Alexandra Meakin (@ameakin) — Bluesky Profile

1 day ago

Always use the mic! Even if you are Brian Blessed, you need to use the mic. The microphone will support the hearing loop - it doesn't matter how loud your voice is or how admirable your projection, it needs to be picked up by the hearing loop for anyone using a hearing aid. 1/

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1 day ago

Very pleased to see our article on backbench roles in the HoC published in @hansardsociety.bsky.social Parliamentary Affairs.

@carolinebha.bsky.social @socialpolicy.bsky.social & I group MPs by activity across 26 measures, identifying 7 roles.

It's free to read!

academic.oup.com/pa/advance-a...

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2 days ago

Rachel Reeves in front of a large black and white photo of Alice Bacon campaigning in Leeds

Frances O'Grady in front of a large black and white photo of Alice Bacon campaigning in Leeds

Another brilliant Alice Bacon lecture organised by @cdpleeds.bsky.social! Super inspiring having the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer introduce a talk from the first female General Secretary of the TUC 🙌 and to have so many of my fab @polisatleeds.bsky.social students in the audience

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2 days ago

'Towards Westminster' (1972) by Edward Seago

(Private collection)

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3 days ago

A paradigmatic example of the mistaken prioritisation of “research” over teaching. Cross-subsidise research from student fees, and penalise academics who prioritise teaching.

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3 days ago

Parliament of 1705-1708 The 2nd Parliament of Queen Anne, the last occasion on which the royal veto was used.

Nowadays, it is a foregone conclusion that the monarch will grant royal assent to a bill to make it an Act of Parliament.

The last monarch to refuse to sign a bill was Queen Anne in 1708, who withheld royal assent from the Scottish Militia Bill.

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3 days ago

The passage of the Hereditary Peers Bill in the Lords yesterday means an end to 366 unbroken years of membership of Parliament by peers claiming their seats by hereditary right.
If one overlooks the hiatus of 1649-1660, their participation dates back to the very beginning of parliaments.
#HistParl

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4 days ago

I am so full of admiration for Charlotte Nichols’ courage in talking about this - particularly awful that as a woman in public life she will have had to consider first how people might use this information against her, especially online. Hope she has all the support she needs.

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6 days ago

A screenshot of a google results page for the search query "cabinet office ministers". It states that the Minister for the Cabinet Office is Baron True, a completely false answer.

I know this is punishment for not just searching through gov.uk to get pictures for my lecture slides, but why must Google be so bad now?

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1 week ago

Parliament refurb chairman defends potential £40bn costs Simon Thurley says the estimated cost does not seem like a

Parliament refurb chair defends potential £40bn costs www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

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1 week ago

The U.K. Parliament needs fixing.

But the fight over how to repair this UNESCO World Heritage site has become a seemingly endless tale of division and delay.

🔗 politi.co/46MVltE

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1 week ago

I’m thrilled to share that my new book on the UK Parliament has officially gone into production, with publication planned for October.

The book offers a “critical friend” perspective — recognising Parliament’s strengths while examining the challenges rooted in its historical development.

More soon

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1 week ago

International Women's Day special: The inside story of life as an MP Podcast Episode · Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government · 6 March · 34m

Huge thanks to @elliechowns.bsky.social @drbeccycoopermp.bsky.social and Karen Bradley MP for joining me for #IWD2026.

Got into quite the debate about what the constituency inbox teaches you about problems facing our public services and frustrations that causes

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...

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1 week ago

‘The catastrophe is coming’: The battle to fix Britain’s crumbling parliament British MPs worry that voters will be ‘furious’ with a revamp of parliament — but the safety warnings keep piling up.

The Palace of Westminster stands on the banks of the River Thames in London as a proud symbol of British democracy.

But upon closer inspection, this neo-gothic mini-village is falling apart.

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1 week ago

THANK POD IT’S FRIDAY
Westminster Insider: POLITICO’s Patrick Baker takes a tour of parliament’s crumbling infrastructure and discusses what to do next with restoration expert Alexandra Meakin, Liberal Democrat MP Marie Goldman, Conservative MP and Father of the House Edward Leigh and former minister Ed Vaizey.

And here's the Playbook trail for the pod. Thanks to @politico.eu for the interview.

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1 week ago

Inside the fight to fix Parliament by Westminster Insider The Palace of Westminster towers over the River Thames as a symbol of British democracy. But look a little closer and the building is falling apart.

I spoke to Patrick Baker from @politico.eu for this week's episode of Westminster Insider, which focuses on the Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster. Listen here megaphone.link/POLL4915318489

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1 week ago

The second edition of the Exploring Parliament textbook, sitting on a yellow spotty tablecloth.

