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 issue in Irish politics. But the history of how Ireland came to be divided and why at the time it was seen as the only workable solution, at least by the British, is much less understood. Our view is now clouded by the complex history and struggles of the century that followed, but Partition takes us back to the first decades of the 1900s. Gibbons tells us how the idea of dividing Ireland came about, how it gained acceptance and popular support, about its complex and controversial implementation, and the turmoil of the years that followed.

IVAN GIBBONS is a lecturer in Modern Irish and British history specialising in the relationship between the British Labour Party and Ireland. He was lecturer and MA and BA Programme Director in Irish Studies at St Mary’s University.

Book link: https://www.hauspublishing.com/history-and-biography/partition-how-and-why-ireland-was-divided-by-ivan-gibbons/

Want to learn more about partition before we reach it? The Hammersmith Irish Cultural Centre has released a number of great lectures that you can watch here: https://irishculturalcentre.co.uk/digital-lecture-series-2021/

Image: (Original Caption) 5/11/1916 – Dublin, Ireland: Easter Rebellion – Photo shows British troops armed with machine guns and rifles behind a moveable barricade composed of household furniture and which could easily be pushed foreward, in a street in the central section of Dublin. (Bettmann/Getty Images)

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 European Parliament from 1984 to 2014. He is the Co-founder of the European Internet Forum; the Founder and Chairman of the Transatlantic Policy Network; and the Honorary President of the European Strategy and Policy Analysis System.

Apologies as there are some sound quality issues; I’ve tried to scrub as many out as possible.

James’s book: https://www.hauspublishing.com/haus-curiosities/fiction-fact-and-future-by-james-elles/ Ideas Network 2030: http://ideasnetwork2030.com/ ESPAS: https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/organisation/espas-european-strategy-policy-analysis-system_en TPN: https://www.tpnonline.org/ European Internet Forum: https://www.internetforum.eu/

“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 modern philosophers influencing modern psychology, liberal ideology, British constitutional monarchy and even the United States Declaration of Independence.

Image is a painting by Godfrey Kneller, titled Portrait of John Locke (currently in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersberg, Russia).

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 like in the future.

In this timely book, Mark Garnett provides a bracing reassessment of the role of the British Prime Minister, from Margaret Thatcher’s controversial tenure to Boris Johnson’s attempt to confront a pandemic with a ministerial team created to face the very different challenge of Brexit. Taking a thematic approach, Garnett explores the impact of major political developments and personalities on key aspects of prime ministerial functions as party leader, Cabinet-maker, chief diplomat and electoral talisman.

Much of the controversy over the position of Prime Minister, he concludes, arises from a confusion between the occupant’s inescapable political prominence and his or her – often limited – ability to achieve positive policy outcomes. With both David Cameron and Theresa May forced to resign since 2016, the book questions whether the nature of the job has become a deterrent for politicians who are motivated by a desire to serve the British public, opening the way for individuals with much less laudable motivations.

Available in all good book stores that are only a brick or a click away. Link to buy here:

https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/The+British+Prime+Minister+in+an+Age+of+Upheaval-p-9781509539352 .

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 to gain the vote or more importantly, be elected to Parliament.

Image credit to the wonderful William Hogarth, who painted “The Polling” and it is from “The Humours of an Election” series of 1755.

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 flair, but I’ll let you decide.

Featured image: Portrait of Henry Sacheverell by Thomas Gibson.

Link to the picture mentioned at the end: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1868-0808-3439

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 latest polls and predictions for the election.

Enjoy, and happy voting!

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 offensive, but definitely noticeable. I usually record my side as well, but forgot this time. It was such a good chat, I couldn’t bring myself to not share it!

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 and many more. We’ll even talk about Boris Johnson’s statistically terrible start to the current premiership.

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, how the soldiers were told, the last deaths of the war and beyond that to look at how the war ended- and how that potentially laid the path for WW2. We finish by looking at how the end of WW1 is remembered today in both London and Berlin.

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, conventions, works of authority and EU law; as well as Private Member’s Bills, Donoghue vs Stevenson and AV Dicey.

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 about their policy ideas and throwing a few our own thoughts in along the way.

This episode was recorded in early August before all of the prorogation and no deal vote blocking, so if you’re wondering why it’s missing- that’s why!

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 was in the middle of his first escape attempt, there had been riots in London, where every single Catholic church in London was attacked and some completely demolished. City governors and nobility were forced to become self-appointed policemen, and struggled to bring the mobs under control.

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 and thousands of injuries.

All names of interviewees have been changed to protect their identity.

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 Street”.

Buy it here: https://www.hauspublishing.com/non-fiction/no-10/

You can also find Jack on Twitter at @jackwbrown.

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.

On the 30th of June 1688, William of Orange received a letter in the Netherlands from seven Englishmen, asking him to intervene with the Catholicisation of England and restore a protestant reign. They were Earl of Shrewsbury, Earl of Devonshire, Earl of Danby, Lord Lumley, Bishop Henry Compton, Edward Russell and Henry Sydney, whom actually wrote the letter.

The letter was brought to William in the Netherlands by Rear Admiral Arthur Herbert, who had disguised himself as a sailor as to not be noticed. As we discussed last week, he had also been wronged by James who dismissed him from the Navy for not voting to repeal the Test Act

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.

James, had also become increasing unpopular through Charles’ reign, but Charles was now dead and James was still unpopular… and now King as well.

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 ended up as a meme for her bad dancing and naughty wheat field running.

But what could she have achieved if it weren’t for her rebellious MPs? What will we remember her for? Will history have any sympathy for the leader who achieved so little in her two year premiership? Was she an old school politician taken apart by a newer, crueler political world?

All this and more, on a special bonus episode of The Number 10 Podcast.

Today we talk about probably 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 will be a throwback to secondary school history in the UK.

To read more of the diaries, head to https://www.pepysdiary.com/ .

For info on the Museum of Greenwich, head to https://www.rmg.co.uk/national-maritime-museum

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 nation was in a vice of Loyalty according to one Anglican priest. In Edinburgh, 30,000 came to the streets and lit jubilant bonfire across the city.

It wasn’t uncommon for people to get excited when there was a new King, but the real evidence is from 439 congratulatory announcements he had from across the kingdom, mainly from corporations, local authorities, societies, clergy and other important people.

The main theme of the messages were, Congratulations on King, good job that exclusion thing failed.

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 around 1824, where factory workers joined associations to achieve better wages and working conditions, they grew into national general unions and have plated a large part in many historical events through our history including Merthyr Rising in 1831, the London Dock Strike of 1889 and the various actions through the 1960s, 70s and 80s that lead to the three day working week in 1973.

Are unions a force for good, protecting workers and enacting change to benefit those who have no power on their own, or are they organisations that take society hostage that everyone else then needs to pay the bill for?

Thanks to the magnanimous Ryan for coming on and having a great chat.

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 Charles’ Catholic sympathies, the Popish Plot, Exclusion Crisis and the Royal assassination attempt at Rye House.

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.