Parliament will be officially opened this week and debates will begin once again in the House of Commons. But with the Labour party winning such a large majority in the 2024 General Election, some of their Members may be left wondering- where should I sit? Emeritus Director of the History of Parliament, Dr Paul Seaward, looks to the past to find out more about the … Continue reading The House of Commons Chamber and the Politics of Seating
Our series this summer has taken a look at historical cases of division within political parties. In our last post of the series, this week we discuss the Labour party of the 1930s, and how Ramsay MacDonald came to be reviled by the party he led for many years… The wartime split in the Liberal party and the increase in suffrage in 1918 and 1928 … Continue reading Labour Unrest: Ramsay MacDonald and the Labour party, 1931
A look back at the different Prime Ministers who received public funerals… Tomorrow former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s funeral will take place at St Paul’s Cathedral. Public funerals for Prime Ministers have been fairly rare in recent years, but Baroness Thatcher is by no means alone in receiving this honour from the state. The first Prime Minister to have a public funeral was William Pitt … Continue reading Prime Ministers’ Funerals
