Digital Collections of Primary Sources - Politics, Law, and Government:

• See the section on Ireland on the regional tab for several political and legal archives dealing with Irish independence (early 20th c) and the Troubles (late 20th c)

• See section on sex and gender for databases related to women’s rights and the suffrage movement in Britain and the Commonwealth

• See section on sources related to Africa/Asia/Caribbean for sources related to anti-colonial movements and anti-apartheid activism in those places.

• British Parliamentary Publications https://archive.org/details/britishparliamentarypublications

• Cobbett’s Parliamentary History, a record of parliamentary proceedings "from the earliest period to the year 1803" (after which, Hansard's records of parliamentary debates begins). Via Digital Bodleian https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/collections/cobbetts-parliamentary-history/

• The Hansard (UK Parliamentary debates) from 1803-2005 https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/index.html

  • Search Other Parliamentary Records Online: https://archives.parliament.uk/online-resources/records-online/

  • Explore other topics via the “Living Heritage” page on the Parliamentary website: https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/

• UK Legislation Archive, from 1200 to the present https://www.legislation.gov.uk/

• UK Cabinet Papers, via the National Archives https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/

• Proceedings of the Old Bailey, London’s Central Criminal Court, from 1674-1913 https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/

• Archives of the British Indian Association, founded in the 1850s, precursor to the Indian National Congress (the political party that would eventually secure Indian independence from Britain). Some records from the 19th century. Via the British Library https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP922/search

• Fabian Society Digital Collections, (UK) including pamphlets and meeting minutes, via LSE https://digital.library.lse.ac.uk/collections/fabiansociety

• Scottish Court of Session Digital Archive, these are records are petitions submitted to Scotland’s supreme civil court between the 1750s to the 1830s https://scos.law.virginia.edu/

• Political Cartoons from the 19th Century, via the Curzon Collection at the Digital Bodleian, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/collections/curzon-collection/

• John Major (PM from 1990-97) speeches https://johnmajorarchive.org.uk/

• Margaret Thatcher archive https://www.margaretthatcher.org/

• Winston Churchill Engagement Diaries (daily calendars) via GW University https://archive.org/details/gwulibraries?and%5B%5D=Churchill+Engagement+Diary&sort=titleSorter

• The Brexit Collection at LSE. Pamphlets and leaflets from both the 1975 referendum on the UK joining the common market, and the 2015 referendum on the UK’s membership in the EU https://digital.library.lse.ac.uk/collections/brexit

• Contemporary Accounts of the 1926 General Strike, 450 personal testimonies. Via Warwick. https://warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/archives_online/digital/gs

• The Worker’s War – documents about the home front, including Trade Union activity in WWII http://www.unionhistory.info/workerswar/imagesdocs.php

• Forward to Freedom, the History of the Anti-Apartheid Movement in Britain 1959-1994. Documents, including interviews, with British people who supported the end of apartheid in South Africa. https://www.aamarchives.org/

• British Royal Family Speech Archive, includes speeches given by members of the current royal family, including Queen Elizabeth II. https://www.royal.uk/media-centre/speeches