An MP who delayed her cesarean section and turned up to parliament in a wheelchair to vote against Theresa May's Brexit deal has given birth to a baby boy.
Tulip Siddiq, Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, delayed the birth of her baby this week because she would have been unable to vote in Tuesday's meaningful vote had she not been physically present in Westminster.
She returned to the House of Commons again on Wednesday night to be counted in the confidence vote against the government.
"Tulip Siddiq and Chris Percy are proud to welcome Raphael Mujib St John Percy to the world. He was born on 9.59am on 17 Jan 2019, weighing 6 pounds 6.9 ounces," she said in a statement to BuzzFeed News.
"We are extremely grateful to the doctors, nurses, midwives and staff at the Royal Free hospital for their brilliant work and for looking after our son so well."
Siddiq was advised by doctors to give birth by cesarean section earlier this week after developing gestational diabetes. She asked medics to delay her child's birth by two days so that she would be able to vote.
She said she wanted to vote in person because she did not trust the pairing system, which matches up absent MPs from opposing sides so that their votes effectively cancel each other out.
Ahead of Tuesday's vote, which resulted in a crushing defeat for the prime minister, Siddiq tweeted: "My decision to delay my baby's birth is not one I take lightly.
"Let me be clear, I have no faith in the pairing system — in July the Govt stole the vote of a new mother. It's my duty to represent Hampstead & Kilburn, and I will do just that."
Whips agreed that she could be "nodded through" to vote again on Wednesday night — a process designed for members in special circumstances, such as when they are ill or have a small child with them.
Siddiq said she received personal assurances from the prime minister that her vote would be counted.
"I went through the division lobby in a wheelchair last night because pairing is broken, there is no proxy voting, and I wanted my vote recorded," she tweeted.
"Nodding through is not ideal, I will still have to travel to Parliament and wait for whips to check I am present even though I am giving birth tomorrow. The UK is in chaos and, clearly, much greater issues face the country, but Parliament needs dragging into the 21st century ASAP."