If a global pandemic that has reshaped Britain can’t drag parliament into the 21st century, what will?

For a while, Westminster had managed to build a system that was more accessible and better suited to the lives of real people, but it ultimately decided to give up on all of it, writes Marie Le Conte

Sir Lindsay Hoyle has asked for returning MPs to smarten up their outfits (Getty)

Parliament is an old and slow beast; it is stuck in its ways and, even when it does decide to change, it usually does so at a glacial pace. Well, most of the time. When the pandemic hit last year, online proceedings were set in place practically overnight, to everyone’s surprise.

For the past year and a half, MPs have been debating and voting on our laws both on Zoom and in person. Though some keen parliamentarians returned to Westminster the moment they were able to, others have barely set a foot in SW1 since March 2020.

The hybrid parliament, as it became known, was one of the few silver linings of the pandemic, as it showed that the Palace of Westminster could be dragged into the 21st century after all.