Visiting Westminster

Westminster is open to everyone when Parliament is sitting (slightly different rules during recess) and anyone is welcome to visit, take a tour, and watch debates.

Tours

My team can book free Inside UK Parliament tours for you. These last 75 minutes and cover:

The work of the UK Parliament

How the working spaces visited on the tour are used

Ways you can get involved with the democratic process

Historical highlights of the building

*Please note tours of Parliament are not currently available for booking through me as you MP. I expect that tours for September will open for booking towards the end of August.*

These tours take place at the following times during the parliamentary sessions – you can check recess/sitting dates here.

Monday

9AM – 12PM

Tuesday

9AM – 10AM

10.15AM – 12PM (shorter tour excluding the House of Commons Chamber)

Wednesday

9AM – 10AM

10.15AM – 12PM (shorter tour excluding the House of Commons Chamber)

Friday

3.30PM – 5PM

If you would like my team to request a tour for you, please get in touch on wendy.chamberlain.mp@parliament.uk with the following information:

Your name

Your postcode

Number of adults for the tour

Number of children for the tour

Up to 5 possible dates (Mon/Tues/Wed/Fri)

Your available times (for all dates suggested)

We cannot guarantee that tour times will be available, so do give us as much notice as possible.

Please note that my team will be passing this data to the UK Parliament to book the tour.

Please read the following data protection statement:

UK Parliament will use the personal information on this form to book your place(s) on a free tour of UK Parliament for UK residents. They also ask for more demographic information, which they will use anonymously to assess their performance in reaching a diverse and representative audience of the UK. For more information on how UK Parliament processes personal data, please refer to their privacy policy for the public.

Visiting Big Ben

*Please note Big Ben Tours are not currently available for booking through me as your MP. I will be able to start booking tours from September 2024 for December onwards.*

All MPs are allocated 8 tickets per year which they can provide for free tours.

Tickets are released 3 months in advance, i.e. at the start of July for October, and tend to sell out quickly. If you are interested in taking a tour please do get in touch with as much notice as possible for your available dates and times.

Unfortunately given the limited number of tickets available, I cannot guarantee availability of the free tickets. If you are interested in commercial tickets, these can be purchased here.

Before you consider a tour please note the following restrictions:

The Big Ben tour is not suitable for everyone. Visitors must be aged 11 and over and be comfortable climbing 334 steps unaided and able to sustain moderate physical exertion for up to 90 minutes. You will experience high noise levels from the clock mechanism and bells - ear defenders will be provided. The total tour duration is 90 minutes and toilet facilities are available at the beginning and end of the tour only. Due to the constraints of the Tower, accessible tours including step-free access are not currently available.

Please note that photography is not permitted inside the Elizabeth Tower due to security, health and safety and copyright reasons.

Watching Debates (not PMQs)

Every day that Parliament is sitting (usually Monday – Thursday) there are debates and questions to different government departments. You can find out what is happening here. Anyone who is in Parliament is entitled to get to the Admissions Office (by Central Lobby) and if there are tickets available can sit in the public gallery to watch proceedings.

Watching PMQs

Because of the popularity of Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesdays at 12.30, MPs are only able to book 2 tickets per month, on a first come first served basis. These become available 6 months in advance and generally need booking when they first become available.

If you would like my team to try and request tickets, please get in touch on wendy.chamberlain.mp@parliament.uk with the following information:

The full names of everyone in your party wanting a ticket.

Your postcode (s)

Up to 3 possible dates

Any access requirements you may have.

Meeting with Me

If you are visiting Westminster, either for leisure, work, or as a part of a lobby, and want to meet with me do get in touch. My diary is incredibly busy, but I will always try and see you at least for a few minutes.

You can contact me on wendy.chamberlain.mp@parliament.uk to set this up.