In this episode, released on the 100 year anniversary of Irish partition, we talk with Ivan Gibbons about the statesmen involved in the decision and whether it was a success. We talk about the implications of partition that are still being felt to this day.Throughout the twentieth century, partition would become the most contested and fought-over i…

In this episode we speak with James Elles (former British MEP) about the changing relationship between Britain and Europe, as well as the steps that led to Brexit in a really fascinating conversation with a politician who has been involved in European and International politics since the 1970s. JAMES ELLES was a British Conservative Member of the E…

“Men being, as has been said, by nature, all free, equal and independent, no one can be put out of this estate, and subjected to the political power of another, without his own consent.”A quote there from our spotlighted special episode on a very special philosopher, the father of Liberalism, John Locke. He is arguably one of the most important mod…

This week we talk to Mark Garnett, senior lecturer at Lancaster University in Politics, about the changing role of the Prime Minister and his new book “The British Prime Minister in an Age of Upheaval”. We talk about the motivations of individuals (duty and public service or ego and money?), the role of devolution and what the role of PM will look …

This week we look at elections and how they were conducted in the 1700s and pretty much all the way up to the Great Reform Act in 1832 (as well as other subsequent legislation). We talk about pocket boroughs, rotten boroughs, pot wallopers and all your favourite 17th century electoral slang, as we deep dive into what you would have needed in order …

We continue today talking about Queen Anne, after talking in great detail about the Act of Union of 1707 that created the kingdom of Great Britain. We move back a little bit to talk about some other important areas of Anne’s life and rule.Note: I realize after recording that I’ve pronounced Sacheverell’s name wrong; personally I think I’ve added fl…

A little treat today, as we read the entirety of the Treaty of Union that bonded Scotland and England together in 1707, off the back of various financial issues that Scotland had suffered (namely the Great Famine and the Darien Scheme failure) . There were 25 articles in total, many covering import and export duties, and others dealing with currenc…

Today we’re starting our look at Queen Anne after the death of William and the rise of the Tories under Godolphin and Marlborough. We then turn to looking at why Scotland, despite hugely against a union with the English, ended up jumping into it with both feet.

On the eve of the UK general election 2019, we explore everything you need to know about the general election, as well as a bit of the history and interesting facts surrounding the whole process.We’ll run through the top policies for each of the UK parties across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, before finishing with a look at the lat…

An episode from our swapcast, where I spoke to Dave over at the Freaking Hambone Show (@hb_show) earlier this week. We talk about Neville Chamberlain, the road to WW2, the lesser talked about side of Winston Churchill and the upcoming UK general election. As I mentioned in the episode, there are a few sound issues in the episode- nothing massively …

Today we looked back across history to pick out the Prime Ministers who had the worst start to their careers in Number 10. This is about what they did, what they didn’t do and also what they inherited limited to the first few months of their premiership. Sit back and relax as we talk about such PM’s as Viscount Goderich, Churchill, Thatcher, Heath …

To kick start this season, we’re going to be going around the world in the year 1702, setting the scene for the new century and giving some perspective as to the events that will affect the next 100 years and beyond.

In today’s episode, we discuss the events of Armistice Day, that happened 101 years ago today (11/11/1918). To really make it interesting, I teamed up with Jacob from Podcast On Germany, to give an interesting new angle to it- looking at the end of World War One from both the British and German side of the trenches. We discuss the Armistice signing…

A quick message from Chris to thank everyone, including our dear listeners for their support this season.

In today’s episode we talk about the core constitutional sources of our uncodified constitution, as well as some letters from our fans. As it’s not something that’s written down in one single document like the USA, it can be difficult to navigate, so we’ll be going through the basics. We talk about statute law, common law, royal prerogatives, conve…

The second and final episode of the chat forecasting the policies and styles of the two current leaders of the Labour and Conservative Parties in the UK. Thanks again to Ryan for coming on for this very fun and interesting episode!

