It's nice to have been invovled with a post that is so politically timely...

The 1832 Reform Act marked a pivotal moment in the extension of the franchise, but who was able to vote? @martinspychal.bsky.social explores topic, which may not be as straightforward as you think.

3/In 1931 Labour’s first PM was expelled from the party, and after the October election, fewer Labour MPs were returned to Westminster than in 1918. How to deal with the economic crisis led to divisions during Macdonald’s premiership of the Labour Party. @emmapeplow.bsky.social

Some great stories here from our oral history project from MPs who crossed the floor. It's definitely a controversial and dramatic move!

📣 We’re hiring! The History of Parliament are seeking a Research Fellow for our House of Lords 1660-1832 project. @georgianlords.bsky.social We’re looking for a historian with a PhD in 18thC British political or cultural history to join our expert team. 🔗 Details below: #AcademicJobs #HistoryJobs

V in our #1832AtoZ starts with Voting. In this post, our editor Dr Philip Salmon explains how voting operated at elections before the introduction of the secret ballot: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2022/07/14/d...

#OTD 1957 Anthony Eden resigned as Prime Minister, citing ill health, just two months after being forced to withdraw British troops from Suez. Find out how the Suez Crisis was viewed in the House of Commons in this blog from @emmapeplow.bsky.social:

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:

Finished recording the wonderfully named 'Made in Stone' series (now bronze busts of former PMs) in members' lobby for Matt Chorley on 5live this morning with the excellent @sclapperton.bsky.social and @spoonsontrays.bsky.social. Great, if near-impossible, challenge to sum up these figures in 5mins

#OTD the 1918 general election took place, the first to see women vote, following the passage of the Representation of the People Act. To find out more about the significance of the Act, for women, men and Britain's electoral system, check out @EmmaPeplow.bsky.social's article:

I write a newspaper column about Scottish history, historians and heritage. I’m keen to feature more Early Career Researchers. Their work might not otherwise be publicised to a wide audience. Do you know anyone who might like to be in the column?

Excited to publish our latest batch of Ministers Reflect interviews! We spoke with former health secretary and chancellor Sajid Javid, former Wales secretary and chief whip Simon Hart, and former Defra secretary Theresa Villiers. Some highlights… www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/ministers-re...

Born #OTD Michael Jopling, Baron Jopling, MP for Westmoreland and Lonsdale, 1964-97 and a Minister for Agriculture under Margaret Thatcher. Follow the link to find out how to access his 2013 #OralHistory interview for #HistParl.

Excited to launch, with @callingdrjones.bsky.social, 'History in Practice' - an informal space to collectively share, reflect, and collaborate on all things related to history teaching in universities Some excellent pieces to begin with, please do get involved! www.history-uk.ac.uk/history-in-p...

Another #JobAlert! 📯 The GHIL is seeking to employ at the earliest opportunity a full-time Assistant to the Director/ Assistant Events Officer As assistant to the director, you are the first point of contact for internal and external enquiries to the director. 1/2

Hmm. This is probably not a precedent the OBR wants to hear!

Unsurprisingly, the Budget statements are typically very long. To date, the longest Budget speech was that of Gladstone in 1853, coming in at a whopping 4 hours and 45 minutes. The shortest was Benjamin Disraeli's budget speech in 1867 which lasted just 45 minutes. (7/10)

'Materials of State' will be airing this week on Radio 4, made in association with the History of Parliament. The series examines the artefacts and emblems that have shaped, and continue to shape, the British constitution. You can catch the first episode today at 1:45pm: buff.ly/1I5JVcE

How was the #GunpowderPlot foiled back in 1605? In this #HistParl article, Dr Ben Coates explores the warning letter sent to a Catholic peer that led to the plot's undoing... #BonfireNight

And to round off my short and sweet stint on Radio5 with @emmapeplow.bsky.social, this week we discussed the 1978 statue of Clement Attlee by Ivor Roberts-Jones alongside questions regarding ‘the empty plinth’ in Members Lobby @ukparliament.parliament.uk 🎧 1:46 in www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Looking forward to the IHR Parliaments, Politics & People seminar on 28 October. Dr Mari Takayanagi @satisfactory20.bsky.social will be sharing new research, inc. a recently discovered ‘suffragette chain’. FREE in-person in London & online. More info here: historyofparliament.com/2025/10/21/t...

This was fun to do, although you won't know it was me from listening 🤣 @kathrynrix.bsky.social is brilliant as ever and an interesting look back on the programme

Looking for some ‘high quality statue content’? Listen back to Matt Chorley’s Radio 5 show to hear myself and @emmapeplow.bsky.social discuss the statue of Herbert Henry Asquith as it stands in Members’ Lobby @ukparliament.parliament.uk Tune it from 1:48 onwards: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Today we visited The National Archives for a workshop organised by @joecozens.bsky.social and our own @martinspychal.bsky.social on Peter McLagan, Scotland's first Black MP. We looked at original documents relating to McLagan's life & had some great discussions about future directions for research.

Parliament’s champion of the people or scandalous, self-serving politician? #Georgian radical John Wilkes kept a foot in both camps. 🔓 Robin Eagles’ History Matters is free for 7 days www.historytoday.com/archive/hist...

