What UK Parliament does

UK Parliament is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, comprising two chambers: the House of Commons with 650 democratically elected Members of Parliament and the House of Lords with approximately 800 appointed and hereditary members. Operating from the Palace of Westminster in London since the 13th century, it examines government actions, makes and shapes laws, holds taxation authority, and debates national issues. It serves UK citizens primarily, with secondary engagement from students, educators, researchers, academics, and domestic and international visitors.

The institution operates a comprehensive digital platform portfolio: Parliament TV (parliamentlive.tv) provides live and archived video of all public proceedings dating to December 2007; Hansard delivers verbatim transcripts; the Bills & Legislation tracker monitors legislative progress; Committee Publications hosts policy scrutiny outputs; and the E-Petitions platform enables citizen-initiated debate triggers at 100,000 signatures. Supporting services include the Find Your MP directory, Research Briefings from parliamentary libraries, Virtual Tours, the Heritage Collections catalogue of over 26,000 objects, and the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS). The technology stack integrates Shopify for retail, See Tickets for tour bookings, Mailchimp for newsletters, Power BI for analytics, and Vualto for video streaming, with a Developer Hub exposing open parliamentary data APIs.

UK Parliament is publicly funded through UK government budget allocation from general taxation and does not generate revenue from commercial activities. Ancillary income streams include venue hire for events in Commons and Lords spaces, guided and audio tours of the Palace of Westminster (from £31 audio / £40 guided / £55 Big Ben), retail sales through the Parliament Shop, and free tours for UK residents booked through MPs. Marketing and citizen engagement span parliament.uk, Parliament TV, social media (X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky, LinkedIn), email newsletters, the Education Service for schools and communities, and the annual UK Parliament Week programme.

Name

UK Parliament

Legal name

UK Parliament

Website

https://parliament.uk

Company type

Public

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

UK Parliament is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, comprising the elected House of Commons (650 MPs) and the House of Lords (~800 members), serving UK citizens through law-making, government scrutiny, and democratic engagement via digital platforms including Parliament TV, Hansard, and e-petitions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government and Public Administration

NAICS

Legislative Bodies (921120), Legislative Bodies (92112), Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support (921), Executive and Legislative Offices, Combined (92114)

akta.pro primary industry

State Legislature/Regional Assembly Administration (BPAIABAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Executive Office / Cabinet Secretariat (BPAIAAAA), Government, Public Policy & Regulatory Reference (Public Administration, Regulatory Guidance) (EDAGAGAK), City Clerk/Records, Elections & Civic Engagement (BPAIACAB)

Keywords

• Legislative services
• Parliamentary proceedings
• Democratic representation
• Civic education
• Government scrutiny

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: Parliament is publicly funded through the UK government's budget allocation, supported by taxpayer funding for operations, staff, and facilities.
2. Venue Hire and Tours: Revenue generated from guided tours of the Palace of Westminster (adult tickets from £40 for guided tours), audio tours (from £31), Big Ben tours (£55), and venue hire for events in House of Commons and House of Lords spaces.
3. Retail Sales: Parliament operates gift shops selling guidebooks, publications, and memorabilia including the Palace of Westminster Official Guide and Big Ben guide book.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels10 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

UK Parliament is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, comprising the House of Commons (650 elected MPs) and the House of Lords (~800 appointed/hereditary members). It makes and shapes law, scrutinises the Government, sets taxation, and debates national issues, while providing citizens with free public access to proceedings (Parliament TV, Hansard, Bill tracking), civic participation tools (E-Petitions, Find Your MP), research briefings, educational programmes, archival and heritage collections, visitor tours of the Palace of Westminster, retail sales of Parliament-branded publications, and venue hire of historic parliamentary spaces.

