Gleanings & Memoranda was a continuation of National Union Gleanings, which it superseded, but continued its numbering sequence. An advertisement from 1924 states that, ‘It comprises a careful and authentic summary of political events, official publications, and the sayings and doings of public men. It forms a conveniently arranged means of reference to political controversy, and its contents are fully and clearly indexed.’

Regular features covered in Gleanings included: Political Events of the Month; Foreign Affairs; The Empire; Finance; Trade and Industry; Agriculture; Social Questions; Socialistic Politics; Russia and Communism; Parliamentary record.

Publication of Gleanings was suspended after February 1917 due to the 'urgent need for economy in paper, [and] the necessity of suspending all work not essential to the conduct of the War' and did not resume again until June 1919. Two volumes, one covering Jan 1917-Nov 1918 and the other Nov 1918-Apr 1919, were subsequently produced to retrospectively record the principal political events of the period.

A note in the final edition of Gleanings, December 1933, states: ‘Owing to the high cost of production it has been found necessary to discontinue the publication of Gleanings & Memoranda in its present form. The present is therefore the final issue of this monthly Journal, and it appropriately completes the history of the Second Session of the present Parliament. It is proposed to issue, in the coming year, a quarterly reference magazine, entitled Politics in Review, which will contain all those features which have made Gleanings & Memoranda so valuable to students of politics. One of the advantages of a quarterly periodical is that it will enable problems to be treated in greater perspective and at the same time present a more complete picture of developments. Digests of Bills and summaries of Parliamentary proceedings and of important official publications will be included in this quarterly guide to political events.’