Factions
-

Cooperation and the Co-operative Party
The Co-operative Party was founded in 1917, volunteer interviewer Peter Reilly reflects on his recent oral history interview with David Lepper, a former ‘Labour Coop’ MP and what it meant to be a member of the Co-operative Party. Recent interviews…
-

The Monday Club
Continuing our series on factions, Alfie Steer, historian of modern and contemporary Britain, discusses one of the more controversial party factions, the Monday Club, and reflects on the limitations our oral history archive has encountered with such topics. On Monday, 3 February 1961,…
-

Sinn Féin: A 20th Century History of Party Splits
During the 20th century, Sinn Féin officially split three times and from these splits emerged some of the most central parties in Irish politics. In this second blog of a two-blog series, our Public Engagement Assistant, Kirsty O’Rourke, discusses the reasons…
-

The origins of Sinn Féin
In a series of two blogs, our Public Engagement Assistant, Kirsty O’Rourke, will discuss the 20th century history of Sinn Féin. In this first blog, Kirsty looks at the origins of the party and its founder, Arthur Griffith. Throughout the…
-

Parliamentarians on their past: Memories of the 1983 General Election
In June, the History of Parliament were delighted to welcome an audience to the first lecture of our contemporary history series ‘parliamentarians on their past’ that uses our oral history archive. Here our Oral History Intern, Alfie Steer, reflects on…
-

‘Another of my female politicians’ epistles’: Harriet Grote (1792-1878), the 1835 Parliament and the failed attempt to establish a radical party
In the fourth of his articles on Harriet Grote (1792-1878), our research fellow Dr Martin Spychal looks at Harriet’s involvement in the abortive attempt to establish a radical party at Westminster in the wake of the 1835 election. In November…
-

The Rivalship of Pompey and Caesar: the rift between John Wilkes and Parson Horne and the splitting of the Bill of Rights Society
Continuing with our new blog series on ‘Factions‘, Dr Robin Eagles, editor of our House of Lords 1715-1790 project looks at the dramatic fallout between John Wilkes and John Horne that led to the splitting of the Bill of Rights Society. Few…
-

The other Elizabethan succession crisis: the fight to succeed the 1st Lord Burghley, 1592-1598
The long-running problem of who would inherit the English throne was not the only succession crisis of Elizabeth I’s reign. In the first of our series of blogs on faction in English politics, Dr Andrew Thrush, editor of the House…
-

Of Pretenders and Prime Ministers: Robert Walpole and the Atterbury Plot 300 years on
As 2022 draws to an end Dr Charles Littleton considers the tercentenary of the Atterbury Plot, the failed plan for a Jacobite insurrection in England in 1722. The investigation of the conspiracy by Parliament in 1722-23 had far-reaching effects, as…
-

‘Always great fun: particularly when there was a row going on’: memories of the 1922 Committee
Once again, the powerful backbench Conservative 1922 committee is back in the headlines. Here Dr Emma Peplow, head of our Oral History Project, shares some of former MPs’ memories of its workings and influence… Whilst the 1922 Committee comes to…


