About this episode

The episode critiques the romanticized view of historic British politicians, revealing their corrupt and self-serving behaviors.

Britain’s past politicians were no better—often far worse—than today’s MPs. Were Britain’s past politicians really more honourable than today’s? Or is nostalgia blinding us to just how corrupt, violent, and self-serving many of them actually were? In this episode of History Rage , host Paul Bavill is joined by historian, author, and Get History founder Debbie Kilroy to rage against one of Britain’s most persistent political myths: that historic MPs were somehow morally superior to the modern lot. Drawing on over 400 years of parliamentary history , Debbie dismantles the rose-tinted view of Britain’s political past, revealing a parade of bigamists, slave traders, duelists, bribe-takers, fraudsters, and outright psychopaths who once sat comfortably in Parliament. From Norman MacLeod kidnapping his own tenants into slavery , to Lord Cardigan’s cruelty, incompetence, and vanity , to the systemic corruption that brought down figures like Francis Bacon and David Lloyd George , this episode exposes how power, privilege, and political protection enabled shocking behaviour—often without consequences. Along the way, Debbie explains: Why we keep romanticising historic politicians How…

People in this episode

Host: Paul Bavill

Guest: Debbie Kilroy

Topics covered

• historical politicians
• political corruption
• British history
• parliamentary history
• political myths
• modern politics

Keywords

• historic politicians
• political myths
• corruption
• British Parliament
• political history
• Debbie Kilroy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Get History

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