Oral Answers to Questions — Government Departments. – in the House of Commons am ar 25 Gorffennaf 1922.
Sir William Davison
, Kensington South
asked the hon. Member for the Pollok Division of Glasgow, as representing the First Commissioner of Works, whether he has been able to consult the Lord Chamberlain as to the possibility of reopening the State apartments at Kensington Palace to the public on Sunday afternoons in the event of it not being possible, on grounds of expense, to open them to the public throughout the week?
Mr John Gilmour
, Glasgow Pollok
No funds are at present available to meet any expenditure incidental to reopening the State apartments at Kensington Palace, but the First Commissioner is consulting the Lord Chamberlain as to the possibility of making provision in next year's Estimates. Meanwhile I would remind the hon. Member that the Majority of the objects of interest which formerly attracted visitors to Kensington Palace have since been transferred to the London Museum at Lancaster House.
The House of Commons votes by dividing. Those voting Aye (yes) to any proposition walk through the division lobby to the right of the Speaker and those voting no through the lobby to the left. In each of the lobbies there are desks occupied by Clerks who tick Members' names off division lists as they pass through. Then at the exit doors the Members are counted by two Members acting as tellers. The Speaker calls for a vote by announcing "Clear the Lobbies". In the House of Lords "Clear the Bar" is called. Division Bells ring throughout the building and the police direct all Strangers to leave the vicinity of the Members’ Lobby. They also walk through the public rooms of the House shouting "division". MPs have eight minutes to get to the Division Lobby before the doors are closed. Members make their way to the Chamber, where Whips are on hand to remind the uncertain which way, if any, their party is voting. Meanwhile the Clerks who will take the names of those voting have taken their place at the high tables with the alphabetical lists of MPs' names on which ticks are made to record the vote. When the tellers are ready the counting process begins - the recording of names by the Clerk and the counting of heads by the tellers. When both lobbies have been counted and the figures entered on a card this is given to the Speaker who reads the figures and announces "So the Ayes [or Noes] have it". In the House of Lords the process is the same except that the Lobbies are called the Contents Lobby and the Not Contents Lobby. Unlike many other legislatures, the House of Commons and the House of Lords have not adopted a mechanical or electronic means of voting. This was considered in 1998 but rejected. Divisions rarely take less than ten minutes and those where most Members are voting usually take about fifteen. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P9 at the UK Parliament site.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
