Paul Seaward

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...

Hidden for centuries beneath limewash and paint, expert conservators have revealed a remarkable collection of medieval wall paintings inside St Lawrence’s, Gumfreston, Pembrokeshire. 1/11

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

So many lines, all going in the wrong direction. Figure 1 from the paper linked in the quoted post.

🌍 “This is no longer a warning for the future; it is a diagnosis of the present.” Our 2026 State of the Climate report finds 7 of 16 planetary vital signs at record extremes. The planetary emergency is already here. doi.org/10.1093/bios...

We’re nearing 300 interviews in our oral history archive now and some of the recent additions have been particularly brilliant 👇

Unusual piece of good news and incredible generosity.

Our book The Experience of Work in Early Modern England has turned one. They grow up so fast! 🎂 This blogpost marks the publication anniversary with a brisk walk through the labours & fruits of #earlymodern #autumn 🍎🍺🐂👇 drtayloraucoin.com/2025/11/20/t... #history

A rather sad announcement from @anandmenon.bsky.social on the future of UK in a Changing Europe. ukandeu.ac.uk/announcement...

Why was Sir Richard Vernon chosen as Speaker in the ‘Parliament of Bats’ of 1426? historyofparliament.com/2026/09/22/s...

Robert Spankie: From parliamentary reporter to Member of Parliament historyofparliament.com/2026/09/29/r...

Starbucks’ rollback of its climate commitments is just the latest example of why voluntary climate standards like net zero are only useful when coupled w/ credible threats of regulation or (gasp!) *actual* rules on climate action. Mini 🧵

Mind-boggling - just mind-boggling Now expected to peak at an extraordinary 4.2C in December

Featuring material from BHO's English Petitions: www.british-history.ac.uk/series/engli... #History

✏️ Mark your diaries! Next month @cemskcl.bsky.social, Kerry Apps, Hannah Dawson, Catharine MacLeod, & ME will be talking about Restoration women, their libertinism, their consumerism, & their contact with the expanding world. Book here & spread the word 🌍 kingsearlymodern.co.uk/events/world...

“There is so much to do with illegal waste disposal, organised criminality and the failure of agencies to apprehend these issues that it’s just depressing and extraordinary,” one insider says.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

My review of @hdrochon.bsky.social's deeply researched and intriguing "Elites and Democracy" for @theunpopulist.net www.theunpopulist.net/p/can-elite-...

90 years ago, Parliament responded to the rise of Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts by passing the Public Order Act, which banned political uniforms, private militias and the threat of force for political objects. The debates make very resonant reading today. Here's the Liberal Robert Bernays. (Short 🧵)

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Are you an early career researcher with an interest in parliamentary history? We are inviting submissions of 10,000 words, including references, for our annual essay prize, worth £500. The deadline is 30 Nov. 2026. More details here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1750...

As of the last election, the effective personal tax rate for the median earner fell to its lowest point since 1975(!) No other country generates more in tax as a % of GDP without also asking more of "working people".

feeling unexpectedly emotional as we visit saerbeck, a town of just 7200 in central germany that formed a climate municipality. they produce 4.5x the electricity they need, and have developed a whole array of climate solutions. one of them? a climate action curriculum that starts in kindergarten.

I recently saw some century-old election leaflets published in Yiddish for the Jewish electors of south Dublin. I imagine the same happened in the East End of London and parts of Manchester and Leeds, and the same sort of people objected to it as do now.

Ooh, and I see it's already received a critique! Thanks to Keith Livesey @marx61.bsky.social for the thoughtful engagement with the essay and recent #PowerOfPetitioning scholarship more generally: keith-perspective.blogspot.com/2026/08/a-ch...

Credit to Rishi Sunak, incidentally, for sticking around when so many predicted he'd be off to the US. Given that we've had seven prime ministers in just over a decade, it's rather telling that Sunak is the only former prime minister still in the House of Commons.

