Newly elected MPs who had to stay at home after Covid struck speak of their relief at normality returning to parliamentary life
As Daisy Cooper walked into her election count in the early hours of 13 December 2019, she checked her email to see six unread messages. Five hours later, now the newly elected Liberal Democrat MP for St Albans, her tally was 200. Two days later when she headed to Westminster, it was 3,000.
“These were people saying ‘I’m going to be made homeless in two weeks’ time’, ‘the ceiling has collapsed from damp’ or ‘my visa is running out and I’ve been trying to contact the Home Office for three months’,” says Cooper. “That’s literally on day one, and you’ve got no staff.”
