10 pm were locked out of polling stations in Sheffield Hallam, Manchester and Leeds; and police said one London polling station was open until 10.30 pm, which triggered a national review of polling station requirements led by the Electoral Commission.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: The counts for the Foyle and East Londonderry constituencies were suspended because of a security alert around 11 pm after a car was abandoned outside the counting centre, causing a bomb scare.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Following a campaign by Sky News and with agreement of the party leaders, it was announced on 21 December 2009 that there would be three leaders' debates, each broadcast on prime time television, and a subsequent announcement in March 2010 that a debate between the financial spokesmen of the three main parties, Alistair Darling, George Osborne and Vince Cable would be held on 29 March.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: The SNP insisted that as the leading political party in Scotland in the latest opinion poll, it should be included in any debate broadcast in Scotland. On 22 December 2009, the UKIP leader, Lord Pearson stated that his party should also be included. Following a decision by the BBC Trust not to uphold a complaint from the SNP and Plaid Cymru over their exclusion from the planned BBC debate, the SNP announced on 25 April that they would proceed with legal action over the debate scheduled for 29 April. The party said it was not trying to stop the broadcast but it wanted an SNP politician included for balance. The SNP lost the case, in a judgement delivered on 28 April.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Since each MP is elected separately by the first past the post voting system, it is impossible to precisely project a clear election outcome from overall UK shares of the vote. Not only can individual constituencies vary markedly from overall voting trends, but individual countries and regions within the UK may have a very different electoral contest that is not properly reflected in overall share of the vote figures.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Immediately following the previous general election, Labour held a double-digit lead in opinion polls. However, over the course of 2005, this lead was eroded somewhat. By December 2005, the Conservative party showed its first small leads in opinion polls following the controversial 90 days' detention proposals and the election of David Cameron to the leadership of the Conservative party.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: In early 2006, opinion polls were increasingly mixed with small leads given alternately to Labour and Conservative. From the May 2006 local elections, in which Labour suffered significant losses, the Conservatives took a small single-digit lead in opinion polls. Labour regained the lead in June 2007 following the resignation of Tony Blair and the appointment of Gordon Brown as prime minister. From November 2007, the Conservatives again took the lead and, from then, extended their lead into double digits, particularly in response to the MPs' expenses scandal, although there was some evidence that the lead narrowed slightly towards the end of 2009. By the end of February 2010, Ipsos MORI, ICM, YouGov and ComRes polls had all found a sufficient narrowing of the Conservative lead for media speculation about a hung parliament to return.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: From 15 April 2010, following the first televised debate of the party leaders, polling data changed dramatically, with the Lib Dem vote proportion rising to 28–33%, and the Conservative vote proportion falling. In some polls, the Liberal Democrats took the lead from the Conservatives. Under UNS projections, this made a hung parliament highly probable, if Lib Dem performance had persisted.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: The following graph shows ComRes poll results recorded over the period 11 April – 6 May 2010, including annotations of the three TV debates:


