hansard

Official debate transcript

Hansard is the official verbatim record of proceedings in the British Parliament and other Commonwealth legislatures.

Named after the family that originally printed the reports, the term now refers to any such parliamentary transcript: I checked Hansard to see what the minister actually said.

The word functions as both proper noun and common noun, sometimes appearing lowercase when referring generically to parliamentary records. (Capitalized Hansard is the standard form.)

institution

Westminster

London's political center

clerk · speaker · member · MP · backbencher · frontbench · opposition · government · house · gallery

record

transcript

Verbatim written account

official report · speeches · minutes · documentation · stenography · quotation · attribution · public record · chamber · sitting

transparency

accountability

Obligation for one's actions

democracy · citation · evidence · voting record · on the record · disclosure · oversight · fact-checking · reference · research

Categories
Opposites
verbatim record vs. summary/paraphrase

hansardsummary

Condensed account of essentials

précis · paraphrase · digest · synopsis · abridgment

official/public vs. unofficial/private record

hansardleaked memo

Unofficial document disclosure

hearsay · private correspondence · gossip · rumor

permanent record vs. ephemeral/unrecorded

hansardoral tradition

Culture passed by speech

off-the-books

Familiarity
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Profile
Timeless · Concrete · Rated G