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The article presents a manuscript entitled "An Impartial Account of What Pass'd Most Remarkable in the Last Session of Parliament, Relating to the Case of Dr Henry Sacheverell: Done on Such Another Paper and Letter, and May Therefore be Bound Up With the Tryal of the Said Doctor," which claimed to be published by bookseller Jacob Tonson but was the work of newspaper editor Abel Roper and trade publisher John Morphew. It covers the 1710 impeachment trial of English clergyman Henry Sacheverell.

This article's point of entry is Plate 3 of William Hogarth's print sequence The Harlot's Progress (1732), specifically Hogarth's deliberate, hostile choice of an unframed, titled, small portrait engraving of the Reverend Dr Henry Sacheverell as a 'pin-up' within the harlot's bedroom furniture. The article reappraises and recontextualises Hogarth's choice of Sacheverell, which makes sense in the context of Hogarth's life and work, but which, with Hogarthian irony, is further informed by the subsequent discovery (1747) of Sacheverell's internment alongside a notorious prostitute, given the association of Sacheverell's celebrity and notoriety with his alleged support from London's 'kind shees' and streetwalkers at the time of his trial. This, together with a strong, nascent material consumerist culture, sees Sacheverell anticipating the 'politics out of doors' associated with John Wilkes by 50 years and is a specifically gendered version that has gone largely unexplored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reprints the correspondence of Edward Harley, Earl of Oxford (1699-1755), who served in both houses of Great Britain's Parliament. The letters include one from Martin Benson (later Bishop of Gloucester) dated April 4, 1717 regarding the treason trial of Harley's uncle Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford; one from Edward Prideaux Gwyn (later Member of Parliament for Wells) dated December 23, 1718 regarding political debates over the Schism Act; and one to his wife Martha Harley dated May 29, 1741 about political campaigning.

The article reprints the political correspondence of William Hay (1695-1755), Member of Parliament for the Seaford constituency, while he served in Great Britain's House of Commons from 1733 to 1753. The letters include several written to Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle, throughout the period on subjects including Hay's political campaigning among the freeholders of Sussex, England; the efforts of the Duke of Newcastle and Hay to maintain the political power of the Pelham family; and details of corrupt election practices used.

The article presents an essay on the relation between politics and the press which is considered as interactive and symbiotic during the late Hanoverian era in Great Britain. The author explains how these interactions enhanced the political awareness and broadened the populist dimensions of parliamentary politics of the British state. According to the author, these have led to renewed emphasis on the newspaper press as a critical organ of public opinion

The article discusses the connections between news and parliament within the enigmatic public sphere at the turn of the seventeenth century in Great Britain. The author notes that a high point in the publication of parliamentary proceedings had been reached during the Interregnum. He mentions about state license and discusses its impact on the publication of printed news. He cites the image of parliament offered through the commercial London papers.

This article considers the opening up of parliamentary proceedings to greater public scrutiny in the two decades after the 1832 Reform Act. It examines developments in the publication of parliamentary debates, considering why proposals for an official parliamentary record were rejected in the 1830s. It also discusses two less well-studied but equally vital means of publicising parliamentary activity: the publication of official division lists and the sale to the public of parliamentary papers. It argues that the 1830s was a critical decade of change, influenced by shifting perceptions of the relationship between the reformed house of commons and those it sought to represent. This was driven, in particular, by liberal notions of the importance of parliamentary accountability to public opinion: MPs were increasingly aware of the need to keep constituents informed of their parliamentary activities, whether in the chamber, committee room or division lobby. This article also highlights the extent to which the Commons' approach to publicising its activities was constrained not only by the fact that it remained a breach of parliamentary privilege to publish reports of debates, but also by the physical space that the Commons occupied. The destruction of much of the old Palace of Westminster by fire in 1834 provided an important opportunity to remodel existing arrangements, notably with the addition of a second division lobby and the construction of a reporters' gallery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the political journals of William Hay, British Member of Parliament for the Seaford constituency (1695-1755), and Edward Harley, 3rd Earl of Oxford (1699-1755), member of both the House of Commons and House of Lords. The authors discuss how the two journals represent both a Whig and Tory response to early Georgian politics and place the journals within the context of extant historical sources detailing parliamentary politics during the reigns of Kings George I and George II, including the parliamentary reporting appearing in the British periodicals "The Gentleman's Magazine," "The London Magazine," and "The Historical Record." Descriptions of the papers and journals of Hays and Harley are presented.

