Gordon Brown.
🗓️ On this day, 6 March, in 2013, @GordonBrown spoke in the Commons about radiation in Dalgety Bay in his constituency.
1⃣ Of his 37 interventions as an ex-PM, 21 were on Dalgety Bay, making it the number one issue he pursued in Parliament after 2010.
For #WomensHistoryMonth we are looking back at this guest article from Prof Sarah Richardson on women’s right to vote at local elections during the 19th century. victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2013/03/18/t...
The latest issue of @parlhistjournal.bsky.social explores the practices and organisation of politics in the long 19th century.
Edited by #HistParl's Dr Naomi Lloyd-Jones, this special issue can be accessed now:
In 1992, Betty Boothroyd made history, becoming the first and only woman appointed as Speaker of the House of Commons.
Find out more about her illustrious career below:
#WomensHistoryMonth #WHM
In 1399, John of Gaunt, son to Edward III and father of Henry IV, died.
Founder of the royal house of Lancaster, Gaunt was a highly influential figure in medieval England.
However, an accusation of treason in 1384 threatened to end his influence.
A golden retriever dog. It is standing on all four paws and has its tongue sticking out.
Died #OnThisDay 1894 Dudley Coutts Marjoribanks (Lord Tweedmouth). He was Liberal MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed 1853-9, Aug 1859-68, 1874-81. His main claim to fame was creating the golden retriever breed, after he bred a golden-coated retriever with one of his Tweed water spaniels.
In 1461, during the Wars of the Roses, Edward IV was proclaimed King after overthrowing his cousin Henry VI.
However, as Dr Hannes Kleineke explores, the authority of this new regime was not universally accepted.
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
New post on the #HistParl website from @kathrynrix.bsky.social!
Read it here:
The Bill’s key provisions include: voting age: Lowering the voting age to 16, thereby giving the right to vote to 16- and 17-year-olds, with young people able to register in advance from the age of 14; automatic registration: providing a legal power to run pilots of various forms of automatic voter registration, enabling voters to be added to the electoral register without making an application; candidate nominations: requiring candidates to provide proof of identity during the nomination process; candidate security: abolishing the requirement for candidates who are acting as their own election agent to publish their home address, and giving candidates the option to fill out a form with their contact details to be provided to police; security of election staff: expanding the offence of intimidation or abuse of candidates, campaigners or elected office holders to include election staff, and introducing a new statutory aggravating factor for sentencing; party endorsements: allowing political parties to withdraw their support for a candidate who has submitted their nomination papers until 48 hours before the close of nominations; voter ID: adding UK-issued credit and debit cards to the list of approved forms of voter ID, and improving the security of digital photo ID; election donation checks: requiring recipients of donations over £11,180 to carry out a risk assessment to judge the likelihood of foreign or illicit sources of funding; company donations: requiring companies making donations to demonstrate a genuine and substantive connection to the UK or Ireland to prevent the use of shell companies; unincorporated associations: lowering the threshold for when unincorporated associations must register with the Electoral Commission from £37,270 to £11,180, and the threshold for when they must report gifts from £11,180 to £2,230.
Labour's Representation of the People Bill gets its first proper debate in the Commons today. Here's what's in it, via the Hansard Society
Number of parliamentary interventions by former UK prime ministers from 1955 to the end of February 2026.
🚨 February 2026 update on ex-PMs' parliamentary activity.
🔼 Rishi Sunak has now overtaken John Major to become the 8th most active ex-PM since 1955.
🔼 Theresa May increases her interventions by 1.
💥 And an exciting discovery - more on that once we've done further research.
#OnThisDay 1835 the Commons appointed a committee to consider the provision of a new building for Parliament in the wake of the October 1834 fire. Find out more about that event in our article: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2012/10/16/p...
Westminster bathed in sunshine this morning
Portrait of a man, Sir Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford.
🚨 On this day, 24 February, in 1744, Robert Walpole (the 1st Earl of Orford) made history by giving the first speech in Parliament by an ex-Prime Minister.
🗣️ With 'emotion and spirit', he spoke about the House of Lords' response to a message from King George II on The Young Pretender and France.
Robert Devereux, 2nd earl of Essex, was executed on this day in 1601.
In the fight to succeed William Cecil, 1st Lord Burghley, as Elizabeth's chief minister after his death in 1598, Essex's attempt to overthrow Burghley's son Robert ended in his own execution.
This Thursday the voters of Gorton and Denton will elect their new MP after weeks of media speculation. To mark the occasion, @emmapeplow.bsky.social has delved into our oral history archive to look at another by-election that full under the media spotlight: Christchurch 1993.
#OnThisDay in the House of Commons in 1852, Lord John Russell announced the resignation of his ministry. He was replaced as PM by the Conservative Lord Derby, in the first of Derby’s three terms as prime minister. For more on Derby’s governments, see victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2018/12/07/l...
Our final #ShropshireDay MP is Henry Whitmore, one of several family members to represent the borough of Bridgnorth. He served as a Conservative party whip in the 1850s and 1860s: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2024/02/26/w...
In 1820, a small group of radicals met in a hayloft on Cato Street, with a plan to assassinate the Prime Minister and his cabinet.
However, as @alfiesteer.bsky.social explores, the Cato Street Conspiracy was doomed to fail from the start.
In this week's Scribble Book, #HistParl director @jhdavey.bsky.social takes a literary trip to Iceland, and discusses the importance of Parliament in one of the country's most famous novels.
Read and subscribe via the link below!
My chapter, ‘Servicing constituents: a comparative perspective’, is in IPSA’s ‘Funding Democracy 2025’ Green Paper
assets.ctfassets.net/nc7h1cs4q6ic...
Delighted to receive my copy of 'Walter Bagehot: Life and legacy' by Janet Seaton and Barry Winetrobe, published by the Langport and District History Society. Bagehot lived in Langport and is buried there.
My chapter, ‘Servicing constituents: a comparative perspective’, is in IPSA’s ‘Funding Democracy 2025’ Green Paper
assets.ctfassets.net/nc7h1cs4q6ic...
Delighted to receive my copy of 'Walter Bagehot: Life and legacy' by Janet Seaton and Barry Winetrobe, published by the Langport and District History Society. Bagehot lived in Langport and is buried there.
Delighted to see extensive coverage of the report of the @UKHouseofLords Select Committee on Statutory Inquiries in Thursday’s @Telegraph www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02...
In 2018, Sarah Clarke was the first-ever female appointed into the role of 'Black Rod'.
Black Rod is responsible for maintaining order within and controlling access to the House of Lords. Dr Hannes Kleineke reflects on the medieval origins of this role.
Margaret Thatcher at the unveiling of her statue in the House of Commons on 21 February 2007.
🗣️ 'I might have preferred iron. But bronze will do. It won't rust.'
🗓️ So said Margaret Thatcher on this day, 21 February, in 2007 as she unveiled her statue at the House of Commons.
📘 There's more in 'Margaret Thatcher: Life After Downing Street':
www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/margar...
Delighted to see extensive coverage of the report of the @UKHouseofLords Select Committee on Statutory Inquiries in yesterday’s ‘Daily Telegraph’ www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02...
*PSA OPPORTUNITY*
📢 New #ALevel Essay Competition for #Schools #Students & #Teachers run by PSA American Politics Group (APG) @psaamericanpol.bsky.social with the Financial Times @financialtimes.com
📆 Application deadline 16 March
➡️ Full details
Delighted to see extensive coverage of the report of the @UKHouseofLords Select Committee on Statutory Inquiries in yesterday’s ‘Daily Telegraph’ www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02...
