Opinion Articles
H&P encourages historians to use their expertise to shed light on issues of the day. If you are interested in submitting an opinion piece for publication, please see our editorial guidelines. We currently have 342 Opinion Articles listed by date and they are all freely searchable by theme, author or keyword.
Another election this year? Historical perspectives on the hung parliament
Gordon Brown is perfectly entitled to remain as Prime Minister and attempt to secure support for his programme in the House of Commons, as Stanley Baldwin did after losing his majority in the general election of 1923. The paradox of the current situation is that the parliamentary arithmetic favours a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, but David […]
Read MoreProportional Representation: historical destiny beckons?
History shows both how the two-party system has lasted for so long in our country and also why it has now outlasted its usefulness. It has entered, during the last two decades, a period of pathological obsolescence: dead on its feet, only kept alive by the life-support machine of the first-past-the-post electoral rule. The origins […]
Read MoreThat Cabinet Manual in full
Some Conservatives have accused the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, of stacking the deck against them by insisting that Gordon Brown remains Prime Minister until he gives up trying to form a coalition, thus giving him the first move. Others, notably Professor Peter Hennessy, insisted through the night that that was “the British Constitution”. Who […]
Read MoreNuclear elections
Britain's nuclear deterrent is an ageing resource. The Trident submarines carrying the United Kingdom's nuclear weapons will not last long into the 2020s, and if they are to be replaced a major spending commitment will have to be made in the next couple of years. Given that the total cost is uncertain – estimates range […]
Read MoreWhere will the axe fall? Public opinion and spending cuts
In the final televised leaders' debate, each of the party leaders promised they would be honest with the electorate about how they would tackle the public deficit. This pledge came after the Institute for Fiscal Studies published an influential report that criticised Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats for failing to disclose the full […]
Read MoreWhen the wheels came off Brown’s campaign bus
Surveying the wreckage of Gordon Brown's political fightback on the streets of Rochdale, some commentators are claiming that it's all happened before. They're wrong; even taking a very long-term perspective, no senior politician has gaffed quite so damagingly while on the stump as the Prime Minister did yesterday. It is true that, ever since microphones […]
Read MoreCabinet Office quest for written constitution should worry historians
The Cabinet Office is currently engaged in a process of defining the UK constitution. But its approach gives grounds for concern. First, there is a democratic deficiency in the closed nature of the process being followed. No public consultation has been held, with the Cabinet Office drawing in outside advice largely confidentially and on terms […]
Read MoreRevisiting the ‘Big Society’
Following the first televised Prime Ministerial Debate last week, Conservative party strategists have adopted an increasingly negative campaign focused on the potential dangers of a hung parliament. The reason for this negativity might be more complex than a simple reaction to liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg's success in seizing the mantle of 'change'. Indeed, the […]
Read MoreDon’t mention the war? History suggests foreign policy can swing voters
Party strategists may think that tonight's Sky News leaders' debate, focusing on foreign policy – will be less important to voters than the debates on social policy and the economy. The election campaign so far has been marked by a lack of reference to foreign policy – despite the deaths of hundreds of British military […]
Read MoreHistory suggests that Scandinavian policies will be lost in translation
Conservative Party proposals to allow parents, businesses or religious groups to set up 'free schools' in England have been the subject of intense debate during the election campaign. The party wants to 'copy' Sweden where, it argues, these institutions have 'driven up standards'. But there has been little focus on whether their attempt to import […]
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