How to find what an MP or peer said in Hansard
Hansard is the official report of what is said in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. To check a quote, search Hansard for a distinctive phrase, narrow the results by House, date and member, then read the full contribution and the exchange around it. Note the date: a statement can be accurately reported and still describe arrangements that have since changed.
What Hansard is, and what it is not
Hansard, formally the Official Report, records debates, questions, ministerial statements and votes in both Houses of the UK Parliament. The current record is at hansard.parliament.uk . Its own "About" page describes the report as substantially verbatim, with repetitions and obvious errors removed. On sitting days a "rolling" version is published in instalments during the day, followed by the full daily report.
Hansard records what was said in the chamber or committee. It does not check whether a statement in it is accurate. For any statistic quoted in a debate you still need to trace the number to its source; see how to check a statistic .
The Scottish Parliament, Senedd Cymru and the Northern Ireland Assembly each publish their own Official Report. A claim about something said at Holyrood, in the Senedd or at Stormont needs that body's record, not Westminster Hansard.
Source: hansard.parliament.uk
Step 1: pin down who, where and roughly when
Before searching, note:
the speaker's name and, if known, their role at the time (a minister answers on behalf of a department);
the House (Commons or Lords) and the type of business: oral questions, Prime Minister's Questions, a ministerial statement, a debate, a Westminster Hall debate, or a written answer;
an approximate date or date range;
a distinctive phrase from the quote, ideally five or more words.
Step 2: search and filter
Go to hansard.parliament.uk and enter your distinctive phrase in the search box. Try it both with and without quotation marks.
Narrow the results with the search filters, such as House, date range and member. If the quote was a written answer rather than something said aloud, look at written questions and answers on questions-statements.parliament.uk .
If the exact phrase finds nothing, search two or three of the most unusual words instead. Quotes passed around online are often slightly reworded.
If you know the date but not the words, browse that sitting day and open the item on the subject.
Sources: hansard.parliament.uk, questions-statements.parliament.uk
Step 3: read the whole contribution and the exchange around it
Open the debate and read the full contribution, the question it was answering and the next few responses. Check:
whether the words are the speaker's own or a quotation they were reading out or disputing;
whether "we" or "this year" refers to what the reader assumes;
whether any figure was qualified ("in England", "in cash terms", "since 2023").
Step 4: look for later corrections
Hansard publishes corrections submitted by ministers and members. The Ministerial Code (last updated 29 June 2026) says it is "of paramount importance that ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity." When a minister corrects a figure given in the House, the correction appears in Hansard, so search for the subject again over the weeks after the original date. The Code also asks ministers to be mindful of the UK Statistics Authority's Code of Practice for Statistics.
Source: Ministerial Code
Records beyond the debate transcript
A claim about what Parliament did, rather than what someone said, may need a different record:
Written questions and answers. Ministers answer written questions from MPs and peers, and many contain official figures. Each has a reference number and an answer date.
Written ministerial statements , used for announcements made without a speech in the chamber.
Divisions. How each member voted is recorded at the end of each division in Hansard, so a claim about a vote can be checked there.
Committee evidence. Select committee hearings are transcribed and published separately, with written evidence.
Worked example: "The Monetary Policy Committee will meet on a monthly basis"
Suppose someone says that the Bank of England sets interest rates every month and cites the 1997 statement that created the Monetary Policy Committee.
Find the record. Debates from 1803 to 2005 are also published on Historic Hansard . On 13 October 2026 we opened the Commons sitting of 20 May 1997 and the item Bank of England and Financial Regulation , cited as HC Deb 20 May 1997 vol 294 cc507-24.
Read the words. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, said: "The Monetary Policy Committee will meet on a monthly basis. All decisions on interest rates will be announced immediately after the meeting. The proceedings of the meetings, including votes, will be minuted and published within six weeks." So the quote is accurately recorded.
Read the context. The same statement says the Chancellor had announced on 6 May that the Bank would get "operational responsibility for setting interest rates", and that the Government would set the inflation target.
Check the present position with the responsible body. The Bank of England's page on Bank Rate says the Committee now "meets eight times a year". Its list of MPC dates shows eight announcement dates in 2026: 5 February, 19 March, 30 April, 18 June, 30 July, 17 September, 5 November and 17 December.
Result: the 1997 quote is accurate, and it described the arrangements announced at that time. The current schedule is eight meetings a year. The lesson applies to any parliamentary quote: record the date, and check the present position with the body responsible. For today's rate, see our Bank Rate key figure page and the answer on how often interest rates are reviewed .
Sources: Historic Hansard, Bank of England and Financial Regulation, Bank Rate, list of MPC dates
If the quote is not in Hansard
Many quotes come from interviews, speeches outside Parliament or social media rather than from the chamber. For ministers, speeches and press releases are usually published on GOV.UK news and communications , which you can filter by department and date. If you cannot find any official record of the words, say so, and describe the claim as unsourced rather than attributing it.
Source: GOV.UK news and communications
Step 5: cite it so others can find it
Use the standard form: House, date, volume and column, for example "HC Deb 20 May 1997 vol 294 c508". For the current Hansard website, copy the link to the individual contribution as well, because it takes the reader straight to the words. Note the date you checked it, in case a correction is added later.
Checklist
Noted speaker, House, type of business and date range
Searched an exact distinctive phrase, then key words
Filtered by House, date and member
Read the whole contribution and the question it answered
Searched for a later correction on the same subject
Checked any figure against its official source
Recorded the Hansard reference and link
Official sources used in this guide
Sources: Hansard (UK Parliament), Written questions, answers and statements, Historic Hansard 1803 to 2005, HC Deb 20 May 1997: Bank of England and Financial Regulation, Ministerial Code, Bank of England: MPC dates for 2026 and 2027