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Clangers in Parliament: The Politics of Postgate and Bagpuss
2026 sees the 50th anniversary of the reissuing (in colour) of the children’s classic, Ivor the Engine, created by Oliver…
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Public breakfasts at Chiswick House: the duke and duchess of Devonshire’s suburban villa
For the latest post for the Georgian Lords, Alyssa Myers, a final year PhD student at the University of Manchester…
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‘Like herrings in a barrel’: the House of Commons chamber prior to 1834
When picturing the 19th-century Houses of Parliament, many people might think of the grand buildings designed by Charles Barry and…
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Marrying for the vote: the freedom-by-marriage franchise before 1832
Of all the bizarre voting qualifications in operation before 1832 – from potwallopers to burgage holders – one of the…
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‘We approached each other slowly like medieval knights with lances’: Hamilton versus Bell, Tatton, 1997
One of the highlights of the 1997 general election was the contest in Tatton. The Conservative Neil Hamilton, then under…
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Sir William Hart Dyke: Conservative MP, Disraeli’s chief whip – and the ‘inventor of lawn tennis’?
Who created the modern game of lawn tennis? As Dr Naomi Lloyd-Jones discusses, one possibly surprising 19th-century pioneer could have…
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The poetic memorialization of late-medieval MPs
Producing biographies on late-medieval MPs comes with its unique set of challenges, notably the lack surviving records indicative of their…
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‘A very unequal and a forced maintenance’: The failure of the Quakers Tithe Bill in 1736
In 1736 an almost united bench of bishops in the House of Lords scuppered legislation to relieve Quakers from prosecution…
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Politics, popular celebration and the Trojan War
The recent release of Christopher Nolan’s latest epic, The Odyssey, has sparked debate in many quarters for its depiction of…
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Monarchy and Democracy: A History of Leadership
In June, The History of Parliament and St James’s House celebrated the publication of their latest collaboration, Monarchy and Democracy:…
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Oral Histories of Community Politics in Devon
From the Grassroots project shares stories from people involved in community politics in Devon.
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Reappraising England’s reformed electoral map, 1832-1868: the impact of the 1832 Reform Act
Dr Martin Spychal, Senior Research Fellow on our House of Commons 1832-1868 Commons project, discuses the impact of the 1832…
