Politics

Over the past few months I’ve become a regular listener to the podcast The Rest is Politics. I’m always interested to hear what former New Labour master of communications Alastair Campbell and former Conservative MP Rory Stewart have to say on current events; despite my best efforts to persuade my Politics students to listen, I […]

Today is the coronation of King Charles III, and Britain (and the wider Commonwealth) are in celebration mood, months after losing the much loved Queen Elizabeth II. The British media has gone all guns blazing on the big event (which I am currently watching whilst typing this), and there is an additional bank holiday provided […]

The Speaker of the House of Commons is an important position within British politics. The Speaker’s primary role is to facilitate debate and keep order, and as such, they are the highest authority in the Commons. As noted by Jenkins et al (2019, p.164): ‘Speakers of the House of Commons are generally experienced MPs who […]

Minor political parties are unlikely to be successful in terms of elections in Britain, principally due to the First Past the Post electoral system. However, despite this lack of political power it is evident that given the right circumstances a minor party can influence the political agenda of the UK. This post will refer to […]

2021 has continued the frenzied divisive politics of the 2020 American presidential election. President Trump is leaving office in a matter of days – perhaps via impeachment – and Joe Biden will take over the presidential hot-seat; however, the partisan chasm between Republicans and Democrats looks set to worsen over this next election cycle. But […]

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve covered issues of democracy and political participation with the new, first year A-level Politics class. This involved the understanding of the growth of British democracy – the very slow growth that it was – which includes a whistle-stop tour through key events. These include the 1832 Great Reform […]

In terms of coverage for specific parliamentary acts relating to the expansion of democracy, it is clear that the heavy focus is placed on The Representation of the People Acts of 1918 and 1928. This is, of course, natural, because these are the acts that finally expanded the franchise to all people in the country, […]