Custodians of the Palace of Westminster

Meakin, A. and Siebert, S. (2024) Custodians of the Palace of Westminster. Parliamentary Affairs, 77(2), pp. 240-261. (doi: 10.1093/pa/gsad001)

Abstract

While the Palace of Westminster, the home of the UK Parliament requires an extensive programme of repairs and action to implement (or even agree) this programme—known as Restoration and Renewal—has been hampered. This article explores the concept of custodianship and poses a question: who are the custodians of the Palace and for whom do they preserve the Palace? Drawing on two research projects, this article explores differing interpretations of custodianship in this context, and whether decisions made about the parliamentary building are made to preserve the history of the Palace, improve working conditions in the present, or with the future of the building (and institution) in mind.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Account number ES/M500471 and a university studentship from the University of Sheffield, 2016–2019.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Keston-Siebert, Professor Sabina
• Authors: Meakin, A., and Siebert, S.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Management
• Journal Name: Parliamentary Affairs
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• ISSN: 0031-2290
• ISSN (Online): 1460-2482
• Published Online: 04 February 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Parliamentary Affairs 77(2):240-261
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence