'Less old men, less privately educated, less upper class'

Women MPs say the culture at Westminster has noticeably shifted with the 2024 intake on one side of the floor at least

- MAYA OPPENHEIM

Women MPs have routinely argued an antiquated, misogynistic and toxic culture persists in parliament - with the 2017 Pestminster scandal seeing an explosion of claims of sexual harassment in Westminster. But this appears to be changing in the wake of Labour’s win in the recent election as new women MPs say parliament now feels less misogynistic and the “bubble” of Westminster may finally be bursting.

Politicians across the parties reflected to The Independent upon the fewer old male MPs and greater numbers of MPs who have been to state school, suggesting that parliament feels more representative of the wider country. Staffers who worked in Westminster before the summer snap election say the culture in parliament has changed since Labour’s recent win, MPs said.

It comes after a record number of women were elected on 4 July, with 263 female members of parliament taking up their seats under a Labour government: a rise from 220 in 2019. The current proportion of female MPs is 40 per cent, and a significant improvement on the 34 per cent in 2019.

Miatta Fahnbullen, minister for energy consumers, said: “The look and feel of parliament is really different. I remember the first time I was in the chamber and I just looked around and there was colour and not just the colour of people’s skin, but just the colour of clothes. It wasn’t just men in grey suits so it feels like there has been a kind of shift.”