The Flagpoles of the Westminster Estate

The following posted with thanks to the author.

Dear Toque,

I am writing in response to your post "Parliament Grows Two New Flagpoles", made on 18 January. I have made some research, and I have reached the conclusion that the BBC article in question is mistaken. Mr Speaker's statement on the matter, made on 16 December 2009 and quoted in the said article, makes reference to "all three flagpoles on the Estate". The Parliamentary Estate is not synonymous with the Palace of Westminster, but includes all the buildings used by the two Houses of Parliament; although the Palace is under the joint custody of the two Houses, the Commons has sole jurisdiction over the buildings owned or leased by that House alone (such as Portcullis House and the Norman Shaw Buildings). Therefore, the Speaker's decision on the flying of flags applied immediately to all Commons buildings except the Palace of Westminster. To return to Mr Speaker's statement, "in the case of the Victoria Tower, agreement would be necessary with the House of Lords".

Apparently, the Lords agreed, because an Early Day Motion tabled on 29 March by Sir Nicholas Winterton notes that "on 6 January 2010, for the first time in the history of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Union Flag was raised permanently above the Victoria Tower of the Palace of Westminster and now remains in place all day and every day throughout the year; further notes that the two additional flag poles located on the Parliamentary Estate at 1 Parliament Street and Portcullis House now also display the Union Flag at all times and have done so since 28 November 2009". This confirms that there is only one flagpole in the Palace of Westminster, namely the one atop the Victoria Tower.

This fact is further confirmed in the reply to a question in the House of Commons on 10 January 2007 about flying the Cross of Saint George: "The St. George Flag is never flown on the parliamentary estate as each building on the Estate only has one flagstaff."

I hope this has resolved any confusion that might exist about the matter at hand.