Division bell
Encyclopedia
A division bell is a bell rung in or around a parliament to signal a division and thus call all members of the chamber so affected to vote in it.
The bell is used in the local neighbourhood of the Parliament
to signal a division is occurring and that members in the Commons
or in the House of Lords
have eight minutes to get to the appropriate Division Lobby to vote for or against the resolution. The call for a Division is also displayed on the Annunciator screens throughout the Parliamentary buildings.
Because of the time allowance MPs may, in fact, be in nearby offices, restaurants, pubs or shops, some of which will have their own division bells connected to those within the confines of the Parliament's buildings, others will use a system of pager
s co-ordinated by the Whip
's office of each party.
The headquarters of the major parties are all within the reach of the division bell and this area roughly defines the geographical limits of the Westminster Bubble
.
The BBC Antiques Roadshow from The Banqueting House in Whitehall featured the original Division Bell Transmitter (serial number 1) from The House of Commons. Their expert Paul Atterbury, with the help of former Speaker of The House Baroness Betty Boothroyd
, demonstrated the apparatus in use with one of the original Division Bells. The Show was first seen in October 2007, where the transmitter was valued at £15,000.
Three Division Bell Transmitters were made at the end of the 19th century by The GPO at the request of The Government. They were numbered 1, 2 and 3. Two were destroyed by a bomb in 1941 and replaced with copies bearing the numbers 4 and 5. Number 5 transmitter exists, but the whereabouts of number 4 is not known.
.
In the NSW
Parliament, the division bell is electronic and rings differently for divisions in the Assembly and the Council.
In the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
to signal a division is occurring and that members in the Commons
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
or in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
have eight minutes to get to the appropriate Division Lobby to vote for or against the resolution. The call for a Division is also displayed on the Annunciator screens throughout the Parliamentary buildings.
Because of the time allowance MPs may, in fact, be in nearby offices, restaurants, pubs or shops, some of which will have their own division bells connected to those within the confines of the Parliament's buildings, others will use a system of pager
Pager
A pager is a simple personal telecommunications device for short messages. A one-way numeric pager can only receive a message consisting of a few digits, typically a phone number that the user is then requested to call...
s co-ordinated by the Whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
's office of each party.
The headquarters of the major parties are all within the reach of the division bell and this area roughly defines the geographical limits of the Westminster Bubble
Westminster Bubble
The Westminster Bubble is a term used to describe United Kingdom Members of Parliament, Peers, lobbyists, researchers, secretaries, civil servants, lobby correspondents and leader writers for newspapers who appear to live their life isolated from life outside Parliament and is so named because...
.
The BBC Antiques Roadshow from The Banqueting House in Whitehall featured the original Division Bell Transmitter (serial number 1) from The House of Commons. Their expert Paul Atterbury, with the help of former Speaker of The House Baroness Betty Boothroyd
Betty Boothroyd
Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd, OM, PC is a British politician, who served as Member of Parliament for West Bromwich and West Bromwich West from 1973 to 2000, initially for the Labour Party and, from 1992 to 2000, as Speaker of the House of Commons...
, demonstrated the apparatus in use with one of the original Division Bells. The Show was first seen in October 2007, where the transmitter was valued at £15,000.
Three Division Bell Transmitters were made at the end of the 19th century by The GPO at the request of The Government. They were numbered 1, 2 and 3. Two were destroyed by a bomb in 1941 and replaced with copies bearing the numbers 4 and 5. Number 5 transmitter exists, but the whereabouts of number 4 is not known.
In Australia
Both State and Federal Parliament buildings use electronic division bells. In states with bicameral parliaments, and in the federal Parliament, red and green lights near the division bells flash to indicate which house is being called. Queensland and the Territories, which have unicameral parliaments, do not require the red light which indicates the Upper House. The bells are rung at the beginning of a sitting, because a member has challenged a vote (called a division), or because there are not enough members in the chamber to constitute quorumQuorum
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly necessary to conduct the business of that group...
.
In the NSW
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
Parliament, the division bell is electronic and rings differently for divisions in the Assembly and the Council.