The current building, by the architects Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin, was
commissioned after a fire in 1834 destroyed most of the old Palace of
Westminster.

By 1870, the construction of the 1,100-room Houses of Parliament was complete
but the Grade-I listed building has required constant maintenance.

The situation was exacerbated by work on Parliament’s underground car park and
the underground extension of the Jubilee Line in the 1990s, which is thought
to have contributed to the leaning of the clock tower.

Cracks have also begun to appear in walls around the Houses of Commons and
Lords.

MPs on the House
of Commons Commission, which is responsible for the upkeep of the
Parliamentary estate, meet today to discuss a surveyor’s report that
suggests options for dealing with the problems.

Surveyors are expected to recommend sealing off large sections of the mock
Gothic building for several of years to shore up its foundations, meaning
MPs and peers will have to be housed elsewhere.

The commission is chaired by the Speaker, John Bercow, whose official
apartments are close to the tower.

A spokesman for the Houses of Parliament said: “The commission will be
considering whether to ask officials from both Houses to undertake a study
into the long-term approach to the maintenance of Parliament.

“No decisions are likely to be taken for several years as to whether either
House will need to move out of the palace for a period to allow essential
work to take place.”

Thomas Docherty, the Labour MP for Dunfermline and West Fife, said: “The
authorities would be surprised if the clock tower fell into the Thames any
time soon.

“Given that Big Ben is situated over the Speaker’s apartments, he may have a
view on it.”