It’s here! @leedavidevansuk.bsky.social’s book on the most efficient users of the political guillotine. As the Tories settle down to a period of consistent leadership after the tumult of Cameron to Sunak (move over French Revolution!) I’m looking forward to getting into this. #histbookchat

🚨 NEW PODCAST: New Labour, New Britain? Almost twenty years after Tony Blair left Downing Street, how should we judge the record of New Labour? In our latest 'Since Attlee & Churchill' podcast, Richard and I are joined by @gsoh31.bsky.social to discuss his book, 'New Labour, New Britain?' 1/2

‘Burnham’s coronation comes with a catch.’ @leedavidevansuk.bsky.social on Andy Burnham’s path to become Leader of the Labour Party & the United Kingdom’s next Prime Minister. Via @capx.co. #UnitedKingdom capx.co/burnhams-cor...

Spotted in the wild! - at Blackwell's Bookshops, Oxford.

🎉 It's publication day +1! I missed posting about it here yesterday, but my book - Coronations & Defenestrations: Choosing (and Losing) Tory Leaders - is now published with @agendapub.bsky.social and @edinburghup.bsky.social. If you'd like to give it a read, you can find it... 1/2

🚨 NEW PODCAST: The Brexit Referendum Richard and I have reached the finale of our miniseries on Cameron’s referendums. In this episode, we discuss why Cameron promised to hold a referendum... ... the circumstances in which he made good on that pledge...

‘It is hard to imagine Starmer being a boisterous ex-PM. After all, what ideas would he advocate for? If anybody knew - if he knew - then he may not have just resigned as prime minister.’ I’ve written for @unherd.com on what Keir Starmer might do next. unherd.com/newsroom/wil...

Well, I'm glad I haven't just written a history of Labour leadership contests... I'm hoping this Tory version will be 'up to date' for some time yet!

The formal party mechanisms for triggering a leadership contest have never yet brought down a prime minister ... but nor do prime ministers go by choice. Most voluntary resignations are involuntary" Harold Wilson’s departure half a century ago in 1976 is the last truly voluntary resignation

An exciting moment: the first copies of my book, ‘Coronations & Defenestrations’, arrived today! It’s the story of how the Conservatives have picked (and ditched) their leaders throughout history, to be published by @agendapub.bsky.social (@edinburghup.bsky.social) at the end of this month.

Such an honour to be at the installation service for the Order of the Garter yesterday, and to see the incomparable Peter Hennessy join their ranks.

Richard and I are starting a new miniseries on our podcast, 'Since Attlee & Churchill', all about David Cameron's Referendums. The first episode - on the AV referendum - is available now for members of our Patreon. 👇 patreon.com/SinceAttleeA...

If you've never been, do look out for the open days at Highbury Hall, the former home of Joseph Chamberlain, in Birmingham. The team there - Chamberlain Highbury Trust - are doing a great job restoring the house and bringing the history of the Chamberlains to life. Well worth a visit!

I was delighted to speak at the @mcrhistories.bsky.social festival over the weekend. It was great to discuss the lives of four overlooked politicians with Manchester connections - and to do so at a festival that does so much to bring local history to life. Thanks to everyone who came along!

1983: Tony Benn defeated in Bristol East When Benn says nothing but the defeat of the people of Bristol would ever have induced him to leave, he was surely hinting that, now defeated, he would look elsewhere for a constituency. The following year he stood in Chesterfield.

Delighted to see the latest episode of Since Attlee & Churchill mentioned in Politico. Richard and I discuss a former Labour MP's attempt to return to the House of Commons - not in 2026, but in 1984, when Tony Benn fought the Chesterfield by-election. Available wherever you get your podcasts.

🚨NEW PODCAST: Is Makerfield the new Chesterfield? In the latest Since Attlee & Churchill, @richardmarcj and I discuss a former Labour MP's attempt to return to Parliament in a by-election. But the candidate isn't Andy Burnham - it's Tony Benn, in Chesterfield, in 1984. 1/2

On our podcast, Since Attlee & Churchill, Richard and I have been looking at three of the most dramatic strikes of the last century. It's a story of changing trade union power; competent and inept governments; and the collapse of the coal-mining industry. 🧵A mini thread.

Richard and I are delighted to be taking 'Since Attlee & Churchill' to @mcrhistories.bsky.social. We'll be there on 6th June, in Manchester Central Library, speaking about Manchester's underlooked political figures. Tickets are free and can be booked at: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mhf-2026-f...

Just spotted that you are the #1 'hot new release' for political leadership books on amazon - congratulations! (though annoyingly they are still displaying an old version of the cover) www.amazon.co.uk/gp/new-relea...

I'm pleased to say my book on the Tory leadership, 'Coronations & Defenestrations', will be out next month with @agendapub.bsky.social (part of @edinburghup.bsky.social). It looks back to when leaders simply emerged and charts the path to the flurry of leaders the party has endured in recent years.

🚨 NEW PODCAST: The General Strike (Part 2) In our second episode on the General Strike, Richard and I pick up the story after the strike got underway and debate the role of Stanley Baldwin, the terms of the 'surrender' and the long-term consequences of the strike. 1/2

Pleased to write for @telegraph.co.uk on Labour's battering in Wales - a once-in-a-century rupture between the Labour Party and what was one of its most steadfast heartlands. Available here. 👇 www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05...

One of the recurring themes of leadership challenges is the difference between technical survival and retaining the authority to govern. For anything more than a few months’ reprieve, it’s the latter that really matters. And Keir Starmer is clearly losing it.