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: After the second debate on 22 April the polls, on average, placed the Conservatives in the lead on 33%, the Liberal Democrats in second on 30% and Labour in third on 28%. If these polls had reflected the election day results on a uniform swing nationwide, Labour would have had the most seats in a hung Parliament.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: At 22:00 on election day, coinciding with the closure of the polls, the results of an exit poll completed by GfK NOP and Ipsos MORI on behalf of the BBC, Sky and ITV news services was announced. Data were gathered from individuals at 130 polling stations around the country.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: The results of the poll initially suggested a hung parliament with the Conservative Party 19 seats from a controlling majority; this was later adjusted to 21 seats. The distribution of seats between the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats and other parties was initially suggested to be 307, 255, 59 and 29, respectively, although the seat numbers were later changed to 303, 251, 69 and 27, respectively.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Initial reaction to the exit poll by various commentators was of surprise at the apparent poor prospects for the Liberal Democrats because it was at odds with many opinion polls undertaken in the previous weeks. The actual results showed that the exit poll was a good predictor.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: A later BBC Exit poll (05:36 BST) predicted the Conservatives on 306 (20 short of an overall majority), Labour on 262 and Liberal Democrats on 55.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: National newspapers in England traditionally endorse political parties before a general election. The following table shows which parties the major papers endorsed.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: "The Independent" and "The Guardian" advocated tactical voting to maximise the chance of a Liberal Democrat/Labour coalition to make electoral reform including of the House of Lords and introduction of domestic proportional representation more likely.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: On 27 May 2010 the Conservatives won the final seat of Thirsk and Malton, thus giving them 306 seats. The election in that constituency had been delayed because of the death of the UKIP candidate.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Two results were also challenged by defeated candidates through election petitions – Fermanagh and South Tyrone, and Oldham East and Saddleworth. These candidates had lost by 4 and 103 votes respectively.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: The defeated Unionist 'Unity' candidate, Rodney Connor, lodged a petition against the successful Sinn Féin candidate, Michelle Gildernew, in Fermanagh and South Tyrone, alleging irregularities in the counting of the votes had affected the result. Gildernew had won with a plurality of four votes. However, the court found that there were only three ballot papers which could not be accounted for, and even if they were all votes for Connor, Gildernew would have had a plurality of one. The election was therefore upheld.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: On 28 May 2010, the defeated Liberal Democrat candidate Elwyn Watkins lodged a petition against the election of Phil Woolas (Labour) in Oldham East and Saddleworth constituency. The petition challenged leaflets issued by Woolas's campaign as having contained false statements of fact concerning Watkins' personal character, which is an illegal practice under section 106 of the Representation of the People Act 1983. The statements attempted to link Watkins with Muslim extremists and death threats to Woolas, accused him of reneging on a promise to live in the constituency, and implied that his campaign was funded by illegal foreign political donations.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: During the court case a number of emails between Woolas and his campaign team emerged. In one, Woolas's agent, Joe Fitzpatrick, emailed Woolas and campaign adviser Steven Green, to say: "Things are not going as well as I had hoped ... we need to think about our first attack leaflet." A reply from Fitzpatrick said: "If we don't get the white vote angry he's gone." The court hearing finished on 17 September 2010, with the judges reserving their judgement until 5 November 2010. On that day Woolas was found to have breached section 106 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 in relation to three of the four statements complained about, and the judges ruled that his election was void. Phil Woolas applied for a judicial review into the ruling, stating that "this election petition raised fundamental issues about the freedom to question and criticise politicians" and that it "will inevitably chill political speech". He succeeded in overturning the finding in respect of one of the three statements but the main findings of the election court judgment were upheld. A by-election on 13 January 2011 resulted in the election of Debbie Abrahams (Labour).


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: At 9:41 on 7 May, the BBC confirmed a hung parliament. The Conservatives stood at 290 seats, Labour at 247 and Liberal Democrats at 51. One constituency seat (Thirsk and Malton) was contested on 27 May because of the death of the UKIP candidate and was won by the Conservative Party, whilst another seat (Oldham East and Saddleworth) later had its result declared void; Labour won the resulting by-election.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: The result showed an overall 5.1% swing from Labour to the Conservatives, the third largest national swing achieved in a General Election since 1945 and similar to the 5.3% swing achieved by the Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher in 1979. The 97 net seat gains made by the Conservatives outdid their previous best gains total in 1950, when they gained 85. Labour's loss of 91 seats was worse than their previous greatest loss of seats, when they lost 77 seats in 1970.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Of the 532 seats contested in England (a final seat, Thirsk and Malton, was contested on 27 May), the Conservatives won 298 seats and an absolute majority of 61 seats over all other parties combined, securing an average swing of 5.6% from Labour. Labour did poorly in many Southern areas, notably in the Eastern Region where they won only two of their 14 seats from 2005: Luton North and Luton South. Labour did, however, gain two seats: Bethnal Green and Bow and Chesterfield. The Conservatives made 95 of their gains in England, but they also suffered three losses, all to the Liberal Democrats. For the Liberal Democrats, their eight gains were overshadowed by their 12 losses – one to Labour and 11 to the Conservatives.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: None of Scotland's 59 seats changed hands and all were held by the same party that had won them at the 2005 election, with Labour regaining the two seats they had lost in by-elections since 2005. There was a swing to Labour from the Conservatives of 0.8% (with Labour increasing its share of the vote by 2.5% and the Conservatives increasing by just 0.9%) The Conservatives finished with just a single MP representing a Scottish constituency.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Of the 40 seats contested in Wales, the Conservatives more than doubled their seats from three to eight, taking one from the Liberal Democrats and four from Labour. Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru's number of seats was reduced from three to two on the new seat boundaries, but they managed to gain one seat, Arfon, from Labour. Labour did, however, regain Blaenau Gwent, which had once been Labour's safest seat in Wales until it had been taken by an Independent, Peter Law, in 2005. Overall, Labour made a net loss of 4 seats but remained the biggest party, with 26.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: There were 18 seats contested in Northern Ireland. Both Irish nationalist parties, Sinn Féin and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), held their seats. The unionist Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) (the latter in an electoral pact with the Conservatives), lost one seat each. This left the nationalist parties unchanged with eight seats, the main unionist parties with eight seats (all DUP), the Alliance with one seat and an independent unionist with one seat. It is the first time since the partition of Ireland that unionist parties failed to secure a majority of Northern Ireland's Westminster seats in a general election, and also the first time Sinn Féin obtained the largest share of the vote in Northern Ireland at a general election.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: The election resulted in an increase in the number of MPs from ethnic minorities from 14 to 27, including the first black and Asian female Conservative MPs, Helen Grant and Priti Patel, and the first female Muslim MPs, Rushanara Ali, Shabana Mahmood and Yasmin Qureshi. This means that 4.2% of MPs are from an ethnic minority—in the 2001 Census, it was reported that ethnic minorities comprised 7.9% of the population. The number of female MPs rose to 141, an increase from 19.5% to 21.7% of all MPs, and the highest ever total; the number of female Conservative MPs rose from 18 (8.6% of all Conservatives) to 48 (15.7%).


