Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Video monitors list the schedule of meetings and events going on in this 1,100-room gov-
ernmental hive.
This is the best place to admire the Palace's interior decoration—carved wood, chan-
deliers, statues, and floor tiles—designed by Barry's partner, Augustus Pugin.
• This lobby marks the end of the public space where you can wander freely. To see the
House of Lords or House of Commons you must wait in line. You must also check your
belongings—bag, camera, phone, even this guidebook. While you wait, ask the attendant
for any brochures.
When you're called, you'll walk to the Lords Chamber by way of the long Peers' Corridor.
Paintings on the corridor walls depict the anti-authoritarian spirit brewing under the reign
of Charles I: you'll see Parliament rebuffing Charles' demands for the five MPs, and
the freedom-seeking Pilgrims leaving England for America on the Mayflower. When you
reach the House of Lords Chamber, you watch the proceedings from an upper-level gal-
lery.
The House of Lords consists of around 800 members, called “Peers.” They are not
elected by popular vote. Some are nobles who've inherited the position; others are appoin-
ted by the Queen. These days, their role is largely advisory. They can propose, revise, and
filibuster laws, but they have no real power to pass laws on their own. On any typical day,
only a handful of the lords actually shows up to debate.
The Lords Chamber is church-like and impressive, with stained glass and intricately
carved walls. At the far end is the Queen's gilded throne. She's the only one who may sit
there, and only once a year, when she gives a speech to open Parliament.
The benches where the Lords sit are always upholstered red. (The House of Commons
is green.) Notice the seating arrangement: ruling party on one side, opposition on the oth-
er, and unaffiliated “crossbenchers” in between. In the center of the room sits the “Wool-
sack”—a cushion stuffed with wool. Here the Lord Speaker presides, with his/her cere-
monial mace placed behind the backrest.
On the way to the House of Commons Chamber, you first pass through the long Commons
Corridor, which spills into the Members' Lobby. In the lobby, MPs check their message
box with its state-of-the-art 1960s technology; they enter the chamber through a stone
archway that still bears bomb damage from the Nazi Blitz; and as they enter, many rub the
Churchill statue's golden toe for good luck, though visitors are asked not to touch.
