On 17 November the IHR Parliaments, Politics and People seminar will be hosting a hybrid launch event in-person and via Zoom with the contributors of a special edition of the London Journal on ‘By-elections in London History‘. The event will take place in-person at the IHR (Room NB02) and via Zoom. Please contact seminar@histparl.ac.uk for Zoom details.
Abstract
This seminar will see the launch of a special issue of The London Journal on by-elections in London history. In light of a recent by-election leading to a change of Prime Minister, this seems a timely moment to explore the history and significance of these contests. The special issue shows that politicians can both under-estimate their impact and exaggerate their importance. Yet the principal argument offered here is that by-elections should not be assessed simply in terms of how they affect government and parliament. They are presented as events in and of themselves that intersect the local and the national and in London reflect urban sociology and the politics of place. The special issue consists of case studies of nine by-elections in London over the period from 1861 to 2003. The individual authors of each paper will give 5 minutes summaries of their key points, which will be followed by Q&A and then a reception in the IHR common room, to which all are invited.
Speaker Biographies:
Lewis Baston is an author on history, politics and travel. He was historical consultant on the television series that accompanied the publication of John Major’s memoirs and has published work on several other prime ministers as well as his Reggie: The Life of Reginald Maudling (2004).
Jack Brown teaches government studies and works in the Strand Group at King’s College London. As well as serving as researcher in residence in 10 Downing Street, he has written extensively about the government and development of London and his publications include The London Problem: What Britain gets wrong about its capital city (2021).
Pippa Catterall teaches history and public policy at the University of Westminster and is chair of the George Lansbury Memorial Trust. She edits the journal National Identities, and her publications include Labour and the Free Churches 1918-1939 (2016).
Jay Dunstan has over 25 years experience in the cultural and creative industries with a professional background in advertising, post-production television broadcasting and corporate communications. He is currently completing his PhD at the University of East London.
Jason Frost is an independent researcher with interests in place, identity and religion. He studied History at Queen Mary University of London and Westminster, completing his PhD in the latter institution in July 2022. He is currently working for a social, cultural and economic regeneration consultancy. He has published on British Israelism, and written a number of book reviews for National Identities.
Geoff Hicks teaches history at the University of East Anglia and researches British political history and foreign policy in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He is particularly interested in the politics of conservatism and aristocratic reaction, and in the place of foreign policy in party politics. His publications include Peace, War and Party Politics: The Conservatives and Europe, 1846-59 (2007).
Peter Speiser teaches history at the University of Westminster. His research interests focus on the British Army of the Rhine and on the history of London. His publications include Soho – the heart of Bohemian London (2017).
Caroline Watkinson teaches corporate engagement and employability at City St George’s, University of London. Her research focuses upon issues of EDI in political and public space and her publications include work on pedagogy and feminist praxis.
Alex Windscheffel teaches history at Royal Holloway, University of London. His current research focuses upon Victorian bankrupts and bankruptcy and what this reveals about concepts of manliness, morality, risk and failure. His publications include Popular Conservatism in Imperial Britain, 1868-1906 (2007).
