Alfie Steer

Women, Resistance and Revolution In Women, Resistance and Revolution, Sheila Rowbotham traces four centuries of feminist struggle and revolutionary politics. She reveals how women have confronted the dual challenges of an unjust stat...

Out now - Women, Resistance and Revolution: A History of Women and Revolution in the Modern World by Sheila Rowbotham

"Groundbreaking … One of feminism’s great chroniclers."
- Melissa Benn, Guardian

‘One of the greatest Rugby players who ever sat in the House’: Pat Munro MP - The History of Parliament Pat Munro made his debut as a Scotland rugby international on 4 February 1905 at Inverleith, Edinburgh, taking on Wales in the Home Nations Championship (the

New blog from me today for @histparl.bsky.social, with a #SixNations theme. It looks at the career of Pat Munro, a former Scotland rugby international who was MP for Llandaff and Barry from 1931. He was the oldest MP to die on war service during WW2. historyofparliament.com/2026/03/02/p...

Can safely say that we can now add the Gorton and Denton by election to the ”unexpected consequences of hyper-factional party management“ pile.

Cynog Dafis: Britain's first Green MP? - The History of Parliament While Caroline Lucas is commonly referred to as Britain's first Green Member of Parliament, Cynog Dafis, who entered parliament as the Plaid Cymru MP for

The sudden growth of the Green Party is an extraordinary, and still under analysed, development in British politics, with longer term origins than most people think. A while ago I wrote about the first Green Party elected to Parliament. No it wasn’t Caroline Lucas.

Christchurch 1993: By-election Campaigning in the Glare of the Media - The History of Parliament On Thursday the voters of Gorton and Denton will elect their new MP after weeks of media speculation. This by-election had huge attention before it was even

This Thursday the voters of Gorton and Denton will elect their new MP after weeks of media speculation. To mark the occasion, @emmapeplow.bsky.social has delved into our oral history archive to look at another by-election that full under the media spotlight: Christchurch 1993.

Trade Unions in a Neoliberal World: British Trade Unions under New Labour Trade Unions in a Neoliberal World is the first book to provide readers with an authoritative and comprehensive assessment of the impact of New Labour governments on employment relations and trade uni...

Do any historians on here have online access to this book, and would mind sending me a pdf?

www.routledge.com/Trade-Unions...

Labour thinktank close to Morgan McSweeney paid firm to investigate journalists Labour Together hired company to look at Sunday Times and Guardian reporters after article about donations, documents suggest

I realise McSweeney is big news right now, but the story here should be about Josh Simons, a government minister www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Introducing Scribble Book A History of Parliament Newsletter

HistParl is now on Substack!

We are very pleased to announce the launch of Scribble Book - a History of Parliament newsletter written by our Director @jhdavey.bsky.social ! Our first post, on the history of the Trust, will be out on Monday.

Be sure to subscribe now to keep up to date!

BREAKING: McSweeney’s think tank paid PR firm to investigate journalists Labour Together put private investigators onto journalists writing about its funding. Starmer's right-hand man knew.

🔴 BREAKING: Labour Together paid controversial PR firm £30k to investigate journalists who were digging into how its undeclared funding

Reporters from Sunday Times, Guardian and other outlets targetted

*And* Morgan McSweeney knew about it

Full story:
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/exclusive-...

The Mandelson crisis is a crisis of Labour's leadership project The scandal of the Peter Mandelson crisis and his relationship with the convicted criminal Jeffrey Epstein is immense.

Insightful insider perspective from @fletchersimon.bsky.social on the close relationship between Starmer's office and Mandelson
modernleft.substack.com/p/the-mandel...

IMO the weirdest thing here is that the other main factions in Labour don't seem to recognise this is the case? The soft left, the real ideological centre of the Labour Party, the group that should basically be the dominant faction most of the time, behave like these people are their comrades!

The parable of Andy Burnham and Peter Mandelson Voters are unimpressed by Keir Starmer’s contrasting treatment of two Labour politicians

Voters in focus groups are contrasting Labour’s treatment of Burnham and Mandelson – that’s a dangerous comparison for Starmer. www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

FindAPhD : PhD Studentships to support doctoral research in the Arthur Scargill Archive at the University of Sheffield at University of Sheffield Apply for a PhD: PhD Studentships to support doctoral research in the Arthur Scargill Archive at the University of Sheffield at University of Sheffield

Three scholarships for PhD in Arthur Scargill Archive - quite the opportunity. Believe me when I say that I am sure that some of the stuff in here will be quite the eye-opener! (if the good stuff hasn't been already shredded or slapped with an embargo)

Another moment to remember that none of this was inevitable either. Mandelson rose to prominence under Kinnock but was distrusted and sidelined by John Smith. He was only brought back to prominence by Blair.

