Professor of Modern British History, Durham University
Philip Williamson is an historian both of politics in twentieth-century Britain, and aspects of religion and the monarchy in Britain and the British empire since the seventeenth century. His publications on interwar British politics, political culture and government have ranged across the Labour, Liberal and Conservative parties, trade unions and big business, and financial, economic and imperial policies. He also has research work on Christianity and politics in the 1930s, the modern British monarchy and public values, and national acts of public worship since the 1830s. He is principal investigator and chief editor – with Natalie Mears and Stephen Taylor – for the AHRC-funded Durham project on ‘British state prayers, fasts and thanksgivings’ in three volumes, and has a Leverhulme major research fellowship for work on the monarchy and religion in the British Isles since 1689.
How King Charles's coronation will reflect his desire to be defender of all faiths
May 08, 2023 05:24 am UTC| Life Politics
Nearly 30 years ago, the then-Prince Charles indicated that as king he wanted not just to inherit the monarchs traditional title of defender of the faith, but also to be a defender of faith. The monarch swears oaths of...
The last time the UK had a December election – in 1923 – it resulted in a hung parliament
Dec 11, 2019 04:00 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics
After a general election was announced for December 12 2019, references suddenly began to appear to the 1923 election, nearly a century ago. The reason was simple: this was the last time that UK voters had gone to the...
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