Qualla: House of Commons of the United Kingdom

House of Commons of the United Kingdom: Introduction

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. When the gentleman in black tights known as Black Rod arrives at the door of the House of Commons each November, the door is slammed in his face. He knocks three times with a black rod and is granted admittance only then, to inform the Members that the Monarch awaits them in the Lords. The ritual is a memory of 1642, when Charles I marched into the Chamber with an armed force to arrest five MPs for treason - and was famously told by Speaker William Lenthall that he had neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak save as the House directed. No monarch has set foot in the Commons since.

Image: Public domain

House of Commons of the United Kingdom: Thirteen Feet

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Public domain. The current Chamber is small, rectangular, modestly decorated in green. It was rebuilt by Giles Gilbert Scott after German bombs destroyed Charles Barry's chamber on the night of 10 May 1941 during the Blitz. Churchill insisted that the essential features of Barry's design be pre...

Image: Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | Public domain

House of Commons of the United Kingdom: The 650

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit ©UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor, CC BY 3.0. The Commons has 650 members elected from constituencies by first-past-the-post: 543 from England, 57 from Scotland, 32 from Wales, 18 from Northern Ireland. The Speaker presides from a chair designed by Augustus Pugin and modelled on a chair he made for King Edward's School, Birm...

Image: ©UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor | CC BY 3.0

House of Commons of the United Kingdom: Speaker Lenthall's Inheritance

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Anton Hickel, Public domain. The Speaker is supposed to be politically neutral, and by convention faces no major-party opposition in their constituency. They vote only to break ties, following Speaker Denison's rule from 1867 - always to allow further debate, or to reject a motion without a clear majority. S...

Image: Anton Hickel | Public domain

House of Commons of the United Kingdom: The Whips

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Garry Knight from London, England, CC0. Most of the work is done by Whips. They are members of parliament who keep their party in line on votes, calling colleagues from their constituencies on three-line whips and ensuring that, when a division is called, party loyalists troop into the right lobby - the Aye or No lobby...

Image: Garry Knight from London, England | CC0

House of Commons of the United Kingdom: Prime Minister's Questions

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit © UK Parliament / Maria Unger, CC BY 3.0. Every Wednesday for half an hour, the Prime Minister stands at the dispatch box and is questioned by members from across the House. The exchange is theatrical and bruising - jeers, calls of order from the Speaker, rehearsed quips and the occasional moment of genuine substance. To...

House of Commons of the United Kingdom: Things Thrown

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Sir George Hayter (1792-1871), Public domain. Sessions have occasionally been interrupted by objects flying from the galleries: leaflets, manure, flour, a canister of CS gas in 1970. Even members have caused chaos. In 1976 the Conservative MP Michael Heseltine, in the middle of a furious debate, seized the gold-plated mace f...

Image: Sir George Hayter (1792-1871) | Public domain