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Westminster

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{{otheruses}} {{infobox London place| |Place= Westminster |Borough= City of Westminster Westminster |Traditional= Middlesex (1889) |Constituency= Cities of London and Westminster (UK Parliament constituency) Cities of London and Westminster |PostTown= LONDON |PostCode= London SW1 SW1 |DiallingCode= 020 |GridReference= TQ295795 |GLA= West Central London }} '''Westminster''' is a district within the City of Westminster in London. It is the location of the Palace of Westminster and the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Westminster is situated south west of the City of London and half a mile (0.8 km) south west of Charing Cross.

History
The name was historically used to describe the area around Westminster Abbey – the West Minster, or monastery church, that gave the area its name – which has been the seat of the government of England for almost a thousand years. The name is also used for the larger City of Westminster which covers a wider geographical area and since 1965 has included the former boroughs of St. Marylebone and Paddington. Image:1593 Norden's map of Westminster surveyed and publ 1593 (1).jpg thumb|290px|Westminster in 1593. The historic core of Westminster is the former Thorney Island (London) Thorney Island on which Westminster Abbey was built. The Abbey became the traditional venue of the coronation of the British monarch kings of England. The nearby Palace of Westminster came to be the principal royal residence after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, and later housed the developing Parliament of the United Kingdom Parliament and law courts of England. Although the monarch had a strong presence in the City of London in the shape of the Tower of London, he did not actually live there (sensibly enough, given London's volatility and insanitary nature). London thus developed two distinct focal points – an economic one in the City of London and a political/cultural one in Westminster, where the Royal Court had its home. This division is still very apparent today. The monarchy later moved to other palaces elsewhere in the city, and the law courts have since moved to the Royal Courts of Justice, close to the border of the City of London. The area is still the centre of government, with Parliament now located in the Palace of Westminster and most of the major Government ministries situated in Westminster, centred on Whitehall. "Westminster" is thus often used as shorthand for Parliament and the political community of the United Kingdom generally. The civil service is similarly referred to by the area it inhabits, Whitehall, where there was also once a royal palace. "Westminster" is consequently also used in reference to the Westminster System, the parliamentary model of democratic government that has evolved in the United Kingdom. The Westminster System is used with some adaptation in many other nations, particularly in the Commonwealth of Nations and other parts of the former British Empire. Close to the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey is Westminster School, one of the major English public school (England) public schools. Three of the four campuses of the University of Westminster are within the borough, although none in Westminster proper. Image:Houses_of_parliament_dusk.jpg thumb|left|250px|The Palace of Westminster The area has a substantial residential population, a surprisingly large proportion of which is a traditional London working-class community living in council and Peabody Trust estates at the back of Westminster Abbey and off Millbank. There is also a substantial working class community in the north of the borough. The term ''Westminster Village'', sometimes used in the context of British politics, does not refer to a geographical area at all; employed especially in the phrase ''Westminster Village gossip'', it denotes a supposedly close social circle of Members of Parliament, political journalists, so-called spin doctors and others connected to events in the Palace of Westminster. It implies those inside the "village" are concerned with issues which are of little interest to those outside.

External links

- Westminster Walks - from Findlay Muirhead's 1927 guidebook to ''London and its Environs''
- Michael Pead :: Photos of Westminster {{London Districts}} Category:Westminster Category:Districts of London cs:Westminster cy:San Steffan fr:Westminster ja:ウェストミンスター nl:Westminster no:Westminster, London de:Westminster (historischer Teil) The City of Westminster is a borough of London, England. It includes a large part of London's city centre. Image:LondonWestminster.png 200px|Westminster {{compacttoc}} Category:Districts of London Category:Cities in England fr:catégorie:Westminster he:קטגוריה:וסטמינסטר

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