Britain's success as a trading nation owes much to the part that Parliament has played in providing vital support and encouragement. Over the past three centuries Parliament's regulation of British ...

During 1916-1917, the House of Commons Speaker, James William Lowther, chaired a conference on electoral reform which recommended limited women's suffrage. Only 58% of the adult male population was ...

The Chapel of St Stephen's has shaped much of the nature of the House of Commons as we know it today. In 1348, Edward III established the Chapel as a college for secular canons. When services were ...

The Jewel Tower, which still stands today, is one of four surviving sections of the medieval Palace of Westminster, the others being Westminster Hall, the Cloisters and Chapter House of St Stephen's, ...

The UK Parliament has two Houses that work on behalf of UK citizens to check and challenge the work of Government, make and shape effective laws, and debate/make decisions on the big issues of the day ...

It's easy to assume that since the medieval Catholic Church was full of male priests, St Stephen's was an institution without contact with women. Women worshipped at St Stephen's, expressed concern ...

Women were given the right to stand for Parliament in 1918 but still could not become members of the House of Lords. Margaret Haig Thomas, Viscountess Rhondda (1883–1958) was the daughter of David ...

You appear to have JavaScript disabled in your browser settings. You may find some parts of this website do not work properly without it enabled.

From 2013 to 2016 a team of researchers at the University of York, in collaboration with the History of Parliament Trust, the Institute for Historical Research and the Palace of Westminster worked on ...

The House of Commons Library led in the production of this Handbook, but drew extensively on experience, knowledge and best practice from across the UK Parliament and beyond. Parliamentarians need ...

A fresh wave of public interest in prisons led to the appointment of two committees of investigation by the House of Commons. Their reports in 1819 and 1822 provided the basis of the Gaols Act of 1823 ...

In 1963 the press gallery launched an inquiry into 'the status, rights and working conditions of parliamentary journalists'. Its report, Partners in Parliament, resulted in many concessions, including ...