Theme: Government & Parliament | Content Type: Journal article

Shrinking the United Kingdom: Rebranding the Realm after the Secession of the Irish Free State

David Torrance

Jan Gemerle ireland

Jan Gemerle

| 1 min read

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a century old, but while the secession of (much of) Ireland in the early 1920s has received substantial historical attention, its impact on the UK has been largely ignored. This article considers how the ‘official mind’ approached the issue of nomenclature before and after 6 December 1922, the point at which the Irish Free State (later the Republic of Ireland) came into existence. Through analysis of archival documents and public discourse, it is shown that discussion initially focussed on the King's style and titles before being extended to how the UK Parliament at Westminster was described. The influence of the Free State in these discussions is considered, as is the primary legislation which finally altered the royal and parliamentary titles in 1927.

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    David Torrance

    David Torrance is a constitutional specialist at the House of Commons Library. Before that, he was a freelance journalist and broadcaster. He is the author of more than a dozen books on Scottish and UK political history.

    Articles by David Torrance
Volume 96, Issue 4

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Volume 96, Issue 4

Includes a broad range of other articles including 'Nigel Farage is no Ramsay MacDonald: Comparing the Rise of Reform with the Rise of Labour' by Ben Jackson, 'Are the Rights of Nature the Only Way to Save Lough Neagh?' by Laurence Cooley and Elliott Hill, and 'Modernising the House: Why the 2024 Parliament Highlights the Need to Formalise Party-Group Rights in the House of Commons' by Louise Thompson. Reports include 'Before the Boil: Addressing the UK's Living Standards Crisis' by Alfie Stirling, and 'Understanding Inequality in the UK: What Can We Learn from the Deaton Review?' by Indranil Dutta. Finally, there is a selection of book reviews such as Mary Dejevsky's review of Everyday Politics in Russia: From Resentment to Resistance, by Jeremy Morris, and Donald Sassoon's review of One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, by Omar El Akkad.

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