Databases, Debates and Dining Rooms: Behind the Scenes at the House of Commons

In this episode of Order, Order, host Terry Wiggins is joined by Aileen Walker OBE to explore a very different side of Westminster: libraries, learning and lunch. Aileen reflects on a career that began in the early 1980s when she left Glasgow for London to join the House of Commons Library, working on the Parliamentary Online Indexing System (POLIS) and learning parliamentary procedure by indexing questions, debates, Acts and committee papers.

Aileen explains how the Members’ Library in the Palace of Westminster supports MPs with impartial, authoritative research on everything from housing and transport to education and defence, and how research papers are produced for every bill. She recalls a very different Commons in 1982, with only 19 women MPs, no security passes, officers of the House enjoying privileges, and even informal rules about when women could wear trousers.

Moving from the Library into the Public Information Office, the Parliamentary ICT Service and the Education Service, Aileen describes the growing demand from the public for information before the internet, the pressure on telephone lines, and the shift to a more proactive approach to explaining Parliament’s work. She talks about becoming the first Director of Public Engagement, overseeing education, outreach and visitor services jointly for the House of Commons and House of Lords, and the complex stakeholder management needed to keep two Houses and multiple committees on board.

Aileen and Terry delve into the evolution of catering across the Westminster estate, from the Strangers’ cafeteria, Westminster Hall cafe and traditional Lords cafeteria with “school dinner” classics like Spotted Dick, to Bellamy’s with stir fries cooked in front of you, and Portcullis House with its street food, curries, jerk chicken and jerk pork. They recall the adjournment as a brasserie-style venue for visitors, barista coffee at the Dispatch Box, and Friday fish and chips traditions.

There are vivid stories of Westminster moments: Tony Blair crossing the Portcullis House atrium on his final day as Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher’s last Prime Minister’s Questions, and encounters with speakers from Lord Tonypandy and Bernard Weatherill to Betty Boothroyd, as well as Prime Ministers including Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron. Aileen also shares how Betty Boothroyd championed the early Education Service and helped secure the Boothroyd Room, paving the way for the purpose-built Education Centre that opened in 2015 with dedicated workshops, technology and augmented reality for school groups.

The conversation steps outside the kitchen and chamber into Westminster Hall and beyond, with memories of a ceilidh in Westminster Hall, the Parliament Choir performing with the Bundestag Choir to mark the end of the Second World War, and concerts in the Vatican and the Bundestag. Aileen and Terry also touch on MP bands like MP4, interdepartmental five-a-side football tournaments, rowing regattas on the Thames, sponsored swims and Terry’s DJ sets at staff parties.

After leaving Parliament in 2016, Aileen describes her work with Global Partners Governance, helping strengthen parliamentary institutions and public engagement in countries such as Sudan, Ukraine, Albania, Armenia, Uzbekistan and Iraq. She reflects on hopeful moments and heartbreaking setbacks, including the collapse into conflict in Sudan, and the satisfaction of tailoring support to local cultures and priorities rather than imposing a model from Westminster.

Now back in Glasgow, Aileen talks about a new chapter: semi-retirement, panel work in Scotland’s children’s hearing system, a role on a theatre board for outdoor arts and street theatre, and serving on the council of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow. She and her husband Nick enjoy long-distance walking on routes such as the West Highland Way and the Northumberland Coast Path, and look forward to volunteering at the Commonwealth Games and travelling to Australia to watch the Ashes in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide. There’s even time for Marvel as she recounts recording the My Mum Missed Marvel podcast with her son during lockdown, and their Christmas plans featuring a Thai cookery course–inspired dinner cooked by her elder son.

Throughout, Aileen returns to her central theme: that MPs work hard, Parliament is more than just what you see at Prime Minister’s Questions, and that public engagement, education and even the food served in Westminster all play a part in sustaining a healthy democracy.