The passage of the 1911 Parliament Bill ended the power of the British house of lords to veto any legislation passed by the house of commons. Henceforth, it could only delay the passage of a measure. The bill was carried by a mere 17 votes and friction between Unionists who took up die-hard opposition, advised abstention, or actively sought to aid passage was bitter. The role which the archbishop of Canterbury played in canvassing the episcopal bench and helping to ensure final passage of the bill has not attracted much attention. Prior to the debate, the archbishop advised abstention but did not dissuade others from encouraging bishops to support the bill to help ensure passage. Before the vote, therefore, 'die-hards' opposing any concession to the government, 'hedgers' advising Unionist abstention in the vote, and 'rats', Unionists willing to vote for the bill to ensure passage despite personal reservations, attempted to sound out and pressure the bishops in their direction. At the debate, the archbishop changed his mind and decided he must support the bill in order to avoid a greater crisis, and 12 other bishops joined him in the government lobby, helping to create the final majority of 17 by which the measure passed. Consideration of the role of the bishops adds to the understanding of the mechanics by which the bill passed, amidst considerable intrigue, pressure and acrimony, as well as further illuminating the extent and intensity of the divisions within the Unionist party at this critical moment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This note provides the most complete list of Liberal Unionist whips in the house of commons, thus contributing to our understanding of the history of the party in parliament over the entire period of its existence from 1886 to 1912, and charts the extent of the responsibility of the party whip for the organisation of the party outside the house of commons, which peaked during the tenure of Lord Wolmer as whip from 1888 to 1892. The note concludes by observing that the division of labour regarding organisation implemented in the Conservative Party in 1911 mirrors that adopted by the Liberal Unionist Party in 1892, and that this was likely the result of Wolmer, now 2nd earl of Selborne, serving on the committee that recommended the 1911 reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay assesses the impact of imperial culture, particularly constructions of India and hinduism, on British responses to the Indian nationalist movement in the 1930s. The essay draws on personal and governmental papers, paying special attention to the language and vocabulary employed by British policy makers concerned with Indian affairs. The major issue addressed here is the British presumption that the 1935 Government of India Act, a plan for a federated India with British central control, would defuse nationalist agitation. Such a sanguine view of this proposal seemed misplaced, given the popular success of the nationalists, especially Gandhi, and given the explicit demands of Indians for full self-government. However, such an optimistic assessment drew on presumptions about Indian political and social behaviour, and especially on conceptions of hinduism. Policy makers in Britain and India argued along well-established lines, that hinduism inculcated moral and physical weakness, among other deficiencies, and that a British offer of compromise would attract many Indians who feared continuing confrontation with the Raj. Moreover, colonial advisors relied on a belief that social and caste divisions within hinduism would recur within the nationalist ranks as well. This sense that Indians would respond to half-measures of reform persisted until the 1937 provincial elections. Though British administrators predicted only a moderate showing by the Indian National Congress, the polling proved otherwise, as Congress took power in the majority of the provinces. The Raj lasted another decade, but the confident cultural assumptions sustaining it took a fatal blow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In the long 19th century, women seized new opportunities offered by parliament and played a growing role in public politics long before well‐known campaigns for the right to vote. As parliamentary politics grew more restrictive and formalised, women utilised older forms of interaction with the state and occupied spaces that were not explicitly barred to them. By looking at women's appearances before royal commissions and select committees, or women's participation in petitioning, this essay argues that women successfully pressured parliament and won their place in the blue books of government long before their names appeared on the electoral registers or in the columns of Hansard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the title Viscount Northcliffe which was created for the famous baron Alfred Charles Harmsworth in Great Britain. Northcliffe creates two most important weapons in press arsenal "The Times" and "Daily Mail." When Northcliffe acquired the controlling interest in 1908, "The Times" remained the most influential newspaper among elite classes. Further, the "Daily Mail" has declared itself "The Paper that Revealed the Shell Tragedy" during spring press agitation over munitions.

