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Paul Seaward

@pseaward.bsky.social

1.1K followers 670 following 150 posts

History of Parliament, parliamentarism and politics in Britain and Europe from the middle ages to now; C17th English political thought and political history; Clarendon, Hobbes. A parliamentary miscellany at https://historyofparliamentblog.wordpress.com

historyofparliamentblog.wordpress.com

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Paul Seaward @pseaward.bsky.social · Jan 23

Among all the treasures in Hansard, this one, an account of the disasters endured by members of the House of Lords attending the Naval Review at Spithead in 1858, is priceless:
hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/1856-0...

The Naval Review - Hansard - UK Parliament

Hansard record of the item : 'The Naval Review' on Thursday 24 April 1856.

hansard.parliament.uk

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Paul Seaward @pseaward.bsky.social · 6h

@studyofparl.bsky.social

Reposted by Paul Seaward

History of Parliament @histparl.bsky.social · 7h

The History of Parliament team were very sad to hear of the recent death of Professor Michael Rush.

A pioneering scholar of parliament, Professor Rush's work on the social background of MPs and resulting Database stands as a fundamental source for generations of historians and political scientists.

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Paul Seaward @pseaward.bsky.social · 7h

@fantasticlife.bsky.social @anyaso.bsky.social

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Paul Seaward @pseaward.bsky.social · 7h

Michael Rush and the Database historyofparliament.com/2025/10/15/m...

Michael Rush and the Database - The History of Parliament

We were sad to hear recently of the death of Professor Michael Rush of the University of Exeter. Michael was a pioneering and indefatigable scholar of

historyofparliament.com

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Paul Seaward @pseaward.bsky.social · 10h

‘The sect of Alarmists’: The Third Party and the reluctant leadership of William Windham, 1793-4 historyofparliament.com/2025/10/02/t...

‘The sect of Alarmists’: The Third Party and the reluctant leadership of William Windham, 1793-4 - The History of Parliament

In this latest post, the Georgian Lords welcomes a guest article by James Orchin, PhD student at Queen's University, Belfast, re-examining William Windham's

historyofparliament.com

Paul Seaward @pseaward.bsky.social · 1d

Sort of, yes; though there are very many unmemorable moments, and the idea that the Lords is all that much better at scrutinising legislation is in my view a bit overblown.

Paul Seaward @pseaward.bsky.social · 2d

though I suppose there is the counter-example of Henry Brougham's 6 hour speech on law reform.

Paul Seaward @pseaward.bsky.social · 2d

Yes indeed: I suppose my point is that the chamber just isn't the sort of place where one can ever expect policy to be discussed except in the most obvious and political and defensive ways, and never has been.

Paul Seaward @pseaward.bsky.social · 2d

and while it's probably true that there have been people in the past who were much better at giving speeches whether in the H of C or at conference, I suspect that's got much more to do with traditions of platform oratory now lost than with the operation of the chamber then and now.

Paul Seaward @pseaward.bsky.social · 2d

Well I agree entirely; I'm certainly not saying it's good - just that I can't really think of how a chamber discussion in a large assembly could operate in a much better fashion without unrealistic levels of seriousness and unpolitical-ness and lack of self-promotion from those elected to it

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Paul Seaward @pseaward.bsky.social · 2d

I think that is how it works now, albeit not perfectly, and the ideas (naturally and properly) are properly examined elsewhere. Expecting it to work as a place of very serious discussion is a sort of category mistake (though evidently that wasn't quite what you meant).

Paul Seaward @pseaward.bsky.social · 2d

Well OK, fair enough, and I agree about the facebook video entirely. But it means the chamber is being used not as a place for an exchange of views in which the ideas are seriously discussed, but a theatre in which they are thrown out without (immediate) response...

Paul Seaward @pseaward.bsky.social · 2d

But the chamber of the House of Commons never was and never could be a place to be an effective legislator and thinker. It's not really what it can be for. It's for (and has been since the at least the late C18th) the presentation of a case to the public, not for the creative discussion of them.

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 2d

It's become self-fulfilling. It ought to be one of the places they are most effective, but because it has become a place of 'now to give a speech for the Facebook video', it isn't a place to be an effective legislator and thinker. I don't know how we can fix that.

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Paul Seaward @pseaward.bsky.social · 2d

Could even make the problem a little bit worse, if it is seen in more straightforward penalty terms, rather than ethical ones: the loss of severance pay comes to seem an acceptable price for taking a very substantial job immediately.

Reposted by Paul Seaward

Le Monde @lemonde.fr · 2d

« Il est grand temps de rejoindre nos voisins européens, qui ont tous recours à la proportionnelle »

Quatre députés issus de Renaissance, du MoDem, du Parti socialiste et des Ecologistes ont déposé, lundi 13 octobre au matin, une proposition de loi visant à instaurer le mode de scrutin proportionnel aux élections législatives, ce qui contribuerait, expliquent-ils, dans une tribune au « Monde », « à débloquer le pays ».

www.lemonde.fr

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Paul Seaward @pseaward.bsky.social · 2d

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Rachel Reeves clears planning blockage amid ‘good relationship’ with developer

Exclusive: Chancellor says 20,000 homes were being held up due to ‘some snails that are a protected species or something’

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Paul Seaward

Alex Prior @alexprior.bsky.social · 5d

Just published w/ @snfschlee.bsky.social & @ryanswift93.bsky.social! We find that accompanying interviewees around the UK Parliament "allowed us to directly experience the estate...and the ongoing negotiations and interactions which produce it as a living site". www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Go-along research in the UK Parliament

The current deadlock surrounding the prospective Restoration and Renewal of the UK Parliamentary Estate is attributable to several perceived risks. Th…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Reposted by Paul Seaward

Michael de Podesta @protons4b.bsky.social · 5d

protonsforbreakfast.wordpress.com/2025/10/10/w...

