UK's Big Ben Tower May Be Renamed

Fog shrouds the clock tower which houses the 'Big Ben' bell of the Palace of Westminster, as Westminster Bridge stands at right in London, Thursday, March 15, 2012. (AP)

LONDON -- British lawmakers are calling for the tower housing Big Ben – the beloved London bell that chimes the quarter hour – to be renamed in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.

Twenty-three members of Parliament have signed a motion urging the House of Commons Commission to consider renaming the east tower at the Palace of Westminster – currently called the Clock Tower – as the Elizabeth Tower to recognize the queen's 60 years of service.

The motion was proposed by Conservative Tobias Ellwood and has the backing of lawmakers from Britain's three main parties.

It notes that when the Palace of Westminster was rebuilt in 1860 the west tower was renamed the Victoria Tower to commemorate Queen Victoria's reign.

Comments

[Jeffrey A Beard]

08:04 AM on 06/03/2012

So, now are we supposed to call it Big Bess?

[Ron Hinchley]

09:27 PM on 03/26/2012

Why not auction the name off for 5 year intervals? It could be GlaxoSmithKline tower. Or Morgan Stanley tower. I'm sure you'd get a lot of financial company interest. Big Ben chimes in the tower of Goldman Sacs. I can see the add, The fog shrouded tower emerging in onto the screen. The announcer says, "Providing sound financial advice for over 100 years, just as Big Ben's chimes pierce the fog.

[TParrish]

07:05 AM on 03/27/2012

I am getting SO TIRED of product placement.

[roch1234caputo]

06:09 PM on 03/26/2012

Maybe Dominique Strass- Kahn, but I wouldn't wish such a terrible thing on the Brits. He needs to be put in the Tower of London, about 300 hundred years ago. to bad times have change, at lease in this case.

[Catriona]

05:02 PM on 03/26/2012

"Will London's Big Ben Get A New Name?"

No.

[pete cole]

03:20 PM on 03/26/2012

This site a load of b0ll0cks

[pete cole]

02:47 PM on 03/26/2012

You'll

[pete cole]

02:47 PM on 03/26/2012

print

[pete cole]

02:46 PM on 03/26/2012

my

[pete cole]

02:45 PM on 03/26/2012

comments

[pete cole]

02:43 PM on 03/26/2012

when

[Deparis]

12:03 PM on 03/26/2012

Sure. Rename it Small Jerry.

[capshockeygrl28]

10:46 AM on 03/26/2012

well, even if they did, people would still call it big ben. no one calles the sears tower the willis tower in chicago, except maybe the people who named it...

[HaroldS761]

10:16 PM on 03/25/2012

I was expecting something like "The British Airways' Big Ben"

[Michael Swaine]

05:12 PM on 03/25/2012

Who writes theses headlines, anyway? Seriously, I think we should start a campaign to reveal the name of the guilty party or parties. One could move into our neighborhood and we'd never know that a Huffpo headline writer was right next door. And then they should be imprisoned for life in the Tower of London. Or the Tower of Ben, if that's what you want to call it.

[Michael Swaine]

05:08 PM on 03/25/2012

Your headline on this Tower story is Fawlty.