Today we talk with the international socialist of mystery, Ryan about the backgrounds of Boris Johnson, our current Prime Minister and Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party. We’ll talk about where they’ve come from, controversies and how they’re being perceived outside of Westminster.Part one of the chat, we’ll be talking in the next part a…

We talk today about the swathe of legislation through William and Mary’s reign that led to the start of our Parliamentary democracy, including the iconic Bill of Rights.We left off with England in a strange situation. James II, England’s King had escaped to France and William had arrived in London. Before he arrived and in the absence of James who …

With the Hong Kong protests in full swing and escalating week on week- we talk to protesters on the front line and those who’ve fled Hong Kong when it became part of China in the 1990s. With many Hong Kong citizens fighting against a controversial extradition bill and a wider protest for universal suffrage, the protests have seen hundreds of arrest…

This week we’re delighted to be joined by historian Jack Brown for this episode discussing Number 10 Downing Street- the construction, renovations and of course, the occupants. We’ll also be talking about the strikes over tea breaks under Macmillan, Larry the Cat and Devolution; as well as Jack’s new book “No. 10: The Geography of Power at Downing …

Today we’ve got a bit of a special episode for those of you kind enough to post a question to the show about anything really, but most were about what we’ve covered so far. We’ll also be going through what’s coming up next in episodes, as well as some shout outs to our awesome listeners.

Today we’ll be hearing the text of the Invitation to William written by the Immortal Seven that we spoke about last week. Onthe 30th of June 1688, William of Orange received a letter in the Netherlandsfrom seven Englishmen, asking him to intervene with the Catholicisation ofEngland and restore a protestant reign. They were Earl of Shrewsbury, Earl …

Today we talk about the penultimate Stuart monarchy in the UK and what some say is the last successful invasion of the British Isles. If you remember we spent some time talking about Charles II a few episodes back who had become increasingly unpopular during his reign, with plots, assassinations and a rowdy parliament being a thorn in his side. Jam…

On the eve of her departure, we look back on Theresa May’s achievements, disasters and what her legacy is going to be. A hard working MP and Home Secretary who was responsible for the vans telling illegal immigrants to go home and the woman who failed to get the UK any further to Brexit. The second female prime minister who had so much planned but …

Today we talk aboutprobably the greatest English diarist of all time, Samuel Pepys. He’s probably one of the greatest witnesses to the second half of the 17th century. Not only was he present, but actively involved, experiencing first-hand the events that occurred in London from 1650 to 1700, some of which we’ve discussed in detail and others that …

Now you’d think, with assassination attempts, and parliament trying to limit your ability to sit on the throne, James was going to come into a pretty bad time of it. That, bizarrely, was not the case.It was a pretty incredible thing that James was incredibly well received across the dominions when he came to the throne. It was as if the Whole natio…

This week we’ll be doing a group chat in one of our new segments called “This House Believes” or THB for short. We’ll be talking about unions and whether they are a force for good or bad in regards to the economy and society.Starting around1824, where factory workers joined associations to achieve better wages andworking conditions, they grew into …

Last time we went on a whirlwind journey through the 16th and 17th century and looked at the rising religious tensions between the Protestant majority and the non-conformist and Catholic minorities. We saw monarchs abusing their power in regards to spending and appointing poor choices to make big decisions on their behalf. This time we explore the …

A reading of the important weights and measures memo from the 14th century.Photo behind player is of the Royal Observartory display of standard measurements in the 19th century and is courtesy of Zlatko Krastev, November 2005 ; Автор: Златко Кръстев, ноември 2005 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=404816…

A look back over the 16th and 17th Century in the run up to our first Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole.

Did you know 14 of the last 23 Prime Ministers were not elected into power? That one Premier died after falling off a chair? One supposedly created Mr Whippy Ice Cream! In this episode we look through the interesting statistics and facts of the Prime Ministers as a whole.

Our first episode introducing the podcast.