Category: Factions

Portrait of a young man with dark hair wearing 18th-century clothing, a dark coat and a buff waistcoat
History of Parliament Trust, 18th Century history, Elections, Factions, George III, Georgian, Georgian Lords, Military history, Parties, Scottish History, Social history

Robert Burns in Edinburgh: peers, patrons, and politics

In the wake of Burns Night, it is worth considering how the patronage of a small number of Scottish nobles helped Robert Burns become established as the national bard. In his latest piece for the Georgian Lords, Dr Charles Littleton, considers the important role played by a clutch of elite Scots families. Burns first published his Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, in Kilmarnock in … Continue reading Robert Burns in Edinburgh: peers, patrons, and politics

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History of Parliament Trust, 18th Century history, Factions, George III, Georgian, Georgian Lords, Health and Medicine, John Stuart, 3rd earl of Bute, Parliamentary Life, Parties, William Pitt the Younger, Women and Parliament

A Meddlesome Mother? Queen Charlotte and the Regency Crisis

In October 1788, George III fell ill with an unknown ‘malady’ which rendered him unable to fulfil his duties as sovereign: the beginning of the king’s famous ‘madness’. In the latest post for the Georgian Lords, we welcome Dr Natalee Garrett, who considers the role of Queen Charlotte during the period of the king’s illness, and more broadly. As the Prince of Wales was 26 … Continue reading A Meddlesome Mother? Queen Charlotte and the Regency Crisis

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Georgian, 18th Century history, Buildings and Architecture, Factions, Georgian Lords, Legal history, Local History, Religious history, Scottish History, Social history

The day Parliament was invaded

In the summer of 1780 London, and several other cities across England, experienced some of the worst rioting they had seen in a generation, following the presentation of a petition to Parliament calling for the repeal of the Catholic Relief Act. In the latest post for the Georgian Lords, Dr Robin Eagles considers the evidence of Lord George Gordon’s trial report and the insights it … Continue reading The day Parliament was invaded

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Contemporary History, 20th century history, Factions, Harold Wilson, James Callaghan, Modern, Oral history

Arthur Latham and the rise of the Labour Left

On this day, 1930, Arthur Latham was born. Labour MP for Paddington North (later Paddington) from 1969 to 1979, his career both inside and outside the Commons reflected the ebb and flow of the Labour Party’s ‘hard left’. Alfie Steer explores the significance of Latham’s career, and what it reveals about the history of left-wing politics in late Twentieth Century Britain. Arthur Latham’s journey to … Continue reading Arthur Latham and the rise of the Labour Left

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Georgian Elections Project, 18th Century history, 19th Century history, Elections, Factions, Local History, Military history, Parties, Social history

Election Chairing Ballads: The Songs and Music of Electoral Victory from Handel to ‘Things Can Only Get Better’

In today’s blog for the Georgian Elections Project, Dr Kendra Packham (Institute of English Studies, University of London and Newcastle University) tells us about her research on eighteenth-century election ballads, and finds in the forgotten election ‘chairing’ song points of comparison with the campaign for the 2024 UK general election. In the eighteenth century, when the ability and opportunity to vote was heavily restricted, songs … Continue reading Election Chairing Ballads: The Songs and Music of Electoral Victory from Handel to ‘Things Can Only Get Better’

History of Parliament
Georgian Elections Project, 18th Century history, Elections, Electoral Reform, Factions, Georgian, History of Parliament Trust, Parties

Breaking the Political Mould: a new 18th-century political party

With a multiple of parties vying for your vote in the 2024 General Election, the Whig and Tory monopoly of the 18th Century would have presented a much more limited choice for Georgian voters. However, in today’s blog for the Georgian elections project Dr Robin Eagles explores how one new party in particular threatened to upset the apple cart… Direct comparisons with today’s political parties … Continue reading Breaking the Political Mould: a new 18th-century political party

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The First Elizabethan Age, 16th Century history, Elections, Factions, Legal history, Tudor

Winchester v. Winchester: rivalries and election-rigging in 1560s Hampshire

Whatever the outcome of a modern election, the process of voting is predictable, reliable, and well-understood. However, in the sixteenth century, the picture was a lot more complicated, and sometimes corrupt, as Dr Paul Hunneyball of our Elizabethan Lords section explains… Hampshire in the 1560s was a divided community. Despite the Elizabethan religious settlement of 1559, there was still a sizeable Catholic population in the … Continue reading Winchester v. Winchester: rivalries and election-rigging in 1560s Hampshire

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Georgian Lords, 17th Century history, 18th Century history, Elections, Factions, Georgian, Parties

Tory to Whig – or helping out the Family?

Historians J.B. Owen, J.H. Plumb, and Linda Colley have all alluded to the post-1714 drift of the Tories into the Whig party. One of the families particularly referenced was the Legges. In the latest blog for the Georgian Lords, Dr Stuart Handley demonstrates the family advantages of conforming to the prevailing political climate. In August 1714, the head of the Legge family was William, earl … Continue reading Tory to Whig – or helping out the Family?

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Georgian Lords, 17th Century history, 18th Century history, Elections, Factions, Georgian, Local History, Religious history, Speakers of the House

Enter the Dragon: the education of Robert Harley

Robert Harley (1661-1724) was in his late 20s when he was first elected to Parliament as MP for Tregony in April 1689. He would remain a member of Parliament, first of the Commons and then of the Lords, for the rest of his life. Both his power and personal style was reflected in a number of nicknames: ‘Robin the Trickster’, ‘Harlequin’ and ‘the Dragon’ being … Continue reading Enter the Dragon: the education of Robert Harley

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Georgian Lords, 18th Century history, Elections, Factions, Georgian, Legal history

‘Not voting at all’: the election of an imprisoned MP in 1769

2024 represents the 250th anniversary of John Wilkes’s re-election for Middlesex and election as Lord Mayor of London. It was by any measure a remarkable achievement for a man who had been expelled from Parliament and imprisoned; but what of those who were so determined to cast their votes for someone Parliament deemed incapable of being elected? Dr Robin Eagles looks again at the Wilkes … Continue reading ‘Not voting at all’: the election of an imprisoned MP in 1769

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