Tonight at midnight, something will change in Parliament. All the MPs who lost their seats in last week’s elections will have their passes cancelled, to be replaced by a pass giving them more limited access to the Parliamentary estate. They’ve been sneaking through Westminster over the past few days to clear out their offices and make their staff redundant. Some look eerily cheery as they do this. Others scuttle along, avoiding conversation. As the new intake of MPs look up excitedly at the ornate ceilings and take pictures of Big Ben on their phones, swelling a little with excitement and pride, the old MPs keep their eyes fixed firmly down on their shoes as they finish up in the Palace of Westminster.
One Lib Dem MP was so confident he’d be back that he left his coat on its peg in the members’ cloakroom. He lost his seat.
Some will have been expecting it, and will have made arrangements for their future.
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