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Late‐Victorian and Edwardian Popular Conservatism is now mainly seen as a cultural‐ideological form, and this article aims to reconstruct one aspect of this ethos by focusing on the use of sport, especially horse racing, as a means of political differentiation and a method of attracting a new mass electorate to the Tory cause. The sporting paper focusing on horse racing was one way of doing this. Weeklies like the Sporting Times and the Winning Post tried to sell high Tory ideals to a mass electorate and thereby to knit together an older aristocratic party with newer urban, white‐collar, and working‐class voters. The political outgrowth of this element of popular conservatism was the Sporting League (established 1894) and also the later National Sporting League (1905). Both of these organisations took aim at Radical Liberals, and especially their attempt to restrict betting, and did so by exerting pressure at national and local elections from 1895 to 1914. Some of those involved with the Sporting Leagues and the racing paper became Conservative candidates. Although it is difficult to estimate the actual electoral impact of both Sporting Leagues, they nevertheless created a political style that might have a broad appeal, especially to a white‐collar class and working people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political print satire, construed as an articulation of sedition and dissent, is most commonly associated in Britain with its 18th‐century 'Golden Age'. Beyond Victorian fiction, the go‐to 19th‐century source tends to be the hegemonic, London‐centric Punch. It is not widely known that, as Punch mellowed and popularised in the 1860s and 1870s, England's booming urban centres gave rise to a distinct form of citizen journalism which used boisterous satire as an effective vehicle for sociopolitical comment, evidence‐based analysis and civic activism. Not only did the provincial satirical periodical filter parliamentary affairs through a critical provincial lens but at a time when politics were largely local, it engaged with the extra‐parliamentary power vested in civic and municipal governance. It aspired to much more than diversion through witty posturing. Morally and ideologically inspired, fuelled by righteous indignation, it successfully used the protest of the pen to agitate in the cause of social and political reform, demonstrating the 'everyday' resistance and common sense essential to liberal governmentality. Referencing some of the most enduring and respected examples of the genre – the Porcupine in Liverpool, the Town Crier in Birmingham and the Free Lance in Manchester – this article casts light upon this poorly understood journalism of conviction. A cause and effect of both emotional and intellectual release, it serves as an excellent example of citizenship as performed political passion, in an age of public conformity and restraint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article will examine how two newsletter collections reported the impeachments of the former ministers of Queen Anne in 1715, the trial of the earl of Oxford in 1717 and that of Francis Atterbury, bishop of Rochester in 1723. It will also consider how the two collections relate to one another and touch on the way the newsletters' reporting of proceedings across parliamentary business during the reign of George I compares with that presented in the printed press. It will thus attempt to offer insights into why people continued to subscribe to manuscript news services in a period where print had traditionally been seen to be rapidly overtaking the older, more intensive news form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Second World War, not only the United States but also Great Britain played a leading role in planning and establishing the United Nations (UN) as a new international organisation to replace the League of Nations. While scholarship on post‐war planning is extensive, relatively little exists on how the planning process was discussed and depicted publicly in Britain. The purpose of this article is to fill such lacunae by examining the two most important domains for public discussion at the time, the press and parliament. It will argue, first, that the League of Nations' experience – its inability to use collective force and its optimistically democratic structure – overwhelmingly shaped public discourse in reference to the UN. By referring to the past, the press and politicians alike in Britain were content to relinquish interwar ideas such as equal rights and equal representation for all nations. Second, apart from the lessons of history, the less democratic structure of the new world organisation was justified from the perspective of great power politics. The desire to make the grand alliance between Britain, the United States of America, and the USSR functional despite all mutual suspicions, directed the view of the UN, and typically overrode all other concerns relating to post‐war planning. Finally, throughout the wartime planning of the UN, public opinion, in so far as press and parliament were concerned, held fast to the idea that the British empire was not to be touched by the UN. In public, the establishment of the UN was hardly considered as a starting point for decolonisation. Instead, the UN was designed to become the post‐war embodiment of the grand alliance, a