 Logo used since 2022 | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Picture format | Most programming: 576iSDTV (upscaled to1080i for theHDTV feed) Some programmes: 1080iHDTV[a] (downscaled to576i for theSDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | BBC |
| Sister channels | BBC One BBC Two BBC Three BBC Four BBC News CBBC CBeebies BBC Scotland BBC Alba |
| History | |
| Launched | 23 September 1998; 27 years ago (1998-09-23) |
| Links | |
| Website | bbc |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Freeview | Channel 232 (SD) |
| Streaming media | |
| BBC iPlayer | Watch live (UK only) |
BBC Parliament is a Britishfree-to-air public broadcast television channel from theBBC that showcases parliamentary content from across the United Kingdom. It broadcasts live and recorded coverage of theBritish Parliament (House of Commons,House of Lords andSelect Committees), theScottish Parliament, theNorthern Ireland Assembly and theSenedd. When none of these chambers are sitting, the channel does not broadcast, and its feed is given over to a simulcast of theBBC News channel.[1]
As of January 2022, the channel had a typical weekly peak of approximately 120,000 viewers, duringPrime Minister's Questions,[2] representing a monthly reach of 5.41% of UK TV households and 0.06% overall share.[3]
John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, the firstdirector-general of the BBC, wanted to broadcast Parliament on radio from theBBC's founding in 1922, but the government rejected the idea, as it did proposals from MPs during the 1920s and 1930s. During theAttlee government, a committee led byWilliam Beveridge found that broadcasting parliament would be harmful.
A 1966 proposal to experiment with television broadcasts was defeated by one vote, a 1972 proposal by 26 votes, in 1974 by 25 votes, and in 1975 by 12 votes.[4]
A one-month experiment in broadcasting parliament on radio began on 9 June 1975, and MPs on 16 March 1976 voted to continue. Permanent radio broadcasts from the House of Commons began on 3 April 1978, and from the House of Lords on 4 April. The1979 vote of no confidence in the Callaghan ministry was among the important events broadcast live[5] and through the 1980s, ad-hoc live coverage would be broadcast onBBC Radio 4s VHF frequencies with television broadcasts generally restricted to coverage of the Budget, with the audio feed accompanied by a live shot ofBig Ben.
Television coverage of Parliament began in January 1985 when cameras were allowed inside theHouse of Lords[6] and television coverage of theHouse of Commons began on 21 November 1989.[7]
In 1991, United Artists Programming initiated a trial project to provide highlights of debates from Parliament in a programme calledYesterday in the Commons to cable networks across the UK.[8] The trial was deemed to be a success and this led to United Artists Cable launching a full time service, The Parliamentary Channel, on 13 January 1992, to provide live and recorded coverage of the British Parliament. It also aired full live coverage of the September party conference season.[9]
In 1998 the channel was purchased by the BBC and was relaunched on 23 September 1998 as BBC Parliament. This followed the launch three years earlier of aDigital Audio Broadcasting, from theCrystal Palace transmitting station, which had offered is a relay of events in Parliament.[10] This audio service became a relay of BBC Parliament when the channel launched, and continued until the DAB radio service was closed down on 14 November 2000.
Due to capacity limitations on thedigital terrestrial television platform, now known asFreeview, from launch until 15 October 2002, the channel ran as "audio only". Then on digital terrestrial (now known as Freeview) from 14 October 2002 until 13 November 2006 the channel was only able to broadcast a quarter-screen picture. After receiving "thousands of angry and perplexedemails and letters",[11] not to mention questions asked by MPs in the House itself, the BBC eventually found thebandwidth to make the channel full-screen.[12] Viewers were advised to retune their TVs or set-top boxes to receive the full-screen version of BBC Parliament.
Until 2008, BBC Parliament was unique amongst the BBC channels in being broadcast using non-BBC facilities, with ITV's Millbank Studios inWestminster supplying the engineering andplayout facilities. Production, editorial and journalism were, however, maintained by the BBC.
