Harriet Harman on how Parliament has changed over four decades

SO MUCH HAS changed since that day in October 1982 when the huge oak doors of Britain’s House of Commons swung open and I walked into a packed chamber to swear my oath of allegiance to the Queen. I felt completely out of place, dressed in my red velvet maternity dress, as I took my seat among a sea of men in grey suits. And indeed I was.

The House I entered as Labour MP for Peckham, in south London, was 97% men. For those who felt that a woman’s place was in the home, not in the Commons, the 3% who were women could be safely ignored. But thanks to the campaign to make Parliament more representative, the one I am leaving is now 35% women—and that percentage is set to rise after next month’s general election. A pregnant MP is no longer an oddity, and in 2018 we introduced the first ever baby leave for MPs.