LABOUR MP Tulip Siddiq, who created history on Tuesday (29) by becoming the first MP to vote by proxy during the crucial Brexit amendments in the House of Commons, said having a female prime minister helped achieve this.
On Monday (28), a one-year trial of proxy voting was approved in the House of Commons, and MPs who are new parents will now be able to nominate a colleague to cast a ballot on their behalf.
Siddiq, who represents Hampstead and Kilburn in north London, told Sky News: "For years and years, I worked in parliament and there weren't that many women, let alone women with children. I never thought there would be anything like proxy voting."
"We now have a lot more women, and women at senior levels, so it has make a big difference having Theresa May as prime minister, Andrea Leadsom as leader of the house, Harriet Harman as mother of the house, Valerie Vaz as shadow leader of the house.
"There wasn't really a will for it before, to change the archaic workings of parliament."
Despite being from the opposing party, having a female prime minister has made a difference, Siddiq said.
Two weeks ago, the British Bangladeshi MP delayed her Caesarean to take part in a key Brexit vote. She was brought into the chamber in a wheelchair and her presence there prompted a cross-party campaign led by women MPs to update parliamentary rules.
Siddiq said: "When I went in, in a wheelchair, the prime minister came over and spoke to me in the chamber.
"She was about to lose the biggest vote of her life and she made the time to come over and speak to me for quite a long time saying she was sorry to see me in this position, she knew that things needed to be changed, she didn't think I should be there the day before I was due to have a baby.
"She expressed a lot of sympathy and I was grateful."
Siddiq said she wanted to take part in the key Brexit vote because she knew the future of her country was at stake.
"All I know is I really didn't feel I could sit home when I knew the future of the country is at stake. Brexit is so important to my constituents. I have 22,000 EU nationals, one of the highest in the country," she told Sky News.
Damian Talbot