For the one hundred or so new MPs who were elected in June, many have already achieved one of the major milestones of their Commons’ careers: the maiden speech. Here we share some of our oral history project interviewees’ memories of the first time they spoke in the Chamber… We always ask our Oral History Project interviewees about their maiden speech. It is one of … Continue reading First steps in the chamber: making a maiden speech
Last week Theresa May shocked the political establishment by calling a snap election. In the first in our 2017 election campaign series, we take a look back at the two elections of 1974 through the memories of our oral history project interviewees… Modern political wisdom has urged caution on Prime Ministers considering calling early elections, in part thanks to memories of 1974. There were two … Continue reading Memories of the 1974 snap elections
Sadly last month another of our oral history project interviewees passed away: former Conservative MP Sir Clive Bossom. Here we take a look back on our interview with him… Sir Clive Bossom, who died last month aged 99, was one of our older interviewees. He has been fondly remembered both as a hardworking backbench MP for Leominster (1959-74) and for his involvement in motorsport. Bossom … Continue reading Voices from our Oral History Project: Sir Clive Bossom, Bt.
Following the sad news last month of the death of the fondly remembered maverick MP Tam Dalyell, today we begin an occasional series exploring interviews with former MPs from our oral history project we have now lost… Since his death, Tam Dalyell’s many obituaries have praised him as a politician of principle, if one of many contradictions. He was the socialist who went to Eton; … Continue reading Voices from our Oral History Project: Tam Dalyell
This week is Parliament Week, a programme of events and activities that connects people across the UK with Parliament and democracy. To mark it, every day this week we are publishing a blog on ‘unlikely parliamentarians’ – the men and women across history who became parliamentarians only unexpectedly. We’re starting with a selection of stories taken from our MPs’ oral history project… Our oral history … Continue reading Unlikely Parliamentarians 1: Modern MPs
Sixty years ago this week the Suez Crisis was in full swing and parliament was in uproar. Here we discuss the crisis through the eyes of the Commons… The Suez Crisis is now seen by historians as one of the defining moments of twentieth century British foreign policy. At the time, the divisions within the country were played out in the Commons chamber, as the … Continue reading Parliament and the Suez Crisis
Earlier this week we delved in to our oral history archive to discover the divisions within the Labour Party over Britain’s entry into the European Economic Community (EEC) in the 1970s. In today’s blogpost, we’ve returned to our archive to uncover memories of the struggle to ratify the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, and the resulting impact on the Conservative Party. The Maastricht Treaty was agreed in … Continue reading The parties and Europe 2: Conservatives and Maastricht
The European Referendum campaign is now in full swing, creating heated political debate and causing some unusual alliances. In British politics, however, the issue of Europe and Britain’s role in it has been long-running and divisive for both the Labour and Conservative parties. The issue features prominently in our interviews with former MPs for our oral history archive. In the first of two blogs on … Continue reading The Parties and Europe 1: Labour and the 1975 Referendum
25 years ago this week the Conservative Party were in the process of electing a new leader after Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister for over 11 years, stood down. The story of Thatcher’s resignation has long been a controversial one within the Conservative Party, seen by some as an ‘assassination’ and by many as high political drama. This is reflected in many of our oral history … Continue reading Memories of Thatcher’s fall
The Labour party’s leadership contest comes to a close this week, with the winner announced at a special conference on Saturday. Our oral history project features many former Labour MPs’ recollections of leadership contests, and the consequences of them, particularly in the 1980s as the party grappled with life in opposition and internal divisions between left and right. Former MP for Ipswich, Ken Weetch, described … Continue reading Labour leadership elections through the years
