Author Archives: salmonphilip

Happy New Year from the Victorian Commons!

Posted on January 2, 2020

For eight years now we have been marking the new year with some highlights from the previous 12 months. The events of 2019 certainly focused attention on parliamentary history and the UK’s constitutional practices as never before. Taking our cue … Continue reading →

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MP of the Month: Thomas Neville Abdy (1810-1877) and electoral misconduct

Posted on November 25, 2019

Thomas Abdy’s political career provides a useful reminder of the chicanery, lies and corruption sometimes associated with 19th century English electioneering – venal traditions that became increasingly unacceptable during the Victorian era. Born into a naval family – his father … Continue reading →

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MP of the Month: Sidney Herbert – still dancing to Nightingale’s tune

Posted on September 16, 2019

September’s MP of the Month is Sidney Herbert, who was born on this day (16 September) in 1810 and widely expected to become a Victorian prime minister. Fate, however, cruelly intervened, as Dr Ruscombe Foster, the author of an important … Continue reading →

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Political Prorogations: a view from the Victorian Commons

Posted on September 4, 2019

It’s been a long time since the business of suspending Parliament and starting a new session has generated so much political controversy. Throughout most of the 20th century prorogations invariably tallied with the expectations of most parliamentarians, neatly book-ending a … Continue reading →

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‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ Thomas Jones Phillips (1790-1843): pioneering Tory election agent

Posted on August 6, 2019

If you think some of the recent electioneering tactics that have hit the headlines seem extraordinary, spare a thought for the voters of Monmouth in the 1830s. As a new episode of the BBC’s ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ … Continue reading →

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Political protest in the age of Peterloo

Posted on July 9, 2019

Originally posted on The History of Parliament:
Today’s blog from the editor of our House of Commons 1832-68 section, Dr Philip Salmon, is the first of many pieces in which we will discuss the Peterloo Massacre that took place in…

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Conscience versus constituency: the dilemma facing Henry Sturt MP

Posted on March 29, 2019

The Victorian Commons, as some of our recent blogs have shown, was an important testing ground for many of the practices and parliamentary procedures that remain in place today. It also provides early examples of MPs having to grapple with … Continue reading →

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