Political

Simon de Montfort and the Origins of Parliament

Just half a century on from Magna Carta, a radical noble, part idealist, part megalomaniac, came into conflict with King John’s son, Henry III. The result, argues Nigel Saul, was a form of assembly which shapes English political life to this day.

Who Was Henry VIII?

Suzannah Lipscomb looks beyond the stereotypes that surround our most infamous monarch to ask: who was Henry VIII and when did it all go wrong? 

Napoleon the Kingmaker

With his own elaborate imperial court, with his family ensconced on thrones across the continent, and with his overthrow of several historic republics, Napoleon brought Europe to a pinnacle of monarchism.

Lord Randolph Churchill

Robert Rhodes James profiles the man rivalled only by Gladstone as the most able politician and Parliamentarian of his time.

Before Hansard

Robert Woodall describes the state of early parliamentary reporting, during a period when it was disapproved by Members .

The Ballot Act of 1872

A secret ballot at general elections had been a reformers’ demand since the seventeenth century. It was achieved two hundred years later, writes Robert Woodall, after much experience of bribery.

Bank Holidays - And Much Else

Eynon Smart describes how, during the second half of the nineteenth century, few politicians had a wider range of personal accomplishments than John Lubbock, the author of the Bank Holidays Bill.