The previous idents, also based on a Big Ben clock motif, ran from 2009 to 2016.[13] This replaced the channel's previous identity which was first introduced in 2002.[14]
BBC Parliament was taken off the air during the2012 Summer Olympics onFreeview in post-digital switchover areas to enable BBC Three to broadcast 24 hours a day. The BBC had done the same during the2008 Summer Olympics as it used the space to provide an additionalBBC Red Button option for Freeview users.
BBC Parliament HD has been confirmed as launching from 20 October 2021 and rolling out across various platforms at different times right up to the end of 2022, the standard definition service will continue on Freeview. This has been the case since 10 December 2013 whenBBC Three,BBC Four,BBC News,CBBC, andCBeebies began high definitionsimulcasts.[15][16]
On 5 September 2016BBC Two began broadcasting BBC Parliament during BBC Two's overnight downtime.[17] However this was short-lived and has subsequently been discontinued.
On 14 October 2016, the channel received a new look and new idents, its first revamp since 2009. The channel's current identity went live on Monday 10 October 2016 with refreshed music and idents based on clock workings, with colours and images derived from the flags and assemblies of the British home countries and the European Parliament.[18]
In July 2018, the BBC announced that the output on the channel was to be cut back, discontinuing all programming produced for the channel other than parliamentary coverage, and closing the channel entirely during summer months when Parliament and the devolved assemblies are not sitting.[19] The move has been criticised by many[20] including the formerHouse of Commons SpeakerJohn Bercow.[21] In October 2018, the BBC announced that it had shelved these plans.[22][16]
From 26 July until 31 August 2021, for the first time BBC Parliament simulcast theBBC News channel during a parliamentary recess.[1] This replaced the loop of highlights from the previous Parliamentary session. Starting to broadcast the BBC News Channel during the three major recesses was part of a range of cutbacks to the channel which saw the channel focus only on live and recorded coverage from Westminster and the devolved chambers. Coverage of theHouse of Lords and Select committees was also reduced.[23][24][25] The channel's wider political coverage ended at this point. This saw the channel end its mostly live coverage of party conferences, its broadcasts of the BBC's national political shows, its Sunday lunchtime simulcast ofC-SPAN and repeat ofQuestion Time all finished, as did all archive programming. The bespoke highlights programmesThe Day in Parliament and The Week in Parliament and all other programming made for the channel also ended at this point.
In April 2022, BBC Parliament began broadcasting inhigh-definition, initially only on theVirgin Media platform,[26] BBC Parliament in HD came to Sky and Freesat in February 2023.
Following thedeath of Elizabeth II, the channel broadcast continuous coverage of the four days of Queen Elizabeth's lying in state.[27]
Whenever the House of Commons is sitting, BBC Parliament carries the chamber live without interruption, with any simultaneous House of Lords sitting being shown in full later the same day and the following morning, often in sections that fit around the sittings of the Commons. The House of Lords is broadcast live only on days when there is no House of Commons sitting scheduled. BBC Parliament also provides full, recorded coverage of the House of Commons' second chamberWestminster Hall during weekends, when they will also broadcast selected evidence sessions from differentselect committees of the House of Commons.
Whenever both Westminster chambers are in recess, but a devolved assembly is constituted, the channel will provide live coverage of its work, while during Westminster sessions, coverage of the devolved assemblies usually takes the form of highlights at the weekend of the previous week's main debates and business.
Thus, when taken together with both live and recorded coverage from the other bodies it covers, BBC Parliament's schedule is dominated by direct broadcasts of the legislative and political institutions, whether they be plenary, quasi-plenary (such asWestminster Hall), or in committees that affect British public life.
In the event of one of the devolved nations producing their own results programme on election night, normally the first Thursday in May, BBC Parliament will usually broadcast this telecast to the whole of the United Kingdom. On election night for the2005,2010,2015,2017 and2019 general elections, BBC Parliament airedBBC Scotland's result night coverage. A few days afterwards, it would also broadcast a replay of election night coverage from BBC Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. In2024, the channel aired the network coverage as broadcast as seen on the BBC News Channel due to the channel now carrying the BBC News Channel when none of the UK's Parliaments and Assemblies are sitting.
