Live TV coverage of Parliament started 20 years ago today

Somewhat unexpectedly, one of the most immediate changes brought about by televising the House of Commons was to male MPs’ hairstyles.

Until then, it had been the habit amongst some of the, er…, thinning on top MPs to brush their hair forward so that when you looked at them face to face it appeared that they had a bountiful mop of hair above their forehead. Unfortunately, if you looked down on their head from a slightly elevated position, this impressive wave of hair instead looked like a toupe that had slipped forward leaving a bald patch further back.

And where were the new Commons cameras? At a slightly elevated position, looking down.

Cue a rapid change of hairstyle from MPs such as Bryan Gould.

I’m sure there is a moral in this somewhere…