‘An almost forgotten character walked back onto the stage of British politics this weekend. After decades in the wilderness, the “stalking horse” was revived by Labour MP Catherine West…’ I’ve written for @unherd.com on the remarkable return of the stalking horse.👇🏻 unherd.com/newsroom/wil...

🚨NEW PODCAST: The General Strike (Part 1) Richard and I kick off a new miniseries on strikes by looking back 100 years to the only General Strike in British history (so far). When a slump in the profitability of coal met with the demands of the mineworkers, few could see a peaceful way out. 1/4

The interpretation of these results for the Conservatives depends almost entirely on if you’re comparing with 2021/22 (effectively pre-Reform) or 2025. Obviously these are worse for the Tories than before the right was split. But they’re much better than the 2025 results.

As we learn more about how the country has voted, I’ve put the results so far into some historical context over on @capx.co. Free to read here. 👇 capx.co/the-old-poli...

To the average voter, this will come across as it is: horrible, vile, spiteful politics. It may motivate some of their existing vote, but few new people will want to support a party that threatens to punish you, even if you vote for it, because a plurality of your neighbours vote for someone else.

I’m delighted this is now our fastest downloaded episode ever - out of 100+ eps! Hear about how Labour got smashed in the 1968 local elections; plotters tried to end Harold Wilson’s premiership; and yet he survived until the next election (and beyond)… Links below.

🚨NEW PODCAST: Labour's 1968 Battering at the Polls In 1968, an unpopular Labour PM was on the brink as voters went to the polls in local elections. When the votes were counted, Labour suffered a wipe-out in large parts of London, with similarly grim results across the rest of the country. 1/2

🚨 NEW PODCAST: How political was Elizabeth II? To mark the centenary of her birth, Richard and I discuss - and debate - the political role(s) of Elizabeth II. I argue that there are 7 legitimate ways in which a monarch can, and sometimes must, act politically - but that each comes with... 1/2

Wonderful news that Lord Hennessy has been made a Knight of the Order of the Garter. If you haven't done so already, take this as a prompt to listen to his utterly charming appearance of Desert Island Discs in 2023.

It's an underrated part of British culture that we tend to believe other Brits are generally good people. There's such a huge gulf in the Anglosphere between those who believe it (UK, Australia, Canada) and the US

The problem isn't that a democratically elected PM got his way. It's that having made a political decision, and got his way, Keir Starmer now tries to blame other people and hide behind bureaucracy and process. Politicians exercising power is fine - so long as it comes with accountability.

This is the reason I struggle to imagine an actual Labour leadership contest being what removes Starmer. It would need 20% of MPs willing to publicly rebel against him AND get behind the same alternative. Imho, intolerable pressure, including resignations from govt, more likely to remove the PM.

How close were we to Thatcher vs Callaghan TV debates? In April 1979, Jim Callaghan became the first incumbent PM to call for TV debates with the Leader of the Opposition. At first, it seemed the Tory press were gearing up for it, with the Sun urging: "Take him on, Maggie".

🚨 NEW PODCAST: What's the point of TV debates? In 2010, Britain had its first ever Prime Ministerial debates. The idea had first been mooted as early as 1964, so why did it take so long for them to happen? What advantages and disadvantages do the debates bring? And…

🚨 NEW PODCAST: How did the 1922 Committee become so powerful? There was a time when you could barely tune into the news without the cryptically named ‘1922 Committee’ being in the headlines. But how did this group of Tory MPs, originally founded as a self-help group...

Here’s Herbert Morrison climbing down a fire engine ladder at County Hall for the camera:

Clement Attlee sawing some wood whilst wearing a shirt and tie and smoking on a pipe. One of the photographs in Clement Attlee: A Pictorial Biography by Vincent Brome (1949).

🚨 BONUS PODCAST: The Faiths of Margaret Thatcher & Gordon Brown Following on from our Easter Sunday special, Richard and I look at two other prime ministers for whom their Christian faith was of foundational importance. Available now. www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-...

🚨 NEW PODCAST: Which post-war PMs were most influenced by Christianity? In a special Easter episode, Richard and I discuss two of the most religiously observant and theologically curious post-war PMs: Macmillan and Blair. What did faith mean to them? And how did it influence their politics? 1/2

'He is risen indeed. Alleluia!' Happy Easter! - from a gloriously packed St Faith’s Church in Shellingford, Oxfordshire.

My Easter weekend reading: I’ve followed the recommendation of the ‘Quite Right’ podcast and plumped for Trollope. The first Victorian novel I’ve read in a LONG time - and so far, I’m loving it.

🚨 BONUS PODCAST: Can the Tory Party be revived? In a special bonus episode, Richard and I discuss one of the major questions for British politics in the 2020s: can the Conservative Party, for so long the dominant force in British politics, be revived? Available now on Patreon. Link below.

Delighted that 'Since Attlee & Churchill' has climbed into the top 50 UK history podcasts on Apple!

We're a quarter of the way through 2026... ... and so far this year, Richard and I have published 26 episodes of our podcast Since Attlee & Churchill. These are the top five most listened to episodes of Q1 2026 - so, if you haven't yet given it a listen, these could be a good place to start! 1/2

On this day 60 years ago, Harold Wilson achieved his greatest electoral triumph: the 1966 general election. Labour's vote share was 48%, giving Wilson a landslide majority. It was the only time, between 1945 and 1997, that Labour won a decent working majority in Parliament.