The business of Parliament takes place in two Houses: the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Their work is similar: making laws (legislation), checking the work of the government (scrutiny), and debating current issues.
The House of Commons is also responsible for granting money to the government through approving Bills that raise taxes. Generally, the decisions made in one House have to be approved by the other.
In this way the two-chamber system acts as a check and balance for both Houses.
The Commons is publicly elected. The party with the largest number of members in the Commons forms the government.
Members of the Commons (MPs) debate the big political issues of the day and proposals for new laws. It is one of the key places where government ministers, like the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, and the principal figures of the main political parties, work.
The Commons alone is responsible for making decisions on financial Bills, such as proposed new taxes. The Lords can consider these Bills but cannot block or amend them.The UK public elects 650 Members of Parliament (MPs) to represent their interests and concerns in the House of Commons. MPs consider and propose new laws, and can scrutinise government policies by asking ministers questions about current issues either in the Commons Chamber or in Committees.
The Lords
The House of Lords is the second chamber of the UK Parliament. It is independent from, and complements the work of, the elected House of Commons. The Lords shares the task of making and shaping laws and checking and challenging the work of the government.
The House of Lords is the second chamber of the UK Parliament. It is independent from, and complements the work of, the elected House of Commons. The Lords shares the task of making and shaping laws and checking and challenging the work of the government.
The House of Lords is made up of around 800 members from a variety of professions and walks of life
Bills start in either the House of Lords or House of Commons. They go through set stages of approval in both Houses before they become an Act of Parliament.
The Lords plays an important role in questioning the decisions and actions of the government through questions and debates
The House of Lords committees investigate public policy, proposed laws and government activity.
The House of Lords Library provides impartial research and information services to Members of the House of Lords, their staff and the staff of the House.
One of the features of the Palace of Westminster which is unfailingly pointed out to visitors on a tour is the difference between the colours which are used in the Lords and Commons parts of the building.
House of Commons Green
Green is the principal colour for furnishings and fabrics throughout the accommodation used by
the House of Commons, except in some of the carpets which were designed for the post-Second
World War rebuilding, where a mottled brown was used. From 1981, volumes of Hansard were
issued in green for the first time. In the House of Lords, red is similarly employed in upholstery,
notepaper; Hansard etc., and it is relatively easy to explain why the House of Lords colour
should be red. It probably stems from the use by kings of red as a royal colour and its
consequent employment in the room where the King met his court and nobles. The use by the
Commons of green is much less easy to explain.
Symbolism of the colour green
Nature, faith and myth
The colour green, both before and during the medieval period, represented the bounty of nature
and fertility; the colour that is all of life. In ancient myth and legend the colour appears in
mysterious figures such as the ‘Green Man’ or the face in the leaves, the man that dies in winter
and is reborn in spring, the bountiful Jack-in-the-Green, and the story of Gawain and the Green
Knight. Archers wore green, all men in the Middle Ages were obliged by law to practice archery,
and they became the mainstay of English medieval armies. Green was the colour of the pasture
and the greenwood, of the village green used by all, in other words the colour of the countryman,
the ‘common’ man. These legends were translated into the Christian ideals of faith, hope and
charity – everlasting faith, life over death, and rejuvenation of the soul through good works.
Green was used in the backgrounds of religious paintings depicting these virtues.
The choice of medieval kings
The Plantagenet kings of England employed green for the most important rooms in Westminster
Palace. Green was used in the thirteenth century by King Henry III, for his chapel of St.
Stephen, and for his most private chamber – the bedchamber known as the Painted Chamber –
and even for the bed itself. The back of the south wall of Westminster Hall was also painted
green at this time; this was the place from which, behind a marble table upon a dais, the King
made a grand display of his authority, at the coronation banquets, at the splendid feasts or
presiding over the law courts.
Henry’s son, Edward I, carried on the theme by building the Green Chamber, which took its
name from the colour of its interior. The walls of this building were also decorated with
paintings of Christ in Majesty and figures of the four Evangelists. Such a display of the colour in
the principal areas of the palace must indicate a desire to show symbolically the Christian
virtues. We know that the chapel was the centre of faith and that charity was dispensed to the
poor in the Painted Chamber, a room of mystical significance because it was believed that St.
Edward the Confessor had died there, and it was used for the lying in state of later monarchs. In
addition, the State Opening was held here up to 1539 and it was the place in which the King
would receive important guests.
The livery colours of the Tudors (1485-1603) were vert and argent (green and white). It is
possible to imagine that, just as the Tudor emblems of the portcullis and the rose (see Factsheet
G9) appeared in the Palace, so might their colours have been given prominence out of loyalty to,
or to curry favour with, the Crown.
