Date/Time: Thursday, 28th September 2023 - Wednesday, 11th October 2023
Location: Palace of Westminster, Cromwell Green, London, SW1A 0AA
Price: £21 per person. Member and guest £42
Event Organiser: David Sparrow. 62 Eton Avenue, Barnet EN4 8TY
Please note: There are two dates for this tour. Please state your preference on your booking form.
The role of the Speaker has existed since at least 1377 and has a long history of evolving responsibilities and traditions. The Speaker’s role today is to chair debates in the House of Commons Chamber, but he also represents the House of Commons on a national and international level.
The Speaker’s House occupies the twin-towered pavilion which projects at the northernmost end of the River Front, with one side parallel to Westminster Bridge. It is approached from New Palace Yard through the courtyard, called the Speaker’s Court. When it was first completed in 1859, it was a grand Victorian town house, with servants in the basement and on the ground floor, the State Apartments on the Principal Floor and the bedrooms on the first and second floors. The Speaker now has a private flat on the second floor, but the formal State Apartments remain on the Principal Floor and are used for official business.
This fully accessible tour includes the Grand Staircase, the Crimson Drawing Room, the State Dining Room, and the State Bedroom. There will also be a display of items from Parliament’s Heritage Collections and the Parliamentary Archives marking 30 years since Betty Boothroyd became the first female Speaker of the House of Commons in 1992.
Tours start in Westminster Hall, where you’re supplied with radio headpieces to wear, so the tour guide can talk without shouting to be heard, then a walk around the outside into a courtyard where the stone entrance to Speaker’s House leads up a grand staircase to the main staterooms.
All profits from these tours will go to the Speaker’s Art Fund, (registered charity number 1105968) which supports arts and educational projects with a focus on increasing understanding of Parliamentary democracy across the UK.
Age guidance: All are welcome on the Speaker’s House tours but please note that the tour content has not been designed specifically for younger audiences.
No photography is allowed whatsoever on the tours except when in Westminster Hall.
The booking cut-off date is 3rd September.
Additional Booking Information
Please enter your choice of date on the booking form:
- No preference
Thursday 28th SeptemberFull- Wednesday 11th October
Event Booking
Please note that all bookings are subject to our Event Booking Rules.
The standard, printable event booking sheet is downloadable here.