The Visitors' Gallery, formerly known as the Strangers' Gallery, is set aside for members of the public at the

British House of Commons 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 memb ...

, and is intended for both invited and uninvited members of the public to watch the proceedings of the House. A similar gallery exists in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. The gallery of the House of Commons is located on a level above the floor of the Commons chamber and looks down on it. The section of the gallery above the Speaker's chair is reserved for members of the press, while the area set aside for members of the general public is situated above the entrance to the chamber. There is a glass screen at the front of the public area of the gallery to prevent the throwing of objects into the chamber, which was installed in April 2004 at the cost of £600,000. Members of the public may obtain tickets from their Member of Parliament. It is possible to queue outside

St Stephen's Tower The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the ...

and be admitted to the gallery without booking, especially on Fridays, however during popular debates it will be nearly impossible to obtain a place without booking. The former name "Stranger's Gallery" refers to the traditional use of the term ''

strangers A stranger is a person who is unknown or unfamiliar to another person or group. Because of this unknown status or unfamiliarity, a stranger may be perceived as a threat until their identity (social science), identity and Character structure, chara ...

'' to refer to those present in Parliament that are neither members nor staff. Other parliaments throughout

the Commonwealth ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

have similar facilities, which are known by the same terms.

References

External links

Visits to the Gallery of the House of Commons
UK Parliament. House of Commons of the United Kingdom {{UK-gov-stub

See also

References

External links