On the 27th February, Parmiter’s School  A-level politics students were fortunate enough to take part in a guided tour of the UK Parliament. The 90 minute walking tour included highlights of visiting the House of Commons, the House of Lords and Westminster Hall (the oldest building on the Parliamentary estate). The tour was fun, interactive and extremely interesting!

 

The tour began in Westminster Hall , where students were given headsets which connected to the Tour Guide’s microphone. Here, they discussed elements of the extensive history of the hall- including its fascinating architectural history (such as the magnificence of its Hammer Beam roof) and history as a legal and administrative centre within UK politics. A highlight was discussing the use of Westminster Hall for the trial of Charles I, following the end of the Civil War in 1649 Charles was brought to trial (on the 20th of January) within the Hall and was sentenced to death on the 27th of January.

 

They then moved further into Parliament and visited the House of Commons. The students were shocked, as it felt much smaller in person. Wide-lens cameras definitely make it seem much bigger on TV! When discussing with students they said that they found the Commons part of the tour the most surprising. Georgia White commented that “I didn’t know about how the House of Commons was previously burned in a fire and how it moved locations, which was really interesting to find out.” It was also very poignant within the chamber, when it was pointed out the shields around the room represented MPs that they had lost (such as the shield for Jo Cox that was designed by her children), this was definitely a moment for reflection. 

 

Next, they visited the chamber for the House of Lords. The chamber was beautiful and extensively decorated. A particular highlight was learning the reasons for the Lords Spiritual having an armrest on their seats! This segment of the tour was extremely informative in discussing the reforms to the House of Lords, particularly under the Blair era. The tour ended back at Westminster hall where they discussed the beautiful New Dawn contemporary light sculpture by Mary Branson and how it had changed since the start of the tour. The students found the tour informative and exciting and all commented that the knowledge imparted on them would be extremely useful within their A-level studies.