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 and the House of Lords, the two legislative chambers which occupy the building. The palace is one of the centres of political life in the United Kingdom; "Westminster" has become a metonym for the UK Parliament and the British Government, and the Westminster system of government commemorates the name of the palace. The Elizabeth Tower of the palace, nicknamed Big Ben, is a landmark of London and the United Kingdom in general. The Palace of Westminster has been a Grade I listed building since 1970 and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.
Sir Basil Urwin Spence, was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Modernist/Brutalist style.
Angela Lavinia Bray, Baroness Bray of Coln is a British Conservative Party politician who was the Member of the London Assembly for West Central from 2000 to 2008, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Ealing Central and Acton from 2010 to 2015.
Joyce Anne Anelay, Baroness Anelay of St Johns,, is a British Conservative Party politician, previously serving as Minister of State of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from August 2014 to June 2017. Anelay was appointed as Minister of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union in the Second May ministry, after the 2017 reshuffle.
The year 1976 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.
MacCormick v Lord Advocate 1953 SC 396 was a Scottish constitutional law case and Scottish legal action on whether Queen Elizabeth II was entitled to use the numeral "II" as her regnal number in Scotland, as there had never been an earlier Elizabeth reigning in Scotland.
East Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km (1.2 mi) east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. East Melbourne recorded a population of 4,896 at the 2021 census.
Hillhouse Avenue is a street in New Haven, Connecticut, famous for its many nineteenth century mansions, including the president's house at Yale University. Both Charles Dickens and Mark Twain have described it as "the most beautiful street in America." Much of the avenue is included in the Hillhouse Avenue Historic District, which extends to include houses on adjacent streets.
Peter St Clair-Erskine, 7th Earl of Rosslyn,, known professionally as Peter Loughborough, is a Scottish peer and police officer. He is Lord Steward of the Royal Household and Personal Secretary to Their Majesties, as well as a former Metropolitan Police Commander. The Earl's lands include Rosslyn Chapel.
The Hyde Park Barracks are in Knightsbridge in central London, on the southern edge of Hyde Park. They were often known as Knightsbridge Barracks and this name is still sometimes used informally. The barracks are 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) from Buckingham Palace, enabling the officers and soldiers of the Household Cavalry to be available to respond speedily to any emergency at the Palace, practice drills at Horse Guards Parade or beyond and conduct other more ceremonial duties.
Thomas Robinson Ferens was a British Liberal Party politician, a philanthropist, and an industrialist. He was the Member of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull East for 13 years, and served the city as a Justice of the Peace and as High Steward. He helped establish Reckitt and Sons, a manufacturer of household goods, as one of Kingston upon Hull's foremost businesses. His career with the company spanned 61 years—from his initial employment as a confidential and shorthand clerk until his death, as chairman, in 1930.
Queen Anne's Mansions was a block of flats in Petty France, Westminster, London, at grid reference TQ296795. In 1873, Henry Alers Hankey acquired a site between St James's Park and St James's Park Underground station. Acting as his own architect, and employing his own labour, he proceeded to erect the first stage of the block. At twelve storeys, later increased to fourteen, it was the loftiest residential building in Britain.
In the UK and certain other Commonwealth countries, King's Consent is a parliamentary convention under which Crown consent is sought whenever a proposed parliamentary bill will affect the Crown's own prerogatives or interests. Prince's Consent is a similar doctrine, under which consent of the Prince of Wales must be obtained for matters relating to the Duchy of Cornwall. King's or Prince's Consent must be obtained early in the legislative process, generally before parliament may debate or vote on a bill. In modern times, following the tenets of constitutional monarchy, consent is granted or withheld as advised by government.
Petty France is a street in the City of Westminster in central London, linking Buckingham Gate with Broadway and Queen Anne's Gate.
St. Ermin's Hotel is a four-star central London hotel adjacent to St James's Park Underground station, close to Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and the Houses of Parliament. The Grade II-listed late Victorian building, built as one of the early mansion blocks in the English capital, is thought to be named after an ancient monastery reputed to have occupied the site pre-10th century. Converted to a hotel in 1896–1899, it became during the 1930s, through the Second World War and beyond, a meeting place of the British intelligence services, notably the birthplace of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), and where notorious Cambridge Five double agents Philby and MacLean met their Russian handlers. St Ermin's is now part of Marriott Hotels' Autograph Collection. The hotel is owned by the family of Tei-Fu Chen, founder of Sunrider International.
Queen Anne’s Gate is a street in Westminster, London. Many of the buildings are Grade I listed, known for their Queen Anne architecture. Simon Bradley and Nikolaus Pevsner described the Gate’s early 18th century houses as “the best of their kind in London.” The street’s proximity to the Palace of Westminster made it a popular residential area for politicians; Lord Palmerston was born at No. 20 while Sir Edward Grey and Lord Haldane, senior members of H. H. Asquith’s Cabinet, were near neighbours at Nos. 3 and 28 respectively. Other prominent residents included the philosopher John Stuart Mill at No. 40, Mansfield Smith-Cumming, the founder of MI6 at No. 21, and Admiral “Jacky” Fisher at No. 16.
Simone Jari Finn, Baroness Finn is a businesswoman and British-American Conservative politician who served as Downing Street Deputy Chief of Staff from February 2021 until the end of the second Johnson Ministry.
The history of the Palace of Westminster began in the Middle Ages – in the early eighth century – when there was an Anglo-Saxon church dedicated to St. Peter the Apostle which became known as the West Minster. In the tenth century the church became a Benedictine abbey and was adopted as a royal church, which subsequently became a royal palace in the 11th century.
