The programme for our 2016 conference focussing on Parliamentary rhetoric, in partnership with Queen Mary, University of London, ‘Speaking in Parliament: History, Politics, Rhetoric’ has now been announced and registration is open.

The conference will take place over 6-7 April 2016 at Queen Mary, University of London, and will explore the past and present of Parliamentary speaking. Thanks to the presence of television cameras in its debating chambers, the spectacle of Parliament is familiar to everyone who watches the evening news. For those who wish to venture beyond the sound bites, BBC Parliament now offers exhaustive coverage of proceedings in the chambers and committee rooms at Westminster. Yet despite this prominence in the public eye little has been done to assess the impact of parliamentary speaking on the political culture at large and its history as a rhetorical form remains to a large extent unwritten. Parliament’s development as an institution, its changing constitutional role, the political alignment and realignment of party groupings within it, and its contests with organised opinion out of doors have been the theme of many conferences but few have looked closely at one of the activities that most make it distinctive, the practice of speaking itself.

Sessions will cover topics including gender; the impact of forms and procedures on speaking; the representation and reception of speeches; audience; and case studies of individual speakers. Keynote speakers are Professor Richard Toye, University of Exeter, and Professor Alan Finlayson, University of East Anglia. The conference is jointly organised by the History of Parliament and Professor Chris Reid (QMUL), who has published widely on 18th century parliamentary rhetoric.

The conference programme has now been announced and you can download it here: 'Speaking in Parliament' Conference Programme

Registration is now open. You can register until 31st March on the Queen Mary website: 'Speaking in Parliament: History, Politics, Rhetoric'. There is a registration fee of £30.00 for both days or £20.00 for a single day.