In 1992, Betty Boothroyd made history, becoming the first and only woman appointed as Speaker of the House of Commons.
Find out more about her illustrious career below:
#WomensHistoryMonth #WHM
A half-length coloured portrait of a woman, which in front of a dark brown background, it is a half-length portrait where she is wearing a dark blue dress with a cream lace frilled collar and sleeve cuffs, and is wearing a beaded necklace with many shades of blue. She is wearing a dark red lipstick with very long dark brown hair tied up.
Another figure we want to shed light on this #WomensHistoryMonth is Harriet Grote.
In a series of articles, Dr Martin Spychal explores how she was able to establish herself as one of Westminster’s leading radical politicians.
@martinspychal.bsky.social
@victoriancommons.bsky.social
Hudson was also a major figure in Conservative politics at York and sat himself as MP for Sunderland, 1845-59. He was a regular Commons speaker in his 'bluff Yorkshire voice', but his career ended in disgrace as his fraudulent financial dealings unravelled.
Our fantastic library team have been working hard to make our collections even more accessible. Another reason to join @ihrlibrary.bsky.social
New paper:
Mass Observing British Politics
On what Mass Observation might contribute to political studies (and what political studies might contribute to Mass Observation). With @jmoss88.bsky.social and Alex Hill. Also paging @massobsarchive.bsky.social
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
The House of Lords Library, a room with shelves filled with books in the background. A table with newspapers in the foreground.
Looking through a pair of doors along the Library. There are tables and chairs in the centre on top of a patterned carpet, while bookshelves line the walls.
A bust of Queen Victoria sits on top of a mantelpiece with books on shelves behind.
On #WorldBookDay we are celebrating the House of Lords Library, which turns 200 years old this year.
The Library collection includes around 80,000 books, from a 1490 legal text to the latest titles in social science, international relations, economics and more.
In the latest post on our Substack, 'Scribble Book', @jhdavey.bsky.social reflects on LGBTQ+ History Month within Parliamentary history.
Read it here:
It is great to see that this special issue of @parlhistjournal.bsky.social, edited by #HistParl's Naomi Lloyd-Jones, is now available to read!
Click below to access this special collection of articles, discussing the politics of organisation in the long 19th century.
This Women's History Month we are highlighting the long history of female involvement in Parliament and politics.
Below, Dr Kathryn Rix overviews the political involvement of women in the years leading up to some women gaining the right to vote in 1918.
#WomensHistoryMonth #WHM
New post on the #HistParl website from @kathrynrix.bsky.social!
Read it here:
I'm now recruiting for a crucial post in my team - Curator: Parliamentary Art Collection. A rare chance to work with a wonderful collection in a unique setting.
Please do share, and feel free to get in touch with any questions
engraving of a man in 18th-century clothes with black robes and a white collar, wearing a long grey curled wig.
#OnThisDay 1710 the state trial of Dr Henry Sacheverell got underway in Westminster Hall.
Sacheverell had infuriated the Whig ministry by preaching against the 1688 Revolution. Their efforts to impeach led to widespread rioting and ultimately brought the ministry down.
#HistParl
Details of the @oralhistoryie.bsky.social annual meeting have been released. Send us your ideas on Oral History and Movement, and come join us in Tralee, County Kerry in June! Details below
Posting again my article on the 1993 Christchurch by-election as voters go to the polls in Gorton & Denton today. Fascinating reflections from the two main candidates Diana Maddock & Lord Hayward in our interviews. Seems like today's vote will be much closer!
historyofparliament.com/2026/02/24/c...
We are advertising a two-year lectureship in Modern British History at University of Cambridge, please spread the word!
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/assista...
With the Gorton and Denton by-election taking place tomorrow, we're sharing our article on an earlier Manchester by-election. How was a woman able to vote there in 1867, decades before women received the parliamentary franchise? Find out more here: historyofparliament.com/2025/03/14/l...
This was fun to write. So much going on during this by-election!
NEW: Margaret Bondfield was the first woman to serve in the UK Cabinet. So why is she almost forgotten?
On the latest episode of Parliament Matters, we are joined by @nansloane.bsky.social to discuss her new biography of this pioneering political figure.
🎧 Listen now: buff.ly/RYXZLuB
The workload facing MPs and their staff is growing, in ways that aren't visible to the public: casework and the inbox.
For @thehousemag.bsky.social, I delved into what the workload looks like, why it's growing, and what this means for how MPs can balance the different aspects of their role
In this week's Scribble Book, #HistParl director @jhdavey.bsky.social explores the unlikely connections between the Winter Olympics and House of Lords reform...
Read and subscribe via the link below!
Did you know that the first known valentine's letter was sent to a future MP?
@alfiesteer.bsky.social explores this story below.
Mary Wilkes was an absolutely extraordinary person. Every bit as talented as her brother, John, whom she resembled in many ways.
Fantastic portrait of her, which really captures her grit and determination.
"The homosexual of statute law came into being as male. The supposedly less troublesome, less libidinous lesbian remained firmly in his shadow."
Dr Caroline Derry on the attitudes towards same sex desire between women reflected in the 1957 Wolfenden Report and 1967 Sexual Offences Act.
#lgbthm26
In February 1775, a particularly fiery debate in the House of Lords sought to settle the problem with America.
Dr Robin Eagles explores this immediate background to the beginning of the American Revolution.
Dr Cara Gathern will be speaking at the next IHR Parliaments, Politics and People seminar on Representations of Women and Sovereign Power at the New Palace of Westminster.
📍 Senate House, London / Online
🗓️Tuesday 17 February 2026
⏱️5:30-6:30pm
Find out more about the paper and how to attend below:
Our #1832AtoZ continues with W for Wales. In this article, we looked at 19thC elections in Wales’s wealthiest and most industrialised county: Glamorgan. Find out more here about the MPs which represented it. victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2020/09/28/r...
In a new guest article for #HistParl, Prof Laura Stewart explores the work of Scottish Polemicist David Buchanan, and how his writings influenced partisan rivalries in the Parliaments of the 1640s.
"What you have to become used to is learning to live with uncertainty."
MP Chris Smith received these words after being diagnosed with HIV.
This is one of many clips from our oral history archive highlights to reflect on HIV through the eyes of MPs during the 1980s.
#LGBTplusHM
#lgbthm26
Amused to spot a family of baronets who originally had the surname Turner, before Sir Gregory Turner took the name Page (when he inherited property from his aunt Judith Page), making them ... the Page-Turners!
Photograph of a man sitting in a chair. He is balding and has a short white tufty beard. He is wearing dark clothing.
Died #OnThisDay 1900 Edward Aldam Leatham, Liberal MP for Huddersfield 1859-65, 1868-85. He was an ‘able lieutenant’ in the Commons to his brother-in-law, John Bright, and introduced what became the 1872 Ballot Act. His older brother William (pictured) was also an MP.