This article looks at one of the more obscure moments in British constitutional history, the rise of federal devolution in the United Kingdom in the early 20th century and, in particular, the context to the Conference on Devolution that sat between October 1919 and April 1920. The conference, as this article will briefly discuss, has been relegated to footnote status in the historiography on federal devolution and British politics. However, while the conference has not been the subject of detailed academic attention, the claim that devolution and constitutional reform in this period was a by-product of the crisis in Ireland pre-partition has gathered considerable traction among political historians. This article will redress both the paltry analysis of the Conference on Devolution within the academic literature and the Irish-centric historiography on federal devolution in the early 20th century. On the latter front, this article will demonstrate that the conference was the product of forces that extended beyond the Irish crisis, in particular parliamentary congestion. As for the conference itself, this article will use a wide range of archival sources to examine critically the conference's deliberations and in doing so will challenge prevailing assumptions regarding the supposedly one firm source of agreement during the conference: the powers that the devolved bodies should enjoy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Michael Foot had good reasons for resenting Dr David Owen, who played a prominent role in the formation of the breakaway Social Democratic Party (SDP) while Foot was Labour's leader. In Loyalists and Loners (1986), a book of political pen-portraits, Foot duly delivered a blistering attack on Owen, focusing on two charges - that Owen was consumed by personal ambition from an early stage of his career, and that he was an ideological turncoat who had wilfully misused the word 'socialism'. The present article examines Foot's allegations in the light of various historical sources, including the private papers of both protagonists. It is argued that, though Foot's charges seem devastating at first sight - and have never been refuted by Owen or his admirers - they cannot be sustained after an impartial review of the evidence. This reappraisal provides new insights into Owen's remarkable and controversial career at two pivotal stages - his initial rise to ministerial office, and his decision to leave Labour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature of these newspaper reports – that is, the character of their principal content – has never been studied, despite its obvious importance and, as we shall see, its marked differences from our Hansard. This article relates their nature to a vital feature of parliamentary leadership, the ability to lead the argument in debate. The practical reasoning in parliamentary deliberation and justification, especially what speakers contributed towards the outcome or 'the sense of the debate', predominated in these reports. This implied a need for reporters to concentrate on the 'substance' of speeches and their bearing on the motion. One result was that speeches which were judged to define or develop arguments pro and con were treated at length, the defining speeches most extensively and others in proportion to what they added. Conversely, speeches which reiterated known positions or which were irrelevant to the arguments in hand were omitted or downplayed, even if they were important in some other way, while whole debates which added little to ongoing discussion could be treated quite briefly. But if being a front bencher did not guarantee coverage, being a back bencher was no bar: the criterion was the importance of a speaker's contribution, while the manner of coverage accented what was contributed. The reporters' concerns emphasized debates that promised significant change in matters of national importance, but gave relatively little attention to recurrent or localised business as such. Their writing – they were known as debate writers or news‐writers – was interpretation answering to evaluative and selective criteria rather than a record in a simple sense. Their work is not to be understood in the same terms as a modern Hansard, and in particular not as a defective Hansard, but rather is such that it requires further work on a wide range of new research questions if it is to be understood to best effect, a requirement which suggests a need to study it critically before using it as source material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political protestantism has been an enduring theme in parliamentary and ecclesiastical politics and has had considerable influence on modern Church and state relations. Since the mid 19th century, evangelicals have sought to apply external and internal pressure on parliament to maintain the 'protestant identity' of the national Church, and as late as 1928, the house of commons rejected anglican proposals for the revision of the prayer book. This article examines the attempts by evangelicals to prevent the passage through parliament of controversial measures relating to canon law revision in 1963-4. It assesses the interaction between Church and legislature, the influence of both evangelical lobbyists and MPs, and the terms in which issues relating to religion and national identity were debated in parliament. It shows that while evangelicals were able to stir up a surprising level of controversy over canon law revision - enough for the Conservative Party chief whip, Selwyn Lloyd, to attempt to persuade Archbishop Ramsey to delay introducing the vesture of ministers measure to parliament until after the 1964 general election - the influence of political protestantism, and thus a significant long-term theme in British politics, had finally run its course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery in the manuscript papers of Charles, Lord Bruce, of three lists enumerating the voters in important divisions in the house of lords in the early 18th century - on the ' Church in Danger' (1705), the Septennial Bill and the Bill to Resume the Forfeited Estates of ' Traitors' after the Jacobite Rebellion (1716) - help to illuminate the state of party allegiances and affiliations in these periods, for which no other division lists are extant. This note provides the voting results from these division lists in tabular form, accompanied by indications of the current state of our knowledge of party affiliations for each of the individuals listed. However, the origin and accuracy of each of these lists are not clear-cut and this note also details the discrepancies and anomalies in each list. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an appendix to the book "The House of Lords in the Age of George III (1760-1811),” by Michael W. McCahill, presenting selected House of Lords division lists during the reign of King George III of Great Britain.

