As the UK goes to the polls today, here Dr Emma Peplow shares memories from our oral history archive, exploring how former MPs felt on polling day and how they approached the night of the count… Today most of the UK’s election candidates will be racing around their constituencies trying to make sure their supporters go to vote. But this is just the start of … Continue reading Down for the count: election night highs and lows
Ahead of next Tuesday’s Parliaments, Politics and People seminar, we hear from Rebecca Goldsmith, of Jesus College, Cambridge. On 30 April she will discuss Mass-Observation and popular politics at the 1945 general election. The seminar takes place on 30 April 2024, between 5:30 and 6.30 p.m. It is fully ‘hybrid’, which means you can attend either in-person in London at the IHR, or online via … Continue reading Mass-Observation and popular politics at the 1945 General Election
For LGBT+ History Month, Dr Emma Peplow, Head of Contemporary History, uses the History of Parliament’s Oral History archive to reflect on the debates and experiences of HIV in Parliament during the 1980s. When the HIV/AIDs epidemic arrived in the UK in the early 1980s it was a frightening, confusing time. Little was known about this new disease, other than it appeared to be deadly to … Continue reading HIV and Parliament: memories from our Oral History Project
Emma Nicholson, Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, born 1941, was the MP for Torridge and West Devon 1987‒97. Elected as a Conservative MP, she crossed the floor to join the Liberal Democrats in 1995. After losing her seat in 1997 she was created a life peer, and served as a Member of the European Parliament for South East England for ten years (1999‒2009). Interviewed in 2013 … Continue reading ‘Neither fish, fowl nor good red herring’: Baroness Nicholson’s experiences of hearing loss
As the UK marks Disability History Month, today’s guest blogger, Dr Ekaterina (Katya) Kolpinskaya explores the representation of disabilities in the House of Commons, and why Members of Parliament may be unwilling or unable to be more open about their disabilities. The recent increase in the number of disabled people in Britain – who have a physical or mental health impairment which has a substantial and … Continue reading Visibility of Disability in the House of Commons: Food for Thought
In September, the History of Parliament celebrated our latest publication with St James’s House to commemorate 75 years of the NHS at Westminster Abbey. Paul Seaward, Director of the History of Parliament, discusses the contents of the book and how to access it for free. We’re delighted to say that our latest publication with St James’s House is now freely available online. Hardback and paperback versions … Continue reading 75 Years of the National Health Service: A Political History of Health and Healthcare in Britain
To coincide with the third BBC Radio 4 series of Prime Ministers’ Props, our senior research fellow, Dr Martin Spychal, discusses the intriguing (and still partially inconclusive) research journey behind identifying the cars used on the campaign trail by Clement and Violet Attlee… Over the past few years I’ve worked as a researcher on the BBC Radio 4 series Prime Ministers’ Props, presented by Sir … Continue reading Identifying the Attlee Family Cars: Prime Ministers’ Props
The Co-operative Party was founded in 1917, volunteer interviewer Peter Reilly reflects on his recent oral history interview with David Lepper, a former ‘Labour Coop’ MP and what it meant to be a member of the Co-operative Party. Recent interviews I have conducted for the History of Parliament Trust Oral History Project remind us that UK parties are ‘broad churches’ encompassing a range of views. … Continue reading Cooperation and the Co-operative Party
Continuing our series on factions, Alfie Steer, historian of modern and contemporary Britain, discusses one of the more controversial party factions, the Monday Club, and reflects on the limitations our oral history archive has encountered with such topics. On Monday, 3 February 1961, the Prime Minister Harold Macmillan addressed the South African parliament. Now remembered as the ‘Winds of Change’ speech, Macmillan’s address both acknowledged the growing calls … Continue reading The Monday Club
During the 1993 Labour Party Conference, all-women shortlists were endorsed by the party. In the following general election in 1997, the number of women MPs doubled. In this blog, Alfie Steer explores our oral history archive and discusses the controversy of AWS and its impact on Parliament. This year marks thirty years since the Labour Party first introduced all-women’s shortlists (AWS) for parliamentary selections. Its … Continue reading All-Women Shortlists: 30 Years On
