Political

The Labour Party’s recent entanglement with antisemitism came as a shock to many. At its root is the issue of nationalism. 

History suggests that Britain’s relationship with Europe may never truly be resolved.

For 200 years, the House of Commons Library has guided politicians and policy.

The prime minister at the time of Napoleon’s defeat was a keen observer of European politics. His government sought a balance of power on the Continent, but with minimal British engagement.

What voting rights did Britons have in the century before 1918?

At the beginning of the 20th century the Great Powers competed for the right to extract the vast oil reserves around the Iraqi city of Mosul. The motivation – and prize – was energy security. 

Winning the vote meant millions of women needed a party to represent them in Parliament. Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst founded one, with limited success.

Fiercely anti-Communist, Clement Attlee found Britain’s intelligence agencies to be invaluable tools.

In his lifetime George Downing was regarded as ‘ready to turn to every side that was uppermost’, but even Pepys was grudgingly forced to admit his qualities in eighteenth-century political life.