Erskine May’s Parliamentary Practice (a treatise upon the law, privileges, proceedings and usage of Parliament), now in its 25th edition 2019, is now online and free to use.

Often referred to as “the Bible of parliamentary procedure”, Erskine May is both an iconic and practical publication. It is the most authoritative and influential work on parliamentary procedure and constitutional conventions affecting Parliament. Rather than a set of rules, it is a description of how procedure in the House of Commons and House of Lords has evolved and the conventions that apply.

Since its first publication in 1844, Erskine May himself edited nine editions of the book in his lifetime. The 25th edition was published in May 2019. The Speaker’s Commission on Digital Democracy having recommended in 2015 that it should be freely available online from the next edition, this took effect in July 2019.