Commons Briefing paper by Emily Davis, Sarah Priddy, Anya Somerville and Claire Searle. It was first published on Wednesday, 12 November 2014. It was last updated on Thursday, 19 March 2026.
Addresses to Members of both Houses of Parliament
In addition to the King's Speech at the State Opening of Parliament, formal addresses to both Houses of Parliament are made by the Monarch.
State or other visits to the UK by leading figures may be marked by a speech given to members of both Houses of Parliament. Formal addresses to both Houses can be made by Heads of State and by other foreign leaders. In some circumstances, visiting foreign dignitaries give speeches in Parliament which are not formal addresses.
The downloadable Excel file lists heads of state and dignitaries who have addressed MPs and members of the House of Lords since 1935. Source details are available in the Excel file.
Further information
Additional commentary and analysis from the Hansard Society can be found at Addresses to both Houses of Parliament and Trump, State Visits and Parliament: Precedent and process.
Parliament: Facts and figures
The Parliament: Facts and figures series covers topics including elections, government, legislation, Members and parliamentary business.
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Secondary information
- Type
- Research briefing
- Reference
- SN04092
- Category
- Parliament facts and figures
- Related items
- Subjects
- House of Commons House of Lords Heads of state Parliament Speeches
- Published by
- Indexing and Data Management Section
- House of Commons Library
- Link
- View this Research briefing on researchbriefings.parliament.uk
Librarians' tools
- Timestamp
- 2026-03-19 15:34:11 +0000
- URI
- http://data.parliament.uk/resources/341303
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- http://indexing.parliament.uk/Content/Edit/1?uri=http://data.parliament.uk/resources/341303
- In Solr
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