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: In Northern Ireland a swing of more than 20% resulted in DUP First Minister Peter Robinson losing his Belfast East seat to the Alliance Party's Naomi Long, giving Alliance its first elected MP in Westminster.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Sir Reg Empey, leader of the UUP/Conservative alliance (UCUNF), standing for the first time in South Antrim, lost to the DUP incumbent William McCrea. Thus both leaders of the main Unionist parties failed to win seats while the UUP for the first time had no MPs at Westminster. A few days after the election, Empey announced that he would resign before the party conference, triggering a leadership election.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Sylvia Hermon, Lady Hermon retained her seat in North Down, significantly increasing her percentage of the vote despite a slightly lower turnout and her defection from the UUP/Conservative alliance to stand as an independent.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: New SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie, succeeding Eddie McGrady MP, won against Sinn Féin's Caitriona Ruane in South Down. All of the Sinn Féin and SDLP incumbents held their seats, although Sinn Féin's Michelle Gildernew retained her seat in Fermanagh & South Tyrone by only four votes over the Independent Unionist Unity candidate, Rodney Connor, after three recounts.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Many of the MPs who were most prominently caught up in the scandal decided, or were ordered, not to stand for re-election in 2010. Among them were Margaret Moran, Elliot Morley, David Chaytor, Nicholas and Ann Winterton, Derek Conway, John Gummer, Douglas Hogg, Anthony Steen, Peter Viggers, Julie Kirkbride and her husband Andrew MacKay.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Where sitting MPs did stand for re-election after their expenses claims were criticised, there were some notable losses. Former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith lost her marginal Redditch seat, which showed a large 9.2% swing to the Conservatives. Smith had claimed expenses on a large family home in Redditch by declaring her house-share with her sister in London as her main home, which had been described as "near fraudulent" by the former chairman of the committee on Standards in Public life, although she had only been ordered to apologise rather than repay the money. Former Home Office minister Tony McNulty lost Harrow East to the Conservatives on an 8% swing, after repaying over £13,000 claimed on a second home, occupied by his parents, which was 8 miles away from his primary residence. Ann Keen lost Brentford and Isleworth on a 6% swing, but her husband Alan Keen retained Feltham and Heston. The couple were criticised for claiming for a second home in central London while rarely staying in their nearby constituency home.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Shahid Malik lost his Dewsbury seat on a 5.9% swing to the Conservatives. Malik had been required to repay some of his expense claims and, at the time of the election, was under investigation for other claims. David Heathcoat-Amory was one of only two sitting Conservatives to be defeated when he lost Wells to the Liberal Democrats by 800 votes. Heathcoat-Amory was criticised for claiming manure on expenses. Phil Hope, who repaid over £40,000 in expenses, was defeated in his Corby constituency although the swing was lower than the national average at 3.3%.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Hazel Blears, who had paid more than £13,000 to cover capital gains tax which she had avoided by "flipping" the designation of her main residence, suffered a large drop in her vote in Salford and Eccles, but was still comfortably re-elected; a 'Hazel must go' candidate won only 1.8%. Conversely, Brian Jenkins lost his Tamworth seat on a large 9.5% swing despite being described as a "saint" by "The Daily Telegraph" on account of his low expenses. Ironically, his successor in the seat was Conservative Chris Pincher, whose future sexual assault scandal would bring down the premiership of Prime Minister Boris Johnson twelve years later.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Predictions of a rise in the number of successful Independents in the election as a result of the 2009 expenses scandal failed to materialise. Independents supported by the Jury Team or the Independent Network, support networks who both attempted to select and promote high quality Independents who had signed up for the so-called Nolan Principles of public life, set out in the Committee on Standards in Public Life, failed to have any significant impact. Broadcaster Esther Rantzen gathered a great deal of publicity for her campaign in Luton South constituency where the former MP Margaret Moran had stood down, but ended up losing her deposit in 4th place with 4.4% of the vote; the winner was Moran's successor as Labour candidate.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: There was also a high-profile campaign over expenses directed against Speaker John Bercow, who had 'flipped' his designation of second home. An imperfectly observed convention states that the major parties do not oppose the Speaker seeking re-election; Bercow faced two main opponents in Buckingham. Independent former Member of the European Parliament John Stevens, standing on the Buckinghamshire Campaign for Democracy ticket, campaigned with a man dressed in a dolphin costume whom he called 'Flipper' and polled second with 21.4%. Former leader of the UK Independence Party Nigel Farage also fought the seat but came third in the vote with 17.4%. Bercow won with 47.3%.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Problems occurred with voting at 27 polling places in 16 constituencies, and affected approximately 1,200 people. This situation was condemned by politicians of various parties. Jenny Watson, chair of the Electoral Commission, the independent body that oversees the electoral process, was forced on to television to defend preparations and procedures. The Electoral Commission announced it would be carrying out a "thorough investigation". Under the law in force at the 2010 election, voters had to have been handed their ballots by the 10 pm deadline; people who were waiting in queues to vote at 10 pm were not allowed to vote.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: In Chester there were reports that 600 registered voters were unable to vote because the electoral roll had not been updated, while in Hackney, Islington, Leeds, Lewisham, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield long queues led to many voters being turned away and unable to vote as the deadline arrived. Some dissatisfied voters staged sit-ins to protest against what some of them had called "disenfranchisement". In Liverpool, higher-than-expected turnout meant several polling stations ran out of ballot papers, with defeated council leader Warren Bradley stating that some residents were unable to cast their votes. In Wyre and Preston North, a 14-year-old boy cast a vote after being sent a polling card.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: In parts of Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg's Sheffield Hallam seat it was reported that students from the city's two universities were placed in separate queues from 'local' residents, who were given priority, resulting in many students being unable to cast their votes.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Because of closure of United Kingdom airspace as a result of the Iceland volcanic eruption, potential expat voters in New Zealand were denied a vote when postal voting papers arrived too late to be returned to the UK, although Australian broadcaster SBS suggested that given the extremely tight timetabling of overseas votes, "there is very little chance that voting papers" [for voters outside Europe] "will be received, let alone returned, in time to be counted."


