New mother Tulip Siddiq was due to make history tonight as the first MP to vote by proxy.
Her votes in the critical Brexit divisions were being cast on her behalf by fellow Labour MP Vicky Foxcroft.
It will be the first time an MP has had a vote counted without being present on the parliamentary estate.
New rules agreed last night for a one-year trial will only apply to MPs on parental leave, but may in future lead to an end of the tradition of forcing seriously ill MPs to vote in person.
Ms Siddiq, the MP for Hampstead & Kilburn, told the Standard: “It just goes to show that if you campaign for change it does happen.” She took a stand two weeks ago by delaying the birth by Caesarean of son Raphael, her second child, to take part in a key Brexit vote.
Her appearance in a wheelchair galvanised a cross-party campaign led by women MPs to update parliamentary rules.
MPs including Tory Andrea Leadsom, Labour’s Harriet Harman and Lib Dem Jo Swinson united late last night to agree a one-year trial of proxy voting for MPs on recent parental leave and for those bereaved by miscarriage.
Speaker John Bercow then announced it would begin immediately.
MPs will have to supply a maternity certificate to qualify in future, although Ms Siddiq was granted an exemption.