vehicle through which the victory over the Axis powers would be managed at the global level: such management did not envision the need to let empire go. Viewed this way, it also becomes clear that nationalism and internationalism were not mutually exclusive or binary visions, but coexisted and shifted in importance throughout the period examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature of these newspaper reports – that is, the character of their principal content – has never been studied, despite its obvious importance and, as we shall see, its marked differences from our Hansard. This article relates their nature to a vital feature of parliamentary leadership, the ability to lead the argument in debate. The practical reasoning in parliamentary deliberation and justification, especially what speakers contributed towards the outcome or 'the sense of the debate', predominated in these reports. This implied a need for reporters to concentrate on the 'substance' of speeches and their bearing on the motion. One result was that speeches which were judged to define or develop arguments pro and con were treated at length, the defining speeches most extensively and others in proportion to what they added. Conversely, speeches which reiterated known positions or which were irrelevant to the arguments in hand were omitted or downplayed, even if they were important in some other way, while whole debates which added little to ongoing discussion could be treated quite briefly. But if being a front bencher did not guarantee coverage, being a back bencher was no bar: the criterion was the importance of a speaker's contribution, while the manner of coverage accented what was contributed. The reporters' concerns emphasized debates that promised significant change in matters of national importance, but gave relatively little attention to recurrent or localised business as such. Their writing – they were known as debate writers or news‐writers – was interpretation answering to evaluative and selective criteria rather than a record in a simple sense. Their work is not to be understood in the same terms as a modern Hansard, and in particular not as a defective Hansard, but rather is such that it requires further work on a wide range of new research questions if it is to be understood to best effect, a requirement which suggests a need to study it critically before using it as source material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hints about the rise, fall, and reformulations of ministries were common currency in 18th‐century British political rhetoric. However, in 1778, chief among such rumours were three purported negotiations between the earls of Bute and Chatham, aimed at bringing one or both of them into administration. So damaging were these rumours to the political legacies of both individuals and their families, however, that they resorted to a 'press war' in order to absolve their respective kinsmen of any involvement. Drawing on previously neglected sources, this work examines these negotiations of 1778 and the subsequent press war in order to highlight the longevity, potency, and significance of the myth of Lord Bute's secret influence 15 years after his resignation from high office. In doing so, this work seeks to correct the common narrative that Lord Bute ceased to be a potent political symbol for constitutional issues following the publication of Edmund Burke's Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents in 1770. Far from being merely an anomalous and spontaneous revival of ill‐sentiments towards Lord Bute, this episode should be seen as a flashpoint in a process of vilification and traducement of the Scottish earl that had never, in fact, ceased and was symptomatic of the continuation of symbolic, or hieroglyphic, depictions of arguments concerning the significant constitutional issues which had been raised by Bute's political presence since the accession of George III. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This essay provides the first comprehensive study of the British press's reporting of, and discussions about, the electoral reform proposals that became the Representation of the People Act 1918. It shows that, in responding enthusiastically to calls for substantial constitutional change, newspapers from across the ideological spectrum revealed a deep disillusionment with partisan politics and party machines, and imagined a re‐energised democracy that would rise to the complex tasks of post‐war reconstruction. Female voters were to have a significant role in this more inclusive political system, and even long‐standing opponents of women's suffrage chose this moment publicly to alter their position – although by repeatedly framing enfranchisement as an outcome of service to the nation, the language of democratic rights was sometimes blurred. Many newspapers also argued for proportional representation (PR) to create a fairer, less cynical and less strictly‐managed type of politics. These debates marked an important moment in the redefinition of British democracy, and they would have a lasting influence on post‐war political culture. After 1918, the press generally defended this new democracy, even if some commentators expressed anxieties that certain voters lacked the capacity or inclination properly to exercise their political responsibilities. Set against the political turbulence across Europe, and the