By Invitation | British politics

Harriet Harman on how Parliament has changed over four decades

It is more in touch with voters, says the longest-serving female MP—but there is more work to do

Illustration: Dan Williams

SO MUCH HAS changed since that day in October 1982 when the huge oak doors of Britain’s House of Commons swung open and I walked into a packed chamber to swear my oath of allegiance to the Queen. I felt completely out of place, dressed in my red velvet maternity dress, as I took my seat among a sea of men in grey suits. And indeed I was.

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