The History of Parliament blog has been as busy as ever this year! 2023 saw us launch a blog series to mark the coronation of King Charles, another to celebrate the launch of our House of Commons 1640-1660 volumes, and we welcomed lots of brilliant guest blogs from external authors. But which blogs were our most read this year? And which blog is not only our Top of the Blogs for 2023- but has become our most read blog ever? Our Public Engagement Manager Connie Jeffery has the countdown…
5. The King’s Dilemma: How it Fell to George V to Choose a New Prime Minister (Lord Lexden)
We’re kicking off Top of the Blogs at no.5, and the only guest blog to make it into the chart this year! In this blog Lord Lexden, trustee of the History of Parliament, reflects on a decision made by King George V one hundred years ago: who should he choose as the new Prime Minister?
4. Picturing the Parliament of 1523 (Dr Paul Hunneyball)
Coming in at no.4 this year is Dr Paul Hunneyball from our First Elizabethan Age series. In this blog he asks- what did a meeting of the English Parliament look like 500 years ago? An image of the 1523 State Opening of Parliament might prove useful, but careful interpretation is required…
3. ‘The buzz, the prattle, the crowds, the noise, the hurry’: the Coronation of George III and Queen Charlotte (Dr Robin Eagles)
The blog in the no.3 spot this year was published as part of our series exploring coronation ceremonies over the years. In May 2023 the world watched the carefully planned coronation of King Charles III in Westminster Abbey, but things weren’t so smooth in 1761. In this blog Dr Robin Eagles looks into the events- both serious and farcical- of the coronation of George III and Queen Charlotte.
2. Mo Mowlam and the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (Dr Emma Peplow)
No.2 in our chart and just missing out on the top spot this year is Dr Emma Peplow, who looked at the career of Mo Mowlam through reflections from her parliamentary colleagues. Although Mowlam was never interviewed for our Oral History Project, her work in negotiating the Belfast/Good Friday agreement made her an often spoken about figure within our archive.
1. ‘Almost an afterthought’: Queen Charlotte (Dr Robin Eagles)
Finally, no.1 and Top of the Blogs for 2023 is Dr Robin Eagles’ blog discussing the 18th century monarch, Queen Charlotte. Interest in the Queen grew in 2023 due to the Netflix show ‘Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story’, but in this blog Dr Eagles asks, who was the real Queen Charlotte? And what did it mean to be married to George III?
Did you know that the History of Parliament also launched on TikTok this year? Our most popular video of 2023 was posted in the summer, all about the history of the Prime Minister’s country home, Chequers. Watch it below!
Thank you to all of our colleagues and guest bloggers who wrote for us this year, and thank you to our wonderful followers for reading them! Make sure to subscribe to the History of Parliament’s WordPress site to avoid missing any of our new blogs, or sign up to our mailing list for regular updates.
Are there any topics that you would like us to explore during 2023? Comment below or send us an email to website@histparl.ac.uk.
CJ
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