In days past, MPs would deal with all the waiting in another way, namely in other jobs. But second jobs have become very much frowned upon, to the extent that after the expenses crisis the House passed a motion that has been interpreted as meaning that MPs have to report every hour they spend not just in other paid work but even in volunteering.
This is the infamous 168-hour rule, the rule that MPs are MPs for every hour of the week, with no time off at all for anything else. Even writing a book or an article on politics, paid or not, is seen as a shameful activity to be reported to the authorities. One suspects that in the future those MPs who sleep more hours a night than Margaret Thatcher managed with will have to obtain permission from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. But the effect of the 168-hour rule is that MPs will have to spend even more time just waiting.
One wonders what sort of people will want to be MPs in the future. The combination of minor celebrity status, with its constant observation by the media, enforced inactivity and being cooped up in the same place for weeks on end is reminiscent of only one thing. Welcome, then, to the Big Ben Brother House.
MPs who stood down before the election
Conservative
Ainsworth, Peter Surrey East
Ancram, Michael Devizes
Atkinson, Peter Hexham
Boswell, Timothy Daventry
Browning, Angela Tiverton & Honiton
Butterfill, Sir John Bournemouth West
Cormack, Sir Patrick Staffordshire South
Curry, David Skipton & Ripon
Fraser, Christopher Norfolk South West
Goodman, Paul Wycombe
Greenway, John Ryedale
Gummer, John Suffolk Coastal
Hogg, Douglas Sleaford & North Hykeham
Horam, John Orpington
Howard, Michael Folkestone & Hythe
Jack, Michael Fylde
Key, Robert Salisbury
Kirkbride, Julie Bromsgrove
Lait, Jacqui Beckenham
Lord, Sir Michael Suffolk Central & Ipswich North
MacKay, Andrew Bracknell
Maclean, David Penrith & The Border
Malins, Humfrey Woking
Maples, John Stratford-on-Avon
Mates, Michael Hampshire East
Moss, Malcolm Cambridgeshire North East
Spicer, Sir Michael Worcestershire West
Spring, Richard Suffolk West
Steen, Anthony Totnes
Taylor, Ian Esher & Walton
Viggers, Sir Peter Gosport
Widdecombe, Ann Maidstone & The Weald
Wilshire, David Spelthorne
Winterton, Ann Congleton
Winterton, Sir Nicholas Macclesfield
Labour
Armstrong, Hilary Durham North West
Austin, John Erith & Thamesmead
Battle, John Leeds West
Blackman, Liz Erewash
Browne, Des Kilmarnock & Loudoun
Burgon, Colin Elmet
Byers, Stephen Tyneside North
Caborn, Richard Sheffield Central
Challen, Colin Morley & Rothwell
Chapman, Ben Wirral South
Chaytor, David Bury North
Clapham, Michael Barnsley West & Penistone
Clelland, David Tyne Bridge
Cohen, Harry Leyton & Wanstead
Cousins, Jim Newcastle upon Tyne Central
Cryer, Ann Keighley
Cummings, John Easington
Curtis-Thomas, Claire Crosby
Davies, Quentin Grantham & Stamford
Dean, Janet Burton
Devine, Jim Livingston
Ennis, Jeff Barnsley East & Mexborough
Etherington, Bill Sunderland North
Fisher, Mark Stoke-on-Trent Central
Follett, Barbara Stevenage
George, Bruce Walsall South
Gerrard, Neil Walthamstow
Griffiths, Nigel Edinburgh South
Grogan, John Selby
Hall, Mike Weaver Vale
Heal, Sylvia Halesowen & Rowley Regis
Henderson, Doug Newcastle upon Tyne North
Heppell, John Nottingham East
Hesford, Stephen Wirral West
Hewitt, Patricia Leicester West
Hill, Keith Streatham
Hoon, Geoff Ashfield
Howells, Dr Kim Pontypridd
Hughes, Beverley Stretford & Urmston
Humble, Joan Blackpool North & Fleetwood
Hutton, John Barrow & Furness
Iddon, Dr Brian Bolton South East
Ingram,