The parliamentary snuff box is a wooden snuff box at the door of the

House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 ...

where snuff is stored for use by

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

. It originated after 1694 when smoking was banned in the House of Commons. It is the responsibility of the Principal Doorkeeper to ensure it is kept stocked.

History

In 1694, the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advise ...

passed a resolution banning smoking in the House of Commons chamber and in committee rooms. Following this, members still wished to take tobacco so snuff was used as a tolerated alternative to smoking as attributed to '' Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice''. In 1941, the House of Commons chamber was destroyed by a German bomb on the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north b ...

. The current parliamentary snuff box was created using timber from the destroyed chamber's door frame with a silver plate listing all the names of the Principal Doorkeepers since 1943 screwed onto the lid. The responsibility for maintaining the parliamentary snuff box lies with the Principal Doorkeeper who stocks the box with snuff paid for with his own money.

Attention

Until the 2010s, the rights of MPs to have free snuff was a little known tradition of the House of Commons. A Freedom of Information request in 2010 confirmed the existence of the tradition and that it was filled with snuff chosen by the Principal Doorkeeper which he selected from a local tobacconist. The request did not reveal which members took advantage of the free snuff privilege as the last recorded instance of an MP taking snuff was in 1989 when was taken at a cost of 99p. In 2012, the parliamentary snuff box was mentioned in a debate by the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

MP for

Brighton Pavilion The Royal Pavilion, and surrounding gardens, also known as the Brighton Pavilion, is a Grade I listed former royal residence located in Brighton, England. Beginning in 1787, it was built in three stages as a seaside retreat for George, Prin ...

Caroline Lucas Caroline Patricia Lucas (born 9 December 1960) is a British politician who has twice led the Green Party of England and Wales and has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brighton Pavilion since the 2010 general election. She was re-elect ...

who criticised the parliamentary snuff box for being outdated. The

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

MP for Gillingham and Rainham,

Rehman Chishti Atta-Ur-Rehman Chishti (born 4 October 1978) is a Pakistani-born British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gillingham and Rainham since 2010. He served under Theresa May as both the Vice Chair of the ...

, also wrote a written question about how much had been used in the previous decade. The response was that there were no known users of the parliamentary snuff box. It was also noted that while under the

Health Act 2006 The Health Act 2006 (c 28) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provides for a number of administrative changes in the National Health Service. Part 1 - Smoking Chapter 1 - Smoke-free premises, places and vehicles The Act is ...

it is illegal to give out free tobacco in the United Kingdom, Parliament is exempt from this as the Palace of Westminster is a

royal palace This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa * Abdin Palace, Cairo * Al-Gawhara Palace, Cairo * Koubbeh Palace, Cairo * Tahra Palace, Cairo * Menelik Palace * Jubilee Palace * Guenete Leul Palace * Imperial Palace- ...

and therefore legally exempt from the legislation.

References

{{Reflist, 30em House of Commons of the United Kingdom Tobacco in the United Kingdom British traditions

History

Attention

See also

References