Welcome to the House

Tales from the Green Benches: An Oral History of Parliament

Entering the Houses of Parliament as a new MP is one of the few experiences universal to all interviewees within the History of Parliament’s Oral History project. Stepping foot into this historic building could be a humbling experience, particularly with its winding maze of corridors!

In this first episode we look at how different Members responded to this potentially daunting physical environment - and find that some took to it much easier than others…

Presented by Dr Emma Peplow and Dr Alex Lock, produced by Melissa FitzGerald at Zinc Audio. With additional writing from Dr Priscila Pivatto and script editing from Connie Jeffery. All interviews are deposited at the British Library. Find a catalogue of interviews on our website.

Artwork by [e-mail].

Find more from the History of Parliament Trust at www.historyofparliament.com and follow this link to find information about our publication ‘The Political Lives of Postwar British MPs’.

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More information:

British Library Reference Codes:

Robert Gascoyne Cecil interviewed by Emmeline Ledgerwood, C1503/0131

Ann Widdecombe interviewed by Simon Peplow, C1503/0176

Jenny Tonge interviewed by Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, C1503/0148

David Hinchliffe interviewed by Christine Vergunson, C1503/0065

Ken Baker interviewed by Michael Greenwood, C1503/0013

Michael Heseltine interviewed by Michael Greenwood, C1503/0054

Alice Mahon interviewed by Mark Wilson, C1503/0030

Edwina Currie interviewed by Henry Irving, C1503/0163

Find out more about MPs’ first impressions of Parliament in this online article.

For more on the traditions in Parliament, see this blog from Dr Paul Seaward.

Or to read about the smoking room, see this blog from Dr Seaward.

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