The History of Parliament is excited to announce a new 8-week internship position for postgraduate-level researchers, working with the House of Lords 1640-60 section.
Follow the link below for more details on the role, and how to apply!
It may appear strange today that a member of the House of Lords could serve as Prime Minister.
However, as @kathrynrix.bsky.social has explored in a new article, the 19th century saw more Prime Ministers leading from the Lords than the Commons.
This Women's History Month we are highlighting the long history of female involvement in Parliament and politics.
Below, Dr Kathryn Rix overviews the political involvement of women in the years leading up to some women gaining the right to vote in 1918.
#WomensHistoryMonth #WHM
Elizabeth, Marchioness Conyngham, is best known as the final mistress of George IV.
However, as Dr Naomi Lloyd-Jones explores below, her electioneering activity offers an important example of the behind-the-scenes roles wealthy women could play in politics during the 19th century.
After his appearance at the BAFTAs last night, check out our latest article on Paddington Bear!
Dr Hannes Kleineke explores how his favourite sweet treat was traded by some members of the late medieval House of Commons.
"The homosexual of statute law came into being as male. The supposedly less troublesome, less libidinous lesbian remained firmly in his shadow."
Dr Caroline Derry on the attitudes towards same sex desire between women reflected in the 1957 Wolfenden Report and 1967 Sexual Offences Act.
#lgbthm26
This week in Scribble Book, #HistParl Director @jhdavey.bsky.social explores the history of the History of Parliament, beginning in the 1930s with Josiah Wedgwood's questionnaire of former MPs who sat between 1885 and 1918.
Read and subscribe via the link below!
HistParl is now on Substack!
We are very pleased to announce the launch of Scribble Book - a History of Parliament newsletter written by our Director @jhdavey.bsky.social ! Our first post, on the history of the Trust, will be out on Monday.
Be sure to subscribe now to keep up to date!
Following some recent high-profile political defections, @alfiesteer.bsky.social and Dr @emmapeplow.bsky.social have delved into the History of Parliament's #OralHistory archive to explore some historical cases of MPs who 'crossed the floor' and changed their party affiliation.
The History of Parliament is excited to announce a new year lecture!
On Wednesday 11 February, Dr Stephen Roberts will be speaking on 'Power and the Culture of the Commons in the Long Parliament'.
It is a hybrid event, either in-person in Parliament or online. Grab your FREE ticket below:
Crowd of people seated in rows facing towards the front of a room, where a man stands mid speech at a lectern. Behind him are two screens displaying the titled of the event 'Annual Lecture 2025: Clement Attlee's Labour Governments of 1945-51: A Reappraisal'.
Three people are stood in a row smiling at the camera. Two men are dressed in suits and ties, a woman at the end of the row is wearing a red dress. Behind them is a banner displaying the words 'History of Parliament'.
Thank you to everyone who attended our 2025 Annual Lecture! It was a brilliant event & a lovely way to see out another busy year at #HistParl.
Particular thanks to Rt Hon. Nick Thomas-Symonds for delivering this year's lecture, pictured here with @jhdavey.bsky.social & @lordnortonlouth.bsky.social.
#OTD 1771, James Somerset, an enslaved person, was brought in front of the Court of King's Bench.
Our Public Engagement Assistant @joempbaker.bsky.social explores the ensuing legal case Somerset v Stewart, and its impact on the transatlantic slave trade:
The History of Parliament is excited to announce this year's Annual Lecture!
On 16 December in Portcullis House, Rt Hon. Nick Thomas-Symonds will be speaking on 'Clement Attlee’s Labour Governments of 1945-51: A Reappraisal'.
Tickets are FREE and can be found in the link below:
Today marks the anniversary of the birth of Harriet Grote in 1792.
As @martinspychal.bsky.social has explored in his series, now available on the #HistParl site, she was able to establish herself as one of Westminster’s leading radical politicians. (1/8)🧵
We're heading to Parliament tomorrow evening for a special event discussing our #OralHistory project!
Our panel of experts will be discussing how we interview MPs and exploring some of the new stories in our interview archive.
Tickets are still available!
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/live-from-...
Tickets are still available for our event next week!
Join us to discuss how and why we interview MPs for our Oral History project, as well as some of the things we have learnt from our interview archive, in this special live recording of our podcast Tales from the Green Benches!
Do you think you have what it takes to be an MP?
Emma and Alex discuss just this on our podcast Tales from the Green Benches, after reflecting on clips from our vast archive of oral history interviews with former MPs.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
History of Parliament is delighted to announce that we will be hosting a LIVE recording of our podcast 'Tales from the Green Benches: An Oral History of Parliament'!
Tickets and further details in the link below:
For the past few months our Head of Contemporary History @emmapeplow.bsky.social has been on @mattchorley.bsky.social’s Radio 5live show every Thursday discussing the figures commemorated in Parliament Square.
Here she shares some of what she has learned:
historyofparliament.com/2025/04/24/s...
1/ #ICYMI last week our own Dr Alex Beeton was a guest on the BBC's Today in Parliament.
He discussed what the House of Lords was like in the 17th century, its recording in the Lords Journals, and the heated atmosphere the journals fail to report:
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
That’s brilliant thanks for sending this through - it’s on my evening reading list!
My second article for History of Parliament is live! Please go check it out:)
New article by me on Cynog Dafis, elected to Parliament nearly 20 years before Caroline Lucas on an unofficial Plaid Cymru-Green joint ticket, making him a plausible candidate for the UK’s first Green MP. May be of interest to any historians of the Green Party or environmentalism in late 20th c UK
The first episode is out today! Go give it a listen:)
We're so excited to announce #HistParl's new podcast, Tales from the Green Benches: an Oral History of Parliament!
Episodes drop every Monday, starting next week- you can listen to the trailer and subscribe early here or where ever you get your podcasts!
ow.ly/yCUV50TUmiB
John London, Britain's first Black voter?
NEW to the #HistParl site, Dr Gillian Williamson's groundbreaking research has discovered the earliest known record of a Black person voting in Britain, during the 1749 Westminster by-election:
historyofparliament.com/2024/10/21/j...
1/ This #ConstituencyTuesday we are looking at the London borough of Southwark. As Dr Hannes Kleineke explains, this troublesome constituency was quite the melting pot and proved to be a thorn in the side of medieval civic authorities! 👇 ow.ly/zcCU50EBFUv
Born #OTD 1917, Denis Healey.
Chancellor of the Exchequer during the economic crises of the late 1970s, and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in the turbulent early 1980s. Find out about Healey's life and career via our #OralHistory interview:
www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/oral-...
Very happy to have been able to write about such an important topic for the History of Parliament - go check out the piece!
