Parliamentary History Journal
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parlhistjournal.bsky.social
Parliamentary History Journal
@parlhistjournal.bsky.social
2.2K followers 440 following 110 posts
We publish peer-reviewed research covering the history of parliamentary institutions in Britain and Ireland from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century, and the legislatures of British colonies before independence.
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parlhistjournal.bsky.social
And, as it’s Budget week, we have a whole host of articles on all things budgets, tax, and government finance:
November 28, 2025 at 11:53 AM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
#OTD in 1990, Margaret Thatcher resigned as prime minister. Naturally, we have published many articles on this period, here are just a few:
November 28, 2025 at 11:08 AM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
This edition of Sheridan's 'The Rivals' claims that, in speechmaking, Sheridan was "the peer of Fox, Burke, and Pitt in a time full of great orators".

Is this a widely accepted claim today?

@histparl.bsky.social #parlisky #skystorians

1/2🧵
August 4, 2025 at 3:19 PM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
The Parliamentary History Essay Prize 2025 is open!
The prize is worth £500 and winners will have their essay published in our journal!

The submission deadline is 30 Nov 2025!

For details 👇
🧵1/4
@histparl.bsky.social @georgianlords.bsky.social @victoriancommons.bsky.social
'The Right Honorable J. Ramsay MacDonald addressing the House of Commons', by Sir John Lavery, 1923. Oil on Canvas. Credit Glasgow Life Museums. https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-right-honourable-j-ramsay-macdonald-addressing-the-house-of-commons-84786
July 31, 2025 at 11:52 AM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
. @bettovanwaarden.bsky.social shows that, when it came to parliamentary broadcasting, roles were reversed and Westminster, the original model parliament, in fact came to study other parliaments.

Read free 👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

@HistParl
#History #Parliament
The Palace of Westminster in London, July 2008, by Mike Gimelfarb. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parliament_at_Sunset.JPG
July 20, 2025 at 5:30 PM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
Sir Robert Newman, MP for Exeter 1918-31, was the only interwar Con. MP to be deselected but successfully hold his seat.

Paul Auchterlonie explores his role in supporting legislation for women, for which Eleanor Rathbone called him a 'Guardian Angel'.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Eleanor Rathbone campaigning LSE https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eleanor_Rathbone_campaigning.jpg
July 20, 2025 at 5:29 PM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
Mikel Urquijo studies the neutrality of parliamentary presidency and speakership by comparing the models of the UK to continental Europe. The differences can be explained by historical development.

The article is free to read 👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#Parliament #Europe
Speaker Lindsay Hoyle at Prime Minister's Questions, 7 February 2024. UK Parliament by Maria Unger https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prime_Minister%27s_Questions,_7_February_2024_12.jpg
July 19, 2025 at 10:24 AM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
In our latest issue, @chountisdefabbri.bsky.social takes a novel look at Edmund Burke's opposition to parliamentary reform, in terms of partisanship and the interplay between domestic and imperial politics.

Read free 👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#Parliament #History
Painting of Edmund Burke National Portrait Gallery. NPG 655. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EdmundBurke1771.jpg
July 18, 2025 at 4:40 PM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
Jonathan McGovern compares an early draft of John Hooker's 'The Order and usage how to keep a parliament in England in these days' (c. 1571) to it's final print.

Hooker's careful revisions give us further confidence in his work.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#Parliament #History #Tudor
John Hoker (or Hooker) (c.1527-1601). Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery (Exeter). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JohnHooker_RAMM_Exeter.jpg
July 18, 2025 at 9:34 AM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
Richard Wendorf discusses Lord Chesterfield's previously unpublished 1761 history of the Excise Crisis.

It shows how members of the Lords applied pressure on the Court.

Wendorf's article is free to read 👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

@georgianlords.bsky.social
#Parliament #History
Portrait of Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (1694-1773). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Philip_Dormer_Stanhope,_4th_Earl_of_Chesterfield_by_Allan_Ramsay.jpg
July 17, 2025 at 4:16 PM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
In our latest issue, Colin Helling explores how the Scottish parliament pushed against its marginal position in 17th century Stuart diplomacy.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#Scotland #Parliament #History
Portrait of William Keith, 9th Earl of Marischal (c. 1664-1712). 17th Century. Christie's, LotFinder: entry 5279188. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Unknown,_circle_of_Sir_John_Baptist_de_Medina_-_Portrait_of_William_Keith,_9th_Earl_Marischal_(c.1664-1712).jpg
July 17, 2025 at 9:07 AM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
Exciting news! Our new issue is out now! We'll be sharing a bit about each of the articles over the coming days, but in the meantime explore for yourself 👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17500206...

#skystorians #politics #parliament
July 16, 2025 at 11:57 AM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
We've finished the excellent 'The Blazing World'.

To cap our read through, here's Scott Sowerby's article on the 1685 Parliament, free to read👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

He shows that Tories were more divided in their attitude to James II than had been recognised.

#skystorians
Portrait of James VII of Scotland and II of England (1633-1701) with Garter Collar, c. 1650-1675 Anonymous. School of Peter Lely (1618-1680) Bolton Museum and Art Gallery, Lancashire, UK. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:James_II_by_Peter_Lely.jpg
April 3, 2025 at 11:06 AM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
I visited the archives @exetercathedral.bsky.social and looked at a lovely bound copy of material relating to Henry Sacheverell.

