Now you see it, now you don't

The BBC reports today about the latest shake-up in London’s Olympic bid:

Barbara Cassani has stepped aside as chair of London’s bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

Double Olympic gold medallist Lord Coe is now chairman and president of the bid team with Cassani taking the vice-chair role.

To clarify: that’s Sebastian Coe. But the Beeb article never mentions his first name, because you don’t. (Actually that’s not quite true - a “Seb” creeps into a quotation, but the BBC never mention his name themselves.)

It’s a very British thing. When Joe Bloggs gets a MBE, OBE or CBE, he’s just Joe Bloggs, MBE (or whatever); when he gets a knighthood, though, he’s suddenly Sir Joe Bloggs, and referred to in general as Sir Joe (_never_ Sir Bloggs). When he gets a knighthood, though, suddenly the first name vanishes: he’s now Lord Bloggs, or his Lordship, and it’s very difficult to work out who he’s supposed to be if you’re not paying attention. (It’s even worse if they take on a hereditary peerage and become Lord Hailsham or Earl Stockton as opposed to Harold Macmillan). Witness the convolutions the Guardian went through in another story today:

The two men were signed into the peers’ guest corner of the gallery by Lady Golding, former Labour MP for Newcastle under Lyme. As Lynne Golding she succeeded her husband, John, as the local MP.

She’s either Lynne Golding MP, or Lady Golding, but she can’t be both. Peers can’t sit in the House of Commons, and don’t have visible first names.

As it happens, when the Guardian reported on the story, it did refer to the Olympic medallist as “”Lord Sebastian Coe”:http://sport.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,10488,1220269,00.html” - slightly awkward, but the best you can do given the circumstances. And it’s interesting to compare the Guardian and BBC articles. From the BBC, the following excerpted paragraphs:

Cassani, an American businesswoman who founded the budget airline Go, said London’s bid would have a better chance with a Briton at the head of the organisation.

It was also confirmed on Wednesday that chief executive Keith Mills will also take on the role as bid president (international) to boost the campaign’s presence overseas.

London’s bid was one of five shortlisted by the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday, but the city’s road and rail system was highlighted as a potential problem.

The IOC working party rated London’s bid as third, behind those of Paris and Madrid but ahead of New York’s and Moscow’s.

From the Guardian, meanwhile, credited to staff and agencies, the following excerpts:

It is understood that Cassani, an American businesswoman who founded the budget airline Go, believes London’s bid will have a better chance with a Briton at the head of the organisation.

[…] it was also confirmed that the chief executive Keith Mills will take on the role of bid president (international) to boost the campaign’s presence overseas.

London’s bid was one of five shortlisted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) yesterday, but the city’s road and rail system was highlighted as a potential problem.

The IOC working party rated London’s bid as currently third: behind Paris and Madrid, but ahead of New York and Moscow.

Call me picky, but I’d like the BBC to acknowledge that it’s slightly paraphrasing agency copy when it does so.