On Monday 5th November, Christina and Phil had the opportunity to visit the Houses of Parliament with a private tour provided by local Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson.
The tour coincided with MP’s voting for the new speaker of the house, Sir Lindsay Hoyle. This was a relatively rare event where the vote is made in secret. Christina and Phil got the chance to observe the process from the House of Commons gallery. The tour included a private dinner with Andrew in the Strangers Dining room, followed by a drink in the Strangers Bar and terrace overlooking the Thames. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening with lots of discussion about the state of politics, Brexit and of course the upcoming election.
The tour was kindly donated by Andrew as an auction prize at the Fence Charity Ball held back in May. The Charity Ball organised by Steve and Lisa Nicholas raised over £10,000 for local Safespace charity and Christina and Phil were happy to have been able to help with their donation.