Born #OTD 1927, Jim Prior, Conservative MP for Lowestoft, later Waveney, from 1959 to 1987. In the 1980s he was one of a group of Conservative MPs, nicknamed 'wets', who disagreed with many of Margaret Thatcher's economic and social policies:

Private Eye nails it

Died #OTD 1967, Clement Attlee, Labour Party leader and Prime Minister 1945-1951. Attlee led his party to a landslide victory in July 1945: an event that many late 20th c. MPs describe in their #OralHistory interviews as their 'political awakening'. historyofparliament.com/2015/07/27/1...

Still, a good opportunity to advertise our next event at the @mileendinstitute.bsky.social on 20 October: "Still Thatcher's Britain? The Thatcher Legacy, 1925-2025". Featuring Gillian Shephard, Simone Finn, @philipjcowley.bsky.social and me. www.qmul.ac.uk/mei/events/m...

#OTD 110 years ago, the Hon. Charles Thomas Mills MP died at the Battle of Loos. Dr Kathryn Rix explored the parliamentary and military service of the youngest MP killed during the First World War on the #HistParl site:

Born #OTD 1946 Ann Widdecombe, MP 1987-2010. As part of our #OralHistory project, Widdecombe described the feeling of sitting in the House of Commons for the first time. Listen to this clip and reflections from other former MPs in this article: historyofparliament.com/2022/09/29/y...

Great news! JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month www.jstor.org/action/showL...

📣Fellowship and grant opportunity! @chuarchives.bsky.social has multiple by-fellowships & research grants currently open for applications✨ 🕰️Different deadlines on 31 October, 31 December & 31 May. 👉More info: archives.chu.cam.ac.uk/about/resear...

We're pleased to share this call for papers for our upcoming conference! 📍Online via Zoom 🗓️Thursday 5 - Friday 6 February 2026 ⏱️Abstract deadline Saturday 1 November 2025 See our website for full details 👇 voicesofmotherhood.wp.worc.ac.uk/index.php/news-and-resources/updates-from-the-project

Robin Eagles of @histparl.bsky.social has a piece in the latest edition of @historytoday.com on John Wilkes, whose 300th birthday is coming up in October. #WilkesandLiberty #HistParl

I enjoyed writing this post, there is an awful lot of respect for Mowlam in our archive.

Currently researching Duncan McLaren, Liberal MP for Edinburgh from 1865. On holiday in 1868 the men of the family went to a Liberal meeting at Oban, but the women did not. McLaren's wife Priscilla Bright McLaren wrote: 'As we have the misfortune to wear petticoats we are not to go’.

#ICYMI, yesterday Dr Kathryn Rix wrote about the impact of the Corrupt Practices Act, 1883.

The new House of Lords Bill is entering its final stages, which if passed will remove remaining hereditary peers from the Lords. Dr Philip Salmon has explored how the Lords was able to survive during a period of reform in the Victorian era. historyofparliament.com/2025/08/14/l...

James Barlow Hoy, formerly Conservative MP for Southampton, died #OnThisDay 1843 after falling into a ravine in the Pyrenees. But was this an accident or murder? Find out more in our blog: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2016/09/28/m...

Shameless self promotion but I was part of a research project on Michael and Ann Dummett’s anti racism which you can read in this book. www.new.ox.ac.uk/righteous-an...

I'm very happy to answer questions by email or chat to anyone who's interested in this job, in our brilliant, friendly @chppc.bsky.social team at @ihr.bsky.social. Send me a direct message or drop me an email via my IHR address. And please share! #job #history #Skystorians #HistoricEnvironment

Parliament is currently on summer recess- but how did Parliamentarians from the past spend their time away from Parliament? In this previous article, Dr Robin Eagles took a look at those who holidayed at the newly popular spa and seaside resort destinations of the 18th c.:

#OTD 1925, Plaid Cymru was formed at a meeting of six leading Welsh nationalists, including the poet Saunders Lewis, at a cafe in Pwllheli. Its first MP, Gwynfor Evans, was first elected in 1966 and since 1974 the party has maintained a consistent presence in Parliament.

Teaching Fellowship in Queer and Gender History with a Specific Focus on the 20th Century United States- University of Oxford - Faculty of History #skystorians 🗃️www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOC500/t...

Teaching Fellowship in Twentieth-Century British History- University of Oxford - Faculty of History #skystorians 🗃️www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOC497/t...

The Parliamentary History Essay Prize 2025 is open! The prize is worth £500 and winners will have their essay published in our journal! The submission deadline is 30 Nov 2025! For details 👇 🧵1/4 @histparl.bsky.social @georgianlords.bsky.social @victoriancommons.bsky.social

#OTD 1990 Ian Gow, MP for Eastbourne was assassinated by a car bomb planted by the IRA. Former MPs interviewed for our oral history project have reflected on how threats to their lives affected them during the troubles:

#OTD 1706 the details of the Treaty of Union were agreed, paving the way for the political union of England and Scotland, and the creation of the new state of Great Britain in May 1707. Find out more about the journey from treaty to political union, here: buff.ly/Y2X9KK4

Delighted to see a new special issue of @jich.bsky.social on petitions and petitioning in colonial/post-colonial contexts out. Edited by myself and Miranda Johnson (Otago). Includes articles on South Asia, West Africa, the Pacific, North America. www.tandfonline.com/toc/fich20/5...