There’s a new generation of MPs in parliament ready to shake up the business of government

Some 140 new MPs were elected on 12 December and their presence will change the mood and political temper of Westminster in ways which go well beyond their party labels

Boris Johnson addresses parliament during PMQs last week (Reuters)

The biggest impact of a general election, of course, comes from deciding who will form the new government, and for most voters that is the only issue that matters – Tories in, Labour out, forget about it for the next five years. But at Westminster, another big change is the arrival of a whole new generation of MPs.

Some 140 new MPs were elected on 12 December – as well as 15 who returned after losing their seats at a previous election – making them almost a quarter of the House of Commons, and their presence will change the mood and political temper of parliament in ways which go well beyond their party labels.

Westminster was changed irrevocably by the arrival of a sizeable cohort of women in 1997 and ethnic minority MPs in 2015 – though both are still grossly under-represented compared to the population at large – and by the SNP’s near clean sweep of Scottish seats which made them the official third party five years ago.