How Queen Victoria hounded her Prime Ministers Wednesday, 17 April, 2024 She gave them no peace. A marvellous new book gives the details of her tempestuous relations with them. Alistair Lexden reviewed it in Parliament’s magazine The House on 15 April. Queen Victoria and Her Prime Ministers: A Personal History By Anne Somerset Published by William Collins Books Queen Victoria began her long reign as an ardent Whig and ended it a diehard Tory. Her Hanoverian... Articles
School Partnerships in music 19th October 2018 On 18 October, the Lords held an important debate on the state of music education in schools. Speaker after speaker expressed grave concern about the decline of... Speeches
Ted Heath - let down by a Tory Government 12th October 2018 A year has now passed since the Wiltshire police brought to an end their much-criticised investigation of child sex abuse allegations against Sir Edward Heath... Speeches
Thatcher's law 9th October 2018 On October 6, The Times reported that “councils across the country are seeking to evade scrutiny by restricting media access to meetings”. In a letter published... Articles
A money-making Gladstone 5th October 2018 Despite having a wealthy father, William Gladstone was never a rich man. The Hawarden estate in Flintshire, which came into his family through his wife, was... Articles
Baldwin the builder 4th October 2018 It is widely thought, particularly in the Conservative Party, that Disraeli made life significantly better for ordinary people in the late nineteenth century... Articles
Address at the unveiling of the statue of Stanley Baldwin in Bewdley 28th September 2018 On 27 September, Alistair Lexden, historian of the Conservative Party, recalled the character and the achievements of Stanley Baldwin, three times Prime... Recent News
Death rather than dishonour 26th September 2018 A letter published in The Times on September 26 contained the amusing story of a Tory MP, Sir Walter Bromley-Davenport, who, when taken ill in the Commons... Articles
One Nation - yet another correction 23rd September 2018 People constantly get the origin of the term ‘one nation’ wrong. Alistair Lexden has corrected the mistake in the press on many occasions. He did so again in a... Articles
The Presbyterian Queen 6th September 2018 There was a reference in The Daily Telegraph on 3 September to the connection between the Royal Family and Crathie Kirk, near Balmoral which Queen Victoria... Articles