Late in the day but happy World Book Day to the brilliant @estrangeirada.bsky.social & @louisevthompson.bsky.social, who invited me to join the editorial team for the best parliamentary studies textbook - and to the 70+ contributors who shared their expertise and made the book amazing 🙌

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1 week ago

(so much coverage of R&R demonstrates that the author has no idea about how Parliament works; just rehashes impractical or facile suggestions; or claims the work can be done more cheaply, without showing any justification. Always a relief to read something that avoids any of that)

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1 week ago

The R&R report delivered last month promises a parliamentary building fit for the future. Glossy architectural renderings imagine a sunken modern visitors’ centre, similar to the Louvre’s entrance hall. There’s an emphasis on accessibility and sustainability: as it stands, only 12 per cent of the Palace is step-free and the heating is so knackered that portable heaters are everywhere. Heat pumps and discreet solar panels are in discussion. ‘It needs to be a building that everyone in the UK would feel welcome in,’ says Meakin. ‘A building that belongs to the nation, rather than the temporary occupants of the current legislature.’
How likely is that vision to be realised? To move forward, a debate is due to take place this year on the R&R report. After that, both Houses will vote on whether to proceed with ‘Phase One’ stabilisation works – the necessary first steps before either ‘full decant’ or ‘EMI+’ can take place. These initial repairs are expected to take seven years and cost £3 billion. Then, in the early 2030s – and, crucially, after the next election – members will approve one of the two options and full-scale works might finally begin.
‘Punting the vote to 2030 means this parliament has, in effect, abdicated its responsibility,’ says Meakin. ‘What are the chances that, in five years’ time, a new intake of MPs will commission their own review and the whole saga will drag on while this symbol of democracy and iconic national building continues to crumble?’
For now, the fate of the Palace of Westminster is in members’ hands – if it doesn’t burn down around their ears first.

Excellent @thespectator1828.bsky.social article on R&R - credit to Alex Diggins who really did his research on this (and chatted to me!) spectator.com/article/will...

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1 week ago

An excellent thread from my colleague @meganbryer.bsky.social ahead of #IWD2026 this Sunday

Lots below including quotes from some of the women who have served as government ministers, reflecting on their time in office

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1 week ago

More Ministers To Be Paid Under Payroll Reforms Exclusive: The number of paid ministerial roles is to increase as part of new government reforms to be announced on Thursday.

A Whitehall scoop:

A bill is coming to increase the number of paid ministers

11 new salaries will be created to bring the payroll in line w/ the average size of a modern government

"The PM believes that ministerial office should not be reserved for those wealthy enough to fund it for themselves"

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1 week ago

the Clerk remained the Accounting Officer, accountable to the Public Accounts Committee for taxpayers’ money spent maintaining the building. The Clerk also has legal responsibility safety of people on the parliamentary estate, as the Corporate Officer. Lord Lisvane has discussed how the “penalties prescribed by the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act” caused him “sleepless hours” when he held this role (HL Deb, 6 Feb 2018, c 1972-3). He discussed this further in an interview, noting that it was a responsibility borne by an official, not a parliamentarian:

“I felt that there was an extremely high level of risk which we collectively, and I as Corporate Officer, were not in a position to mitigate […] one of the things that one is very conscious of as a corporate officer, is that you carry—no member carries it—not even the Speaker, you carry the legal responsibility if something goes wrong” (interview, Lisvane, June 2018)

This is a critical point. Unlike government ministers, the Speaker or backbench MPs, officials had a specific responsibility for protecting the building. The parliamentary scholar and peer, Lord Norton of Louth, noted how officials had this responsibility but not the power to act:

“They are restricted […] they have legal responsibilities but of course they don't have the political position which is necessary for leadership; they might prompt, they can advise those in leadership positions, but they are reliant on the political leadership to act” (Interview, Norton, September 2018)

If anyone is interested in applying, the job of Clerk of the House of Commons comes with a £225,000 annual salary but also the legal responsibility for the safety of everyone on the parliamentary estate and no actual power to get MPs and Peers to agree to address the massive fire and flood risks...

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1 week ago

In 1992, Betty Boothroyd made history, becoming the first and only woman appointed as Speaker of the House of Commons.

Find out more about her illustrious career below:
#WomensHistoryMonth #WHM

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1 week ago

Explaining Change in Legislatures: Dilemmas of Managerial Reform in the UK House of Commons - Alexandra Meakin, Marc Geddes, 2022 How do institutions adapt and reform themselves in response to new challenges? This article considers the role of ideas and posits that the concept of ‘dilemma’...

