Last month, the NHS celebrated its 75th anniversary. Since its formation, the NHS has played a key role in politics. Here, Dr Emma Peplow, Head of Oral History, explores how important the NHS was to voters and politicians on the campaign trail. This summer we celebrated the 75th anniversary of the NHS. Alongside the tributes to those who work so hard to keep it running, there … Continue reading 75 Years of the NHS – on the campaign trail
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 the lecture ‘Memories of the 1983 General Election’ and explores the background to the 1983 general election. To mark the fortieth anniversary of the 1983 … Continue reading Parliamentarians on their past: Memories of the 1983 General Election
25 years ago this month the basis for peace in Northern Ireland – the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement – was signed after years of painstaking negotiations. Although nothing would have been achieved without the hard work of politicians and activists of all parties from Northern Ireland, mainland Britain and the Republic of Ireland, one of the crucial figures was Mo Mowlam, Secretary of State for Northern … Continue reading Mo Mowlam and the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement
For many MPs beginning their career before 2005, they started their job with no induction process or job description. Volunteer interviewer Peter Reilly reflects on his recent interview with David Howarth, MP for Cambridge 2005-2010, and asks the question: what is the role of an MP? What is the role of an MP? It must be a question many new MPs ask themselves. Yet, as … Continue reading What is in a role: differing views about MPs’ focus
To mark Women’s History Month 2023, guest blogger Henry Miller, Associate Professor (Research) at Durham University, explores how women continued to utilise petitioning as a medium for political activity even after they won the vote. There is a long tradition of women appealing to Parliament through petitions dating back to at least the late medieval period. In the nineteenth century, petitions to the House of … Continue reading Women, Petitions and Parliament in the Twentieth Century
In today’s blog, we pay tribute to Betty Boothroyd, the first female Speaker of the Commons, who sadly died yesterday. Dr Emma Peplow, Head of our Oral History Project, reflects on her historic career. Betty Boothroyd will go down in parliamentary history as the first woman to be elected Speaker of the Commons – she was also the first Speaker to be elected from the … Continue reading A tribute to Betty Boothroyd
These are exciting times for our Oral History project, as we have two opportunities to come and work with us… Firstly, as you may have seen, we are looking for an intern this summer to help us with the planning and organisation of our project. The successful candidate will be working to compile background information on possible new interviewees and help us to identify who … Continue reading Oral History Project internship and PhD opportunity: come and work with us!
Over the past few weeks UK Heritage institutions have been marking Disability History Month, and in today’s blog we hear from Dr Emmeline Ledgerwood, the History of Parliament’s Oral History Project Manager. Listening to the project’s interview with former MP Sir John Hannam sparked a research trail that led her towards a key figure in disability rights campaigning: Dr Margaret Agerholm. In his interview for … Continue reading ‘Helping the Disabled to Live to Capacity’: rediscovering Dr Margaret Agerholm through parliamentary history
As the History of Parliament Oral History Project continues to go from strength to strength following a two-year hiatus, here volunteer interviewer Peter Reilly reflects on his recent interview with Lord David Hunt, MP for Wirral and later Wirral West 1976-1997. A member of cabinet under both Margaret Thatcher and John Major, throughout his career- and interview- Hunt proved committed to a topic still making … Continue reading The search for good governance: David Hunt
Our Parliaments, Politics and People seminar is back for the autumn term! At next week’s seminar our head of Oral History, Dr Emma Peplow, will discuss what drove MPs into politics using materials gathered from our Oral History Project. The seminar takes place on 18 October 2022, between 5:30 and 7:00 p.m. It is fully ‘hybrid’, which means you can attend either in-person in London … Continue reading Parliaments, Politics and People seminar: ‘That was how politics started for me’: memories on motivations from the History of Parliament Trust’s Sound Archive