Product overview

UK Parliament operates as a dual-chamber legislative institution (House of Commons and House of Lords) offering a comprehensive suite of citizen-facing digital services. The core product portfolio includes Parliament TV for live/archived video proceedings, Hansard for verbatim debate transcripts, Bills & Legislation tracking system, Committee Publications for policy scrutiny, and Research Briefings from parliamentary libraries. Supporting services include the E-Petitions platform for public engagement, Find Your MP directory, Virtual Tours of the Palace, UK Parliament Learning educational resources, Heritage Collections, and the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS). The portfolio functions as a platform of interconnected information services enabling public access to parliamentary democracy, rather than a unified software product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Parliament TV Live and archived video coverage of all public Parliamentary proceedings including debates and committee meetings of both the House of Commons and House of Lords, available globally to the public.
• Hansard The edited verbatim report of proceedings in both the House of Commons and House of Lords, covering debates, questions, and written statements.
• Bills & Legislation Full text of Public, Private and Hybrid Bills with progress tracking through Parliament, plus Acts of Parliament and Statutory Instruments.
• Committee Publications Reports, evidence sessions, and records from Parliamentary select committees examining policy issues and Government activity.
• E-Petitions Online platform allowing UK citizens to create or sign petitions; e-petitions reaching over 100,000 signatures are considered for debate in Parliament.
• Virtual Tours 360-degree virtual tours of the Palace of Westminster, including the House of Commons Chamber, House of Lords, Big Ben / Elizabeth Tower, and the Women and Parliament exhibition.
• Palace of Westminster Tours (audio, guided, Big Ben, Speaker's House) In-person visits of the Palace of Westminster including 90-minute English-only guided tours (from £40 per adult), self-guided audio tours in ten languages plus a children's English version (from £31 per adult), Big Ben / Elizabeth Tower tours (£55 per adult, ages 11+), and Speaker's House tours (from £23 per adult, ages 16+). UK residents can access free 75-minute guided tours via their MP.
• Venue Hire Hire of historic parliamentary venues in the House of Commons and House of Lords for corporate events, charity functions, dinners, receptions and celebrations, booked via the ticket office at Portcullis House.
• Parliament Shop Online shop (powered by Shopify) offering Parliamentary publications, books, multimedia resources, gifts and guidebooks including the Palace of Westminster Official Guide and Big Ben guide book.
• Research Briefings Research produced by Commons Library, Lords Library, and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology on policy issues and legislation.
• Heritage Collections Over 26,000 objects including the Parliamentary Art Collection, Historic Furniture and Decorative Arts Collection, and Architectural Fabric Collection spanning the medieval period to the 21st century.
• Parliamentary Archives Access to historical parliamentary records and documents from both Houses of Parliament; collections are held at The National Archives in Kew.
• Living Heritage Educational resource covering the political, social and cultural roles Parliament has played in British society development over nearly a thousand years.
• UK Parliament Learning (Education Service) Award-winning free education service for schools, colleges, communities and home educators, offering resources, classroom workshops, school visits, teacher training and the annual UK Parliament Week programme.
• Knowledge Exchange Unit Supports university researchers and Parliament to work together, including academic fellowship opportunities, evidence submission and engagement with select committee inquiries.
• Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) First-of-its-kind scheme in any Parliament worldwide, providing independent and politically impartial advice on bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct for current and former members of the parliamentary community.
• Find Your MP Online service allowing UK citizens to search for their local MP by postcode, name or constituency and find their contact details.
• Written Questions and Answers Online facility to browse, search and view written questions and answers, and written statements from the House of Commons and House of Lords.
• UK Parliament Week Annual programme enabling organisations across the UK to run activities exploring how Parliament is relevant to their communities and empowering civic participation.
• Developer Hub (Open Data APIs) Open data APIs at developer.parliament.uk allowing the public and developers programmatic access to Parliamentary data.

Quantifiable outcome

• 650 MPs elected to represent UK citizens
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature3 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• German Bundestag: The Bundestag is the federal parliament of Germany, the directly elected lower chamber of the German legislature. It mirrors UK Parliament's House of Commons in providing democratic representation, law-making, and government scrutiny, with similar public-facing digital services and committee systems.
• Australian Parliament: The Australian Parliament is the bicameral legislature of Australia, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. It is a Westminster-system peer sharing procedural heritage with UK Parliament, including Hansard, committee scrutiny, and petition processes.
• Canadian Parliament: Canadian Parliament consists of the House of Commons, Senate, and Crown. It is a direct peer to UK Parliament as a Westminster-style bicameral legislature sharing historical roots, with comparable committee systems, Hansard transcripts, and petition mechanisms.
• French National Assembly: The Assemblée nationale is the lower house of the French Parliament. It is comparable to UK Parliament's House of Commons as a directly elected national legislative chamber with public proceedings, committee scrutiny, and active citizen engagement channels.

Others

• Library of Congress: The Library of Congress is the research library that serves the United States Congress. It is a thematically adjacent peer given UK Parliament's Commons Library, Lords Library, and Research Briefings function, providing authoritative policy and legislative research services to lawmakers.

Regional players

• Senedd (Welsh Parliament): The Senedd is the devolved legislature of Wales, operating bilingually in English and Welsh. It is a regional peer to UK Parliament with parallel citizen-engagement infrastructure including petitions, committee publications, and educational outreach.
• Scottish Parliament: The Scottish Parliament is the devolved legislature for Scotland. It operates within the UK constitutional framework and shares many digital service patterns with UK Parliament (committee reports, petitions, public access), making it a closely comparable regional legislative peer.

Broad incumbents

• European Parliament: The European Parliament is the directly elected legislative body of the European Union. Comparable to UK Parliament as a multinational legislative institution publishing proceedings, conducting committee scrutiny, and offering citizen engagement tools such as petitions and public access to debates.
• Japanese National Diet: The National Diet is Japan's bicameral legislature comprising the House of Representatives and House of Councillors. It is comparable to UK Parliament as a constitutional national legislature with active committee systems and public proceedings records.
• United States Congress: The US Congress is the federal legislature of the United States, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. It is directly comparable to UK Parliament as a bicameral national legislative body exercising law-making, government oversight, and taxation authority over a major constitutional democracy.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ukparliament
• YouTubeyoutube.com/UKParliament
• Facebookfacebook.com/ukparliament
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/3608032
• Instagraminstagram.com/ukparliament

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about UK Parliament