Category: Electoral Reform

Contemporary History, Elections, Electoral Reform, Local History, Modern, Oral history

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 to the Speaker of the House of Commons on the reorganisation of UK parliamentary constituencies. Out of 650 existing constituencies in the UK, only 65 will remain unchanged. Dr Emmeline Ledgerwood, our Oral History Project Manager, reflects on the impact boundary changes have had on MPs … Continue reading How MPs navigated changing constituency boundaries

History of ParliamentLeave a comment
Conferences, Seminars and Events, 18th Century history, 19th Century history, Elections, Electoral Reform, Factions, Georgian, Parties, Social history, Victorian

Organise! Organise! Organise! Collective Action, Associational Culture and the Politics of Organisation in the British Isles, c.1790-1914

Durham University, in collaboration with the History of Parliament, and supported by the Leverhulme Trust, are hosting a conference in Durham, Thursday-Friday 20-21 July 2023. The Call for Papers will close on 31 January 2023. The conference forms part of Dr Naomi Lloyd-Jones’s Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship, during which she is investigating the development of modern party organisation. For further details of the event see … Continue reading Organise! Organise! Organise! Collective Action, Associational Culture and the Politics of Organisation in the British Isles, c.1790-1914

History of ParliamentLeave a comment
Minority Ethnic History, 18th Century history, 19th Century history, Elections, Electoral Reform, Georgian, Social history

Profile of an 18th century Black Voter: George John Scipio Africanus

In a second blog for this year’s Black History Month, we are once again hearing from Helen Wilson, PhD candidate with the History of Parliament and the Open University. Within Helen’s research she has been uncovering the previously overlooked presence of Black voters in 18th century Britain, including figures like George Africanus, profiled below… The eighteenth century saw many geo-political expansions and retractions for the … Continue reading Profile of an 18th century Black Voter: George John Scipio Africanus

History of ParliamentLeave a comment
Minority Ethnic History, 18th Century history, 19th Century history, Elections, Electoral Reform, Georgian, History of Parliament Trust, Social history, Victorian

The Presence of Black Voters in the 18th and 19th Centuries

October is Black History Month in the UK, as institutions like the History of Parliament attempt to re-insert and highlight the Black experience into fields of history previously overlooking this. Here, we hear from Helen Wilson, PhD candidate with the History of Parliament and Open University, who is researching the Black and Mixed Ethnicity Presence in British Politics, 1750-1850. As Helen explains, despite significant barriers … Continue reading The Presence of Black Voters in the 18th and 19th Centuries

History of Parliament1 Comment
Victorian, 19th Century history, Conferences, Seminars and Events, Elections, Electoral Reform, Legal history, Social history

The Secret Ballot: The Secret to Reducing Electoral Violence?

In July 1872, 150 years ago this month, the Ballot Act introduced the secret ballot to all UK parliamentary and local elections. Here guest blogger Dr Gary Hutchison, of the Causes and Consequences of Electoral Violence project, discusses how the secret ballot affected violence at elections. An Interactive Map of over 3,000 violent events, from individual assaults to riots, can be found on their website. … Continue reading The Secret Ballot: The Secret to Reducing Electoral Violence?

History of Parliament2 Comments
Victorian Commons, 19th Century history, Elections, Electoral Reform, Social history, Victorian, Women and Parliament

Ballot boxes, bills and unions: Harriet Grote (1792-1878) and the public campaign for the ballot, 1832-9

In part six of his article series on Harriet Grote, Dr Martin Spychal, research fellow in our House of Commons 1832-68 project, explores the role of Harriet Grote (1792-1878) in the popular and parliamentary campaign for the ballot during the 1830s. On 18 July 2022 we marked the anniversary of the Ballot Act with an online event, in collaboration with the Parliamentary Archives. This event was recorded … Continue reading Ballot boxes, bills and unions: Harriet Grote (1792-1878) and the public campaign for the ballot, 1832-9

Martin Spychal2 Comments
Conferences, Seminars and Events, 17th Century history, 18th Century history, Electoral Reform

After the Levellers: On the Non-Mysterious Disappearance of Parliamentary Reform in England

In our latest blog we’re returning to the ‘Recovering Europe’s Parliamentary Culture, 1500-1700’ project. Since late September, we’ve been working with the University of Oxford and the Centre for Intellectual History at the University of Oxford to put together series of blogs that explore European Parliamentary Culture. The series is focused on the Early Modern period – roughly 1500-1700 – but they have ranged more widely, seeking to bring in some scholars of the … Continue reading After the Levellers: On the Non-Mysterious Disappearance of Parliamentary Reform in England

History of ParliamentLeave a comment
Conferences, Seminars and Events, 19th Century history, Elections, Electoral Reform, Parties, Social history, Victorian, Victorian Commons

From ‘People’s Champions’ to ‘Tribunes of the People’: popular politicians in Parliament, c. 1810 to 1867

Ahead of next Tuesday’s Virtual IHR Parliaments, Politics and People seminar, we hear from Dr Simon Morgan of Leeds Beckett University. On 22 February 2022, between 5.15 p.m. and 6.30 p.m., Simon will be responding to your questions about his pre-circulated paper on popular politicians and Parliament between 1810 and 1867. Details of how to join the discussion are available here, or by contacting seminar@histparl.ac.uk. … Continue reading From ‘People’s Champions’ to ‘Tribunes of the People’: popular politicians in Parliament, c. 1810 to 1867

History of ParliamentLeave a comment
Georgian, 18th Century history, Elections, Electoral Reform, Georgian Lords, Legal history, Local History, Social history

‘Do you know where this miserable wretch lives?’: Challenging votes in Eighteenth-Century England

As the Government looks set to make the introduction of voter ID requirements a flagship policy for 2022, parallels can be drawn with the eighteenth-century electoral process. We welcome guest blogger, James Harris, post-doctoral research associate at the University of Newcastle, to tell us more. The requirement for every elector to justify their right to vote at the hustings was a routine part of Georgian … Continue reading ‘Do you know where this miserable wretch lives?’: Challenging votes in Eighteenth-Century England

History of ParliamentLeave a comment
Victorian Commons, 19th Century history, Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, Electoral Reform, Factions, Irish History, Parliamentary Life, Victorian

‘Restless, turbulent, and bold’: Radical MPs and the opening of the reformed Commons in 1833

MPs and peers returned to Westminster earlier this month after over a year of upheaval, disruption, and online chambers. In today’s blog Dr Stephen Ball from our Commons 1832-1868 project looks into another eagerly awaited return to Parliament; the first session following the 1832 Reform Act… When the reformed Parliament first met on Tuesday 29 January 1833 many people speculated about the way the reconfigured … Continue reading ‘Restless, turbulent, and bold’: Radical MPs and the opening of the reformed Commons in 1833

History of ParliamentLeave a comment