A Labour MP and her Conservative counterpart gave new meaning to the term ‘Baby of the House’ as they were sworn in while carrying their newborn children.
Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, was welcomed back to the Commons while carrying her baby daughter Hettie in a sling.
Meanwhile, Kemi Badenoch, the Tory education minister and MP for Saffron Walden, did the same as she was sworn in while her daughter was strapped to her body.
The term ‘Baby of the House’ is used to refer to the youngest member of Parliament.
That title now belongs to 23-year-old Labour MP Nadia Whittome who was elected to represent the seat of Nottingham East at last week’s election.
Ms Badenoch, 39, already has a daughter, six, and a son, three, with her husband, Hamish, who works in the City.
Ms Creasy, who has previously detailed her heartbreak after suffering miscarriages, is a vocal advocate of the need for Parliament to become more family friendly.
Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, was sworn in yesterday while carrying her newborn daughter Hettie
Kemi Badenoch, the Tory MP for Saffron Walden, was also sworn in while holding her newborn daughter
Ms Badenoch was one of dozens of MPs – including Boris Johnson – who were formally returned to the House of Commons yesterday
Ms Creasy and Ms Badenoch were among the hundreds of MPs who went through the process of making an oath or solemn affirmation of allegiance to the Crown in order to take their seats in Parliament yesterday.
Ms Creasy, who will now go on maternity leave, said her daughter did not appear to mind the trip to Parliament.
The MP wrote on her Instagram page: ‘Under current parliamentary procedure I had to go in today to swear in so that I can have maternity leave and Walthamstow still gets a vote via my proxy.
‘Thankfully Hettie not too bothered by the mother of all parliaments.’
Ms Creasy faced vicious abuse from anti-abortion campaigners when she was pregnant this year over her support for terminations in Northern Ireland to be treated as a medical matter rather than a legal one.
In July MPs approved an amendment she put forward to extend abortion rights there — the only part of the UK where it remained illegal.
The Labour MP said she believed she had been targeted by campaigners precisely because she was pregnant as activists descended on her constituency to hand out graphic anti-abortion leaflets.
She previously said she believed parliament was effectively telling her to ‘choose between being a mum and being an MP’ because of outdated rules, regulations and procedures.
Parliament has now introduced measures like proxy voting in a bid to become more family friendly but Ms Creasy believes more must be done to make life easier for MPs when they have children.
The Commons erupted into a chorus of ‘ohs’ when newly re-elected Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle reminded MPs that until they take the oath or affirm they ‘will not receive any salary’.
As well as the ‘Baby of the House’ the Commons also has a ‘Father of the House’ – the title given to the longest serving MP.
That role had been held by veteran Tory Ken Clarke but he stepped down at the election, handing the honour to Sir Peter Bottomley, the Tory MP for Worthing West.
Every MP must swear an oath or affirm their allegiance to the Queen before they are allowed to take their seat in the Commons.
Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, opted to swear, reading the oath: ‘Boris Johnson, Uxbridge and South Ruislip, I swear by almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors according to law, so help me God.’
Creasy carries her baby daughter as she celebrates winning a seat in Britain’s general election in Waltham Forest Town Hall
Stella Creasy with her daughter Hettie after she regained her seat (Pictured with Conservatives candidate Shade Adoh and the Brexit Party’s Paul Campbell)
Kemi Badenoch, 39, (pictured with her new daughter) from Wimbledon who is a pro-Brexit conservative minister, has previously revealed how she balances politics with family life
Kemi (pictured with her daughter) studied computer engineering at Sussex University, and later went on to do a law degree in the evenings at Birkbeck, University of London
He was followed by Home Secretary Priti Patel, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland and Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Chancellor Sajid Javid opted to affirm while Cabinet Office Minister Oliver Dowden became the first MP to have to take the oath for a second time, after getting it wrong on the first attempt.
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was the first member of his party to complete the swearing-in process and opted to affirm.