The British Parliament

See also Government UK, Members of Parliament.

History of Parliament

1258 document prepared by Simon de Montfort and other barons, which forced Henry III to grant certain powers to a "council" which was monitored by parliament – regarded as England's first written constitution		Provisions of Oxford
England's first elected parliament was summoned (1265) by		Simon de Montfort
Model Parliament summoned (1295) by		Edward I
Queen Elizabeth I's last speech to a House of Commons deputation		Golden Speech
Sat for two months in 1614 but produced no legislation		Addled Parliament
The Long Parliament		1640 – 1660
Remainder of the Long Parliament, after Pride's Purge, 1648–53		The Rump
Succeeded the Rump in 1653, but lasted only 5 months before Cromwell was made Lord Protector (December 1653) – named after the member for the City of London		Barebone's Parliament
Cavalier or Pensionary Parliament		1661-79
Inner circle of ministers to Charles II, who governed 1667–73		The Cabal

Broadcasting

House of Lords televised for the first time, in a three–day experiment		1968
Regular television broadcasts from the House of Lords begin (initially as an experiment, made permanent soon afterwards)		23 January 1985
Proceedings in the House of Commons televised for the first time		21 November 1989

The House of Commons

Colour of the seats in the House of Commons			Green
Weeks of the year for which Parliament sits			32
Parliament sits for (Monday to Thursday – only 5½ hours on Friday)			8 hours (times vary)
Prime Minister's Question Time (since 1997)	Day of the week		Wednesday
	Time		15:00 to 15:30
The Budget is traditionally presented on a			Wednesday
Minimum age for an MP (reduced from 21 in 2006)			18
Members of Parliament (since the 2010 election; 646 in 2005)			650
Number of MPs that the debating chamber can seat			437
Number of women among Labour's 419 MPs following Tony Blair's landslide victory in the 1997 General Election			101
Quorum for the House of Commons			40
Honorary title afforded to the MP who has the longest uninterrupted service			Father of the House
The highly–ornamented silver–gilt staff that represents the sovereign during sessions of the House of Commons (the sovereign being the third part of Parliament, after the Commons and the Lords); the Commons can't meet without it			Mace
Form of address used in the Commons for a member who is also a QC			My Learned Friend
Traditionally allowed to drink whatever he (or she) likes – including alcohol which is otherwise banned under parliamentary rules			Chancellor (during the Budget speech)
Symbol of the House of Commons			Portcullis
Committee of back bench Tory MPs			1922 Committee
Constituency controlled by one person or family (prior to the 1832 Reform act)			Pocket Borough
Constituency that was made unrepresentative by the low number of voters, prior to the Reform Act of 1832			Rotten Borough
MPs elected by the Chiltern Hundreds, prior to the Reform Act			2
MPs who wish to resign may apply to take the Stewardship of (two offices – one based in Buckinghamshire, one in north Yorkshire – that involve no duties, but disqualify the incumbent from sitting as an MP, because they're "offices of profit under the Crown")			Chiltern Hundreds
			Manor of Northstead
MPs are called to vote by the			Division Bell
Areas set aside (in both houses) for members of the public (invited and uninvited) to view proceedings in Parliament			Strangers' Gallery

The House of Lords

Colour of the seats in the House of Lords		Red
Hereditary peers entitled to sit in the House of Lords, in addition to the Earl Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberlain, under the 1999 Act		90
C of E Bishops entitled to sit in the House of Lords (out of 44)		26
Names given to the lobbies in the House of Lords used for counting votes (equivalent to Ayes and Nos in the Commons)		Contents and Not Contents
Quorum for the House of Lords		33
Ex officio speaker of the House of Lords		Lord Chancellor
The Lord Chancellor's seat		Woolsack
Archbishops and bishops		Lords Spiritual
Others		Lords Temporal
Bishops with seats as of right in the House of Lords (as well as the Archbishops of Canterbury and York)		London, Durham, Winchester
House of Lords member not taking a party whip		Cross–bencher
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen–at–arms		Government Chief Whip, House of Lords
Lord President of the Council		Leader of House of Lords

Constituencies: by City

Edgbaston, Erdington, Hall Green, Hodge Hill, Ladywood, Northfield, Perry Barr, Selly Oak, Sparkbrook and Small Heath, Yardley		Birmingham
Kemptown, Pavilion		Brighton
Garston, Riverside, Walton, Wavertree, West Derby; Scotland Exchange (formed in 1974 by the merger of Scotland and Exchange; replaced in 1983)		Liverpool
Blackley, Central, Gorton, Withington		Manchester
Devonport, Sutton		Plymouth
Attercliffe, Brightside, Central, Hallam, Heeley, Hillsborough		Sheffield
Itchen, Test		Southampton

