Heir Not Apparent: Douglas Hailsham,the Role of the House of Lords,and the Succession to the Conservative Leadership 1928–31*

The moment that Lord Curzon was passed over and Stanley Baldwin succeeded Andrew Bonar Law as prime minister in 1923 is generally regarded as a turning point in British political history. From this time it appeared that members of the house of lords were barred from leading political parties and becoming prime minister. In an age of mass democracy it was deemed unacceptable for the premier to reside in an unelected and largely emasculated chamber. This understanding is seemingly confirmed by the career of the Conservative politician, Douglas Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham. Notwithstanding a late entry into political life, he was regarded as a potential successor to Baldwin. His acceptance of a peerage to become lord chancellor in 1928 has been seen as the moment when Hailsham's claims to lead the Conservative party ended. But although Hailsham never became Conservative leader, his experience undermines the suggestion that peers were unable to lead political parties in inter‐war Britain. Despite his position in the Lords, his chances of succeeding Baldwin never vanished. The crisis in Baldwin's leadership after the loss of the 1929 general election and the lack of a suitable successor in the Commons created the circumstances in which leadership from the Lords by a man of Hailsham's ability could be contemplated. Hailsham's continuing prominence within the Conservative ranks and specifically his contributions to the party during the years 1929–31, together with the thoughts of high‐ranking Conservative contemporaries, make it clear that he very nearly emerged as Baldwin's successor at this time.     

THE EARLY NEOLITHIC of WESTERN FRANCE and MEGALITHIC ORIGINS IN ATLANTIC EUROPE

Summary: Recent work on the early neolithic of western France has demonstrated the importance of influences and ideas from both the early farming communities of the Paris basin and the early neolithic groups of the Mediterranean zone. the complex pattern resulting from the interplay of these two sources has led to lively debates about the origins of the megalithic tombs of Brittany and west-central France. Much emphasis has been placed on the impact of neolithic expansion from the east and its role as cause or catalyst in the development of megalithic tombs. the present article argues that explanations which look to the east for the origin of west French megaliths pay insufficient attention to the nature of early megalithic tombs, especially passage graves, as an essentially Atlantic phenomenon.     

Who ate all the pride? Patriotic sentiment and English national football support

ABSTRACT. The growing popularity of English national insignia in international football tournaments has been widely interpreted as evidence of the emergence of a renewed English national consciousness. However, little empirical research has considered how people in England actually understand football support in relation to national identity. Interview data collected around the time of the Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup tournaments fail to substantiate the presumption that support for the England football team maps onto claims to patriotic sentiment in any straightforward way. People with far‐right political affiliations did generally use national football support to symbolise a general pride in English national identity. However, other people either claimed not to support the England national team precisely because of its associations with nationalism, or else bracketed the domain of football support from more general connotations of English patriotism.     

POSSIBLE TIMBER CIRCLES AT DORCHESTER-ON-THAMES

Summary: This paper re-examines the pit circles at Dorchester on Thames in the light of the recently excavated timber circle at Sarn-y-bryn-caled. It is suggested that the Dorchester sites were originally timber circles whose posts were later dug out prior to their secondary use as cremation cemeteries. Pits in the base of the segmented ditches, interpreted as 'Bothroi'or votive pits by Atkinson, may represent the bases of the posts. These might survive either as a result of incomplete digging out or digging in to ensure that the tops of posts of unequal length were level. Duplication of post-bases in some of the Dorchester sites finds parallel in the recently exacavated timber circle of Dorchester 3.