If walls could talk... just where have Parliament's missing artworks gone?

Published: 01:36, 24 August 2026 | Updated: 01:52, 24 August 2026 Artworks including portraits of Benjamin Disraeli and the leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade are missing from the Houses of Parliament, it can be revealed. The photograph of Queen Victoria's favourite prime minister is one of more than 65 works which House of Commons authorities are looking for, along with a 19th-century print of William Wilberforce. A photograph of Britain's first female foreign secretary, Labour's Margaret Beckett, is also on the list, as is a satirical cartoon depicting Harold Wilson's effective deputy, Barbara Castle, as Florence Nightingale. Parliament indicated the pieces, missing since 2024, may have been lost while being moved around during works on the estate and none of the items listed have been 'written off'. Another five have been 'found' since the start of this year. Among those missing by living creators is a cartoon by satirist Martin Rowson during the 1995 Tory leadership election, showing John Major trying to lance the 'boil' of the leadership contest as his deputy Michael Heseltine and challenger-apparent Michael Portillo look on. Mr Rowson said the issue of cartoons going missing was not uncommon, adding that a Times cartoon of the Foreign Office Christmas party in 2004, sent to then-junior minister Denis MacShane at his department 'never got beyond reception'. He added: 'It's a shame but it's hardly the crown jewels – and the point about cartoon originals is that they've been published already: The artefact is probably the impression in the newspaper, as that's its ticket to posterity. The original is the modern equivalent to one of Hogarth or Gillray's copper plates used to create the – reproduced – satirical print' The photograph of Disraeli was by John Jabez Edwin Mayall, who also photographed Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, Charles Dickens and Karl Marx. Royal favourite: a painting of Victorian prime minister Benjamin Disraeli is one of more than 65 works which House of Commons authorities are looking for A painting by William MacCleod of the House of Commons chamber on fire after German bombing William Wilberforce, leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade who died days after the abolition of slavery Meanwhile, the missing print of Wilberforce, who died days after the abolition of slavery across the British Empire, is by William Holl. The number of artworks, released after a Freedom of Information request, is vastly down on the 220 reported missing in 2018 – including portraits of William Pitt the Younger, and an oil painting by William John MacLeod of the scene after Parliament was bombed in 1941. A parliamentary spokesman said: 'As a working collection, artworks are frequently moved between their recorded locations and are often subsequently found, meaning none of the items currently recorded as missing have been written off or are considered a financial loss. 'Parliament continues to reduce the number of artworks recorded as missing through ongoing audits.'