Members' Lobby

Members' Lobby
President Barack Obama in the Members' Lobby during a tour of Parliament in 2011

The Members' Lobby is a hallway in the Palace of Westminster used by members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Members of Parliament may congregate here for discussions while not dealing with other business.

The Lobby is situated immediately south of the Commons Chamber, close to the Central Lobby, and is off-limits to members of the public during voting sessions. It hosts offices of government and opposition whips, who are responsible for organising voting along party lines.

Former British prime ministers are honoured with statues and busts in the Lobby. The monuments include:

The bronze statue of Thatcher was unveiled in February 2007, and placed close to the bust of her Conservative predecessor Edward Heath. The Commons Works of Art Committee is currently pursuing a project to commemorate all Prime Ministers to hold office since 1902; it is still planning the inclusion of monuments to the three who have yet to be recognised: Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Andrew Bonar Law and Neville Chamberlain.[1] Heath, Callaghan and Thatcher are the most recent additions following a change in the rules on depiction in Parliament so as to allow representation within a person's lifetime, instead of at least 10 years after their death as was previously the case.[1][2]

The Members' Lobby was restored after its destruction in World War II (see The Blitz), as attested by the monogram of King George VI on its doors. The bomb-damaged arch at the entrance to the Commons was retained as a reminder of 10–11 May 1941; it is now known as the "Churchill Arch". The feet of Oscar Nemon's bronze statue of Winston Churchill, as well as that of David Lloyd George, which flank the Commons doors, have been eroded, apparently by generations of MPs rubbing them for luck. This practice has now fallen into desuetude.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Unveiling of a Statue of Baroness Thatcher in Members Lobby, House of Commons, UK Parliament website, 21 February 2007. Retrieved on 1 January 2009.
  2. ^ Tweedie, Neil (26 March 2002). "How Churchill split the House even in death". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1388971/How-Churchill-split-the-House-even-in-death.html. Retrieved 1 January 2009. 

External links

Coordinates: 51°29′58.7″N 0°07′29.0″W / 51.499639°N 0.12472°W / 51.499639; -0.12472


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