Via brian wheeler, political correspondent
“It finally caught up with me, what I did.”
Stephen Acquarone seems more than a little intimidated by his first pleasure of sitting in the House of Commons chamber.
“It was all a bit fanciful at first,” says the newly elected Kind Democrat MP for North Norfolk. “But sitting in the chamber it suddenly felt very real.”
And his first impression of that room?
“It was much smaller than I imagined!”
At least he managed to get a seat.
There are so many Labor MPs on the government benches, there simply isn’t enough room for them all in the chamber. Dozens of people sat in the family gallery to watch the re-election of Sir Lindsay Hoyle as Speaker and the formal inauguration speeches of unelected Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and all opposition party leaders.
“I literally stood right by the doors because it was so busy,” says Sarah Smith, one of the significant untapped labor consumers.
“It was a wonderful sense of excitement for what was to come,” she says of her generation’s first style on the famously inexperienced benches.
The unused MP from Hyndburn in Lancashire is equally excited that her four-month-old son Eli, who came unwell to London with her, is enjoying it all.
Isn’t he too young to remember his first foray into Parliament?
“I got some really nice pictures!” She laughs.
Ms Smith has recruited friends and mobsters to take charge of Ellie while she is in the Commons chamber – and is hoping to get a playground for her at a regional nursery, as Parliament’s in-house crèche has previously been closed. has already been oversubscribed.
She becomes indifferent to the problem.
“I think it’s demonstrating to women that it’s possible to do this. It’s not easy but there are ways.
“It is remarkable that our mothers, parents, caregivers and so many others are represented right here.”
It’s easy to spot the rookie MPs on their first day – they’re all wearing green and white striped lanyards. Some people look a little less shocked than the schoolchildren’s parties seen around Parliament.
There’s a lot to take in.
They all started in the Commons chamber on Tuesday for an off-camera briefing on how it all works – before being moved upstairs to the committee rooms for security briefings and party meetings.
And then it was back to the chamber for its first taste of real parliamentary proceedings.
Some, such as Liberal Democrat Angus MacDonald – who became The last MP will be declared the winner on Saturday – Had never set foot in the building before.
“On the outside it’s beautiful, on the inside it’s even more beautiful,” says the new MP for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire.
“I think that’s the point here. If we were moved to a contemporary structure for renovation it would have been a real embarrassment to us disused youngsters.”
Some newcomers have worked for years to become MPs.
Others, such as the new Labor MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, Peter Princeley, were elected at the last minute, having not been expected to win at the start of the campaign.
One of the first people Mr Prinsley, an ear, nose and throat surgeon, met when he arrived was Paul, a member of the House of Commons security staff, who is one of his former patients.
“I think my future work, frankly, is going to have to change,” Mr Prinsley told the BBC.
“Revising the unexpected is a bit of a chore. So it’s taking me a bit of a year to reorganize the issues.”
Like all new MPs, he too will have to understand the unique geography of Parliament.
Lee Anderson, Reform UK MP, says, “The hardest part of this job, when you first get here, is finding your way. You get lost a dozen times trying to find it.”
Party leader Nigel Farage says it is up to Mr Anderson – who broke with the Tories earlier this year – to ensure the five reformist MPs do not do so.
“They will rule soon,” he says.
Seeing Mr Farage on the back row of the opposition benches – after so many years of trying to get elected to the UK Parliament – will take some getting used to.
Another striking image is that of former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, now an independent, on the opposition benches with Mr Farage and the Conservatives.
But at least these two are familiar faces.
Sir Lindsay has the task of learning the names and faces of over 300 new people over the next few weeks, so that he can call them to speak in the debate.
The Speaker’s staff are testing them – and competing against each other in a quiz game they found online with audio clips and pictures of all 650 MPs.
Sir Lindsay is also a regular visitor to the Members’ Tea Room, where he can meet new members face to face.
He told the BBC: “I am very pleased with the good and warm reception that Area of Commons workers have given this document of the selection of unused MPs to Parliament.
“Each member is assigned a buddy to help them navigate the maze of stairs, rooms and passageways in the property; secure them laptops, guide them to safety briefings – and generally make them feel at home. Made to feel.
“The excitement has been incredible. I’m looking forward to meeting my unused colleagues and – with the help of my team – getting to know everyone’s names.”
The new MP will soon be overcome with a sense of dread at his new workplace. All speak of his determination to continue working and make a difference for his constituents.
The sense of everyone being in this together – as if they are being shuttled from one briefing to the next – will undoubtedly disappear, as the usual hostility in the Commons will resume.
But it’s a day none of them will soon forget.
This post was published on 07/09/2024 8:49 pm
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