BBC Parliament had also carried BBC Scotland's coverage of both the2011 devolved assembly elections and Scottish Independence Referendum. In March 2011 BBC Parliament simulcastBBC Wales's results coverage of thenation's devolution referendum.
Until July 2021, BBC Parliament often broadcast its own original programmes. They were either scheduled or used to fill gaps between the billed programmes, especially when live coverage of a legislative chamber ended before the next programme was due to start. The programmes covered a variety of political and parliamentary subjects, including:
Between 2002 and 2020, the channel frequently showed recordings of BBCgeneral election coverage, from the1955 election, the first British election programme to betelerecorded as well as other events such as the1975 EEC Referendum and the2016 EU Referendum. Some have been broadcast on the anniversary of their original transmissions. The channel's editor has described this as adding "something of value" and says it helps the channel "reach a wider audience for our normal parliamentary schedule".[29] These reruns ceased in 2020 as part of the cutbacks to the channel which saw the ending of the broadcasting of archive programming on BBC Parliament.[30]
| Election | Coverage title | Dates shown |
|---|---|---|
| 19551 | 1955 General Election | 26 May 2005 – 50th anniversary 26 May 2015 – 60th anniversary 30 August 2015 |
| 19592 | 1959 General Election | 9 October 2009 – 50th anniversary 9 October 2019 – 60th anniversary 9 May 2020 |
| 1964 | 1964 General Election | 4 January 2004 3 October 2008 12 November 2014 16 May 2020 |
| 1966 | 1966 General Election | 31 March 2006 – One hour 'highlights' programme, 40th anniversary 8 April 2006 – Full Coverage 28 March 2016 – 50th anniversary |
| 1970 | BBC Election 70 | 26 September 2003 18 July 2005 – Unadvertised; shown the day after the death ofTed Heath 9 October 2010 20 June 2020 – 50th anniversary |
| February 1974 | BBC Election 74 | 3 October 2003 19 February 2010 15 May 2010 1 September 2012 – Shown in tribute to the lateAlastair Burnet 21 February 2014 – 40th anniversary 30 October 2020[31] |
| October 1974 | BBC Election 74 | 10 October 2004 – 30th anniversary 10 October 2014 – 40th anniversary 31 October 2020[32] |
| 1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum3 | The Referendum Result | 5 June 2005 – 30th anniversary 6 June 2015 – 40th anniversary 5 June 2016 – 41st anniversary & run up to2016 EU Referendum as part of75 Not Out |
| 19794 | Decision 79 | 7 September 2002 3 May 2004 – 25th anniversary 4 May 2009 – 30th anniversary 13 April 2013 – Shown to mark the death ofMargaret Thatcher 6 May 2019 – 40th anniversary 23 May 2020 |
| 19835 | Election 83 | 6 October 2006 30 May 2008 – 25th anniversary 1 April 2013 – 30th anniversary |
| 19876 | Election 87 | 5 September 2005 5 October 2007 9 June 2012 – 25th anniversary |
| 1992 | Election 92 | 9 April 2007 – 15th anniversary 9 April 2012 – 20th anniversary 8 April 2017 – 25th anniversary |
| 19978 | Election 97 | 8 September 2002 13 May 2005 7 May 2007 – tenth anniversary 4 September 2017 – 20th anniversary7 30 May 2020 |
| 2001 | Vote 2001 The Verdict | 30 May 2011 – tenth anniversary |
| 2005 | Election Night | 7 May 2005 – Two days after its original transmission |
| 2010 | Election 2010 | 8 May 2010 – Two days after its original transmission 8 May 2020 – tenth anniversary |
| 2015 | Election 2015 | 9 May 2015 – Two days after its original transmission |
| 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum onBrexit | EU Referendum – The Result | 25 June 2016 – Two days after its original transmission 23 June 2018 – second anniversary |
| 2017 | Election 2017 | 10 June 2017 – Two days after its original transmission |
| 2019 | Election 2019 | 14 December 2019 – Two days after its original transmission |
1 – Only three hours of the programme is known to exist.
