--- name: sparql description: Query the UK Parliament public SPARQL 1.1 endpoint at api.parliament.uk/sparql. Integrated graph (DDP) covering people, parties, governments, houses, constituencies, parliamentary periods, incumbencies, formal-body memberships, the procedural meta-layer (procedures / steps / routes / work packages), treaties, statutory instruments, written questions and answers, ePetitions, and historical Acts. Use whenever a question joins across more than one of those topics — SPARQL is the only place where everything is linked by URI. Not in DDP: Bills, Hansard contributions, Divisions / votes, Elections / candidates / results, Early Day Motions, the Register of Members' Financial Interests, Erskine May, committee evidence / inquiries — those require their dedicated REST APIs. license: Open Parliament Licence v3.0 (Crown copyright; Parliament-operated) metadata: provenance: tier: 1 operator: UK Parliament service: api.parliament.uk/sparql citation-short: "via api.parliament.uk/sparql (DDP store)" citation-formal: "UK Parliament SPARQL endpoint (DDP store), retrieved {date}" confidence: authoritative --- # UK Parliament SPARQL endpoint Endpoint: `https://api.parliament.uk/sparql` Method: `GET` or `POST` with `query=`. Result formats via `Accept`: | `Accept` | Format | |---|---| | `application/sparql-results+json` | JSON results (recommended) | | `application/sparql-results+xml` | SRX | | `text/csv` | CSV | | `text/tab-separated-values` | TSV | | `text/turtle` | for `CONSTRUCT` / `DESCRIBE` | | `application/rdf+xml` | for `CONSTRUCT` / `DESCRIBE` | A bare `GET` to the endpoint without a query returns 404. You must include `?query=...` or POST. ## What it covers (and what it doesn't) The endpoint fronts the **DDP graph** — ~7.5M asserted statements, **inference off**, ~194 classes in the `parl:` schema. Empirically probed instance populations 2026-05-24: ### Rich coverage (the headline SPARQL surface) | Domain | Key classes (instance counts) | |---|---| | **People & memberships** | `Person` (5,460), `Member` (5,425), `Party` (395), `ConstituencyGroup` (4,722), `SeatIncumbency` (12,351), `PartyMembership` (9,846), `FormalBodyMembership` (11,540), `FormalBody` (399), `GovernmentIncumbency` (3,931), `OppositionIncumbency` (3,328), `GovernmentOrganisation` (54), `ContactPoint` (4,604), `WebLink` (41,504) | | **Procedure meta-layer** | `Procedure` (63), `ProcedureStep` (4,602), `ProcedureRoute` (7,991), `WorkPackage` (7,719), `BusinessItem` (87,666), `Approval` (28,515), `Rejection` (83,865) | | **Statutory instruments** | `StatutoryInstrumentPaper` (6,932), `MadeStatutoryInstrumentPaper` (4,781), `ProposedNegativeStatutoryInstrumentPaper` (424), `Laying` (14,695), `LaidThing` (7,710), `LayingBody` (34) | | **Treaties** | `Treaty` (323; matches REST `/Treaty/Search` totalResults exactly — same IRIs) | | **Questions & answers** | `Question` (192,296), `WrittenAnswer` (132,537), `WrittenAnswerExpectation` (190,085), `AnsweringBody` (58), `AnsweringBodyAllocation` (165,132), `CorrectingAnswer` (958) | | **ePetitions** | `EPetition` (101,254 — 28k approved, 73k rejected), `Moderation` (112,380), `ThresholdAttainment` (103,068), `LocatedSignatureCount` (80,247) | | **Acts of Parliament** | `ActOfParliament` (17,612 historical) | ### Absent from DDP — but most are reachable via LDA `api.parliament.uk/sparql` is one of *three* parliamentary RDF surfaces, and the modern DDP graph is the narrowest of them. Topics that aren't in DDP are usually still reachable as Linked Data via the **legacy LDA** (`lda.data.parliament.uk`) on a per-dataset URL — see [`linked-data-api`](../linked-data-api/SKILL.md). LDA has no federated SPARQL endpoint; each dataset is its own little graph queried via URL parameters. | Topic | DDP SPARQL | LDA RDF | Modern REST | |---|---|---|---| | **Bills** | absent (6 `PublicBillWork`) | `lda.../bills.json` populated | `bills-api.parliament.uk` | | **Hansard contributions** | absent (`Debate` = ePetition debates only) | `lda.../hansardcommons{proceedings,documents}` + lords equivalents | `hansard-api.parliament.uk` | | **Divisions / votes** | absent (no `Division` class) | `lda.../commonsdivisions`, `lda.../lordsdivisions` (sparse — per-member votes not populated) | `commonsvotes-api`, `lordsvotes-api` | | **Elections / candidates / results** | classes defined, 0 instances | `lda.../elections`, `lda.../electionresults` | `psephology` (Postgres) | | **Parliament Thesaurus (SKOS)** | absent (`Concept` 0 instances) | `lda.../terms` with `broader`/`exactMatch` | — | | **Research / briefing papers** | absent | `lda.../briefingpapers`, `lda.../researchbriefings` | — | | **Committee typology** | populated (`SelectCommittee` 174, `FormalBody` 399) | — | `committees-api` (also has evidence / inquiries) | | **Register of Members' Financial Interests** | **not modelled anywhere as RDF** | — | `interests-api`, `members-api/.../RegisteredInterests` | | **Early Day Motions** | **not modelled anywhere as RDF** | — | covered by `oral-questions-and-edms` | | **Erskine May text** | **not modelled anywhere as RDF** | — | scraped HTML at `erskinemay.parliament.uk` | | **APPGs** | **not modelled anywhere as RDF** | — | scraped via `appg` skill | | **Committee evidence / inquiries / publications** | **not modelled anywhere as RDF** | — | `committees-api` | So the **truly RDF-absent set** (no SPARQL surface anywhere, modern or legacy) is small: RMFI, EDMs, Erskine May, APPGs, and committee evidence / inquiries. Everything else is reachable as RDF — just sometimes only via LDA's per-URL fetch rather than the DDP SPARQL endpoint. ### What's *genuinely* unique to DDP SPARQL (not in MNIS, REST, or LDA) - **Multi-typing as a schema convention** — a `Person` carries 16–19 simultaneous types. Schema property only; no data is unique. - **Wikidata bridge** (`parl:wikidataThingHasEquivalentWikidataResource` on 1,894 People). Not in MNIS, not in the Members API; SPARQL-only. - **ProcedureRoute graph as a typed entity** — 7,991 typed edges between procedural steps. The REST APIs expose individual stages but not the graph of legal transitions between them. - **Cross-cutting joins pre-made** — e.g. "every person who was a Minister AND on a Select Committee in 2024" is one SPARQL query; in REST it's a join across two APIs by member id. Note: the **cross-system identifier bridges** (`parl:mnisId`, `parl:pimsId`, `parl:dodsId`, `parl:sesId`) are *not* DDP-unique — the MNIS XML platform carries the same `` attributes per member. DDP pre-joins them as predicates; MNIS surfaces them per-record. The reference doc has a deeper comparison and the empirical probe queries — see [`reference.md`](reference.md). ## Three schema patterns worth knowing The parl: schema is unusual in three ways. Skimming [`reference.md`](reference.md#three-schema-patterns) before writing queries will save you hours: 1. **Mixin `*Thing` classes** — entities multi-type. A typical `Person` carries 16–19 simultaneous types (`Person + Member + PartyMember + GovernmentPerson + MnisMember + DodsPerson + NamedThing + ContactableThing + WikidataThing + …`). 2. **Source-system identity bridges as types** — `MnisThing`, `PimsThing`, `DodsThing`, `SesThing`, `WikidataThing`. Each is both a class membership and a join key to the system named in the prefix. This is what makes SPARQL the right place for cross-system joins. 3. **Past/Current dual classes** — `FormalBody` vs `PastFormalBody`, `Incumbency` vs `PastIncumbency`, etc. "Current" is a class, not a date filter. ## Namespaces ```sparql PREFIX parl: PREFIX id: PREFIX rdfs: PREFIX skos: PREFIX owl: PREFIX xsd: PREFIX foaf: PREFIX dcterms: ``` Resource URIs look like `https://id.parliament.uk/` where the opaque ID is an 8-character alphanumeric short-id (e.g. `TyNGhslR`). The same person/place/event has one URI across DDP, and the same URI is used by the parameterised-query browser and (where they overlap) by some REST APIs — e.g. `treaties-api.parliament.uk` returns the same `https://id.parliament.uk/{shortId}` IRI as the SPARQL store does for `?t a parl:Treaty`. ## Worked example ```sh # Current MPs and their parties curl -sLG 'https://api.parliament.uk/sparql' \ -H 'Accept: application/sparql-results+json' \ --data-urlencode 'query= PREFIX parl: SELECT ?person ?name ?party WHERE { ?seatIncumbency parl:seatIncumbencyHasMember ?person . FILTER NOT EXISTS { ?seatIncumbency parl:incumbencyEndDate ?end . } ?person parl:personGivenName ?name . OPTIONAL { ?partyMembership parl:partyMembershipHasPartyMember ?person ; parl:partyMembershipHasParty ?p . ?p parl:partyName ?party . } } LIMIT 10' ``` ## Joining to the REST APIs For people, the join key is the MNIS integer surfaced as `parl:mnisId`. The same integer is the Members API's `/Members/{id}/...