Why you should care about Net Zero.

My attempt to sum it up in 450 words for the good people of Maidenhead.

Why you should care about Net Zero.

Friends, in an unprecedented media blitz, this article is being co-published with newspaper publishing giant, The Maidenhead Advertiser. =============================== Who am I to talk about Net Z…

protonsforbreakfast.wordpress.com

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Reposted by Paul Seaward

Raptor Persecution UK @raptorpersuk.bsky.social · 11d

29 'missing' Hen Harriers & nearly 40 birds of prey poisoned, trapped or shot in Yorkshire Dales National Park since 2015.

Not so much a National Park - more of a National Disgrace.

#RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime #Ornithology #Yorkshire

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/10/04/2...

29 ‘missing’ Hen Harriers & nearly 40 birds of prey poisoned, trapped or shot in Yorkshire Dales National Park since 2015

Media attention has been drawn to the Yorkshire Dales National Park this week, following the RSPB’s press release on the suspicious disappearance of a satellite-tagged Hen Harrier named &#821…

raptorpersecutionuk.org

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Paul Seaward @pseaward.bsky.social · 11d

www.politicshome.com/members/arti...

Women in Westminster: In Conversation With Nusrat Ghani MP

From calling out racism and misogyny in her own party to being sanctioned by both Russia and China, Nusrat Ghani MP has never been afraid to speak ...

www.politicshome.com

Reposted by Paul Seaward

Plantlife @plantlifeuk.bsky.social · 13d

📢 Lugg Meadow, the UK’s largest remaining Lammas meadow, is under threat from housing plans. A rare habitat, rich in wildlife and tradition, could be irreversibly damaged.

🚫 We’ve objected to the proposal. Now it’s your turn.
👉 Have your say: https://loom.ly/-yNvG6g

A wide meadow filled with bright yellow wildflowers under a blue sky with scattered white clouds, bordered by green trees in the distance. Photo credit: Chris Harris.

A Eurasian curlew standing in a grassy field, showing its long, downward-curved bill and mottled brown plumage. Photo credit: Bahadir Yeniceri

Close-up of a cluster of small white flowers from a narrow-leaved water-dropwort plant, with green blurred foliage in the background. Photo credit: Nahhan.

Close-up of bright yellow buttercup flowers in a meadow, with a soft-focus background of more yellow blooms. Photo credit: Chris Harris.

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Brodie Waddell @brodiewaddell.bsky.social · 13d

Who did what in early modern England?

New #OpenAccess book, 'The Experience of Work in Early Modern England' by @jwhittle.bsky.social, @markhailwood.bsky.social, @hkrobb.bsky.social & @aucointaylor.bsky.social, based on thousands of #EarlyModern court depositions 🗃️

Read it: doi.org/10.1017/9781...

This book applies the innovative work-task approach to the history of work, which captures the contribution of all workers and types of work to the early modern economy. Drawing on tens of thousands of court depositions, the authors analyse the individual tasks that made up everyday work for women and men, shedding new light on the gender division of labour, and the ways in which time, space, age and marital status shaped sixteenth and seventeenth-century working life. Combining qualitative and quantitative analysis, the book deepens our understanding of the preindustrial economy, and calls for us to rethink not only who did what, but also the implications of these findings for major debates about structural change, the nature and extent of paid work, and what has been lost as well as gained over the past three centuries of economic development. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

Cover of Whittle, Jane, Mark Hailwood, Hannah Robb, and Taylor Aucoin. The Experience of Work in Early Modern England. of Cambridge Studies in Economic History - Second Series. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025.

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Reposted by Paul Seaward

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 13d

Agree - I am much more concerned about staff budgets (the number one complaint I hear is 'I want to be able to hire a proper office manager'), which I think do create an asymmetry between parliament and government and also make it harder for MPs to be effective.

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Reposted by Paul Seaward

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 13d

I think a lot of this is primarily about what many of us in the media now rewards. I chaired quite a few fringes at Labour conference, and at all of them I walked away impressed by the quality of all the MPs and their contributions.

John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 13d

People talk about getting a "better" political class with little agreement on what that means. I suspect the best change would be getting more people who are seriously interested in policy and government. Surprisingly few MPs actually are.

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 13d

This is my issue with politics lately. Basically, every announcement assumes the reader has an utter lack of curiosity or knowledge to the point that it's just meaningless chaff.

The government's immigration policy is now the exact policy they dismissed when Kemi suggested it in spring.

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Reposted by Paul Seaward

Olli Bäckström @ollibackstrom.bsky.social · 14d

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Revealed: Europe losing 600 football pitches of nature and crop land a day

Investigation shows extent of green land lost across UK and mainland Europe to development from 2018 to 2023

www.theguardian.com

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