Ballot for seats at Gordon Brown's public hearing

09 February 2010

Access to the public seats for Gordon Brown's appearance at the Iraq Inquiry will be decided by ballot. This is due to the expected high demand for places at the Prime Minister’s evidence session, where he will be questioned about his time both as Chancellor and as Prime Minister.

The specific date for Mr Brown's session will be announced soon, but to help people decide whether they wish to take part in the ballot the Inquiry has confirmed that it will be in early March at the QEII conference centre in Westminster, central London.

A third of the places in the 60-seat hearing room will be reserved for the families of those Armed Forces personnel and British civilians who died or are missing in Iraq. These family seats will be allocated in a separate ballot.

There will also be an additional viewing room with television screens for members of the public who are unsuccessful in the ballot. Similarly, a separate family viewing room will be available for bereaved families to watch the hearings together.

Ballot forms can be downloaded here or requested from the Inquiry by post.

The closing date for applications is 12 noon on Monday 22 February 2010.

Completed forms should be returned by post to: Public Ballot, The Iraq Inquiry, 35 Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3BQ.