Video and audio footage (live and on-demand) of all UK Parliament events taking place in public, including debates and chamber proceedings from both the House of Commons and the House of Lords and all committees, with video coverage of some special events at Parliament. Archived coverage goes back to December 2007.

Related publications

The House of Commons Journal is the corrected, archive edition of Votes and Proceedings, the formal record of House of Commons business for a given day.

The House of Lords Journal is the corrected, archive edition of Minutes of Proceedings (select the relevant date), the formal record of House of Lords business for a given day.

Deposited Papers are documents that are placed in the Library of either House, usually by a government minister, in response to a direct request for information by an individual MP or member of the Lords, or to supplement a statement.

Introduction

Reports of Parliamentary debates are usually known as Hansard, from the name of the company which produced them during much of the nineteenth century.

This page lists the various sources of these reports, both contemporary and historical, and other related publications.

Hansard only dates from 1803; all earlier debates are unofficial, collected from various private sources. Also, Hansard was not a complete record of all debates until it became the Official Report in 1909 - prior to then, it was selective.

Information on the history, operation and citation of Hansard can be found in the Communicating Parliamentary business section of the UK Parliament website. This provides an overview of how decisions made in Parliament have been communicated to the public since the early 17th century.

Historical debates - online

Hansard 1803-2005

Alternative version (which can be searched but not browsed) available via UK Parliamentary papers alongside House of Commons and Lords journals for 1688-1834.
NB This resource is available to University of Hull students and staff; also to associate members and day visitors on Library premises only.

Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England ... (1066-1803)

This is available via Making of the modern world (available to University of Hull students and staff).

A collection of the Parliamentary debates in England ... (1668-1742)

This is available via Eighteenth century collections online (available to University of Hull students and staff; also to associate members and day visitors on Library premises only).

Other Parliamentary debates pre-1803

A range of reports of Parliamentary debates and Parliamentary diaries is available via British History Online (freely available), as are the House of Commons journals (1547-1699) and the House of Lords journals (1509-1793) which are the formal records of business for a given day.