Voices from the Oral History Project – Chris Smith

Unusually for a profile of one of our Oral History Project interviewees, Chris Smith has not recently passed away! Yet as the first sitting MP who chose to publicly come out, his is a fascinating interview to focus on this LGBT history month. Dr Emma Peplow, our Oral History Project lead, explores his parliamentary career… Chris Smith, Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury 1983-2005, … Continue reading Voices from the Oral History Project – Chris Smith

Ich bin in meinem Herzen Englisch: Could George I speak English?

George I’s linguistic weakness was supposedly the reason for the preference shown to his German advisors over most English politicians, who were for the most part similarly limited in their knowledge of foreign languages. Continue reading Ich bin in meinem Herzen Englisch: Could George I speak English?

Parliaments, Politics and People Seminar Series – Speaking in the Newspaper: Sheridan in April 1798

Today’s blog is from Prof. Robert W Jones, who is professor of eighteenth-century studies in the School of English at the University of Leeds. He is also the principal investigator for the Leverhulme-funded project, ‘The Political Work of Richard Brinsley Sheridan’, which will produce a four-volume, Political Works of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, for Oxford University Press. Robert gave the below summarized paper about the reporting of … Continue reading Parliaments, Politics and People Seminar Series – Speaking in the Newspaper: Sheridan in April 1798

Reporting George I’s parliaments: a Prussian diplomat’s view

In the latest blog from The Georgian Lords, Dr Charles Littleton continues his examination of foreign reporters of Parliamentary events – a theme that will also feature in our forthcoming coverage for Parliament Week. A recent entry in the History of Parliament’s blog series, emphasized the important role of Huguenots such as Paul Rapin de Thoyras and Abel Boyer in shaping our knowledge of the … Continue reading Reporting George I’s parliaments: a Prussian diplomat’s view

‘Speaking in Parliament: History, politics, rhetoric’ conference report

Last week, in collaboration with Professor Christopher Reid (Queen Mary, University of London, author of ‘Imprison’d Wranglers: the Rhetorical Culture of the House of Commons’) we hosted a conference dedicated to the art and history of parliamentary rhetoric. Academics with backgrounds in history, English, drama and politics came together from across the world for this two-day meeting, wonderfully organised by the team at Queen Mary. … Continue reading ‘Speaking in Parliament: History, politics, rhetoric’ conference report