The Speaker has announced the resignation of the Clerk of the Commons, Tom Goldsmith, with a successor to be identified by summer recess. So, it's a good time to read @marcgeddes.uk & me on the challenges of this job and the chaotic recruitment process in 2014 🙌 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

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1 week ago

1 in 4 pupils receiving Free School Meals said the £1 book they 'bought' with their £1 #WorldBookDay book token was the first book of their own. If you're in any doubt as to why today is important, that should bring it home.

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1 week ago

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NOOKS and CORNERS

LIKE many custodians of complicated historical buildings, parliamentarians have long dithered over do ered over doing the repair and restoration work to the Palace of Westminster, baulking at the cost to taxpayers and inconvenience to themselves (Eyes passim). But the longer they wait, the worse the cost and inconvenience become The latest report from the Restoration and Renewal client board (R&R). comprising members of both Houses plus some lay members, finally tries to get things moving with costed proposals to crack on with "Phase 1" works: restoring the medieval cloister court, to prevent prev irretrievable loss of stonework in one of the palace's hidden gems; and refurbishing Victoria Tower, without having to commit just yet to shifting MPs out of the complex.

It would also see spending on removing art and other treasures to temporary homes and sprucing up other buildings, including the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre and parliament's "northern estate", ready to house decanted peers and MPs.

Even the £3bn for Phase 1 sounds eye-wateringly expensive, making it easy political capital for Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch to call for the work to be "paused and refocused" to addressescalating costs. But delaying and doing nothing also costs a fortune, and the last thing the on-again- off-again restoration of parliament needs is another pause. Inflation combined with further deterioration means the project costs go up every time it is written about, while the parliamentary estate is throwing away £70m a a year on maintenance to keep the doors open, and £45m on operating costs, including heating the draughty buildings.

Despite Badenoch's sneering at the R&R board's energy efficiency ambitions as wanting the palace to become a "Net Zero Dubai Hotel", tackling the huge operating costs is one element that might actually pay for itself in time.

Excellent @privateeyenews.bsky.social report on the costed proposals for the Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster and the response from the Conservatives.

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1 week ago

Palace of Westminster: Repairs and Maintenance
Show full question
Question for Restoration and Renewal Client Board
UIN 114853, tabled on 23 February 2026

Question
Wendy Morton
Conservative
Aldridge-Brownhills Commons
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the Restoration and Renewal Client Board, what assessment it has made of the cumulative cost impact of scope additions relating to visitor experience, public engagement and new-build interventions; whether these elements materially increase the risk of programme delay; and whether removal or deferral of such elements could materially reduce the headline cost range and decant duration.

Answer
Nick Smith
Labour
Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney Commons
Answered on
3 March 2026

Section 2(5) of the Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Act 2019, which established the framework for the Restoration and Renewal (R&R) Programme, requires the Programme to have regard to (amongst other things) the need to ensure the Parliamentary building works represent good value for money, the need for improved visitor access to the Palace of Westminster after completion of the works, and the need to ensure that educational and other facilities are provided for people visiting the Palace after completion of the works.

In 2024 the R&R Client Board considered the scope of the R&R Programme: that is, the improvements and benefits to be achieved in the end-state Palace, to which both Houses of Parliament will return. Having considered various scope levels, the Client Board decided against the most "transformational" scope but selected a scope which it agreed would deliver improvements while maintaining value-for-money.

While there are no standalone business cases for individual scope elements within the Palace, all such elements will be included within the Programme Business Case, which will follow a decision by the Houses on the preferred way forward. Chapter 7 of the R&R Client Board’s recent report, Delivering restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster: the costed proposals (HC Paper 1576) sets out the Client Board’s view on what the Houses should be invited to approve. The exact form and content of any motion put before the Houses is to be decided.

An interesting set of Qs from Wendy Morton to the R&R Client Board. Let's see if this response, showing that the cost of the visitor/education centres is <1% of full decant price, changes the Conservative attack line about R&R gold-plating... questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-ques...

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1 week ago

Late deciders, higher turnout: what the Gorton and Denton byelection taught us about voters High numbers of undecideds may partially explain the late swing to the Greens.

Late deciders, higher turnout: what the Gorton and Denton byelection taught us about voters - by @hannahbunting.bsky.social @lottehargrave.bsky.social @jess-smith.bsky.social

theconversation.com/late-decider...

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1 week ago

Radical parties of the right and left in top two slots. Legacy parties getting only a third of the vote between them.

A whole new world.

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1 week ago

There’s lots significant here - not just the Greens in second place. Reform falling back, the combined right bloc vote being just 39%. British politics in a state of flux. Is it time for Labour MPs to act?

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