Where will they all sit? Commons welcomes 334 rookie MPs in most diverse parliament

The new house has a record number of women and ethnic minority members, but finding seats could be hard during busy debates

It will be rather like freshers' week," said a senior official in the House of Commons when asked about the daunting prospect of 334 new MPs arriving from all parts of the UK to take their seats in parliament this week. It is going to be huge. Most of them won't know their way around at all or know what to do. It is a massive logistical challenge for parliament."

Labour's landslide victory will mean the most dramatic transformation in the make-up of the 650-seat lower house in decades, with Keir Starmer's parliamentary party having almost doubled in size, and added 211 more members to its benches.