We all met outside the entrance to the House of Ccommons and went through the security clearance. Siobhan met us in the great Westminster Hall where she told us all about the great occasions that the hall had hosted as well as the famous people who had laid in state there. Then we all went down to the broom cupboard! Of course this was no ordinary broom cupboard but the one in which the suffragette Emily Wilding Davison hid on the night of the 1911 census.

Siobhan was very knowledgeable about the House of Commons and took us through the whole procedure of the Queens role in the opening of parliament and told us one or two stories about how previous monarchs had treated some of  the MPs and speakers of the House.

She took us to the lobby rooms and explained how the system of voting works when the MP’s are required to attend and have to walk through either the Yea or Nay door and be counted and woe betide them if they are not present!

It was a very enjoyable and informative visit and Siobhan was a terrific host.  Some of us finished the tour with a bit to eat in the Jubilee Cafe.

Fiona.