The article presents chapter 2 of the book "The House of Lords in the Age of George III (1760-1811),” by Michael W. McCahill, describing the Representative Peers of Scotland and Ireland within the British House of Lords during the reign of King George III. Introductory comments are given describing the political dynamics of Great Britain after the Act of Union in 1707 and its manifestations within the Parliament. The activities and characteristics of the Scottish and Irish lords during the period are described in depth, noting their relative level of political participation and power in comparison to their British equivalents.

The article presents chapter 16 from the book "The House of Lords in the Age of George III (1760-1811),” by Michael W. McCahill, discussing the political activities of the British Parliament, particularly the House of Lords, during the reign of King George III. Details are given highlighting the influence exerted by the peers regarding their dependents and the interests of their patrons. The "virtual" presence of several institutions and their social programs within the agenda of the House of Lords during the period is discussed including Cambridge University, merchant and manufacturing companies, and the Scottish distilling industry.

Every political movement has watershed moments when decisions are taken with very long-term consequences. This article explores one such moment with respect to the jacobite movement during the reign of Queen Anne. Implicitly building on Geoffrey Holmes's model of the workings of the whig and tory parties in the age of Anne, the article analyses the turn to the Scots that took place within jacobite politics between 1702 and 1710. Throughout the 1690s the English jacobites had dominated the politics of the jacobite movement. Cementing their hold on the jacobite court's outlook and policies there was, too, an intrinsic anglocentrism at royal and ministerial level. Yet by 1715 the Scots jacobites were clearly equal partners with the English within the movement, and this parity was to shape the entire subsequent history of the jacobite cause. This shift within the politics of the movement was, moreover, not simply a corollary of the union. This article argues that the shift to the Scots was far more fundamental in terms of the outlook and policies of the movement, and ultimately did not depend on the immediate military utility of the Scots jacobites, but on a new perception of them as a uniquely important resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article celebrates the contribution which Professor Holmes made to the field of British politics and society by the study of an important collection of political tracts. The compiler of the collection is identified as Sir Charles Cooke, one of the most significant commercial politicians of his day. The organisation of the collection illuminates the ways in which City politicians used various channels of information, both printed and personal, to support their political platforms. It also demonstrates how Cooke contributed to the defeat of the tories over the French Commerce Bill of 1713, by supplying key sources to combat the ministry's position. On a wider plane, although it suggests that partisan politics tainted all information advanced in the public sphere, this did not relieve political rivals of the need to establish the superior authority of their sources, and political success only saw Cooke redouble his efforts to gain as wide a base of information as possible. Statistical precision remained elusive, but his archive stands testament to a growing need for authority of source in a political world of party and vested interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The debate in the house of lords on ‘No Peace without Spain’ in December 1711 was the first test of the strength of the administration of Robert Harley, earl of Oxford, in the upper House. Though there are more sources for this debate than is normal for proceedings in the Lords, few can claim to be by eyewitnesses. A newly ‘discovered’ anonymous letter from an eyewitness found in the papers of the lord great chamberlain's office in the Parliamentary Archives gives a detailed account of this important debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The small minority of Scots who entered the house of commons in 1707 were slow to make their mark. Besides lack of numbers, they suffered several significant disadvantages. The Westminster scene was strange, and the style and tone of debate more vigorous and informal. Moreover, the aristocracy