Parliamentary Life
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The Role of Whips and Party Splits
Episode 4: Tales from the Green Benches: An Oral History of Parliament Westminster is a place built on relationships, both…
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Finding a Seat
Episode 3: Tales from the Green Benches: An Oral History of Parliament For many MPs the hardest part of a…
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Joining the Party
Episode 2: Tales from the Green Benches: An Oral History of Parliament Many of us have an interest in politics…
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Welcome to the House
Episode 1: Tales from the Green Benches: An Oral History of Parliament What was it like to arrive in Parliament…
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Quakers in the Commons: Joseph Pease and the right to affirm
Taking their seat in the Commons can be a nervous moment for new MPs, but for the Quaker Joseph Pease…
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Dressing the part: robes ancient and modern
In the latest post for the Georgian Lords, Dr Robin Eagles considers the symbolism of the robes worn by members…
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The Politics of Illness, Part 1: Francis Russell, 4th earl of Bedford, 1640-1
In the first of a short series, Dr Patrick Little of the 1640-60 Lords section, discusses how illness undermined a compromise between…
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‘You have this day lost an agreeable entertainment in the House of Lords’: Dr John Savage, Lord Cowper’s personal parliamentary reporter
We are so used to continuous coverage of Parliament that it is easy to forget that during most of the…
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Prime Ministers in the House of Lords
The retirement of Lord Salisbury in 1902 marked the end of the last premiership undertaken from the House of Lords,…
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‘One of the greatest Rugby players who ever sat in the House’: Pat Munro MP
With the 2026 Six Nations Championship in full swing, our latest article from Dr Kathryn Rix looks at one of…
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Paddington in Parliament
Dr Hannes Kleineke of our Commons 1461-1504 Section explores how Paddington Bear’s favourite sweet treat was traded by some members of the late…
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The true beginning of troubles? The Parliament of Bats, 1426
Dr Hannes Kleineke explores the acrimonious ‘Parliament of Bats’, which first met in Leicester on this day 600 years ago,…