Constituencies: by Member(s)

Jo Cox (Labour MP, fatally shot and stabbed on a street in her constituency in the run–up to the 2016 EU referendum), 2015–16		Batley and Spen
Following the above assassination, former Coronation Street actress (and television scriptwriter) Tracy Brabin was elected at a by–election in October 2016
After Brabin was elected as Mayor of West Yorkshire, Kim Leadbetter (Jo Cox's sister) was elected as her replacement at a by–election in 2021
Stanley Baldwin, 1908–37		Bewdley
Edward Heath, 1950–74 (Sidcup 1974–83, Old Bexley & Sidcup 1983–2001)		Bexley
Neville Chamberlain, 1929–40 (previously represented the Ladywood constituency in the same city, 1918–29)		Birmingham Edgbaston
Barbara Castle 1945–50 and 1955–79, Jack Straw 1979–2015 (Castle represented a differently–named constituency in the same town from 1950 to 1955)		Blackburn
Caroline Lucas, 2010 to date (elected when leader of the Green Party, becoming its first MP; resigned the leadership in 2012 to concentrate on parliamentary duties)		Brighton Pavilion
Harold Macmillan, 1945–65		Bromley
Robert Maxwell, 1964–70; John Bercow, 1997–2019		Buckingham
James Callaghan: represented three different constituencies (resulting from boundary changes) in the city of		Cardiff
Gyles Brandreth, 1992–7		City of Chester
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, from 1997 (Speaker of the House from 2019)		Chorley
First constituency to elect an SDP candidate as MP – Shirley Williams, in a by–election in November 1981		Crosby
Ed Miliband, 2005–		Doncaster North
Gordon Brown, 1983–2005		Dunfermline East
Margaret Thatcher, 1959–92		Finchley
Michael Heseltine 1974–2001; Boris Johnson 2001–8		Henley
Keir Starmer (2015 to date)		Holborn & St. Pancras
Oliver Cromwell 1628–9; John Major 1979–2001		Huntingdon
Harold Wilson, 1950–83 (Liverpool; previously (1945–50) represented Ormskirk)		Huyton
Jeremy Corbyn, 1983–		Islington North
Alec Douglas Home, 1963–74 (1931–45 and 1950–1: Lanark)		Kinross and West Perthshire
Gordon Brown, 2005–15 (previously represented Dunfermline East, 1983–2005)		Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath
Clement Atlee, 1922–50		Limehouse
Theresa May, 1997–		Maidenhead
William Hague, 1989–2015; Rishi Sunak, 2015 to date		Richmond (Yorks)
Douglas Hogg (later the 1st Viscount Hailsham, and Lord Chancellor 1935–8) 1922–8, his son Quintin Hogg (previously the 2nd Viscount Hailsham, later Baron Hailsham and Lord Chancellor 1970–4 and 1979–87) 1963–70, and Kenneth Baker from 1970 until its abolition in 1983 (London constituency)		St. Marylebone
Tony Blair, 1983–2007		Sedgefield
Nick Clegg, 2005–17		Sheffield Hallam
Harold Macmillan, 1924–9 and 1931–45		Stockton–on–Tees
Neil Hamilton 1983–97; Martin Bell 1997–2001; George Osborne 2001–17		Tatton
Boris Johnson, 2015 to date		Uxbridge and South Ruislip
Clement Atlee, 1950–6		Walthamstow West
Anthony Eden, 1923–57		Warwick & Leamington
Betty Boothroyd, 1974–2000		West Bromwich West
Douglas Hurd 1983–97, David Cameron 2001–16		Witney

Winston Churchill

1900–6		Oldham
1906–8		Manchester North West
1908–22		Dundee
1924–45		Epping
1945–64		Woodford

Represented by his son, Randolph Churchill, 1940–5

Preston

Constituencies represented by his grandson and namesake (son of the above)	1970–83		Stretford
	1983–97		Davyhulme

First to Declare

General elections of 1992, 1997, 2001 and 2005		Sunderland South
2010 and 2015 general elections		Houghton and Sunderland South
2017 and 2019 general elections		Newcastle Upon Tyne Central

In 2010, Sunderland South lost some of its domain to the new constituency of Sunderland Central, and gained Houghton which had previously been paired with Washington East.

Constituencies: Other

The only Scottish constituency to return a Labour MP in the 2015 general election (Ian Murray – there were 41 from 2010–15, and 7 following the 2017 general election)		Edinburgh South
Highest population, and the largest electorate		Isle of Wight
Additional constituency created at the 1992 election		Milton Keynes

© Haydn Thompson 2017–23