had dominated the unicameral Scottish parliament, and commoners found it difficult to emancipate themselves from noble tutelage. Most importantly, Scottish politics did not yet reflect the two-party system dominant in England. Thus in the first sessions the Scots were unable to make headway in the essential business of parliament, legislation. Scotland suffered in comparison with the English provinces, and even the Irish, who were able to muster a more effective lobby. Soon, however, a new generation of debaters appeared, able to use their wit to discomfit English antagonists, and a new class of 'men of business' who grasped the rules of the legislative game. The fortuitous deaths of leading magnates and the polarisation of sectarian antagonisms in Scotland permitted the coalescence of the Scottish representation into two broad factions allied with the English parties. It was with English tory support that bills were passed to benefit the sectional concerns of Scottish episcopalians, accompanied by other measures of a more general nature. The combined attempt by Scottish peers and MPs in 1713 to secure the repeal of the union does not point to a lasting breakdown in Anglo-Scottish relations, since it was also a manifestation of political opportunism by English whigs and discontented tories, and their Scottish allies. But the dawn of a party system in Scotland was dispelled by the death of Queen Anne and the ensuing jacobite rebellion. The complicity of tories in the Fifteen resulted in the destruction of the party in Scotland, and the construction of a whig hegemony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proper character of the relationship between missionaries and politics shaped one of the most contentious debates within the first century of the modern missionary movement. While the leadership of the missionary societies repeatedly insisted upon the separation between the work of the gospel and politics, missionaries in the field frequently found it difficult to remove themselves from political controversies. John Philip and James Read served with the London Missionary Society in the Cape Colony for most of the first half of the 19th century. Their persistent defence of the interests of the colonial Khoi made them controversial figures in the debates over the social, political and economic structures of the Cape Colony. Missionaries like Read and Philip, rarely described their activities as 'political', and certainly did not conceive of their work as in any way related to the patronage-ridden political system of the early 19th century. Nonetheless, in their promotion of the ideas of religious and civil equality, and in their effective use of public opinion to shape government and public perception of colonial policy, their actions reflected many of the important changes taking place in contemporary British politics. Dissenting political activity focused on the issues of the defence of religious liberty, the struggle to secure their own civil equality, and the debate over the proper relationship between church and state. These issues also played a crucial role in colonial politics throughout the period. This essay will illustrate the important role of the foreign missionary movement in this process. Examining the work of Philip and Read enables us to identify the ways that issues of domestic politics helped to shape the political debates emerging in Britain's expanding empire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on the survey conducted by the House of Commons in February 1807 regarding the abolition of the slave trade in Great Britain. The manuscript survey is held by the British Library in Add. MS 51917, an unbound and unfoliated volume of the Holland House papers. Furthermore, the document of the survey is reproduced in its existing pagination.

The article discusses the relationship of the political parties and the press in Great Britain from 1800-1950. According to evidence, the parties understood the traditional methods of nobbling the press no longer works, and showed its leadership in addressing to the nation and masses. The success of the parties was due to the attention of the press and its approval of giving healthy tone to public opinion.

Investigates the role of elder statesmen in mid-nineteenth century British party politics. Influence of elder statesmen in shaping the development of the British constitution; Role of elder statesmen in guiding the queen through a succession of political crises; Impact of the death of George IV on the royal prerogative to select and dismiss ministers.