There is the Epstein scandal itself, which will surely add a far more sinister edge to his already highly Machiavellian image/reputation (but one that, at their worst, historians and journos have delighted in) but then also his possibly criminal (and certainly unethical) behaviour in 2009.

I think Labour Party historians should get the ball rolling on discussing how we discuss/frame the history of New Labour in light of the latest Mandelson scandal.

That settles it then; the sentence for kicking a vehicle is summary execution without trial.

A three quarter length photograph of a man looking to his left. He is wearing a dark blue suit with a white shirt and dark burgundy tie. He is clean shaven with a pair of thick rimmed brown glasses, and side parted grey hair.

Died #OTD 2017, Sir Tam Dalyell, Labour MP from 1962-2005.

A maverick backbencher known for his staunch anti-devolution and anti-war views, he is the longest-serving MP we have interviewed for our Oral History Project.

It's nice to have been invovled with a post that is so politically timely...

Crossing the Floor: Tales from the Oral History Project - The History of Parliament Political defections, commonly known in Westminster parlance as ‘Crossing the Floor’, have been a phenomenon in Parliament since at least the 17th century.

Following the news of another political defection in Westminster, we're resharing our recent #HistParl article on the history of MPs 'crossing the floor' and changing their party affiliation, drawing heavily upon extracts from our #OralHistory archive.

historyofparliament.com/2026/01/16/c...

Farewell Labour Mark it on the calendar. 25th January, 2026. The date the Labour Party called it a day. I have no brief for Andy Burnham. Politically, he...

"Burnham was a chance, *the chance* to turn things around. Instead, the NEC have engaged full steam ahead toward inevitable disaster."

Morgan McSweeney’s 0% Strategy The plot to block Andy Burnham's return to Westminster tells you everything you need to know about how Keir Starmer's Government got itself into this mess

Blocking Andy Burnham from fighting the Gorton by-election is another gift to Reform from a Labour leadership whose entire strategy has so far played directly into their hands
www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/morgan-mcs...

How does that labour leader’s speech go?

“Party faction first. Palantir, Oracle and X second. America third. Country, 14th. Elections, as rarely as possible”.

‘Keep the party Labour’: the Grassroots Alliance and activist opposition to New Labour, 1994-2007 In October 1998, Tony Blair suffered an embarrassing electoral defeat when four activists from the Centre-Left Grassroots Alliance (CLGA) were elected to the Labour Party’s National Executive Commi...

Labour Party history suggests that blatantly factional candidate stitch ups like this, handed down by a micro-managing party leadership, often lead to unintended consequences. I wrote about one example (Liz Davies in 1995) here.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Look what arrived in the mail today!

You can currently get your very own copy with a 40% discount until the end of January via the @manchesterup.bsky.social website.

@d-j-frost.bsky.social

manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/

For a Campaign Group MP, I suspect the ideal situation now is that Burnham is allowed to stand, wins, and subsequently challenges for the leadership following a locals/devolved drubbing and Tribune+SCG lash up for nominations. Some may even be fantasising about a junior ministerial job.

The Absolute State of the Labour Left 20 Renewal 33.3-33.4_Steer20 Renewal 33.3-33.4_Steer.pdf104 KBdownload-circle The Labour left under Starmer is at a low ebb. But while it might be marginalised, its politics remain popular amongst ...

Shamelessly using the Andrew Gwynne news to reshare my article for @renewaljournal.bsky.social on the state of the Labour left. I basically argue that there is the potential for unity between soft + hard left in the name of saving the party from disaster.

renewal.org.uk/articles/the...

very pleased to see this out!!!

Me on the state of Labour‘s “hard” left, the rise to prominence of the “soft” left, and the prospects of cooperation between the two in order to save the party from electoral calamity.

very pleased to see this out!!!

Me on the state of Labour‘s “hard” left, the rise to prominence of the “soft” left, and the prospects of cooperation between the two in order to save the party from electoral calamity.

Think they could do with one by you on Degsy!