Westminster Insider Inside the fight to fix Parliament
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Mar 6, 2026 Alexandra Meakin, a politics lecturer and parliamentary restoration researcher, explains why the Palace of Westminster needs urgent work. She tours crumbling basements, outlines fire, asbestos and wiring risks, and contrasts full decant versus piecemeal fixes. The discussion covers costs, heritage debates, calls to temporarily move out, and lessons from Canada on large-scale rebuilds.
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Crumbling Infrastructure Built By Decades Of Patchwork
- Parliament's infrastructure has been patched for decades, producing a tangled, failing system that now risks major failure.
- Alexandra Meakin describes mice, failing heating, sewage leaks and decades of incremental work that created the current crisis.
2019 Water Leak Broke Through Political Timelines
- In 2019 Parliament recorded a loud water leak inside the main Commons chamber, highlighting urgent deterioration.
- The leak occurred the same year governance bodies were created, underscoring the building's continuing failures during political debate.
Basement Described As A Cathedral Of Horrors
- The Palace's basement is a hazardous knot of historic plumbing, steam, wiring and temporary fixes that raise serious fire risk.
- Tour details include a steam engine, 19th-century sewage, metal trays catching leaks and wires braided through pipes under the Commons.