Abstract: For as long as devolution has been debated in the UK, there has been fierce discussion as to the representation of the would‐be affected areas at Westminster. That this has been the case is a consequence of Westminster's dual remit as both a state‐wide and a sub‐state legislature. While this dual remit was relatively straightforward when applied to all nations of the UK, it does, however, raise serious questions about the equality of MPs at Westminster in the face of asymmetric devolution that would carve out parliament's remit in some, but not all, parts of the UK. These questions bedevilled Gladstone's Irish Home Rule Bills in the late 19th century and have been a recurrent feature of debate following New Labour's devolution programme in the late 1990s, culminating in the adoption of a system of ‘English Votes for English Laws’ by the house of commons in October 2015. This article looks at this issue through the lens of the ill‐fated Scotland and Wales Bill introduced by the Callaghan government in 1976. It explores the roots of the bill and how, and why, the idea of referring the question of territorial representation, post‐devolution, to a Speaker's conference, came to secure the initial support of cabinet as the best answer to this problem, and why the government swiftly changed its mind. Parliamentary statecraft considerations served to push a Speaker's conference onto the institutional agenda, before ultimately dooming it to failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Probes the method used in the promulgation of statutes in Great Britain the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Difference between promulgation and publication of laws; Concerns on the expense of printing statues; Granting of exclusive patent to John Reeves, George Eyre and Andrew Strahan as printers to his majesty in 1800; Necessity of informing law enforcers on laws; Citizens' purchasing of their own copies of the acts.

Part I. Deals with the exclusion by the council of state of more than 100 members of the British House of Commons' elected membership before the session began on September 17, 1656. Symptom of the tension within the government between the military party and the civilian 'new courtiers'; Widening gulf between military supporters of Henry Cromwell and the moderate gentry.

In 1910, David Lloyd George, who was serving as chancellor of the exchequer in the Liberal government, opined that: 'Wales had been solid for disestablishment for 40 years' (The Times, 18 Jan. 1910, p.12). According to Lloyd George, this aspiration had been thwarted by the political reality that: 'if a Bill went up to the House of Lords it would not have the slightest chance of getting through'. At its core, the quest for the disestablishment of the Anglican church in Wales was viewed as an unprecedented constitutional and political change. It threatened to dismember one of the pillars of the English state and thereby sever a church/state relationship which, it was argued, predated parliament itself. This article will address the democratic deficit in Wales where the desire of the electorate had been repeatedly frustrated over decades, and the way disestablishment legislation would eventually be enacted through the provisions of the Parliament Act 1911. The final ignominy was that the delay inherent in the new parliamentary process would jeopardise the disestablishment that it had enabled, and this was evident in the first years of the Great War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the complex circumstances surrounding the foundation of the order of the Bath in 1725, and seeks to correct the commonly-held view that it was initiated by Walpole simply to augment the patronage available to his supporters in parliament. The proposal for a new order of chivalry based on the medieval 'knighthood of the bath' in fact emanated from the court, having been prompted by one of its central figures, the duke of Montagu. Walpole and his colleagues were by no means oblivious to the practical political value of such a move, but having only lately consolidated their position at court, their main priority was to seize a unique opportunity to flatter the new royal dynasty and garner popularity for it through the medium of the order's rediscovered history. The ministers selected the order's 36 founder-knights with considerable input from senior courtiers, but ensured that those nominated were mostly peers and MPs who could evince ministerially useful connections between court and parliament. Though the order was later derided as a symptom of Walpoleian corruption, its foundation can be regarded as something of a turning point in Walpole's rise to power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article outlines the editorial practices used by the editors of the transcripts of the political papers of William Hay, British Member of Parliament for the Seaford constituency (1695-1755), and Edward Harley, 3rd Earl of Oxford (1699-1755), member of both houses of Great Britain's Parliament. Some of the editorial decisions made regarding transcribing manuscripts into text includes spelling, the use of abbreviations, and later notes added to the original texts either within the same document, or found in other miscellaneous papers.