2 – This was given a special introduction byDavid Dimbleby, the son ofRichard Dimbleby who presented the 1959 broadcast. Only the overnight footage was shown because the daytime coverage was not kept.
3 – Only two hours of coverage is known to exist with the surviving coverage originally broadcast in mid-afternoon.
4 – In addition, the overnight coverage of the 1979 election was broadcast onBBC Four on 12 June 2008.
5 – The 1983 coverage was originally scheduled to be shown on 10 October 2003, but was not broadcast.
6 _ The 1987 coverage was originally scheduled to be shown on 10 June 2017 for the 30th anniversary which was the following day 11 June but due to the2017 General Election having taken place 2 days earlier the planned showing was cancelled and replaced by the re-run of Election 2017
7 – The 1997 coverage was originally scheduled to be shown on 1 May 2017 to coincide with its 20th anniversary but due to the surprise calling of the2017 general election scheduled for 8 June it was postponed, and eventually shown on 4 September 2017.
8 – The 1997 coverage was broadcast "clean"- without the original on-screen graphics, although they have been included on all other election reruns.
From 2002 until 2019 BBC Parliament frequently broadcast programmes that have a historical or broader social significance, often encompassing major events both in the United Kingdom and in the world. They have also included a selection of programmes exploring issues of import and topicality in-depth, akin toBBC Four. They are generally shown on the anniversaries of major events. Programmes in this area have been diverse in character, such as the channel's first archive rerun, which was to celebrate theGolden Jubilee in June 2002 when BBC Parliament reran thecoronation coverage. All special programming ended in 2020 due to cutbacks at the channel which saw it revert to schedule which only featured live and delayed coverage of the UK's Parliamentary bodies.[23]
In 2005, the channel marked the 40th anniversary of the death of Winston Churchill by broadcasting archive coverage of his funeral.
Also in 2005, BBC Parliament also marked the 30th anniversary of thefirst referendum over Europe by reshowing interviews with the two main party leaders, and broadcasting the two hours of the Referendum results coverage which the BBC retains in its archives.[33]
The 50th anniversary of theSuez Crisis was commemorated in November 2006, with writer and broadcasterAnthony Howard introducing a special series of programmes on the channel. This included television broadcasts by the then-prime ministerAnthony Eden and the then-Labour Leader of the OppositionHugh Gaitskell, alongside a new documentary calledSuez in Parliament: a Fine Hullabaloo.
On 1 April 2007,[34] veteran BBC correspondentBrian Hanrahan introducedFalklands Night to mark the 25th anniversary of the outbreak of theFalklands War. Programming included the BBC's original television news bulletins and reports from the period, alongside editions ofNewsnight and excerpts of debates fromQuestion Time.[35]Falklands Night was shown twice during the spring of 2007 to mark the beginning and the end of the conflict.
On 1 July 2007, the channel broadcastHong Kong Night, presented byChris Patten, the lastGovernor of Hong Kong, which reran coverage of thehandover ceremony, to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the end of British rule, and thetransfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong to China.[36]
The tenth anniversary of thedeath of Diana, Princess of Wales was marked on 1 September 2007 with a broadcast of the BBC coverage of her funeral. The rerun was shown at the precise broadcast times of the BBC's original coverage, running from 8:25 am until 4:00 pm.David Dimbleby, who anchored the BBC's coverage, said a few words at the beginning and end of the rerun.[37]
Cliff Michelmore came out of retirement on 18 November 2007 to presentThe Pound in Your Pocket, a special strand of programming to mark forty years since thedevaluation of thePound by the British government on 18 November 1967. Editions ofThe Money Programme and24 Hours were shown along with highlights from the 1968 Budget programme and ministerial broadcasts.[38] The strand's title was taken from the famously misquoted television broadcast made by the then-prime ministerHarold Wilson about the devaluation on 19 November 1967. Wilson said: "It does not mean that the pound here in Britain, in your pocket, in your purse or bank has been devalued."