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: When it became clear that no party would achieve an overall majority, the three main party leaders made public statements offering to discuss the options for forming the next government with the other parties.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: On 11 May 2010, as coalition talks between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats seemed to be drawing to a successful conclusion, Gordon Brown announced that he was resigning as Prime Minister and also as Labour leader. He then left Downing Street, accompanied by his wife and children, driving to Buckingham Palace where he tendered his resignation to the Queen and advised her to call for David Cameron. Cameron became Prime Minister one hour after the Queen accepted Brown's resignation. In his first address outside 10 Downing Street, he announced his intention to form a coalition government, the first since the Second World War, with the Liberal Democrats. As one of his first moves, Cameron appointed Nick Clegg as Deputy Prime Minister.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Just after midnight on 12 May 2010, the Liberal Democrats emerged from a meeting of their Parliamentary party and Federal Executive to announce that the coalition deal had been "approved overwhelmingly", meaning that David Cameron would lead a coalition government of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: Later that day, the two parties jointly published the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement specifying the terms of the coalition deal.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: A film of the election was made by candidate and filmmaker John Walsh entitled "ToryBoy The Movie", exploring the candidate's selection process and the work that goes into an election campaign. One of the film's subjects, the British Labour Party MP Sir Stuart Bell, was later described as "Britain's laziest MP". The film received cinema releases in 2011 and again ahead of the 2015 general election.


title: 2010 United Kingdom general election

text: UK parties spent £31.1m on the campaign of which Conservatives spent 53%, the Labour Party spent 25% and the Liberal Democrats 15%. Figures from returning officers show that the average administration cost per constituency was £173,846 meaning the average cost per vote was £3.81.


title: Richard Jewell

text: Richard Allensworth Jewell (born Richard White; December 17, 1962 – August 29, 2007) was an American security guard and law enforcement officer who alerted police during the Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. He discovered a backpack containing three pipe bombs on the park grounds and helped evacuate the area before the bomb exploded, saving many people from injury or death. For months afterward he was suspected of planting the bomb, leading to adverse publicity that "came to symbolize the excesses of law enforcement and the news media."