The article discusses the clerks who served in the British House of Lords from 1600 to 1800. It provides details of the article "Clerks of the Parliaments, 1509-1953" published by M. F. Bond in the "English Historical Review" in 1958, and discusses the responsibilities of the clerk assistants and reading clerks in the House of Lords.

This article presents an analysis of the political thought of Lord Hugh Cecil. It argues that in order to understand Cecil's thought it is necessary to emphasize the role of the constitution in his thinking. There are three reasons for this. First, his opposition to Chamberlain's tariff reform campaign was rooted in a view of the detrimental effects the policy would have on politics, evidence for which Cecil saw in the tactics used by the tariff reformers. Second, because his opposition to the Parliament Bill and to the home rule proposals, which lay behind the removal of the house of lords' veto, was similarly rooted in what he saw as the unconstitutional nature of these measures. Third, because Cecil was an active proponent of constitutional reforms that were designed to ensure that the second chamber could still exercise a restraining influence on government and so stand up for the interests of what he saw as the moderate majority of the people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the issue of Northern Ireland's representation at Westminster. It investigates the political context of the decision to increase Northern Ireland's representation in the house of commons at Westminster from 12 members to 17 in 1978-9. Exploring this episode in more detail, it is argued, provides a more informed overall understanding of the history of devolution in the UK and of the way issues concerning Northern Ireland often overlapped with questions of constitutional change in Scotland and Wales. The article also throws light on the matter of Northern Ireland MPs and their voting rights at Westminster during Northern Ireland's experience of devolution prior to 1972. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents letters to and from Stephen Fuller, a lobbyist for British settlers in Jamaica, regarding the campaign to abolish the slave trade and Fuller's efforts to lobby against the abolition movement, as well as background information on the letters and their authors.

The article presents letters to and from Stephen Fuller, a lobbyist for British settlers in Jamaica, regarding the campaign to abolish the slave trade and Fuller's efforts to lobby against the abolition movement, as well as background information on the letters and their authors.

As one of the most memorable campaigners for the New Interest whigs in the Oxfordshire election of 1754, Lady Susan Keck inevitably became the subject of press ridicule and criticism. Undaunted and irrepressible, she not only continued to campaign, but also turned the criticism back on the Old Interest, effectively neutralising it. This detailed examination of Lady Susan's electioneering illustrates the possibilities for electoral involvement at mid-century that were available to a woman of rank and spirit who was determined to make a difference. Propelled into action by sheer frustration with the poor planning and lacklustre campaigning that had marked the New Interest campaign in the 1751 election, Lady Susan put her, not inconsiderable, energy into securing a victory for the New Interest. Driven by ideology rather than by family interests, she used her age, rank, sex and connections, to political advantage. Confident and characterful, she was ideally suited to the rumbustious, personal politics of the age. Most importantly, her canvassing achieved results and the eventual New Interest victory owed, at least in part, to her efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To the representatives of Italian states in London, early 18th‐century Britain often remained a puzzle. The Revolution Settlement presented them with the problem of identifying the real source of power, both in order to send home reliable information and to try to secure support for the interests of their princes, who were sometimes desperate for the friendship, or at least the lack of hostility, of Great Britain. An analysis of the weekly despatches and of the final reports drafted by Italian diplomats (namely the representatives of the Savoyard state, the republics of Genoa and Venice, the Duchy of Modena and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany) in the first half of the 18th century offers evidence on their sources of information and on their vision of the political system of the country. Parliament loomed large in their correspondence. News on the activity of the Houses as well as forecasts on the challenge they posed to the ministry were a recurrent theme. To Italian diplomats, parliament was a source of instability. In their eyes, only the rise of a strong premier minister – of which Sir Robert Walpole was the epitome – could tame the fickle assembly in Westminster and bring order, though precariously, to the British polity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the project for a collaborative, publicly-funded History of Parliament was relaunched in 1951, with the support of a substantial grant-in-aid from the treasury, academic direction was entrusted to an 'editorial board' of professional historians, the most influential of whom were Sir John Neale and Sir Lewis Namier. Both were committed to the technique of collective biography, but had radically-different views of the structure and scope of the History. For Neale, the research would provide quantitative answers to specific historical questions, arising from his essentially whiggish view of constitutional development. Namier held to a 'sociological' method, studying the lives of MPs as a means of recreating the world of the governing classes. In practice, Namier set no limits to his inquiry: historical questions would be determined by the evidence. Faced with these conflicting approaches the 'editorial board' failed to define the purpose of the History. In practice, because Namier's section made more progress, his view of the History triumphed over Neale's. But as deadlines drew near the treasury began to exert pressure. Conservative ministers (especially Harold Macmillan) and civil servants, were sharply critical of the apparently open-ended nature of the History, and the trustees, who bore ultimate responsibility for the project, were anxious to bring volumes to publication. In consequence, Namier's original ambition was curtailed and, after his death in 1960, his own section was completed by his assistant, John Brooke, in a more restricted format. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an account of debates in the British Parliament's House of Lords on March 16, 1710 from the papers of English politician Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, on the trial of English clergyman Henry Sacheverell. It was also published in the article "Debates in the House of Lords on 'The Church in Danger', 1705, and on Dr Sacheverell’s Impeachment, 1710," by Clyve Jones. The views of politicians and of Sacheverell on the Glorious Revolution of 1688 are noted.

