BY THE ENTIRE MOG CHRONICLE TEAM

On May 19, 2025, the Mog Chronicle reporters went to the Houses of Parliament. The only reason why is because the amazing adults Christina and Jon organised the entire thing – but not without lots of pestering and reminding from Mog reporter Jake who kept asking when the trip was happening. Jake wouldn’t give up and soon Christina contacted Helen Hayes – the MP for Dulwich and West Norwood – and her office made the whole thing happen.

When we arrived we had to go through really tough security, just like in an airport. They pulled aside two of our backpacks which had some school scissors inside. Oops! But luckily we were still allowed to enter. Once we cleared security we were given lanyards which the whole group was really excited about. (At the end of the visit Jake forgot to return his and had to run back to drop it off!)

We then entered Westminster Hall which is where Queen Elizabeth II laid in state after her death as thousands of people passed by her coffin to pay their respects. On the floor was a plaque to mark exactly the spot.

Our tour guide was a nice man called Peter who had a strong sense of humour and was full of lots of interesting facts. He gave us individual headsets so we could hear him speaking without having to shout. He told us lots of information including showing us one special piece of art, a light sculpture, which changes colour according to the tides of the River Thames. When the tide is exactly in the middle, the colours red, white and purple of the Suffragette movement are visible.

Peter told us that members of the House of Commons never refer to the House of Lords by name. Instead they call the chamber “the other place” and visa versa. He also told us about Spencer Perceval, the only British prime minister to be assassinated. He was shot by John Bellingham on May 11, 1812. Our tour guide Peter said the moment after being shot, Perceval looked down and said in a very British manner: “Oh, I have been murdered.” And then he fell to the floor dead!

We saw some lifesize statues of other former prime ministers. When Margaret Thatcher’s solid bronze status was unveiled, she apparently said: “Oh. It’s bronze. I was rather hoping it would be made of iron.” Her nickname was the Iron Lady.

We stood in the central lobby where the ceiling had red roses for England, thistles for Scotland and shamrocks for Northern Ireland. The symbol for Wales was missing because it would have been the leek but it was considered bad luck to “put leeks on the ceiling”. Leek – Leak. Get it?

There is also a small post office in the central lobby that has one secret, shocking fact: it is always in the background of political interviews on the news, but if the lights are on when you’re watching the interview and it is after 6pm, then the broadcast is NOT live, no matter what the BBC tries to make you believe! This is because the lights are always shut off by 6pm when the post office closes.

As we entered the House of Commons we saw a large dent in the door from years of being knocked on by Black Rod at every new session of Parliament. Tradition has it that when Black Rod goes to summon the Members of Parliament to listen to the monarch’s speech in the House of Lords, they slam the door in Black Rod’s face three times to signify the House of Commons’ independence from the House of Lords.

The most exciting part of the day was getting a sneak peek in the famous House of Commons chamber. When we entered the room we all noticed the hundreds of microphones hanging from the ceiling by wires and that (quite surprisingly) the room was very small. On the floor of the room was a red line which you had to cross over or you were not technically considered to be in the room and the Speaker, who sits in the largest chair in the room, could not see you.

We were all quite shocked to hear that the prime minister doesn’t sit in the largest chair, but rather on the benches along with the MPs. We heard many funny stories about how the Speaker and all the MPs must refer to the other MPs by their titles, rather than by their name. However, if you get the title of an MP wrong, or for instance, if you called them a liar, the Speaker would ask the Sergeant of Arms – usually an ex military veteran – to remove the MP from the chamber. This means the Sergeant of Arms would drag you out by the scruff of your neck. Occasionally, the MP will realise what will happen and attempt to escape first. Once and MP realised this, and tried to make a dash for it, however they tripped over their shoelaces and fell on their face. Another MP decided to put up a violent fight, and the Sergeant of Arms sighed, bonked him over the head, and the MP became unconscious. So, if you are watching the House of Commons on the news and the camera focuses on only the Speaker for about 10 seconds, you know that an MP is getting dragged out.

We were hoping to get inside the House of Lords chamber too but suddenly the fire alarm went off so we had to evacuate back to Westminster hall. Luckily it was just a test but it meant the tour was cut short. So instead we headed to Parliament Square where Ms. Rose handed out some yummy wafers.