What is life really like at the House of Commons, how heated are weekly PMQs and how does your MP fit into all this?

Two years after winning the election as Harrogate and Knaresborough’s MP, Tom Gordon invited the Harrogate Advertiser's Graham Chalmers to Prime Minister's Questions at Westminster this week to take the temperature of Britain's fractured politics and see for himself how the town's interests are represented.

House of Commons and PMQs: Top Five Things You May Not Have Known

1 Before the start of each sitting of the House of Commons, the Speaker walks from their official residence in the Palace of Westminster to the Commons chamber with a ceremonial entourage including the Serjeant at Arms who carries the giant ceremonial Mace.

On the second anniversary of winning his seat as Harrogate and Knaresborough’s MP, Tom Gordon invited the Harrogate Advertiser to Westminster. (Picture contributed)

placeholder image — On the second anniversary of winning his seat as Harrogate and Knaresborough’s MP, Tom Gordon invited the Harrogate Advertiser to Westminster. (Picture contributed)

2 Senior figures, whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer or the Deputy Prime Minister, have to wait for a quiet moment in the Chamber to slip in quietly and squeeze into a seat on the benches.

3 To ask a question at PMQs, an MP must enter a ballot to secure a spot on the Order Paper. But some choose to "bob" up and down in their seats when a question concludes, hoping the Speaker will spot them and call their name.

4 During debates in the House of Commons, MPs are not allowed to address each other directly by name. Instead, they must be called "The Honourable Member For" followed by their constituency.

5 The distance across the floor of the chamber of the House of Commons between the opposing benches is only 13 feet.

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