title: Richard Jewell

text: Initially hailed by the media as a hero, Jewell was soon considered a suspect by the FBI and local law enforcement based on psychological profiling. Though never charged, Jewell underwent what was described as a "trial by media", which took a toll on his personal and professional life. He was cleared as a suspect after 88 days of public scrutiny. In 2005, Eric Rudolph confessed and pleaded guilty to that bombing and other attacks.


title: Richard Jewell

text: Jewell's life has been the subject of popular culture, including the 2019 film "Richard Jewell" and the ten-episode drama "Deadly Games", the 2020 season of the anthology series ""Manhunt"".


title: Richard Jewell

text: Jewell was born Richard White in Danville, Virginia, the son of Bobi, an insurance claims coordinator, and Robert Earl White, who worked for Chevrolet. Richard's birth parents divorced when he was four. When his mother later married John Jewell, an insurance executive, his stepfather adopted him.


title: Richard Jewell

text: Centennial Olympic Park was designed as the "town square" of the Olympics, and thousands of spectators had gathered for a late concert and merrymaking. Sometime after midnight, July 27, 1996, Eric Robert Rudolph, a terrorist who would later bomb a lesbian nightclub and two abortion clinics, planted a green backpack containing a fragmentation-laden pipe bomb under a bench. Jewell was working as a security guard for the event. He discovered the bag and alerted Georgia Bureau of Investigation officers. This discovery was nine minutes before Rudolph called 9-1-1 to deliver a warning. During a Jack Mack and the Heart Attack performance, Jewell and other security guards began clearing the immediate area so that a bomb squad could investigate the suspicious package. The bomb exploded 13 minutes later, killing Alice Hawthorne and injuring over 100 others. A cameraman also died of a heart attack while running to cover the incident.


title: Richard Jewell

text: Early news reports lauded Jewell as a hero for helping to evacuate the area after he spotted the suspicious package. Three days later, "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution" revealed that the FBI was treating him as a possible suspect, based largely on a "lone bomber" criminal profile. For the next several weeks, the news media focused aggressively on him as the presumed culprit, labeling him a "person of interest". The media, to varying degrees, portrayed Jewell as a failed law enforcement officer who might have planted the bomb so he could "find" it and be a hero.


title: Richard Jewell

text: "The New York Times" reported in October 1996, when he was cleared as a suspect, that "a number of law-enforcement officials have said privately for months that they thought Mr. Jewell had been involved in the bombing, even though there was no evidence against him and some evidence seemed to rule him out."


title: Richard Jewell

text: Jewell was never officially charged, but the FBI thoroughly and publicly searched his home twice, questioned his associates, investigated his background, and maintained 24-hour surveillance of him. The pressure began to ease only after Jewell's attorneys hired an ex-FBI agent to administer a polygraph, which Jewell passed.


title: Richard Jewell

text: A Justice Department investigation of the FBI's conduct found the FBI had tried to manipulate Jewell into waiving his constitutional rights by telling him he was taking part in a training film about bomb detection, although the report concluded "no intentional violation of Mr. Jewell's civil rights and no criminal misconduct" had taken place.


title: Richard Jewell

text: On October 26, 1996, the US Attorney in Atlanta, Kent Alexander, sent Jewell a letter saying "based on the evidence developed to date ... Richard Jewell is not considered a target of the federal criminal investigation into the bombing on July 27, 1996, at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta." The letter did not include an apology, but in a separate statement issued by Alexander, the U.S. Justice Department regretted the leaking of the investigation.


title: Richard Jewell

text: The separately issued statement said that Jewell "endured highly unusual and intense publicity that was neither designed nor desired by the FBI, and in fact interfered with the investigation," and that "The public should bear in mind that Richard Jewell has at no time been charged with any crime in connection with the bombing, and the property that was seized pursuant to court-authorized search warrants has been returned." "The New York Times" reported that the statement was "highly unusual" because "it was a tacit admission by Federal officials that they had been wrong in their suspicion of Mr. Jewell."


title: Richard Jewell

text: At a press conference in July 1997, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno expressed personal regret over the leak that led to intense scrutiny of Jewell. She said, "I'm very sorry it happened. I think we owe him an apology. I regret the leak."


title: Richard Jewell

text: In 1998, Eric Rudolph was named as a suspect in the Centennial Park bombing and the bombings of abortion clinics. He was arrested in 2003 after a lengthy manhunt. Rudolph later agreed, in April 2003, to plead guilty to the Centennial Park bombing and other attacks on an abortion clinic and a lesbian nightclub, as part of a plea bargain to avoid the death penalty.


