Author: The History of Parliament

Blogging on parliament, politics and people, from the History of Parliament
20th century history, oral history

Now available online: full interviews with former MPs from our oral history project

Since 2011, in partnership with the British Library, we have been interviewing as many former MPs as we can about their lives and careers in parliament. 155 of our completed interviews have now been deposited at the British Library. Our growing archive contains a wide variety of experiences and views of parliament: from ‘big names’ (Denis Healey, Michael Heseltine, David Owen, David Steel, Jonathan Aitken, … Continue reading Now available online: full interviews with former MPs from our oral history project

The History of ParliamentLeave a comment
Uncategorized

Reformation to Referendum: a new history of Parliament

Originally posted on Reformation to Referendum: Writing a New History of Parliament:
I’m lucky enough to be one of the four new British Academy / Wolfson Foundation Research Professors chosen in 2017. The arrangement provides us with funding for three years’ worth of uninterrupted research, a huge luxury and enormous privilege. I’m very proud and very grateful to the Academy and the Foundation for the… Continue reading Reformation to Referendum: a new history of Parliament

The History of ParliamentLeave a comment
Early modern history

Parliaments, Politics & People Seminar: Paul Hunneyball, Privilege versus prerogative: tensions between the House of Lords and the Crown, c.1603-30

In today’s blogpost, Dr Paul Hunneyball, Senior Research Fellow on the Lords 1603-1660 section, reports back on his recent ‘Parliaments, Politics & People‘ seminar paper, Privilege versus prerogative: tensions between the House of Lords and the Crown, c.1603-30… In the early-seventeenth century, the royal prerogative became an increasingly contested issue. As relations between the first Stuart monarchs and their parliaments deteriorated, both James I and Charles … Continue reading Parliaments, Politics & People Seminar: Paul Hunneyball, Privilege versus prerogative: tensions between the House of Lords and the Crown, c.1603-30

The History of ParliamentLeave a comment
Early modern history, military history, religious history, social history

Parliament, the French church and ‘illegal’ worship

Following the recent publication of her edited volume ‘Huguenot Networks’, Dr Vivienne Larminie, Senior Research Fellow in the Commons 1640-60 Section, discusses how the Huguenot French church in Westminster offered MPs and peers an opportunity to breach their own legislation during the civil wars and interregnum… Following the Reformation, the government, discipline, doctrine and worship of the Church of England were defined by parliamentary legislation.  … Continue reading Parliament, the French church and ‘illegal’ worship

The History of ParliamentLeave a comment
19th Century history, 20th century history, Events, social history

Naoroji: the life of the first Indian MP

Last month we were delighted to celebrate the life and work of Dr Dadabhai Naoroji at an event in Portcullis House, Westminster, in collaboration with the Zoroastrian All Party Parliamentary Group and the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZFTE). 2017 is the centenary of the death of Naoroji, who we remember as the first Indian to be elected to Parliament. But Naoroji’s achievements were much … Continue reading Naoroji: the life of the first Indian MP

The History of Parliament1 Comment
20th century history, Post-1945 history, Reporting Parliament

Reporting Parliament: Hansard, Throwback Thursday

Today in our ‘Reporting Parliament’ series for Parliament Week, we have a guestblog from the team at Hansard. Here they have recorded the ‘day in the life’ of a Hansard reporter, now and thirty years ago… 2017: Thursday, 9 am I’m on the bus to work, flicking between cat memes and the Hansard website on my iPhone to read last night’s work. I scan today’s … Continue reading Reporting Parliament: Hansard, Throwback Thursday

The History of ParliamentLeave a comment
Early modern history, military history, Reporting Parliament

Reporting Parliament: Invasion scare in Sandwich?

In today’s ‘Reporting Parliament’ series for Parliament Week 2017, Dr Vivienne Larminie, Senior Research Fellow in the Commons 1640-60 Section, discusses the problem of ‘fake news’ during the Civil Wars… The concern of Parliament with the destabilising potential of false news was of long standing, but the advent of civil war in the 1640s provided special reasons to be vigilant against the dissemination of erroneous, … Continue reading Reporting Parliament: Invasion scare in Sandwich?

The History of ParliamentLeave a comment
medieval history, Reporting Parliament

Reporting Parliament – In the Later Middle Ages

Today’s post is the first in our special series of blogs for this year’s Parliament Week: Reporting Parliament throughout the ages. Dr Hannes Kleineke, Senior Research Fellow in our Commons 1422-1504 project, describes how medieval constituents kept up to date with parliamentary business… The evidence for the medieval English parliament, more limited than for other periods of its existence, can give it a somewhat unreal … Continue reading Reporting Parliament – In the Later Middle Ages

The History of ParliamentLeave a comment
20th century history, Conferences/seminars

Parliaments, Politics & People Seminar: Henry Midgley, Harold Wilson and the Public Accounts Committee 1959-63

At our first ‘Parliaments, Politics & People‘ seminar of the new academic year, Henry Midgley discussed his work on Harold Wilson before he became Prime Minister… Harold Wilson is well known for many things – his Premiership and long leadership of the Labour Party and his role in key debates such as those around the UK’s recent referendum on membership of the European Union and … Continue reading Parliaments, Politics & People Seminar: Henry Midgley, Harold Wilson and the Public Accounts Committee 1959-63

The History of ParliamentLeave a comment
diplomatic history, Early modern history

Clarendon’s impeachment

Impeachment is a procedure rarely used in the British Parliament these days, but it is a procedure of historic importance, as discussed in our Director’s Blog here and in our post on its use in the early 17th century here. In today’s post our Director, Dr Paul Seaward, discusses the impeachment of the earl of Clarendon, 350 years ago… The impeachment of the earl of … Continue reading Clarendon’s impeachment

The History of ParliamentLeave a comment