A great Prime Minister's early death Thursday, 11 July, 2024 Prime minister at the age of 24, the Younger Pitt died when he was 46 in 1806 after serving in the highest political office for eighteen years, a term exceeded in length only by Walpole. His health was never robust. It is well-known that he added to his problems by drinking heavily, and it is often said that drink killed him. Far from that being the case, the illness that proved fatal to him can... Articles
How Churchill's father wooed Irish nationalists 4th March 2019 On 15 December 1882, an Irishman, Myles Joyce, was hanged for the murder of a family of five in Maamtrasna on the Mayo/Galway border. He was an Irish speaker... Articles
Queen Victoria and her youngest daughter 2nd March 2019 The following letter was published in The Daily Telegraph on 1 March under the heading, “That’s my Baby”. SIR - It is hard to think of short, stout Queen... Articles
Catholic emancipation 190 years ago 1st March 2019 2019 brings the 190th anniversary of full Catholic emancipation. Parliament’s House Magazine marked the anniversary by publishing, in slightly amended form... Articles
High standards in secondary legislation 22nd February 2019 Secondary or delegated legislation takes the form of statutory instruments which stem from Acts of Parliament—primary legislation—and give effect to detailed... Recent NewsSpeeches
A great political philosopher 19th February 2019 An article in The Times on February 14 featured the brilliant comic writer, Richmal Crompton, whose famous William books, of which some 12 million have been... Articles
The Carlton Club meeting and the fall of the Lloyd George coalition in October 1922 14th February 2019 These dramatic events were discussed by Alistair Lexden at a dinner in the Carlton Club in February 2018 (see below). He considered them at greater length in a... Recent News
The mistaken critics of independent schools 8th February 2019 An obsessive preoccupation with a few, well-known independent schools produces a wholly misleading impression of the overall state of independent education in... Articles
Brexit and the Belfast Agreement 7th February 2019 The government says that the 1998 Belfast Agreement will not be weakened in any way by Brexit. But in its current form, the notorious backstop will inflict... Articles
Sibling couples - Rebuking the Government 3rd February 2019 In a Lords debate on 1 February, Alistair Lexden returned briefly to an issue on which he has spoken out strongly in recent months, most notably in speeches on... Speeches