Big Ben Renamed Elizabeth Tower; Brits Slam Clock Name Change

For years, the great clock tower located at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London has been famously referred to as Big Ben.

But on Tuesday, June 26, Britain's Houses of Parliament released a statement that informed the public of their decision to rename the clock Elizabeth Tower.

The announcement of the name change, which is meant to celebrate the queen's 60th year on the British throne, follows the four-day Diamond Jubilee celebration held earlier this month.

While Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed the name change, reactions among political columnists and the rest of the public were mostly negative.

...being a massive waste of time (and let's not even think about the costs involved) is not the reason I am livid at this forelock tugging stupidity, wrote UK political columnist Mat Morrisroe. Nor is it that this has been announced without a debate or a vote. The reason this is so galling is because it is a genuine affront to the principle of democracy, he added.

As the recent Jubilee celebration resulted in a significant surge in popularity for the Queen, with a well-received flotilla on the Thames as well as a star-studded concert, many Britons were opposed to the tower name change as an extension of the festival.

A YouGov poll last month, cited by Reuters, found almost half opposed proposals to rename the Clock Tower, and only 30 percent supported the idea.

It seems that some Brits were so furious over the decision that one of them even took to twitter to express their disapproval.

Under the Twitter handle parody @BigBenIsAngry, someone has decided to mock the name change with series of comical tweets.

Why hasn't Stonehenge been renamed? I 'rock' way harder.

- Big Ben is Angry (@BigBenIsAngry)

So, I've been meaning to ask, what do you guys think of my outfit today?

- Big Ben is Angry (@BigBenIsAngry)

Don't act like you don't want to climb this.

- Big Ben is Angry (@BigBenIsAngry)

The actual account creator, an intern at an unidentified company, spoke to Mashable about their decision to take to Twitter.

We started joking about it in the office, and I thought I'd take the fun to Twitter and see what kind of reaction I'd receive, the account's creator told the tech blog.