Editing Division bell (section)

== In the United Kingdom ==
[[File:Division-bell.jpg|thumb|Houses of Parliament Division bell]]
In the United Kingdom, division bells are used in the immediate neighbourhood of the [[Palace of Westminster]] (housing [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]]) to signal that a division is occurring and that [[Member of Parliament|members of the House of Commons]] or of the [[House of Lords]] have eight minutes to get to their chosen [[Division of the assembly|division lobby]] to vote for or against the resolution. The call for a division is also displayed on [[Annunciator panel|annunciator]] screens throughout the Palace of Westminster.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/Divisions.pdf|title=Divisions|website=UK Parliament|access-date=17 February 2019}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/foi/foi-and-eir/commons-foi-disclosures/estates-information/division-bells-2014/|title=Division bells (2014)|website=UK Parliament|language=English|access-date=2019-02-17}}</ref> The division bells are also sounded at the start of a daily sitting, at the end of the two-minute prayers that start each day, and when the house rises.<ref name="SN06041">{{cite web |title=Divisions in the House of Commons: House of Commons Background Paper |first=Mark |last=Sandford |date=2 August 2013 |id=Document ref:SN/PC/06401 |url=http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN06401/SN06401.pdf}}</ref> Division bells have been used in this way in the [[United Kingdom]] since 1858.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/property/house-and-home/property/westminster-for-whom-the-division-bell-tolls-236519.html|title=Westminster: For whom the division bell tolls|date=2005-05-04|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=2019-02-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=UK Parliament Division Bell |url=https://www.britishtelephones.com/belldivision.htm |access-date=2024-10-31 |website=www.britishtelephones.com}}</ref>

As of 2014, there were 384 division bells within the Parliamentary estate, and 172 outside it.<ref name=":1" /> Bells outside of the parliamentary estate are undergoing a phase out as of 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UK Parliament Division Bell |url=https://www.britishtelephones.com/belldivision.htm |access-date=2024-10-31 |website=www.britishtelephones.com}}</ref>

Some Members may be in nearby offices, restaurants, pubs or shops, and therefore some of these establishments have their own division bells connected to those in the Houses of Parliament. MPs including [[Alec Douglas-Home]], [[Michael Portillo]] and [[Michael Heseltine]] reportedly had division bells fitted in their homes.<ref name=":2" />

Though the Commons and Lords share division bells, they are driven from separate ringing generator systems, so that the bells make noticeably different ring patterns for a division of the House of Commons and a division of the House of Lords.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UK Parliament Division Bell |url=https://www.britishtelephones.com/belldivision.htm |access-date=2024-10-31 |website=www.britishtelephones.com}}</ref>

The generator for the House of Commons simultaneously sounds all the division bells with a 2 [[Hertz]] signal (i.e., twice per second) for exactly eight minutes, though this has been varied by the House of Commons in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UK Parliament Division Bell |url=https://www.britishtelephones.com/belldivision.htm |access-date=2024-10-31 |website=www.britishtelephones.com}}</ref> As soon as the bells stop, the door keepers manning the entrances to the two division lobbies close and lock the doors. Any member who has failed to enter the lobby in time has lost the opportunity to vote in that division. Thus anywhere within an eight-minute journey of the Palace of Westminster is often said to be in the "division-bell area".<ref name=":2" />

A broadcast of the BBC's [[Antiques Roadshow (series 30)|''Antiques Roadshow'']] in October 2007 from the Banqueting House in Whitehall featured the original Ringing Generator System Number 1 from the House of Commons. The programme's expert, Paul Atterbury, with the help of former [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|House of Commons Speaker]] [[Baron]]ess [[Betty Boothroyd]], demonstrated the apparatus in use with one of the original Division Bells. The show valued the transmitter at £15,000.

Three Ringing Generator Systems were made at the end of the 19th century by the [[General Post Office|GPO]] at the request of the Government. They were numbered 1, 2 and 3. Numbers 2 and 3 were destroyed by a bomb in 1941 and replaced with copies bearing the numbers 4 and 5. Number 5 generator exists, but the whereabouts of number 4 is not known. The current generator is entirely electronic.{{Citation needed|date=February 2019}}

===External division bells===

There are 172 division bells located outside the Palace of Westminster, in nearby government offices and even MP's private residences.<ref name=":2"/>  Public establishments fitted with division bells (as of 2013) include:<ref name="SN06041" />
{{columns-list|colwidth=25em|
*Osteria Dell'Angolo, Marsham St
*Hispaniola Restaurant, [[Victoria Embankment]]
*St. Ermin's Hotel, Caxton St.
*St. James Court Hotel, [[Buckingham Gate]]
*[[National Liberal Club]], [[Whitehall Place]]
*Green's Restaurant, [[Marsham Street|Marsham St.]]
*Red Lion Public House, [[Parliament Street, London|Parliament St.]]
*St. Germain Restaurant, Royal Westminster Hotel, [[Buckingham Palace Road]]
*The Cinnamon Club, 30 Great Smith St.
*[[Royal Horseguards Hotel]], Whitehall Place
*[[Quilon Restaurant]], 41 Buckingham Gate<!--Misspelled as "Quillon"; corrected per [[MOS:SIC]]-->
*Quirinale Restaurant, 1 Great Peter St.
*Marquis of Granby public house, 41 Romney St.
*Vitello d'Oro Restaurant, [[Church House, Westminster|Church House]]<!--Misspelled as "Vitello Dor"-->
*[[St. Stephen's Tavern]], 10 Bridge St.
*[[Westminster Arms]], 9–10 Storey's Gate
}}

The bells are connected by telephone lines,<ref name=":2"/> and proprietors of these establishments are responsible for the maintenance of the bells.<ref name="SN06041" />