House of Commons Green House of Commons Information Office Factsheet G10 3
The colour of service
Not only did the king use green, but the high officials of the king’s household also used it for
their private offices near to the Lords’ Chamber. For the coronation of James II in 1685, an
order was made to the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod for ‘as much green serge as will hang
the Archbishop of Canterbury’s room, the Lord Chancellor’s, the Lord Treasurer’s and the Lord
Great Chamberlain’s, to be done in all respects as they were before.’ As a calm, peaceful colour
for an office it was ideal, and the noise-absorbent fabric was no doubt tacked to the walls. The
House of Lords Chamber adopted crimson, but by its ordinariness, green would not challenge the
authority of the king. It is not a showy colour like luxurious red, and comes as a neutral colour
between the warm hue – red – and the cool one – blue. Red demands to be noticed, whilst
green is camouflage, restful, harmonious, self-effacing, a chaste colour of modesty and humility
lacking the spiritual and royal associations of blue.
In the background of Holbein’s paintings of Henry VIII’s senior courtiers, plain, unadorned green
curtains appear, thereby suggesting that green was used in royal palaces such as Whitehall and
Greenwich after Westminster was given up by the king in 1512.
Baize
Other serviceable uses were found for green fabric, such as for covering tables where business
was conducted, most notably for the meetings of the Lord Steward to manage the king’s
accounts at a committee known as the Board of Green Cloth – the ‘board’ meaning a wooden
table. Presumably it was the businesslike green cloth called baize which was employed to cover
the table.
Baize was an inexpensive fabric made at first from woven wool, and later from cotton. It came
originally from France, but it was later made in England too from the sixteenth century, by
refugees from France and the Netherlands. In the cloth trade it became known as ‘Manchester
baize’ and the material was employed for serviceable items such as the coverings for the stools
at the Coronation of James II in 1685. Officials in the Lords – the Lords Commissioners – even
used it in 1702 in a former royal room which had been traditionally green from the thirteenth
century: the Painted Chamber. A warrant ordered that the ‘Chamber [be] compleatly covered
with Green Manchester Bays’. The fabric was also purchased to cover the ‘table where Her
Majesty dines’ for Queen Anne’s coronation in 1702.
To this day, green baize is used to cover card tables, as well as for loose covers for dining tables
before the white linen cover is put over the top of it. Eventually green baize distinguished the
areas for servants who would live and work ‘behind the green baize door’. It seems that the use
of green in the servants quarters of the king’s household extended to its use in the Commons’
Chamber as well.
Theatres began to adopt the use of green from at least 1700. The colour was used widely for
curtains, seats, and even the stage itself, which became known as ‘The Green’. The Green
Room, used for actors waiting to go on stage, has survived, at least in name, to the present time.
As a theatre of debate at the centre of Parliament, it is not surprising to see the parallel
employment of the colour both at the House of Commons as well as in the commercial theatre.
Reference: www.parliament.uk
The Lords
The House of Lords is the second chamber of the UK Parliament. It is independent from, and complements the work of, the elected House of Commons. The Lords shares the task of making and shaping laws and checking and challenging the work of the government.
The House of Lords is the second chamber of the UK Parliament. It is independent from, and complements the work of, the elected House of Commons. The Lords shares the task of making and shaping laws and checking and challenging the work of the government.
The House of Lords is made up of around 800 members from a variety of professions and walks of life
Bills start in either the House of Lords or House of Commons. They go through set stages of approval in both Houses before they become an Act of Parliament.
The Lords plays an important role in questioning the decisions and actions of the government through questions and debates
The House of Lords committees investigate public policy, proposed laws and government activity.
The House of Lords Library provides impartial research and information services to Members of the House of Lords, their staff and the staff of the House.
One of the features of the Palace of Westminster which is unfailingly pointed out to visitors on a tour is the difference between the colours which are used in the Lords and Commons parts of the building.
House of Commons Green
Green is the principal colour for furnishings and fabrics throughout the accommodation used by
the House of Commons, except in some of the carpets which were designed for the post-Second
World War rebuilding, where a mottled brown was used. From 1981, volumes of Hansard were
issued in green for the first time. In the House of Lords, red is similarly employed in upholstery,
notepaper; Hansard etc., and it is relatively easy to explain why the House of Lords colour
should be red. It probably stems from the use by kings of red as a royal colour and its
consequent employment in the room where the King met his court and nobles. The use by the
Commons of green is much less easy to explain.
