Tag: Winston Churchill

20th century history, History of Parliament Trust, Parliamentary buildings, Post-1945 history

‘London’s Latest Ordeal’: the Blitz and rebuilding of the House of Commons Chamber

On the evening of the 10/11 May 1941 the House of Commons Chamber was destroyed during the Blitz. In today’s blog, 80 years on, our Public Engagement Assistant Connie Jeffery explores the event and how Parliament rebuilt and recovered from the destruction… Like much of the United Kingdom’s home front, Westminster was no stranger to the effects of the Second World War. Parliament’s recognisable home … Continue reading ‘London’s Latest Ordeal’: the Blitz and rebuilding of the House of Commons Chamber

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20th century history, Conferences/seminars

Parliaments, Politics, and People: The Referendum issue & the constitutional crisis before the First World War

Ahead of this evening’s IHR Parliaments, Politics, and People seminar, we hear from Dr. Roland Quinault, a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research, about his paper from our previous session. Britain was slow to adopt the constitutional device of a referendum – the practice of referring political issues directly to the judgment of the people without recourse to Parliament. It was only … Continue reading Parliaments, Politics, and People: The Referendum issue & the constitutional crisis before the First World War

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20th century history, Commemorating Josiah C. Wedgwood, Events

‘Peace for our time’: opposing the Munich Agreement

Tomorrow is the 80th anniversary of the Munich Agreement, the now infamous meeting where Britain and France agreed to hand over part of Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany in order to avoid war. Yet despite the cheering crowds greeting Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and his ‘piece of paper’ that guaranteed ‘peace for our time’, the deal was not without opposition, as described by our Assistant Director, … Continue reading ‘Peace for our time’: opposing the Munich Agreement

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20th century history, Commemorating Josiah C. Wedgwood, History of Parliament Trust

Commemorating Josiah C. Wedgwood: new HLF funded project

Today’s blog is the first in the series about our activities in Staffordshire as part of our HLF funded project, Commemorating Josiah C. Wedgwood. We’d also like to to give special thanks to the Remembering Eleanor Rathbone Group for their time, support and enthusiasm for the project. We are delighted to have been awarded funding to tour an exhibition in and around Wedgwood’s former constituency, Newcastle-under-Lyme, … Continue reading Commemorating Josiah C. Wedgwood: new HLF funded project

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20th century history, Military history, World War I MPs

‘Absolutely our best officer’: Valentine Fleming (1882-1917)

In the latest of our blogs on MPs killed in the First World War, Dr Kathryn Rix marks the centenary of the death of Valentine Fleming on 20 May 1917… On 25 May 1917, the obituary of Valentine Fleming, Conservative MP for South Oxfordshire since January 1910, appeared in The Times, following his death five days earlier on the Western Front. Its author – ‘W. … Continue reading ‘Absolutely our best officer’: Valentine Fleming (1882-1917)

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18th Century history, 19th Century history, 20th century history, Conferences/seminars, Post-1945 history

Parliaments, Politics and People seminar: Paul Seaward, Do our buildings shape us?

Last month our Director, Dr Paul Seaward, spoke at our ‘Parliaments, politics and people’ seminar on ‘Do our buildings shape us? On oblongs, hemicycles, and the style of British politics.’ Here he reports back on his paper… We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us. Having dwelt and served for more than 40 years in the late Chamber, and having derived fiery great … Continue reading Parliaments, Politics and People seminar: Paul Seaward, Do our buildings shape us?

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20th century history, Elections, Oral history, Post-1945 history

1945 Election: A political awakening

Seventy years ago yesterday the results of the 1945 General Election were declared. Although the poll had been held on 5 July, the results were only announced on the 26th because of the time needed to return the ballots of service men and women from overseas. The result – a Labour landslide – had a dramatic impact on British politics. The new government led by … Continue reading 1945 Election: A political awakening

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