The article discusses and presents papers in the manuscript collection of British statesman Sir Robert Walpole held by Cambridge University Library in England relating to the 1710 impeachment trial of English High Church clergyman and politician Henry Sacheverell. It comments on a speech Walpole gave which addressed resistance to British King James II and the toleration of protestant dissenters. The examination of Sacheverell’s printer Henry Clements at the trial is also considered.

Benjamin Disraeli described Thomas Attwood as a 'provincial banker labouring under a financial monomania'. The leader of the Birmingham Political Union, Attwood's Warwickshire accent and support for a paper currency were widely derided at Westminster. However, the themes of Attwood's brief parliamentary career were shared by the other men who represented Birmingham in the early- and mid-Victorian period. None of these MPs were good party men, and this article illuminates the nature of party labels in the period. Furthermore, it adds a new dimension to the historical understanding of debates on monetary policy and shows how local political identities and traditions interacted with broader party identities. With the exception of Richard Spooner, who was a strong tory on religious and political matters, the currency men are best described as popular radicals, who consistently championed radical political reform and were among the few parliamentary supporters of the 'People's Charter'. They opposed the new poor law and endorsed factory regulation, a progressive income tax, and religious liberty. Although hostile to the corn laws they believed that free trade without currency reform would depress prices, wages and employment. George Frederick Muntz's death in 1857 and his replacement by John Bright marked a watershed and the end of the influence of the 'Birmingham school'. Bright appropriated Birmingham's radical tradition as he used the town as a base for his campaign for parliamentary reform. He emphasized Birmingham's contribution to the passing of the 1832 Reform Act but ignored the currency reformers' views on other matters, which had often been at loggerheads with the 'Manchester school' and economic liberalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the literature on the Sacheverell affair as it stood when it was delivered as a paper to the symposium held in March 2010 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of his impeachment. The basic narrative and prevalent interpretation of its significance were established by the late Geoffrey Holmes in his monograph The Trial of Doctor Sacheverell published in 1973. Holmes placed it in the context of a crisis in Church and state brought about by the Glorious Revolution and its aftermath. This led to the formation of the party conflict between high church tories and low church whigs. When the whigs, led by the junto, came to power between 1708 and 1710, their ascendancy provoked a reaction from tories claiming that the established Church was in danger. It was in this context that Sacheverell preached his provocative sermon on 5 November 1709, which brought on his impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanours. Holmes's detailed account of the trial, together with his separate analysis of the 'Sacheverell riots', have been generally accepted as definitive. Consequently, scholarly attention has tended to shift to the cultural aspects of the affair such as poems on affairs of state and political prints. These investigations have led, in turn, to attempts to establish an appropriate methodology for analysing their significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]