Nearly one hundred residents of Northampton North were the latest group to accept my invitation to visit Parliament for a tour of the Palace of Westminster. I have now been able to arrange a total of four coaches on three separate occasions and for the cost price of just £11, each visitor is transported from Northampton to Westminster and back and gets a 75 minute tour from a professional guide. Visitors also get time to explore the immediate area, have a Question and Answer session with me, and visit the Parliamentary gift shop. The price paid goes solely to covering the cost of the coach.
I was also very pleased to welcome a group of students from Northampton College to Parliament, where they went on a tour of the historic building, conducted by the Education Centre at Westminster. Afterwards, I had the opportunity to meet these students about my work, both here and in Northampton, in another Q & A session.
You may have read in the press that the buildings, particularly the older parts of the Palace of Westminster, are in urgent need of extensive renovation. With electrical wiring and plumbing some 70 years old, it is possible this old building may have to be vacated for several years, so that extensive repairs can be carried out to preserve this important and historic building for the nation.
Before that happens, I am trying to take as many of my constituents as possible who are interested in visiting to see and experience the Parliament building, arranging coach tours for groups of constituents to come to London for a free tour, just paying the cost of the coach. The only cost to visitors is that of the coach and the visit is arranged at cost price.
I hope to arrange as many of these coach tours as I can over the coming years.