On 26 May 2008,Joan Bakewell introduced an archive evening calledPermissive Night which examined the liberalising social reform legislation passed by Parliament in the late 1960s.[39] Topics covered included changes todivorce law, thedeath penalty, theAbortion Act 1967, theRace Relations Act 1968, thepartial decriminalisation ofhomosexual acts (using editions of the documentary seriesMan Alive) and the relaxation ofcensorship. The evening concluded with a special new edition ofLate Night Line-Up, the review programme that Joan Bakewell presented in the late 1960s.
On 30 November 2008, BBC Parliament broadcast the 1958State Opening of Parliament to mark 50 years since the event was first televised.[40]
The fall ofJames Callaghan's Labour government was marked on its 30th anniversary – 28 March 2009.Donald MacCormick, making what would prove to be his final television appearance before his death, presentedThe Night The Government Fell, which included nearly three-and-a-half hours of audio highlights of the Commons debate that resulted in Callaghan's government losing avote of no confidence by 311 votes to 310. A documentary charting the evening's events was shown, as was McCormick's own live programme from Westminster on the night of the vote.
On 28 June 2009, BBC Parliament reran BBC TV's coverage of the1969 Investiture ofPrince Charles asPrince of Wales to mark the 40th anniversary of this event. The channel also re-broadcast an interview which Prince Charles gave a few days before his Investiture.[41]
The anniversary of the BBC's ownQuestion Time series was marked on 25 September 2009 by re-broadcasting the first edition of the topical discussion programme from 30 years earlier.Robin Day presented alongside the inaugural panel ofMichael Foot MP,Teddy Taylor,Edna O'Brien and ArchbishopDerek Worlock.
The writer and broadcasterAnthony Howard presented an archive evening on 10 October 2009 entitledNever Had It So Good, that looked back on 1959. This included television election broadcasts by the prime ministerHarold Macmillan, Leader of the OppositionHugh Gaitskell and Labour'sTony Benn; an edition ofTonight; and other BBC current affairs programmes. The evening's title is taken from a phrase contained in a speech made by Harold Macmillan in 1957 when he optimistically said, "Let us be frank about it – most of our people have never had it so good".[42]
At the2011 Irish general election, BBC Parliament simulcast Irish state broadcasterRTÉ's general election results programme on 26 February 2011. The election saw the incumbent Irish government fall to heavy defeat at the hands of the other parties. The channel also broadcast recorded coverage of the presentation of the Irish government's2012 budget in theDáil Éireann in December 2011.
On Thursday 14 February, BBC Parliament broadcast an evening of selected archive programmes under the titleHarold Wilson Night.[43][44][45][46] Presented byPeter Snow, the five-hour block of programming marked the 50th anniversary of the election ofHarold Wilson as leader of theLabour Party on 14 February 1963, the longest serving and most electorally successful Labour prime minister of the 20th century. The sequence of programmes, which included Harold Wilson's famous "Pound in your Pocket" broadcast and the first airing of the once controversialYesterday's Men documentary since its initial broadcast in June 1971,[47] was repeated two days later.
On Monday 18 March, BBC Parliament showed four hours of the House of Commons debate about whether to commit British troops to theinvasion of Iraq. TitledIraq – Ten Years On, it was shown to mark the tenth anniversary of the debate.
On Monday 8 April, BBC Parliament broadcast an evening of archive programming to mark the death ofMargaret Thatcher, the first female to serve as prime minister. The schedule included three interviews conducted bySir Robin Day, Mrs Thatcher's speeches to the 1980 and 1984 Conservative Party Conferences, her last speech in the House of Commons in November 1990 and her maiden speech in the House of Lords in 1992.
On the 60th anniversary of theCoronation of Queen Elizabeth II (2 June), the channel showed BBC Television's original coverage of the event. The footage was shown "as live" and included the State Procession which followed the Coronation service.