` path parameter: ```sparql PREFIX parl: PREFIX xsd: SELECT ?p ?name WHERE { ?p parl:mnisId "172"^^xsd:integer ; parl:name ?name . } ``` For treaties / SIs / petitions / acts, the join is the URI directly: `https://id.parliament.uk/{shortId}` appears in both SPARQL subjects and the matching REST resource JSON. For everything else (bills, divisions, hansard, RMFI, elections, EDMs, Erskine May, APPGs) — there is **nothing to join** SPARQL-side because those topics aren't in DDP. Use the dedicated REST skill. ## Related skills - **[`parameterised-query`](../parameterised-query/SKILL.md)** — 124 named templates that wrap common SPARQL questions and return JSON without you writing the query. *Same DDP store underneath.* Coverage is therefore identical to this skill: the templates cover the same topics SPARQL covers, and equally don't cover what SPARQL doesn't. Use `parameterised-query` when there is a named template that fits the question; drop down to this skill for arbitrary joins, schema discovery, or topics outside the template set. - **[`odata`](../odata/SKILL.md)** — third public face of the same DDP store; same coverage, different query language (OData v4). - See [`docs/sparql-endpoints.md`](../../docs/sparql-endpoints.md) for the DDP-vs-DD-vs-internal story: DDP is on this endpoint, DD's inferred closure is not. ## Notes - Endpoint is **read-only** (no SPARQL Update) and rate-limited. - Big `GROUP BY` queries time out (read timeout from the back-end GraphDB at ~30s). For class-sized aggregates over `Question` (192k instances), use a windowed sub-select pattern — see [`reference.md`](reference.md). - `Constituency` is defined but unpopulated (0 instances). Use `ConstituencyGroup` (4,722) or `ConstituencyArea`. - `Concept` is defined but unpopulated; SKOS schemes / the Thesaurus are **not on this endpoint**. The Parliament Thesaurus lives on the legacy Linked Data API (`linked-data-api` skill) instead. - Three opaque `http://example.com/{uuid}` predicates appear on every `Person` (5,229 statements each). They look like internal MNIS source UUIDs that leaked into the published RDF — treat as data-quality noise. ## Using the CLI > See [`../parl/SKILL.md`](../parl/SKILL.md) for the CLI-wide conventions (output modes, flag rules, idiomatic chains). This skill ships with a Node CLI alongside the documentation. From the repo root: ```sh node bin/parl.mjs sparql --help ``` Or after `npm link` (one-time install): ```sh parl sparql --help ``` Wraps the public SPARQL endpoint. Note this fronts the DDP graph (~7.5M statements, no inference); the DD graph is not on this surface — see docs/sparql-endpoints.md. ### Examples ```sh parl sparql query 'SELECT * WHERE { ?s ?p ?o } LIMIT 5' ``` Sanity-check probe. ```sh parl sparql classes --limit 30 ``` Top instance classes by frequency. ```sh parl sparql rdfs-classes ``` rdfs:Class / owl:Class with labels. ```sh parl sparql describe https://id.parliament.uk/TyNGhslR --format turtle ``` DESCRIBE a resource. ### Library use (Node + browser) Same surface as a JS module: ```js import * as fac from '../../lib/facilities/sparql.mjs'; // Each function is async and returns parsed JSON (or bytes for // download endpoints). See the .mjs source for the full export list. ``` The library uses only `fetch` / `URL` / `AbortController`, so the same source runs in Node 18+ and in modern browsers. ## Provenance to cite **Tier 1 — first-party UK Parliament.** Authoritative. - Inline cite: **"(via api.parliament.uk/sparql (DDP store))"** — once per paragraph in user-facing answers. - On request, give the URL `--raw` printed. - See [`docs/provenance.md`](../../docs/provenance.md) for the cross-skill rules.