Parliamentary snuff box

[2] In 1694, the Parliament of England passed a resolution banning smoking in the House of Commons chamber and in committee rooms.

[3] Following this, members still wished to take tobacco so snuff was used as a tolerated alternative to smoking as attributed to Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice.

The current parliamentary snuff box was created using timber from the destroyed chamber's door frame with a silver plate listing all the names of the Principal Doorkeepers since 1943 screwed onto the lid.

A Freedom of Information request in 2010 confirmed the existence of the tradition and that it was filled with snuff chosen by the Principal Doorkeeper which he selected from a local tobacconist.

[2] The Conservative Party MP for Gillingham and Rainham, Rehman Chishti, also wrote a question about how much had been used in the previous decade.