On Sunday 9 June, BBC Parliament broadcastBeeching Night to mark the 50th anniversary of TheBeeching Report on the future of Britain's railways, which recommended closing 3,000 miles of track and 2,000 stations to help stem massive losses. The evening was presented byNicholas Owen. The strand featured railway-themed editions of various BBC current affairs programmes, including two editions ofPanorama, as well as news reports and two interviews with Dr Beeching. Also included was a new programme looking at the relationship between the railways and politicians.
On Saturday 19 October, BBC Parliament marked the 50th anniversary of the appointment ofAlec Douglas-Home as prime minister following the resignation ofHarold Macmillan. TitledHome at the Top the sequence included the edition ofPanorama broadcast on the night of the hand-over and an address to the nation by the new prime minister.
Following the death ofTony Benn on 14 March 2014, BBC Parliament broadcast a special evening of programming which included his 1959 Labour Party election broadcast from the general election campaign; Mr Benn's 1990 House of Commons speech from the vote of confidence debate on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; his final speech in Parliament in 2001; his 1995 documentary Behind Closed Doors which took viewers behind the scenes in Parliament; and Labour MP Tristan Hunt's 2011 Speaker's lecture on the career of Tony Benn.[48]
To mark the 50th anniversary of the funeral ofWinston Churchill, BBC Parliament replayed the black-and-white funeral coverage, commentated by Richard Dimbleby, and at the same time as the original broadcast. The broadcast was introduced byNicholas Soames, Churchill's grandson, who was in attendance that day.
On Sunday 26 July, BBC Parliament showed an evening of programmes to mark the 50th anniversary ofTed Heath becoming the leader of the Conservative Party.
On Saturday 28 November, BBC Parliament broadcastTebbit on Thatcher, an evening of programmes to mark the 25th anniversary ofMargaret Thatcher's resignation as prime minister and leader the Conservative Party. The programmes were introduced byNorman Tebbit and the items shown included her 1980 speech to the Conservative Party Conference, news reports about vital events in her time as prime minister and two editions ofPanorama.
On 3 April, BBC Parliament broadcastCallaghan Night to mark the 40th anniversary ofJames Callaghan replacingHarold Wilson as prime minister and leader of the Labour Party. Three editions ofPanorama and two editions ofTonight were shown, which covered significant moments of Mr Callaghan's time as prime minister, including the UK's financial bailout by theIMF, the 1977 Lib-Lab pact and the result of the1979 vote of no confidence against the government of James Callaghan which signalled the end of the Labour Government.
On 5 June to mark both the 41st anniversary of the1975 EEC Referendum in the run-up to the2016 EU Referendum the channel broadcast a night of current and archive programmes under the banner of "75: Not Out." The opening programme (of the same name) was presented byAngela Rippon and featured the "1975 Oxford Union Debate" in two parts, a 1975Panorama EEC debate which was presented by a youngDavid Dimbleby, BBC news clips, the original 1975 EEC Referendum party political broadcasts and the surviving results programme.
On 12 May, to mark the 80th anniversary of the coronation ofKing George VI, BBC Parliament showedPathe's original coverage of the coronation and Pathe's colour film of the coronation processions to and fromWestminster Abbey. In addition, the channel showed a brief programme looking at BBC Television's coverage of the day.
On 3 June 2019, BBC Parliament showed the BBC's coverage of the results of the2016 United States presidential election which sawDonald Trump elected asPresident of the United States.[49] The coverage was timed to coincide with hisstate visit to Britain. This is the first time that BBC Parliament has shown a rerun of the BBC's coverage of an American election.
On 1 July 2019, BBC Parliament reran BBC TV's coverage of the1969 Investiture ofPrince Charles asPrince of Wales to mark the 50th anniversary of the event.[50]
Until 2021, BBC Parliament had broadcast a range of political and current affairs programmes from across the BBC, including:
Until 2019, BBC Parliament also broadcast the annual party conferences of the UK's major political parties in full and highlights of the smaller party conferences. In the past, the channel also aired highlights of theGeneral Synod of the Church of England, live coverage of the annual chamber sitting of theUK Youth Parliament in the House of Commons, oral evidence sessions from theBritish Youth Council's YouthSelect Committee, and the annualHouse of Lords Chamber Event.
