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Podcasts for interviews conducted throughout 2019 with Female MPs, Rebel MPs and Academics, 2019-05 - 2019-11

 Series
Reference Code: GBR/0014/SOBA 2

Scope and Contents

These 27 interviews cover a turbulent time in British politics with exclusive interviews with female MPs, rebel MPs and academics to give a side-ways look at events week-by-week. Most were recorded as live in Westminster, either in Central Lobby or in the MPs offices. The vast majority of these recordings are formal interviews, but there are a handful of recorded speeches and question and answer sessions. When campaigns are active, Sones recorded interviews in Cambridge at hustings events with all parties. These interviews were conducted by Boni Sones or Jackie Ashley, with additional production by Deborah McGurran.

These podcasts were recorded at an historic time for the UK Parliament, May 2019 saw European Election success for the new Brexit Party and a Green Party surge. Prime Minister Theresa May MP survived a number of attempts to oust her and eventually agreed to step down in the hope that it would secure her Brexit Bill, but she failed at the third attempt. May stayed in power whilst former Foreign Secretary Alexander 'Boris' Johnson MP and another former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt MP looked to become Party leader and Prime Minister. After gaining power, Johnson expelled twenty-one of his own MP Rebels from the Conservative whip, who voted for an amendment which allowed the 'Benn Bill' to be brought in which ruled out a no-deal Brexit before an extension to the date for exiting the EU had been agreed. By September, Speaker John Bercow had stood down from Parliament and a new speaker, Lindsay Hoyle was in place. These interviews also cover Johnson's illegal proroguing of Parliament, the Party Conference Season being cut short and MPs taking up their seats again in the House of Commons. During these many acrimonious wrangles the debate in Parliament 'coarsened', in these interviews Sones speaks to MPs about the language used in Parliament, such as 'Surrender Bill' and Johnson using the word 'humbug' when MP Paula Sherriff asked Johnson about the abuse of female MPs. These interviews cover the range of Brexit votes throughout this period, including Johnson's changes to the Northern Ireland backstop and the extension of the deadline to January 31st 2020. The interviews take us up to Johnson winning the support of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP for another General Election, with the Conservatives focusing on 'get Brexit done'. Whilst Brexit dominated the agenda, headlines and many of these interviews, there were other important events in Parliament where MPs raised individual constituency concerns through debates, amendments, Prime Minister's Questions and cross-party collaborations. The General Election led to several well-known and high profile MPs standing down including Conservative MPs Nicholas Soames and Philip Hammond, as well as Labour's Deputy Leader, Tom Watson. Sones interviews also cover topics concerning the number of female MPs in the Commons, more than 1,100 women registered as candidates, an increased from the 2017 General Election.

Dates

  • Creation: 2019-05 - 2019-11

Creator

Extent

27 item(s) : Audio

Language of Materials

English

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

1.9GB.

Existence and Location of Copies

Access copies are available

General

Catalogued to item level by Thomas Wales (2020).

Finding aid date

2020-06-10 09:51:31+00:00

Repository Details

Part of the Churchill Archives Centre Repository

Contact:
Churchill Archives Centre
Churchill College
Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB3 0DS United Kingdom
+44 (0)1223 336087