Oliver Cromwell as an MP and Lord Protector

A bust of Oliver Cromwell

In March 1628, Oliver Cromwell became the Member of Parliament, or MP, for Huntingdon. In other words, he went to London to sit in the Houses of Parliament and speak for the people of this town.

There is a statue of Cromwell outside the Houses of Parliament. Can you find a picture of it on the web?

In Parliament Cromwell became well-known for speaking up about the need to make changes to the way the King ruled, many people agreed with him. King Charles the First had stopped seeing Parliament very often and was more or less ruling on his own.

However, there were also many people who did not like the new strict laws Oliver Cromwell helped to introduce. Some of the most unpopular were closing theatres down, banning football matches and making it a crime to celebrate Christmas and Easter in the traditional ways.

After King Charles the First was taken off the throne (see 'Oliver Cromwell the Soldier' for more about that!) it was a difficult time in this country. It is the only time in our history that there was no Monarch (a king or queen) to help rule. Britain was now called a Republic or Commonwealth. However, Parliament could not agree on how everything was to be done. Increasingly Oliver Cromwell took the lead in trying to sort things out.

What are the Houses of Parliament and what happens there? Who else was an MP in Cromwell's day?

Eventually, there was no Parliament at all and for 5 years Oliver Cromwell ran this country as ‘His Highness the Lord Protector’ . This is the closest to a King any non-royal has ever been. He was even urged to take the title of King by his supporters and wear the crown, but he decided not to.

King Charles the First had been unpopular for trying to rule without Parliament and Cromwell also became unpopular with many people. He spent a lot of money paying spies to protect himself from plots to kill him.

From September 1651 until his death seven years later Oliver Cromwell hardly ever left London. The Cromwell family lived in the former royal palace at Whitehall in London.

There were still many Royal supporters in this country who were angry and wanted to bring back King Charles the First’s son as the new King (he had gone into hiding abroad). Others were very pleased that Cromwell was in charge.

When Cromwell died a lot of money was spent on his funeral which took place in Westminster Abbey, some history books say it cost as much as £60,000!

Can you find out what the funeral was like and why it was so expensive?

The Commonwealth didn’t last after Oliver Cromwell’s death, although for a while his son Richard was made Lord Protector.

Parliament quarrelled about how the country should be ruled and in the end they invited King Charles’ son back to be King Charles the Second

Cromwell’s body was then dug up from its grave and beheaded… what happened to the head is another story!