Six weeks ago, a fresh round of talks—the latest of many—began in Northern Ireland on the restoration of the devolved government which collapsed two and a half years ago.

On 17 June, a letter published in The Times stated that “the assessment that Mrs May is oddly lacking in political skills may be unusual but not unique in Britain’s prime ministers” and went on to claim that Chamberlain falls into the same category.

Over nearly fifty-five years they have changed considerably in some respects, but not in others, as Alistair Lexden pointed out in an article published in Parliament’s House Magazine on 17 June.

Lord Beaverbrook, the famous press magnate, made friends and enemies everywhere. A new biography of him has recently been published . Alistair Lexden reviewed it for the issue of Parliament’s House Magazine dated 10 June.

As a historian, Alistair Lexden is often asked: “what precedents are there for today’s extraordinary, long-running political crisis?”

On 4 June, the Lords held a debate to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day. In his contribution, Alistair Lexden spoke principally about Churchill’s role.

Follow the link to read his speech… theyworkforyou

A number of Queen Victoria’s drawings of her children, which were given to the British Museum in 1926, are to go on public display for the first time to mark the bicentenary of her birth in 1819.

In the May European elections, the Tories won 9.1 per cent of the vote; just three of their candidates were successful. This result was widely described in the media as the Party’s worst since 1832, the year of the Great Reform Bill.

Alistair Lexden has presented a number of awards in the House of Lords over the last few years; on 16 May he unexpectedly received one.

It is Alistair Lexden’s view as a historian that Mrs May has done worse than any of her Tory predecessors. He has repeated his view on a number of occasions, and did so again in a letter in The Daily Telegraph on 24 May, the day she finally announced her resignation.