As the UK goes to the polls today, here’s the last in our series of blogs on elections through the centuries. With the outcome of today’s vote still baffling the pollsters, Dr Philip Salmon, Editor of the Victorian Commons, discusses how parties tried to deal with uncertainty before voting was secret… As the UK’s pollsters and pundits vie for coverage in what appears to be … Continue reading Predicting the polls: a Victorian perspective
We continue our series on election campaigning through the centuries today. Dr Kathryn Rix, Assistant Editor of the Victorian Commons, gives us an insight into the campaign trail at the turn of the 20th century… The title of this post, ‘Elections and how to fight them’, comes from a handbook written in 1905 by John Seymour Lloyd. This was just one of several guides published … Continue reading ‘Elections and how to fight them’: electioneering a century ago
Reporting back from the first ‘Parliaments, Politics and People’ seminar of the year… Our seminar returned for 2015 last week when Dr Richard Aldous, from the University of Winchester, spoke on ‘Electoral politics in an age of uncertainty: the case of ‘Winchester man’, 1830-1880.’ Dr Aldous’s work explores the nineteenth century electorate through electoral registers, poll books and by then tracing the lives of registered … Continue reading Parliaments, Politics and People seminar: Richard Aldous (University of Winchester), ‘Electoral politics in an age of uncertainty: the case of ‘Winchester Man’ 1830-1880’
Today’s blogpost is from one of our Oral History Project interviewers, Emme Ledgerwood, who has used our archive to explore the experience of candidate selection… The vast majority of MPs arrive at Westminster on a party ticket, and one of the most critical junctures on that road remains getting selected as a prospective parliamentary candidate for a political party. Candidate selection is governed only by … Continue reading MPs’ memories of candidate selection
On 27 October we held our first ‘witness seminar’ at the Devon Heritage Centre as part of From the Grassroots: an oral history of community politics in Devon. The aim of a witness seminar is to bring together a small group of people who were involved in particular event or organisation to share their memories. The result is different from a one-on-one oral history interview … Continue reading Exeter elections in the 1990s: Witness Seminar
In tomorrow’s by-election in Clacton, former Conservative MP Douglas Carswell will contest his previous seat after defection to UKIP. Carswell’s strong difference of opinion with his party over the issue of Europe has echoes of a different by-election – Lincoln in 1973 – but the parties and positions were reversed. When Britain was applying to join the then European Economic Community (EEC) in the 1960s … Continue reading Defection, by-elections and Europe… in the 1970s.
One hundred years ago this month, the main British political parties decided to prioritise war in Europe over electoral battles. Dr Kathryn Rix, of the Victorian Commons, tells us more… In October 1914 the Conservative Agents’ Journal urged party organisers in the constituencies that the outbreak of war made it necessary to put aside ‘party controversy and acrimony’, and ‘Keep the Flag Flying’. A similarly patriotic note … Continue reading Putting aside party controversy: party organisers and the First World War
Today we go to the polls to vote in European and local elections. Voting was a very different experience at the turn of the 18th century… One of the most prolific periods for elections in Britain occurred long before universal suffrage. After the reforms of the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688-89, parliament passed the Triennial Act, stating that parliament must meet annually and elections be held … Continue reading Rage of Party: election day in the 1690-1715 period
The latest paper in our ‘Parliaments, Politics and People’ seminar series was given by Dr James Owen, of the Victorian Commons. James’ book, titled Labour and the Caucus, has just been published by Liverpool University Press. Here he gives us an overview of his paper, ‘The struggle for political representation: Labour candidates and the Liberal Party, 1868-88’… The focus of my paper for the ‘Parliaments, … Continue reading Parliaments, Politics and People Seminar: The struggle for political representation: Labour candidates and the Liberal Party, 1868-1888
Last week we made the trip down to the wonderful Devon Heritage Centre for the official launch of our new oral history project, ‘From the Grassroots’. You will probably know by now that we have been fortunate enough to receive a HLF grant to run an oral history project on local politics in Devon after WWII. If you don’t, you can read all about it … Continue reading From the Grassroots: The official launch