title: Richard Jewell

text: In 2006, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue honored Jewell for his rescue efforts during the attack, and publicly thanked him for saving people's lives. Perdue said Jewell "deserves to be remembered as a hero."


title: Richard Jewell

text: Jewell worked in various law enforcement jobs, including as a police officer in Pendergrass, Georgia. He worked as a deputy sheriff in Meriwether County, Georgia, until his death. He also gave speeches at colleges. On July 30, 1997, Jewell testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives in which he called for an independent investigation into methods used by FBI agents during their investigation of him. He appeared in Michael Moore's 1997 film "The Big One". He had a cameo in the September 27, 1997, episode of "Saturday Night Live", in which he jokingly fended off suggestions that he was responsible for the deaths of Mother Teresa and Diana, Princess of Wales.


title: Richard Jewell

text: Jewell married Dana Jewell in 1998; they remained married until his death. The couple moved to a farm they bought together, south of Atlanta. In 2001, Jewell was honored as the Grand Marshal of Carmel, Indiana's Independence Day Parade. Jewell was chosen in keeping with the parade's theme of "Unsung Heroes." On each anniversary of the bombing until his illness and eventual death, he privately placed a rose at the Centennial Olympic Park scene where spectator Alice Hawthorne died.


title: Richard Jewell

text: After he was dropped as a suspect, Jewell filed libel suits against NBC News, "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution", CNN, the "New York Post", and Piedmont College.


title: Richard Jewell

text: Jewell sued the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution" because, according to Jewell, the paper's headline ("FBI suspects 'hero' guard may have planted bomb") "pretty much started the whirlwind." In one article, the "Journal-Constitution" compared Jewell's case to that of serial killer Wayne Williams.


title: Richard Jewell

text: The newspaper was the only defendant that did not settle with Jewell. The lawsuit remained pending for several years, having been considered at one time by the Supreme Court of Georgia, and had become an important part of case law regarding whether journalists could be forced to reveal their sources. Jewell's estate continued to press the case even after his death in 2007, but in July 2011, the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled for the defendant. The Court concluded that "because the articles in their entirety were substantially true at the time they were published—even though the investigators' suspicions were ultimately deemed unfounded—they cannot form the basis of a defamation action."


title: Richard Jewell

text: Although CNN settled Jewell's libel suit for an undisclosed monetary amount, CNN maintained that its coverage had been "fair and accurate."


title: Richard Jewell

text: Jewell sued NBC News for this statement made by Tom Brokaw, "The speculation is that the FBI is close to making the case. They probably have enough to arrest him right now, probably enough to prosecute him, but you always want to have enough to convict him as well. There are still some holes in this case." Even though NBC stood by its story, the network agreed to pay Jewell $500,000. Jay Leno also apologized during a "Tonight Show" episode on October 28, 1996.


title: Richard Jewell

text: On July 23, 1997, Jewell sued the "New York Post" for $15 million in damages, contending that the paper portrayed him in articles, photographs, and an editorial cartoon as an "aberrant" person with a "bizarre employment history" who was probably guilty of the bombing. He eventually settled with the newspaper for an undisclosed amount.


title: Richard Jewell

text: Jewell filed suit against his former employer Piedmont College, its president Raymond Cleere, and college spokesman Scott Rawles. Jewell's attorneys contended that Cleere called the FBI and spoke to the Atlanta newspapers, providing them with false information on Jewell and his employment there as a security guard. Jewell's lawsuit accused Cleere of describing Jewell as a "badge-wearing zealot" who "would write epic police reports for minor infractions." The college settled for an undisclosed amount.


title: Richard Jewell

text: In 2006, Jewell said the lawsuits were not about money, and that the vast majority of the settlements went to lawyers or taxes. He said the lawsuits were about clearing his name.


title: Richard Jewell

text: "Richard Jewell", a biographical drama film, was released in the United States on December 13, 2019. The film was directed and produced by Clint Eastwood. It was written by Billy Ray, based on the 1997 article "American Nightmare: The Ballad of Richard Jewell," by Marie Brenner, and the book "The Suspect: An Olympic Bombing, the FBI, the Media, and Richard Jewell, the Man Caught in the Middle" (2019) by Kent Alexander and Kevin Salwen. Jewell is played by Paul Walter Hauser.


title: Richard Jewell

text: The 2020 season two of the crime drama anthology series "Manhunt", also called "Manhunt: Deadly Games", centers on the story of the Centennial Park bombing and the other bombs planted by Eric Robert Rudolph. Richard Jewell is portrayed by Cameron Britton.


