Gilbert saw the woman floating past the Commons terrace last night

MP rescues drowning woman by parliament

MP rescues drowning woman by parliament

An MP was being hailed as a hero last night after he dramatically rescued a drowning woman floating past parliament.

Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Gilbert was attending an evening event on the House of Commons terrace last night, when he saw a body floating past on the river.

"What looked like a body just floated past," he said.

"Then I saw that the person then moved and I followed them down the terrace.

"There are some lifebuoys on the terrace, I guess this is not the first time something like this has happened," the St Austell and Newquay MP continued.

"I didn't expect for the person to move and then I didn't expect to have to react to get them a lifebuoy.

"She disappeared towards Westminster Pier and she was rescued near to that."

The MP said the shock of the events left him "barely able to string a sentence together".

A Met spokesman said: "The woman was rescued from the water by the RNLI, the marine policing unit was also involved.

"She has been taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service."

Gilbert wrote on Twitter: "Shaken after seeing a body float past House of Commons terrace – she moved, I threw a life-buoy and she's now been rescued! #Result."