Contemporary History
This collection of articles highlights the ongoing research of the Contemporary History section, drawing upon interviews from our Oral History Project to explore various events, themes and issues in British political history since the Second World War.
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Identifying the Attlee Family Cars: Prime Ministers’ Props
To coincide with the third BBC Radio 4 series of Prime Ministers’ Props, our senior research fellow, Dr Martin Spychal,…
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Cooperation and the Co-operative Party
The Co-operative Party was founded in 1917, volunteer interviewer Peter Reilly reflects on his recent oral history interview with David…
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The Monday Club
Continuing our series on factions, Alfie Steer, historian of modern and contemporary Britain, discusses one of the more controversial party factions, the…
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All-Women Shortlists: 30 Years On
During the 1993 Labour Party Conference, all-women shortlists were endorsed by the party. In the following general election in 1997,…
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75 Years of the NHS – reform, reorganisation and restructure
Fittingly, the NHS celebrated its 75th anniversary in the wake of a major reform. Such ‘once in a lifetime’ reorganisations…
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How MPs navigated changing constituency boundaries
The Boundary Commissions for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland submitted their 2023 Boundary Reviews in June, presenting their recommendations…
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The National Health Service’s Anniversaries as a Political Tradition
To mark the National Health Service’s (NHS) seventy-fifth anniversary, guest blogger Dr Andrew Seaton discusses his new book, Our NHS:…
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75 Years of the NHS – on the campaign trail
Last month, the NHS celebrated its 75th anniversary. Since its formation, the NHS has played a key role in politics.…
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Parliamentarians on their past: Memories of the 1983 General Election
In June, the History of Parliament were delighted to welcome an audience to the first lecture of our contemporary history…
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Mo Mowlam and the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement
25 years ago this month the basis for peace in Northern Ireland – the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement – was signed…
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What is in a role: differing views about MPs’ focus
For many MPs beginning their career before 2005, they started their job with no induction process or job description. Volunteer…
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Women, Petitions and Parliament in the Twentieth Century
To mark Women’s History Month 2023, guest blogger Henry Miller, Associate Professor (Research) at Durham University, explores how women continued…