history archive
The first bar chart? Richmond in 1979 (possibly)
One of the reasons for my love-hate attitude towards the state of modern British political science is the very limited approach taken to analysing and understanding tactical voting. There are huge numbers of research papers looking at opinion poll data about how many people voted tactically in a particular election, in what sorts of seats [...]
The Liberals in Hampshire: Martin Kyrle’s reminiscences
There has been a recent and very welcome burst of histories of Liberal (Democrat) activism being published, such as Graham Tope’s A Life in Politics, recording the contributions of people whose names will otherwise slip by the history books. In doing so, they paint a picture of what grassroots politics is actually like, often rather [...]
From the Parliamentary archives: the Palestinian false leg
Hansard for 9 February 1983 brings us this: Mr. Graham asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs why a payment of £341 was made by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to Palestine for 1981–82, as listed in the Appropriation Accounts for that year. Mr. Hurd: When the mandate for Palestine terminated in 1948 [...]
Dear Readers’ Editor: About Polly Toynbee…
Dear Readers’ Editor, A couple of factual errors seem to have slipped into Polly Toynbee’s article yesterday. She writes of: The reality of welfare cuts the Institute for Fiscal Studies calls “without historical and international precedent” However, when The Guardian previously reported that quote from the IFS it was different into two key respects. First, it [...]
Order! Order! A Parliamentary Miscellany
Robert Rogers, the Clerk of the House of Commons, is the latest in a long line of distinguished authors to have produced a miscellany of Parliamentary history, information and quirks. His volume Order! Order! A Parliamentary Miscellany is a worthy addition to that sequence. Originally published in 2009 it has just been republished with little changed other than [...]
Do documentary makers need to visit the country they are making a show about?
Over the years I’ve seen a fair number of TV programmes either dedicated to the fighting at Monte Cassino in 1944 or giving a good amount of time to the fearsome battle and the tragic, self-defeating destruction of the ancient Abbey. (In brief – the Abbey was not being used by the Germans; the Allies [...]
Astroturfing, Roman style
It’s often tempting, very tempting indeed, when new technologies come along to talk about the new and all the changes it will bring. Better understanding, however, often comes from appreciating not only the new but also the old. Often the apparently novel lessons are simply the old ones dressed up in different clothes. That’s why [...]
Infrastructure investment, Roman style – funded by sex
Welcome to Ponte Sisto, Rome – part-funded by the numerical inconsistent* Pope Sixtus IV’s tax on prostitution. * Alas all the preparatory work put in by Popes Sixtus First to the Fifth have so far been wasted as no Pope has taken the opportunity to build on their work and be the numerically consistent Pope [...]
War, prevarication: what’s the difference between friends?
It seems as if every Italian I have met this week speaks better English than I speak Italian. A fair degree of respect for their language skills is therefore due to them. What is surprising, however, is just how bad many of the printed English translations I have come across are. It’s no surprise that [...]