Symbolism of the colour green
Nature, faith and myth
The colour green, both before and during the medieval period, represented the bounty of nature
and fertility; the colour that is all of life. In ancient myth and legend the colour appears in
mysterious figures such as the ‘Green Man’ or the face in the leaves, the man that dies in winter
and is reborn in spring, the bountiful Jack-in-the-Green, and the story of Gawain and the Green
Knight. Archers wore green, all men in the Middle Ages were obliged by law to practice archery,
and they became the mainstay of English medieval armies. Green was the colour of the pasture
and the greenwood, of the village green used by all, in other words the colour of the countryman,
the ‘common’ man. These legends were translated into the Christian ideals of faith, hope and
charity – everlasting faith, life over death, and rejuvenation of the soul through good works.
Green was used in the backgrounds of religious paintings depicting these virtues.
The choice of medieval kings
The Plantagenet kings of England employed green for the most important rooms in Westminster
Palace. Green was used in the thirteenth century by King Henry III, for his chapel of St.
Stephen, and for his most private chamber – the bedchamber known as the Painted Chamber –
and even for the bed itself. The back of the south wall of Westminster Hall was also painted
green at this time; this was the place from which, behind a marble table upon a dais, the King
made a grand display of his authority, at the coronation banquets, at the splendid feasts or
presiding over the law courts.
Henry’s son, Edward I, carried on the theme by building the Green Chamber, which took its
name from the colour of its interior. The walls of this building were also decorated with
paintings of Christ in Majesty and figures of the four Evangelists. Such a display of the colour in
the principal areas of the palace must indicate a desire to show symbolically the Christian
virtues. We know that the chapel was the centre of faith and that charity was dispensed to the
poor in the Painted Chamber, a room of mystical significance because it was believed that St.
Edward the Confessor had died there, and it was used for the lying in state of later monarchs. In
addition, the State Opening was held here up to 1539 and it was the place in which the King
would receive important guests.
The livery colours of the Tudors (1485-1603) were vert and argent (green and white). It is
possible to imagine that, just as the Tudor emblems of the portcullis and the rose (see Factsheet
G9) appeared in the Palace, so might their colours have been given prominence out of loyalty to,
or to curry favour with, the Crown.
House of Commons Green House of Commons Information Office Factsheet G10 3
The colour of service
Not only did the king use green, but the high officials of the king’s household also used it for
their private offices near to the Lords’ Chamber. For the coronation of James II in 1685, an
order was made to the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod for ‘as much green serge as will hang
the Archbishop of Canterbury’s room, the Lord Chancellor’s, the Lord Treasurer’s and the Lord
Great Chamberlain’s, to be done in all respects as they were before.’ As a calm, peaceful colour
for an office it was ideal, and the noise-absorbent fabric was no doubt tacked to the walls. The
House of Lords Chamber adopted crimson, but by its ordinariness, green would not challenge the
authority of the king. It is not a showy colour like luxurious red, and comes as a neutral colour
between the warm hue – red – and the cool one – blue. Red demands to be noticed, whilst
green is camouflage, restful, harmonious, self-effacing, a chaste colour of modesty and humility
lacking the spiritual and royal associations of blue.
In the background of Holbein’s paintings of Henry VIII’s senior courtiers, plain, unadorned green
curtains appear, thereby suggesting that green was used in royal palaces such as Whitehall and
Greenwich after Westminster was given up by the king in 1512.
Baize
Other serviceable uses were found for green fabric, such as for covering tables where business
was conducted, most notably for the meetings of the Lord Steward to manage the king’s
accounts at a committee known as the Board of Green Cloth – the ‘board’ meaning a wooden
table. Presumably it was the businesslike green cloth called baize which was employed to cover
the table.
Baize was an inexpensive fabric made at first from woven wool, and later from cotton. It came
originally from France, but it was later made in England too from the sixteenth century, by
refugees from France and the Netherlands. In the cloth trade it became known as ‘Manchester
baize’ and the material was employed for serviceable items such as the coverings for the stools
at the Coronation of James II in 1685. Officials in the Lords – the Lords Commissioners – even
used it in 1702 in a former royal room which had been traditionally green from the thirteenth
century: the Painted Chamber. A warrant ordered that the ‘Chamber [be] compleatly covered
with Green Manchester Bays’. The fabric was also purchased to cover the ‘table where Her
Majesty dines’ for Queen Anne’s coronation in 1702.
To this day, green baize is used to cover card tables, as well as for loose covers for dining tables
before the white linen cover is put over the top of it. Eventually green baize distinguished the
areas for servants who would live and work ‘behind the green baize door’. It seems that the use
of green in the servants quarters of the king’s household extended to its use in the Commons’
Chamber as well.
Theatres began to adopt the use of green from at least 1700. The colour was used widely for
curtains, seats, and even the stage itself, which became known as ‘The Green’. The Green
Room, used for actors waiting to go on stage, has survived, at least in name, to the present time.
As a theatre of debate at the centre of Parliament, it is not surprising to see the parallel
employment of the colour both at the House of Commons as well as in the commercial theatre.
Reference: www.parliament.uk
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