Category: Women and Parliament

Modern, 20th century history, Conferences, Seminars and Events, Electoral Reform, Women and Parliament

‘She is an Outsider in Public Life’: women parliamentary candidates, 1918-1923

Ahead of tonight’s Parliaments, Politics and People seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, we hear from Lisa Berry-Waite, a Leverhulme-funded PhD candidate at the University of Exeter.  She spoke at our previous session on 28 May about her research into the parliamentary election campaigns of women candidates in Britain between 1918 and 1931. Her paper focused on the under-explored source of women’s parliamentary election … Continue reading ‘She is an Outsider in Public Life’: women parliamentary candidates, 1918-1923

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Modern, 20th century history, Parties, Women and Parliament

The First Woman Cabinet Minister: Margaret Bondfield, 1873- 1953

In this new blog for our ‘Women and Parliament’ series, Dr Paula Bartley gives an overview of the political career of the first woman Cabinet Minister, Margaret Bondfield, who was appointed as such 90 years ago today. This blog is inspired by Paula’s research from her newly published book, Labour Women in Power, which examines the lives of Margaret Bondfield, Ellen Wilkinson, Barbara Castle, Judith … Continue reading The First Woman Cabinet Minister: Margaret Bondfield, 1873- 1953

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Modern, 20th century history, Parties, Women and Parliament

‘I am a political animal, but I am not a politician’: Leah Manning as a sponsored parliamentary candidate in the 1930s.

Next up in the Women and Parliament series we hear from Dr James Parker of the University of Exeter. He explores the sponsorship of Leah Manning’s candidature by the National Union of Teachers… Leah Manning (1886-1977) was the thirteenth woman to be elected as a Labour Member of Parliament, representing Islington East in the House of Commons from February to October 1931 and later serving … Continue reading ‘I am a political animal, but I am not a politician’: Leah Manning as a sponsored parliamentary candidate in the 1930s.

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Georgian Lords, 18th Century history, 19th Century history, George III, Georgian, Queen Victoria, Social history, Victorian, Women and Parliament

“Hymen’s war terrific”: George III’s younger sons and the succession crisis of 1817-20

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of a new member of the royal family, Dr Charles Littleton, senior research fellow in the House of Lords 1660-1832 section, considers the circumstances surrounding the birth of Queen Victoria, whose 200th anniversary is celebrated later this month. Two events this May 2019 provide an interesting light on the history of the royal succession. We are expecting (or … Continue reading “Hymen’s war terrific”: George III’s younger sons and the succession crisis of 1817-20

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Modern, 20th century history, Elections, Electoral Reform, Social history, Women and Parliament

Nancy Astor: A Mother in the House

Last week we heard about the Father or ‘Grand Old Man’ of the Long Parliament, so this week we have a blog about the first mother in the House of Commons. Along with PhD student, Kate Meanwell, Dr Jacqui Turner from the University of Reading and Astor 100 project, discusses Nancy Astor’s role as a mother to her five children as well as a representative … Continue reading Nancy Astor: A Mother in the House

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Modern, 19th Century history, 20th century history, Economic history, Legal history, Minority Ethnic History, Parliamentary Life, Social history, Women and Parliament

Hansard at Huddersfield: Making democracy more searchable

Today’s post is a guest blog from Lesley Jeffries of the University of Huddersfield. Lesley explains the Hansard at Huddersfield project which aims to provide some interesting search facilities and visualisations of the results from the record of the UK parliament. I am a linguist working on the language of texts – from poetry to politics – and I sometimes work on what we linguists … Continue reading Hansard at Huddersfield: Making democracy more searchable

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Modern, 20th century history, Social history, Women and Parliament

Ellen Wilkinson’s search for social justice in 1936

As #WomensHistoryMonth draws to a close we hear from guest blogger Laura Beers, Associate Professor of History at American University, about the subject of her latest book, Ellen Wilkinson. In this piece Laura discusses a significant year in Ellen’s career, 1936, as an example of her quest for social justice… In 1940, when Ellen Wilkinson was appointed as parliamentary secretary to the minister of pensions, … Continue reading Ellen Wilkinson’s search for social justice in 1936

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Modern, 20th century history, Conferences, Seminars and Events, Elections, Electoral Reform, Women and Parliament

Electoral Firsts in the 1918 Election: Event Review

Today we hear from our undergraduate intern from the History department at Goldsmiths College, University of London, Matthew Anderson. For those of you who were unable to attend our recent event in Parliament, below he outlines our three papers… On Wednesday 16th January, amidst a significant week for Brexit and the government, the History of Parliament Trust and the Co-operative party hosted an event in … Continue reading Electoral Firsts in the 1918 Election: Event Review

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Georgian Lords, 18th Century history, Georgian, Parties, Queen Anne, Women and Parliament

The politics of the royal bedchamber: what The Favourite does (and does not) tell us about party, Parliament and the court of Queen Anne

In this latest blog for the Georgian Lords, Dr Charles Littleton offers some insights into the political background of the world presented in the award-winning movie The Favourite. The critical reception that has greeted Yorgos Lanthimos’s film provides an excellent opportunity to re-examine the role of politics and the court in the reign of Queen Anne, a critical time in the development of the British … Continue reading The politics of the royal bedchamber: what The Favourite does (and does not) tell us about party, Parliament and the court of Queen Anne

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History of Parliament Trust, 16th Century history, 17th Century history, 18th Century history, 19th Century history, 20th century history, Conferences, Seminars and Events, Women and Parliament

Review of the Year 2018

What a year it’s been! After all of the staff changes at the end of 2017 we started the new year with a new Director, Stephen Roberts, Assistant Director, Emma Peplow, and Public Engagement Officer, Sammy Sturgess, who, in addition to our continued research, were ready to forge ahead with a bumper public engagement programme involving our academic projects and beyond. 2019 will see the … Continue reading Review of the Year 2018

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