Houses of Parliament launch for 18th-century elections project Published on: 28 November 2023 The fascinating history of 18th-century politics has been brought to life with a new resource based on research led by Â鶹´«Ã½. Modern democracy The eighteenth century is notorious for its corrupt and restrictive politics, when few could vote and bribery and debauchery were commonplace. But it was also an age when modern democracy was being shaped. is the first-time a wealth of information on English parliamentary elections from 1695 to the Reform Act of 1832 has been collected in one place. The website includes a complete list of all surviving poll books, plus the transcribed and searchable contents of those poll books, showing how individual people voted. This sits alongside, plus copious carefully curated examples of the printed, material and musical culture that elections generated. It is all presented with a striking digital design, featuring exciting data visualisations, interactive tools and new recordings of 18th-century songs. funded project was led by Matthew Grenby, Professor of 18th Century Studies in Â鶹´«Ã½’s School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics. He said: "Even if few people could actually vote, that doesn’t mean that people weren’t politically active. Elections engaged a wide section of the population – women as well as men, poor as well as rich, children as well as adults – and were often accompanied by an explosion of print, sermons, and song; countless ceremonies, assemblies, and entertainments; new modes of dress, decoration, and behaviour." The Cockade worn by William Garret at The Â鶹´«Ã½ Election in 1820 © Â鶹´«Ã½ City Library Outside factors Eighteenth-Century Political Participation & Electoral Culture features a series of articles which give an introduction to issues of the time, such as the role women played in elections and also slavery, abolition and Black voters. It also provides case studies of 20 different constituencies, including towns, counties and the universities, which are representative of different kinds of constituencies in terms of size and their franchise, as well as having a geographical spread, and including some of the infamous “rotten boroughs”. Professor Grenby added: “Many of the issues we found in 18th-century politics remain highly relevant today. Obviously nowadays voting is now available to almost everyone but questions about the influence of outside factors such as music, literature or the media remain. Today we are concerned about how carefully-targeted interventions in a campaign can affect the election result; we can ask the same about the 18th century, thinking not about social media posts but about ballads and satirical prints.” Eighteenth-Century Political Participation & Electoral Culture will be launched at an event at the Houses of Parliament on Thursday 30 November. The project was led by Â鶹´«Ã½ in partnership with the University of Liverpool and researchers worked closely with and the Institute of Historical Research. Image captions: State of the Poll, Friday, Quarter before 3 o’Clock in‘Addresses and Squibs in the Contested Election, for Members in Parliament, 1820’ (1820), Â鶹´«Ã½ Special Collections, RB 942.82 ADD The Cockade worn by William Garret at The Â鶹´«Ã½ Election in 1820’ in ‘A Collection of Papers, Speeches, &c. &c. Delivered at the Â鶹´«Ã½ Election, 1820. Collected by William Garret’(1820), Â鶹´«Ã½ City Library, L324/N536 © Â鶹´«Ã½ City Library Share: Latest News Scientists unlock hidden driver of inflammatory bowel disease Scientists have linked a key genetic signal in inflammatory bowel disease to an immune response that shuts down inflammation control, enabling faster diagnosis and targeted treatments. published on: 15 June 2026 Funding system risks limiting genuine community collaboration A new policy paper written by researchers at Â鶹´«Ã½ warns that the way UK research is funded may be undermining efforts to create genuinely collaborative partnerships with communities. published on: 15 June 2026 Volunteers help turn Whitley Bay beach into maths experiment Members of the public joined mathematicians from Â鶹´«Ã½ to create what organisers believe is the largest aperiodic tiling ever attempted on Whitley Bay beach. published on: 15 June 2026 Facts and figures
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