Ayes down for a full House

PACKED to the rafters, MPs had to squeeze into the House of Commons for the first time since the General Election.

- Martyn Brown

They were there to re-elect Sir Lindsay Hoyle as Speaker - as is tradition at the beginning of a new Parliament.

Sir Lindsay vowed he would continue to be "fair, impartial and independent" as he addressed almost all the 650 MPs in the Commons.

He has served as Speaker since November 2019 when he replaced John Bercow shortly before the 2019 General Election.

The Speaker election marks the first day of the new Parliament, which welcomed 335 new MPs, including Nigel Farage, to the chamber.

Sir Lindsay faced pressure earlier this year to step down as Speaker over his handling of a vote on a ceasefire in Gaza.

But despite a no-confidence motion attracting support among Tory and SNP MPs, he was able to continue in the role.