"Obscure scribblers"

When overcrowding meant that an important speech by William Pitt on the war with Napoleon was not reported, the Commons Speaker took prompt action. "Settled with the Serjeant at Arms...that the gallery door should be opened every day, as required, at twelve," Sir Charles Abbot recorded in his diary, "and the Serjeant would let the housekeeper understand that the 'newswriters' might be let in their usual places." James Boswell referred to these 'newswriters' as 'obscure scribblers'.

In the Lords, reporters had to stand below the Bar, alongside anyone else who turned up to listen to proceedings. But in 1828 some floor space was set aside for their exclusive use, mainly because debates on the Catholic Emancipation Bill were attracting a lot of interest and peers did not want to go unreported. By December 1831 the Lords had added a gallery and reporters were allowed to take over the front row.

Reporters in the new palace

Following the destruction by fire of the old Houses of Parliament in 1834, the architect Charles Barry incorporated a gallery for reporters into his new Lords Chamber which opened in April 1847.

Provision was also made for the press in the new Commons Chamber when it was first used in 1850. Reporters, however, complained of not being able to hear speeches because of poor acoustics. The roof was lowered as a result, and the new Chamber and its press gallery entered use on a permanent basis in 1852. Facilities for journalists, and their freedom to report, were gradually extended.

In 1868, the Wason v. Walter case established that the publication of parliamentary debates was covered by qualified privilege; in the 1870s a 'Lobby list' came into use - a list of reporters who were permitted to mingle with MPs in the Members' Lobby in order to obtain quotes; and in 1881 a press gallery committee was formed.