House of Parliament Tour

I didn't know much about how the British government worked before attending the House of Parliament tour yesterday. Now I know a smidgen more! 

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Disclaimer: None of these photos are mine; the images in this post were all found on the internet. 

Also, if I get any of the details slightly incorrect, my apologies!

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Last week, the Queen gave the "Queen's Speech," which is similar to our "State of the Union" speech. The main difference is that the Queen is handed a speech written by the House of Commons and approved by the House of Lords. The Queen has to read the speech as-is and cannot add her two cents. The pomp and ceremony that takes place during a Queen's Speech is as follows...

The Queen arrives and enters the Queen's Robing Room (pictured below). Her crown travels to Parliament by its own small carriage from the Crown Jewels collection. The crown is the last thing she puts on before entering the House of Lords, where she delivers the speech. 

Queen's Robing Room

The House of Lords (pictured below), until very recently comprised of only the entitled aristocracy. Prime Minister Tony Blair made a historic change that meant only about 100 Lords could remain within the House of Lords (and the Lords had to decide who stays and who goes) while the rest was to be made up of recently created Lords, such as Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber. This, Tony Blair argued, would ensure a greater voice of the English people would be heard. 

Back to the Queen's Speech. The Queen arrives and sits in one of the gilded thrones while her husband sits in the other. All of the Lords are then seated on the red cushioned benches. (I was able to stand in the second row on the right - but no one on the tour was allowed to sit down.) Once the Queen is seated she then sends her runner (the runner has a title, but I don't remember it) to invite the House of Commons to attend the speech. The runner leaves the House of Lords, runs down the hall to the House of Commons, where per tradition, they slam the door on the runner. The runner then has to pound on the door and announce the Queen's invitation to attend the speech. The House of Commons members then opens the door and walks down to the House of Lords where they have standing room only at the back of the House. The Queen then reads the Queen's Speech.   

House of Lords

In stark contrast to the ornate Queen's Robing Room and House of Lords is the rather plain House of Commons (pictured below). This is were the commoners (elected members of Parliament) actually do the work of governance. Unlike in the states where democrats and republicans have to sit together, here the conservatives sit in one area, the liberals another, etc. and they tend to get each other quite riled up. In fact, the two red lines painted on the floor is said to be just wider than two sword lengths. Therefore, when the speaker of the House shouts out "Toe the line!!" everyone has to stand behind the red lines so no one gets hurt. Of course, House of Commons members no longer wear swords, but at one time this had been a real threat. Besides, I think the only televised clips I've seen from within the House of Commons is of people yelling, booing, stomping their feet and the like. I would imagine toeing the line is still important during heated debates! 

House of Commons

I learned a lot more during the tour, but those are some of the facts I found extremely interesting. I was very lucky to be able to experience this tour, as well as meet a member of the current Parliament.