Summer 2026 is provisionally the UK’s warmest summer on record with the season’s mean temperature made around 130 times more likely due to human-induced climate change. Here, we delve into the numbers 🧵

@geofflean.bsky.social: We were warned. Four months ago top Himalayan experts reported the rate of ice loss doubling since 2000, with glaciers shrinking by a fifth since 1990. “This isn’t a distant problem” they said. “It’s happening in real time”. They predicted “catastrophe”.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

If YIMBYs and others who back expansion of data centres simply dismiss the growing unpopularity of their expansion as a mere irrational ploy by whatever they think are NIMBYs this week they will lose this and other battles, and lose badly

Congratulations to the wonderful Mary Ann Lund (Leicester) on publication of her second (!) vol. in the Oxford Donne Sermons edition. Fantastic textual and critical scholarship on his mid-career at St Paul's.

edconway.substack.com/p/the-30000-...

In 2025 trade unions gave £4.9 million to Labour. Individual donors gave £16 million to Reform & £9 million to the Tories. In total Labour raised £10 mill, Reform £19 mill & the Tories £21 mill. If the *unions* are blocking a donor cap, they've lost their minds www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Parliament under Andy Burnham: ten things to look out for this autumn Ahead of parliament returning next week, Tom Fleming outlines what parliament-watchers should keep an eye on, from lighter whipping of MPs, to revitalising modernisation, to the next steps of House of Lords reform. Read it 👇️

"This disaster will bring up the issue of Loss and Damage that Nepal has been raising in international climate negotiations regarding the economic impact of the climate crisis especially in vulnerable mountain countries." nepalitimes.com/central-nepa...

It started, as all serious scientific thinking does: in a bar. I was reflecting on the nature of time, the essence of life, and our place in the Universe. (I was drunk.) this is what came out... agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #Geoscience #EarthScience #Geology #DeepTime

E. O. Wilson, a timeline for those without a biology education. 1967, co-author Robert MacArthur, The Theory of Island Biogeography r/K Selection Theory, Species-Area Relationship, these were fundamental elements in my biology education.

Seems almost unreal that this is about to be available. www.bloomsbury.com/uk/siege-of-...

Fifteenth century bureaucracy just as confused by two people with the same name as today, even without AI. And living 200 miles apart.

Opposition to the unsympathetic conversion of listed churches is a central part of our mission at the Friends of Friendless Churches. We believe that such conversions almost always destroy the aesthetic value of these precious buildings and removes them from the public realm. 5/6

Exeter has a 'green circle - a 12 mile walk around the outskirts of the city, passing through it's many lovely parks. There have been fires in two of these in the past week - here's Mincinglake Valley Park this morning.

giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Today we welcome the first post by @brogers1721.bsky.social, who has recently joined the Georgian Lords team, examining the machinations which resulted in the loss of a key piece of legislation in 1736... #HistParl historyofparliament.com/2026/08/06/a...

Wrote about the deafening silence on our summer of climate impacts from Labour, the Lib Dems, the Greens, business leaders, and even some campaign groups. The dominant climate discourse from the past week has been from those who want to ditch net zero targets and trash decarbonisation policies.

I was struck by a piece on Radio 4 the other day, asking whether Burnham would be more "pragmatic" - meaning "positive" - about drilling in the North Sea. It was simply taken for granted that drilling was the "pragmatic" option, while opposing it was dogmatic or ideological.

Thoughts on wildfires, floods, food supply and rewilding.

Yesterday revisited the wonderful Kedermister Library, founded in the 1630s by Sir John Kedermister (seen here in his memorial) in St Mary’s, Langley Marish (Berkshire). Last time I was there must have been 15 years ago with @katiedflanagan.bsky.social! Also rang on their lovely bells 🔔

File under "Still don't like the look of this" (Posted one week on) climatereanalyzer.org/clim/sst_dai...

I have stumbled on the largest surviving set of medieval parish glass in England. Stand by!