Tag Archives: Electioneering

The 1872 Secret Ballot and Multiple Member Seats

Posted on November 22, 2022 by salmonphilip

Following on from our recent events and blogs marking the 150th anniversary of the introduction of  the secret ballot, Dr Philip Salmon explores some of the Act’s lesser known and unintended consequences. The Ballot Act of 1872 sits alongside the … Continue reading →

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‘Damn the secret ballot’: the UK’s public voting system before 1872

Posted on July 14, 2022 by salmonphilip

This online event was recorded and can be viewed here. As we approach next week’s online event celebrating the 150th anniversary of the act which introduced the secret ballot for municipal and parliamentary elections, it’s perhaps worth looking again at … Continue reading →

Posted in Corruption, Elections, Forthcoming events | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Online event marking the 150th anniversary of the Ballot Act

Posted on July 4, 2022 by Kathryn Rix

Join the History of Parliament Trust and the Parliamentary Archives on 18 July 2022 in an online event marking the passing of the 1872 Ballot Act, 150 years ago. UPDATE: This event was recorded and can now be viewed here. … Continue reading →

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From colonial council to Parliament: the career of John Dunn MP

Posted on November 19, 2021 by salmonphilip

How Victorian Britain exported a Westminster system of politics to its colonies, both in terms of parliamentary structures and personnel, has been a recurrent theme of much recent historical work. Our own project has also helped shed new light on … Continue reading →

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The shipping and the railway interests: Whitby’s electoral politics, 1832-1868

Posted on June 9, 2021 by Kathryn Rix

This post first appeared on the History of Parliament’s blog as part of its local history series on port constituencies. In July 1832 the ‘blues’ (Liberals) and ‘pinks’ (Conservatives) in the port of Whitby each held lavish celebrations to mark … Continue reading →

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The radical hostess of Parliament Street: Harriet Grote (1792-1878), the 1832 election and establishing influence as a woman at Westminster

Posted on May 24, 2021 by Martin Spychal

In the second of his blogs on Harriet Grote (1792-1878), our research fellow, Dr Martin Spychal, explores Harriet’s introduction to electoral politics at the 1832 election and her preparations for the 1833 parliamentary session… The 1832 election introduced Harriet Grote … Continue reading →

Posted in Elections, Harriet Grote, women | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

A Highland canvass in a ‘pocket county’: Ronald Gower (1845-1916) and the 1867 Sutherland by-election

Posted on December 4, 2020 by Martin Spychal

In the fourth blog of his series on Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916), Dr Martin Spychal, uses Gower’s diaries to provide some rare insights into mid-Victorian electioneering in the ‘pocket county’ of Sutherland. This blog was also posted as part of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Constituencies, Elections, Parliamentary life, Queer Parliamentary Life, Ronald Gower Series, Scotland, women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Happy New Year from the Victorian Commons!

Posted on January 2, 2020 by salmonphilip

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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Elections and electioneering, 1832-1868

Posted on December 2, 2019 by Kathryn Rix

As voters across the country head to the polls this month, we thought it was an ideal opportunity to look back at some of the research on 19th century elections we have featured in our blogs over the past few … Continue reading →

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

Posted on November 25, 2019 by salmonphilip

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 →

Posted in Biographies, Constituencies, Corruption, Elections, MP of the Month, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

MP of the Month: John Barton Willis Fleming (1781-1844)

Posted on March 28, 2018 by salmonphilip

With modern electioneering tactics currently attracting so much scrutiny at home and abroad, our Victorian MP of the Month focuses on a notorious election fixer or ‘boroughmonger’, whose activities increasingly pushed the boundaries of acceptable behaviour. His refusal to answer … Continue reading →

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Five elections in seven years: Peterborough, Whalley and the Fitzwilliam interest

Posted on April 28, 2017 by Martin Spychal

With suggestions of election fatigue setting in across Britain, this week’s blog – featuring our MP of the Month, George Hammond Whalley – looks at a constituency which saw five elections held in seven years between 1852 and 1859: the … Continue reading →

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MP of the Month: James Lamont (1828-1913), Arctic explorer and scientist

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Kathryn Rix

Our MP of the Month blog for October comes from Dr Matthew McDowell, of the University of Edinburgh, who has contributed to our 1832-68 project with articles on Buteshire and its MPs. In this guest blog, he explores the career … Continue reading →

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Parliament Week 2013: Women in Democracy

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Kathryn Rix

To mark Parliament Week 2013, the theme of which is ‘Women in Democracy’, we would like to share some of our recent research highlighting the varied nature of female participation in British political life during the nineteenth century, despite the … Continue reading →

Posted in Elections, women | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Democracy in Devon: exhibition at the Devon Heritage Centre

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Kathryn Rix

Welcome to the second of our guest blogs, which coincides with an exhibition running at the Devon Heritage Centre. Organised by Dr. David Thackeray, of the University of Exeter, the exhibition demonstrates the vitality of popular participation in nineteenth century … Continue reading →

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Paper at EUPARL Conference, Paris, 8-9 Nov. 2012

Posted on November 9, 2012 by millerhenryj

This week I am giving a paper, titled ‘The British Parliament and the representation of public opinion before democracy, c. 1800-1914’, at a conference organised by the European Information and Research Network on Parliamentary History (EUPARL). The conference is being … Continue reading →

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Politics and poetry: a blog post for National Poetry Day 2012

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Kathryn Rix

The declaration of the result of the poll following a contested election could sometimes be a violent event. James Walker, the newly returned MP for Beverley in January 1860, suffered ‘a good many hard knocks’ when his procession away from … Continue reading →

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