We have a special issue about him (see below), but I couldn't resist the physical material- and just look at those woodcuts!

#skystorians #archives

🧵1/2
Copy of Dr Sacheverell's Catechism with note by previous scholar on it's uniqueness Woodcut from Dr Sacheverell's Catechism Woodcut from an 'Account of the Life of Dr. Henry Sacheverel'
April 2, 2025 at 4:43 PM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
The next article we've made free as we read 'The Blazing World' is:

'The Duke's Parrot: The Earl of Leicester, the King's Children and the English Revolution', by Jason Peacey👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

It studies the captivity of Charles I's children after the regicide
#Skystorians
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Princess_Elizabeth_Stuart_by_Anonymous,_17th_century.jpg
March 19, 2025 at 5:58 PM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
Rachel Johnson examines the opening ceremonies of the South African Parliament in 1910, '61, '84, and '94.

She shows that Parliament remained a site for the (re)making of the South African nation, albeit an ambivalent and contested site.

Read free 👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Houses_of_Parliament_(Cape_Town).jpg
March 18, 2025 at 7:13 PM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
John Mitcham studies William 'Billy' Hughes (PM of Australia, 1915-23) and Jan Smuts (PM of South Africa, 1919-24, 1939-48) as colonial statesmen playing important roles in metropolitan British politics.

Hughes, for example, worked to overthrow H.H. Asquith as British PM!

#History
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Prime Minister Billy Hughes smiling during celebrations on his return from the Paris Peace Conference, Sydney, July 1919. 2 July 1919 National Library of Australia Fairfax Corporation https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Billy_Hughes_1919.jpg Jan Christiaan Smuts - prime minister of South Africa (1919-1924/1939-1948) 1934 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Genl_JC_Smuts.jpg
March 17, 2025 at 1:52 PM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
. @laurenlauret.bsky.social shows how the boundaries between metropole and colony were fluid in political careers, exploring that of Levinus Keuchenius, MP in the Dutch Parliament and re-migrant from Batavia, present day Jakarta.

Read Lauren's article free👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Mr L.W.C. Keuchenius, 1893, Eigen Haard nvt https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mr_L.W.C._Keuchenius.jpg
March 14, 2025 at 12:43 PM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
David Thackeray confronts the silences of settler democracy by re-examining national histories and everyday family history.

He looks in particular at John Barr's role in New Zealand's controversial imperial administration of Samoa.

Read more, free👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#History
John Barr chiseling a stone for E S Wilkinson's house in North Taranaki. Taken by James Walter Chapman-Taylor circa 1930. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Barr_stonemason,_1930.jpg
March 13, 2025 at 6:17 PM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
We're thoroughly enjoying 'The Blazing World' by @jonathanhealey.bsky.social

So, as we read, we'll be making four of our articles about the 17th century free!

The first is Mark Parry's 'William Laud and the Parliamentary Politics of 1628-9' 👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

#skystorians
William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, after Anthony van Dyck. NPG 171. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Laud.jpg
March 12, 2025 at 2:37 PM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
. @edselkirkford.bsky.social argues that debates over proportional representation in the lead up to Federation are important for our understanding of the construction of an Australian national identity.

Read the article free👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

@historyaustralia.bsky.social
Night view of inauguration of the Australian Commonwealth, Sydney Town Hall, 1 January 1901, by W. A. Gullick, Government Printer, gelatin silver print, State Library of NSW PXD 760 State Library of New South Wales https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Town_Hall,_Sydney,_Inauguration_of_Australian_Commonwealth.jpg
March 11, 2025 at 4:50 PM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
Charles V. Reed explores how people of colour in southern Africa constructed vibrant discourses of British citizenship, rights, and anti-racism in their fight to retain a non-racial franchise.

Reed's article is free👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#Constitution #skystorians #Parliament
Rev. Dr. Walter Rubusana, president of the South African Native Convention and founder of the Black newspaper 'Izwi Labantu'. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Walter_Rubusana_-_Cape_Politician_-_Provisional_Council.jpg
March 10, 2025 at 5:19 PM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
The framework of settler colonial erasure ignores the impact of Indigenous voices on Canadian politics.

M. Max Hamon explores this through the case of Louis Riel and the Red River resistance, 1869-70.

Read his article free 👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#Canada #History #Parliament
Jay Friesen, Louis Riel statue at the Manitoba Legislative Grounds. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louis_Riel_statue_at_the_Manitoba_Legislative_Grounds.jpg
March 7, 2025 at 10:58 AM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
Alex Martinborough argues that settler constitutions were a tool of conscience management.

They facilitated a vision of a legal empire defined by morality that could not and never did exist.

Read it for free👇

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

@jich.bsky.social

#Empire #History
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Houses_of_Parliament_(Cape_Town).jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parliament_House_Melbourne_2010.jpg
March 6, 2025 at 5:27 PM
parlhistjournal.bsky.social
In our latest issue, Arran Jenkins explores the Parliamentary Debating Society movement.

Adopting the Westminster debating style gave groups a means of showing their suitability for citizenship- important in the context of white settlers and indigenous people.

@histparl.bsky.social #skystorians
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Commons#/media/File:House_of_Commons_Chamber_1.png
March 5, 2025 at 7:33 PM