How the large increase in Scottish MPs has triggered a change in the House of Commons' voting system

Scottish MPs are causing a stir in the House of Commons, after an increase in the number of member surnames beginning with ‘Mc’ triggered a change in the House’s voting system.

The success of the Scottish National Party in May’s general election means there are now 25 MPs whose last names begin with a variation of the traditional Scottish prefix ‘Mc’ or ‘Mac’, which apparently caused long queues at the desk where members with a surname beginning with G-M are meant to vote.

Chris Grayling, Leader of the House, said he was not “consigning the ‘Mc’s’ to the outer darkness”, and instead members with surnames beginning with G would have to vote at the A-F desk. According to The Daily Telegraph, the new system will be trialled over a two week period when the House returns in September.

Mr Grayling said: “It may be helpful to Right Honourable members, particularly to my Honourable friend from Kettering, if I announce that you Mr Speaker have authorised a trial during the September sitting in which the alphabetical groupings in the division lobbies will be changed.

“We will not be consigning the Mcs to the outer darkness though. In fact, the letter G will move to the A-F desk.

“This is to try to address the issue raised by several members about long queues at the current G-M desk. This will be a trial which will run for two weeks to establish whether the arrangements improve the situation.”

MPs were less than impressed with the Leader’s priorities however. Angela Eagle, Labour MP for Wallasey told The Telegraph: “Perhaps he can tell us since he is trialling the moving of the letter G from one area of the lobby to another, why we can’t trial his English votes for English law plans; they seem to be more important.”