MP saves life of drowning woman as she floats down Thames past House of Commons

An MP has saved the life of a woman drowning in the Thames when he spotted her floating past the House of Commons.

Stephen Gilbert was at an event on a Commons terrace overlooking the water at around 7.20pm last night when he noticed something – which he at first thought could be a mannequin – drifting along.

He succinctly described what happened next in a Tweet posted moments after the event: “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”

Speaking to the Evening Standard today, the Lib Dem MP for St Austell and Newquay said: “I happened to see something out of the corner of my eye, what looked to me like a face floating down the river. It was low tide and pitch black and at first I thought it could be a mannequin or a piece of wood.

“But then she moved and I thought: ‘S***, she’s alive’. I ran down the terrace a bit further and grabbed one of the lifebuoys that we have and managed to make a good shot.”

The MP then informed the police, and the woman was rescued downstream.

“Thankfully she was able to grab it. She looked absolutely exhausted, desperate. I’m sure I did what anyone else in my situation would have done. I was just happy to help.”

The London Ambulance Service said a 43-year-old woman was rushed to hospital as a “priority”, describing her condition today as stable.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police confirmed that the woman was pulled from the water near Westminster Pier, and said: “The woman was rescued from the water by members of the RNLI. The marine policing unit was also involved.”