title: Richard Jewell

text: Reference is made to the unjust allegations against Richard Jewell based on a psychological profile in the television series "Criminal Minds" (season 3, episode 1).


title: Richard Jewell

text: Jewell had been diagnosed with diabetes in February 2007 and suffered kidney failure and other medical problems related to his diagnosis in the following months. His wife, Dana, found him dead on the floor of their bedroom when she came home from work on August 29, 2007; he was 44. An autopsy found the cause of death to be severe heart disease with diabetes and related complications as a contributing factor.


title: Infectious mononucleosis

text: Infectious mononucleosis (IM, mono), also known as glandular fever, is an infection usually caused by the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV). Most people are infected by the virus as children, when the disease produces few or no symptoms. In young adults, the disease often results in fever, sore throat, enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, and tiredness. Most people recover in two to four weeks; however, feeling tired may last for months. The liver or spleen may also become swollen, and in less than one percent of cases splenic rupture may occur.


title: Infectious mononucleosis

text: While usually caused by the Epstein–Barr virus, also known as human herpesvirus 4, which is a member of the herpesvirus family, a few other viruses may also cause the disease. It is primarily spread through saliva but can rarely be spread through semen or blood. Spread may occur by objects such as drinking glasses or toothbrushes or through a cough or sneeze. Those who are infected can spread the disease weeks before symptoms develop. Mono is primarily diagnosed based on the symptoms and can be confirmed with blood tests for specific antibodies. Another typical finding is increased blood lymphocytes of which more than 10% are atypical. The monospot test is not recommended for general use due to poor accuracy.


title: Infectious mononucleosis

text: There is no vaccine for EBV, though promising vaccine research results exist. Infection can be prevented by not sharing personal items or saliva with an infected person. Mono generally improves without any specific treatment. Symptoms may be reduced by drinking enough fluids, getting sufficient rest, and taking pain medications such as paracetamol (acetaminophen) and ibuprofen.


title: Infectious mononucleosis

text: Mononucleosis most commonly affects those between the ages of 15 to 24 years in the developed world. In the developing world, people are more often infected in early childhood when there are fewer symptoms. In those between 16 and 20 it is the cause of about 8% of sore throats. About 45 out of 100,000 people develop infectious mono each year in the United States. Nearly 95% of people have had an EBV infection by the time they are adults. The disease occurs equally at all times of the year. Mononucleosis was first described in the 1920s and is colloquially known as "the kissing disease".


title: Infectious mononucleosis

text: Before puberty, the disease typically only produces flu-like symptoms, if any at all. When found, symptoms tend to be similar to those of common throat infections (mild pharyngitis, with or without tonsillitis).


title: Infectious mononucleosis

text: Another major symptom is feeling tired. Headaches are common, and abdominal pains with nausea or vomiting sometimes also occur. Symptoms most often disappear after about 2–4 weeks. However, fatigue and a general feeling of being unwell (malaise) may sometimes last for months. Fatigue lasts more than one month in an estimated 28% of cases. Mild fever, swollen neck glands and body aches may also persist beyond 4 weeks. Most people are able to resume their usual activities within 2–3 months.


title: Infectious mononucleosis

text: The most prominent sign of the disease is often the pharyngitis, which is frequently accompanied by enlarged tonsils with pus—an exudate similar to that seen in cases of strep throat. In about 50% of cases, small reddish-purple spots called petechiae can be seen on the roof of the mouth. Palatal enanthem can also occur, but is relatively uncommon.


title: Infectious mononucleosis

text: A small minority of people spontaneously present a rash, usually on the arms or trunk, which can be macular (morbilliform) or papular. Almost all people given amoxicillin or ampicillin eventually develop a generalized, itchy maculopapular rash, which however does not imply that the person will have adverse reactions to penicillins again in the future. Occasional cases of erythema nodosum and erythema multiforme have been reported. Seizures may also occasionally occur.


title: Infectious mononucleosis

text: Spleen enlargement is common in the second and third weeks, although this may not be apparent on physical examination. Rarely the spleen may rupture. There may also be some enlargement of the liver. Jaundice occurs only occasionally.


title: Infectious mononucleosis

text: It generally gets better on its own in people who are otherwise healthy. When caused by EBV, infectious mononucleosis is classified as one of the Epstein-Barr virus-associated lymphoproliferative diseases. Occasionally the disease may persist and result in a chronic infection. This may develop into systemic EBV-positive T cell lymphoma.


