Elizabeth Tower is the famous London clock tower used as the visual focus of the city's New Year's Eve countdown.
The tower stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster and contains the Great Clock of Westminster. Its largest bell is popularly known as Big Ben, but Big Ben technically refers to the bell, not the tower. The tower itself was officially renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012 in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.
Television coverage commonly shows the clock face and the tower as midnight approaches. The chimes of the Great Bell are a major part of Britain's New Year's broadcast soundscape, even when viewers are watching celebrations elsewhere in London.
The tower was completed in the nineteenth century as part of Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin's Palace of Westminster design. Its clock faces were illuminated during the 2012 Olympic period and have continued to serve as a powerful symbol of London timekeeping.