inevitable disquiet generated by economic dislocation and mass unemployment, it is the resilience of democracy in Britain, rather than its weakness, that is notable. In these difficult times, the press played a crucial role in legitimising and stabilising the parliamentary system and celebrating a more inclusive politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores Ernest Blythe's tenure as minister for finance of the Irish Free State, 1923-32. Using a range of sources, but particularly his papers in University College Dublin Department of Archives, this work aims to redress the academic neglect of one of the Free State's most infamous characters. In a broader sense, this study offers a commentary on Blythe's party, Cumann na n Gaedheal, and Irish political culture generally. Throughout the text, attention is paid to the existing historiography of the period, and, where deemed necessary, some critiques are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the most memorable campaigners for the New Interest whigs in the Oxfordshire election of 1754, Lady Susan Keck inevitably became the subject of press ridicule and criticism. Undaunted and irrepressible, she not only continued to campaign, but also turned the criticism back on the Old Interest, effectively neutralising it. This detailed examination of Lady Susan's electioneering illustrates the possibilities for electoral involvement at mid-century that were available to a woman of rank and spirit who was determined to make a difference. Propelled into action by sheer frustration with the poor planning and lacklustre campaigning that had marked the New Interest campaign in the 1751 election, Lady Susan put her, not inconsiderable, energy into securing a victory for the New Interest. Driven by ideology rather than by family interests, she used her age, rank, sex and connections, to political advantage. Confident and characterful, she was ideally suited to the rumbustious, personal politics of the age. Most importantly, her canvassing achieved results and the eventual New Interest victory owed, at least in part, to her efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article engages with recent work on the nature of the press in the late 17th and early 18th centuries that has emphasized that print, and more specifically printed news, came to dominate religious and political affairs. Recent scholarship has suggested that political elites embraced the new opportunities that the lapse of licensing (1695) offered by reading and buying newspapers and periodicals in ever greater numbers. Inherent in this portrayal of news culture is a sense that censorship had little effect on news-writers. Journalists, so it is claimed, were left alone to pursue their trade free from any consistent interference. This article, by contrast, argues that scribal news - handwritten newspapers - continued to be important in the 18th century. The reason for the survival of scribal news-writers such as John Dyer can be found, I argue, in understanding the complex relationship between press and parliament. Far from embracing the press, most members of parliament were, in fact, reluctant to allow unhindered publication of their discussions. While recognizing the importance of news to political debate, this article insists that the continued production of scribal news is indispensable for understanding both the nature of censorship and the power of the press in post-licensing England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The articles in this volume, planned to mark the tercentenary of the impeachment of Dr Henry Sacheverell on 23 March 1710, reassess the importance of his trial. Sacheverell's attack on the revolution of 1688, and the principles which underpinned it, allows us to question how far, 20 years later, a whig revolution had prevailed. The articles suggest that the revolution continued to be contested; that in 1710 the high church tory vision temporarily triumphed; that the flood of print showed the importance of religious dispute in shaping the public sphere; that the debate over Sacheverell connected Westminster and the public, not just in England but also in Ireland; that there was an important disagreement between high and low church about how to respond to the press's licentiousness, part of a story about the shift away from prepublication censorship towards regulation of print and copyright; that the print controversy over the trial was vituperative, 'impolite' and traded lies and misrepresentations; that Sacheverell's critics sought to associate him with harlots in a bid to suggest that his strong influence over women was unhealthy; that Sacheverell, on the other hand, deliberately depicted himself as a martyr; and that, for all its religious heat, 1710 was also important for an early enlightenment debate about political economy, since the tory vision on Church and state also embraced a reoriented foreign policy and that this contest over imperial visions had important consequences for the development of the colonies after 1714. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Labour Party in the 1990s supported enactment of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) rights for party-political as well as principled reasons. The Human Rights Bill sought to balance parliamentary sovereignty and effective protection of rights, relying on both legal and political remedies for victims of violations. Whilst the potentially major constitutional and legal effects of the bill, which made it highly controversial from the start in the press, were partly hidden by highly-technical drafting, members of both Houses were fully aware of the scale of the bill's implications. Scrutiny was particularly rigorous in relation to the effect of decisions of the European Commission and Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg on domestic courts especially in the light of the Strasbourg organs' view of the ECHR as an evolving instrument, the position of particular interest groups such as journalistic and religious organisations, domestic courts' new obligation to interpret legislation so far as possible compatibly with the rights and their power to make a declaration of incompatibility should that prove impossible, and parliamentary scrutiny of legislation to remedy incompatibilities. Some worries have proved well founded, and political controversy has not diminished since 1998, partly because of heightened concern with measures to combat terrorism since 2001. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political leaders rely upon particular individuals or party organisations to reach potential constituencies, but they can only guess at the probable effect any agent has on those electors. For politicians anxious to seize and hold power, it is very good news when one of their partisans establishes and maintains a faithful following. The complexities of understanding influence, especially in the 20th century, are compounded by the difficulties of identifying the myriad interests expressed in a variety of contending forums as well as at the polls. While archives of printed, spoken, and viewed materials allow us to recover what political figures said to various audiences, it is very difficult to demonstrate that expressed ideas actually affected political thinking or political conduct. It is a further speculative leap to imagine what audiences actually heard, what they wanted to hear, and what they made of what they believed they heard. In a written or spoken or pictorial effort to transmit ideas, the intention and purpose may be stated explicitly but the contents of the ideas may still be equivocal. Different kinds of audiences and different members of the same audience will find a variety of meanings, often contradictory, in what they read, hear, or see. Arthur Bryant, a popular historian, journalist, and polemicist was remarkably successful in proclaiming the merits of a pragmatic and ideological conservatism to a multiplicity of large, loyal audiences through the end of the Second World War. This essay examines Bryant's remarkable audience in the Illustrated London News and the ways in which he engaged and retained them for nearly 50 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the corruption issues between the press and parliament sectors during the late Stuart period in Great Britain. It details the innovations in the print-parliament relationship and discusses one neglected aspect on the issue. According to the author, both the parliament and the press had a symbiotic relationship before the later Stuart period during the expansion of the fiscal-military state. Moreover, a print campaign by author Robert Crosfeild on corruption is discussed.

The article discusses the evolution of print media culture and its impact on the parliament during the 1620s. It highlights the print restrictions posted by the House of Lords in 1624. A discussion is presented concerning the development of the culture, which represented the use of print media in the 1640s. Moreover, included in its scope is a discussion on the anomalies involving the Jacobean parliaments.

The article discusses the role of the press in the political chaos of Great Britain under the leadership of British Admiral Augustus Keppel. It has been noted that the success of the press in making parliamentary politics more accessible to the nation is well known that made it subservient to both government and political leaders. Public opinion invoked in the press to support the positions for, and against Admiral Keppel above the political fray.

The article presents an essay on the relation between politics and the press which is considered as interactive and symbiotic during the late Hanoverian era in Great Britain. The author explains how these interactions enhanced the political awareness and broadened the populist dimensions of parliamentary politics of the British state. According to the author, these have led to renewed emphasis on the newspaper press as a critical organ of public opinion

The article discusses the linkage between the interactive nature of parliamentary and press development in Great Britain. Many historians have been focusing on areas of reciprocity and cooperation to highlight how the two institutions evolved symbiotically. In addition, it has also been considered how the relationship between parliament and the press has wider relevance for the so-called public sphere.

The article discusses the key issues regarding on the quality of public debate in both parliament and the press. The quality of this debate as it is generally neglected has been addressed as well as its importance in politics and foreign policy. In addition, the author describes an instrumentalist account of politics and the practices and ideas of parliamentary and public politics.