title: Infectious mononucleosis

text: Infectious mononucleosis mainly affects younger adults. When older adults do catch the disease, they less often have characteristic signs and symptoms such as the sore throat and lymphadenopathy. Instead, they may primarily experience prolonged fever, fatigue, malaise and body pains. They are more likely to have liver enlargement and jaundice. People over 40 years of age are more likely to develop serious illness. (See Prognosis.)


title: Infectious mononucleosis

text: The exact length of time between infection and symptoms is unclear. A review of the literature made an estimate of 33–49 days. In adolescents and young adults, symptoms are thought to appear around 4–6 weeks after initial infection. Onset is often gradual, though it can be abrupt. The main symptoms may be preceded by 1–2 weeks of fatigue, feeling unwell and body aches.


title: Infectious mononucleosis

text: About 90% of cases of infectious mononucleosis are caused by the Epstein–Barr virus, a member of the Herpesviridae family of DNA viruses. It is one of the most commonly found viruses throughout the world. Contrary to common belief, the Epstein–Barr virus is not highly contagious. It can only be contracted through direct contact with an infected person's saliva, such as through kissing or sharing toothbrushes. About 95% of the population has been exposed to this virus by the age of 40, but only 15–20% of teenagers and about 40% of exposed adults actually become infected.


title: Infectious mononucleosis

text: About 5% to 7% of cases of infectious mononucleosis is caused by human cytomegalovirus (CMV), another type of herpes virus. This virus is found in body fluids including saliva, urine, blood, and tears. A person becomes infected with this virus by direct contact with infected body fluids. Cytomegalovirus is most commonly transmitted through kissing and sexual intercourse. It can also be transferred from an infected mother to her unborn child. This virus is often "silent" because the signs and symptoms cannot be felt by the person infected. However, it can cause life-threatening illness in infants, people with HIV, transplant recipients, and those with weak immune systems. For those with weak immune systems, cytomegalovirus can cause more serious illnesses such as pneumonia and inflammations of the retina, esophagus, liver, large intestine, and brain. Approximately 90% of the human population has been infected with cytomegalovirus by the time they reach adulthood, but most are unaware of the infection. Once a person becomes infected with cytomegalovirus, the virus stays in their body fluids throughout the person's lifetime.


title: Infectious mononucleosis

text: Epstein–Barr virus infection is spread via saliva, and has an incubation period of four to seven weeks. The length of time that an individual remains contagious is unclear, but the chances of passing the illness to someone else may be the highest during the first six weeks following infection. Some studies indicate that a person can spread the infection for many months, possibly up to a year and a half.


title: Infectious mononucleosis

text: The virus replicates first within epithelial cells in the pharynx (which causes pharyngitis, or sore throat), and later primarily within B cells (which are invaded via their CD21). The host immune response involves cytotoxic (CD8-positive) T cells against infected B lymphocytes, resulting in enlarged, atypical lymphocytes (Downey cells).


title: Infectious mononucleosis

text: Cytomegalovirus, adenovirus and "Toxoplasma gondii" (toxoplasmosis) infections can cause symptoms similar to infectious mononucleosis, but a heterophile antibody test will test negative and differentiate those infections from infectious mononucleosis.


title: Infectious mononucleosis

text: Mononucleosis is sometimes accompanied by secondary cold agglutinin disease, an autoimmune disease in which abnormal circulating antibodies directed against red blood cells can lead to a form of autoimmune hemolytic anemia. The cold agglutinin detected is of anti-i specificity.


title: Infectious mononucleosis

text: The presence of an enlarged spleen, and swollen posterior cervical, axillary, and inguinal lymph nodes are the most useful to suspect a diagnosis of infectious mononucleosis. On the other hand, the absence of swollen cervical lymph nodes and fatigue are the most useful to dismiss the idea of infectious mononucleosis as the correct diagnosis. The insensitivity of the physical examination in detecting an enlarged spleen means it should not be used as evidence against infectious mononucleosis. A physical examination may also show petechiae in the palate.


title: Infectious mononucleosis

text: The heterophile antibody test, or monospot test, works by agglutination of red blood cells from guinea pigs, sheep and horses. This test is specific but not particularly sensitive (with a false-negative rate of as high as 25% in the first week, 5–10% in the second, and 5% in the third). About 90% of diagnosed people have heterophile antibodies by week 3, disappearing in under a year. The antibodies involved in the test do not interact with the Epstein–Barr virus or any of its antigens.


title: Infectious mononucleosis

text: Serologic tests detect antibodies directed against the Epstein–Barr virus. Immunoglobulin G (IgG), when positive, mainly reflects a past infection, whereas immunoglobulin M (IgM) mainly reflects a current infection. EBV-targeting antibodies can also be classified according to which part of the virus they bind to: