‘Boaty McBoatface’ won NERC’s naming competition by more than 100,000 votes.
There has been a referendum taking place in the United Kingdom, one that has seen the public toy with a radical departure from the status quo, while ignoring sensible warnings from government officials.
No, we're not talking about the so-called Brexit referendum, the hotly disputed in-or-out vote that will decide Britain's future in the European Union. At least not yet. That vote happens June 23.
The Brexit referendum carries enormous significance. A win for the Leave side would break up the world's largest trading bloc and reconfigure political relations on the continent and around the globe. The lords of these lands and others – the likes of Prime Minister David Cameron, U.S. President Barack Obama and top officials at the International Monetary Fund – have told Britons they're far better off voting to Remain.
But democracy can be unpredictable, especially in a country where voters get a kick out of thumbing their noses at the establishment.
The latest proof comes in the form of an earnest online poll conducted by the Natural Environment Research Council, which asked for the public's help in naming a new polar research vessel. The NERC, hoping to boost public interest in its work, was apparently expecting the public would choose a suitable name for the new Royal Research Ship, one worthy of sailing alongside sister ships such as the RRS Discovery and RRS James Cook.
"Shackleton. Endeavour. Falcon. These are just some of the names suggested for the U.K.'s next world-class polar research ship," the NERC wrote in a press release last month that announced the start of online voting.
The public, given its e-druthers, overwhelmingly spoke in favour of christening the ship RRS Boaty McBoatface.
Despite – or perhaps because of – regular warnings from the NERC that it might overrule a suggestion it regarded as silly, the contest wasn't even close.
Boaty McBoatface, received more than 124,000 votes, almost quadruple the number polled by second-place finisher, RRS Poppy-Mai, a name meant to honour a 16-month-old girl suffering from incurable brain cancer, and some 100,000 more than RRS Henry Worsley, the only serious contender with relevance to the ship's likely missions. Mr. Worsley was a British explorer who died in January while attempting the first solo crossing of Antarctica.
But Boaty McBoatface captured the British public's imagination from the moment it was suggested by James Hand, an ex-BBC broadcaster who later told the NERC that he was "terribly sorry" for inadvertently hijacking its vote.
"I made the suggestion, but the storm that's been created – it's got legs of its own," Mr. Hand said. "I just feel it's a very British thing, which a lot of people have pointed out."
If it hadn't been for Mr. Hand's nomination of Boaty McBoatface, another cheeky suggestion may well have topped the poll. Names such as RRS It's Bloody Cold Here, RRS I Like Big Boats & I Cannot Lie, and RRS What Iceberg? all received substantial support.
With voting now over, the next question is whether the NERC will respect the public's wish and paint Boaty McBoatface on the hull of its $370-million ship, construction of which is scheduled to start this autumn.
The early signs aren't good for fans of unfettered democracy. "You won't be surprised to know that we want something that fits the mission and captures the spirit of scientific endeavour," Science Minister Jo Johnson was quoted as saying in Monday's edition of The Daily Telegraph newspaper.
"We've been lied to about Boaty McBoatface," tweeted The Independent newspaper in response. Other Brits used social media to jokingly demand that the government resign over the matter, while a few suggested changing the June Brexit vote into a referendum on Boaty McBoatface.
It was lighthearted fare, with a serious question underneath: Why ask the public's input at all, if the government isn't going to respect what it hears back?
Columnist Ross Clark, writing in The Spectator magazine shortly after Boaty McBoatface became a household name, said the NERC's poll was a test of whether the government was really ready to accept the public's verdict on more serious matters, including the Brexit vote.
"Our leaders, of course, love democracy," he wrote, "until it comes up with an answer different to the one they were expecting."