If walls could talk… just where have Parliament’s missing artworks gone?
More than 65 artworks are missing from the Houses of Parliament, including a photographic portrait of Benjamin Disraeli and a 19th-century print of anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce, it has emerged. The items, which also include images of former foreign secretary Margaret Beckett and Labour minister Barbara Castle, have gone unaccounted for since 2024, with parliamentary authorities suggesting they may have been mislaid during works on the estate. None of the works have been formally written off, and officials insist the collection is regularly audited, with five pieces recovered so far this year.
The list, obtained via a Freedom of Information request, also includes a 1995 cartoon by satirist Martin Rowson depicting John Major during the Tory leadership contest. Rowson said such losses were not unusual, noting a cartoon he once sent to a minister "never got beyond reception", and argued the originals matter less than their published newspaper versions. The current tally marks a significant fall from 2018, when 220 works were reported missing, among them a portrait of William Pitt the Younger and a painting depicting Parliament after it was bombed in 1941.
- Over 65 Parliament artworks reported missing since 2024, none written off
- Missing items include Disraeli and Wilberforce portraits, five recovered this year
- Figure is far lower than the 220 works reported missing back in 2018
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Parliament's estate holds a large collection of artworks, from paintings and photographs to political cartoons, spanning centuries of British political history. These are kept in the corridors, offices and public areas of the House of Commons and House of Lords, and are meant to be tracked and looked after as part of a formal heritage collection alongside items on public display.
Periodic checks and Freedom of Information requests have previously revealed that pieces from this collection cannot be located, a recurring issue given the scale of the estate, ongoing renovation works, and the sheer number of items involved. Past figures for missing works have been far higher than the numbers now being reported, suggesting the situation has improved over time even as some pieces remain unaccounted for.
The works in question include portraits and images of notable political figures from different eras and parties, reflecting the breadth of the collection rather than any single theme. Parliamentary authorities maintain that missing status does not mean a piece is lost for good, since items can turn up during building work or audits, and none of the works have been formally declared unrecoverable.