What is Division Bell?

This article is about the bell that is rung in certain Legislatures. For the Pink Floyd album, see The Division Bell.

A division bell is a bell rung in or around a parliament to signal a division and thus call all members of the chamber so affected to vote in it.

In the United Kingdom

The bell is used in the local neighbourhood of the Parliament to signal a division is occurring and that members in the Commons or in the House of Lords have eight minutes to get to the appropriate Division Lobby to vote for or against the resolution. The call for a Division is also displayed on the Annunciator screens throughout the Parliamentary buildings.

Because of the time allowance MPs may, in fact, be in nearby offices, restaurants, pubs or shops, some of which will have their own Division Bells connected to those within the confines of the Parliament's buildings, others will use a system of pagers co-ordinated by the Whip's office of each party.

The headquarters of the major parties are all within the reach of the division bell and this area roughly defines the geographical limits of the Westminster Bubble.

The BBC Antiques Roadshow from The Banqueting House in Whitehall featured the original Division Bell Transmitter (serial number 1) from The House of Commons. Their expert Paul Atterbury with the help of Baroness Betty Boothroyd ex Speaker of The House, demonstrated the apparatus in use with one of the original Division Bells. The Show was first seen in October 2007, where the transmitter was valued at £15,000.

Three Division Bell Transmitters were made at the end of the 19th century by The GPO at the request of The Government. They were numbered 1, 2 and 3. Two were destroyed by a bomb in 1941 and replaced with copies bearing the numbers 4 and 5. Number 5 transmitter exists, but the whereabouts of number 4 is not known.

In Australia

In Australia both State and Federal Parliament buildings use electronic division bells. Red and green lights near the division bells flash to show which house is being called. The bells are rung at the beginning of a meeting, because a vote is about to be taken, or because there are not enough members in the chamber.