英国议会——下院.ppt

Houses of Parliament —— Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The Palace of Westminster served as the home of Parliament after 1512, which had been meeting there since the thirteenth century. The Palace is one of the centers of political life in the United Kingdom; Westminster has become a metonym for the UK Parliament, and the Westminster system of government has taken its name after it. HISTORY The Palace of Westminster was the monarchs principal residence in the late Medieval period. The predecessor of Parliament, the Curia Regis (Royal Council), met in Westminster Hall (although it followed the King when he moved to other palaces). The Model Parliament, the first official Parliament of England, met in the Palace in 1295; almost all subsequent Parliaments have met there. The House of Lords originally met in the Queens Chamber, a modest Medieval hall at the south end of the complex. In 1801 the Upper House moved into the larger White Chamber. The House of Commons, which did not have a chamber of its own, sometimes held its debates in the Chapter House of Westminster Abbey. The Commons acquired a permanent home at the Palace in the form of St Stephens Chapel, the former chapel of the royal palace, during the reign of Edward?VI. —— Fire and Reconstruction On 16?October 1834, a fire broke out in the Palace. In the course of reconstruction, the immediate priority was to provide accommodation for the next Parliament, and so the Painted Chamber and White Chamber were hastily repaired for temporary use by the Houses of Lords and Commons respectively. —— Recent History During World War II, the palace was damaged again. Following the destruction of the Commons Chamber, the Lords offered their own deba