House of Commons 'like Hogwarts' to new MPs

He may have a famous name but he does not have an office or a phone yet.

Stephen Kinnock, as the son of a former Labour leader, is one of the better-known among the 2015 intake of MPs.

But like the rest of the new faces he has to wait for behind-the-scenes negotiations to conclude before he can be allocated a permanent office at Westminster.

"So no office," the Aberavon MP tells me. "We're hot-desking.

"I have been given a telephone extension on the system here in parliament but as I don't actually have a telephone or a desk or an office for any of those things I'm not sure what good that does me at the moment."

He says constituents can contact him via a number on his website.

Craig Williams held off a Labour challenge to hold Cardiff North for the Conservatives. He has benefited from a new induction programme with new MPs offered help from designated "buddies" among the parliamentary staff.

"I've had a couple of tours," he says. "Not that it helps because it's a bit like a rat warren in here. It's like Hogwarts, I think, but it's a great building to get lost in - and I'm going to continue getting lost but I'm sure it'll come before long."

Mr Williams knows where his office facilities are - he just struggles to find them.

"I've got a desk and a phone in committee room 17. It's up three floors that way, left-right, left-right. I get lost twice getting there but there's something in committee room 17 for me."

I ask Stephen Kinnock if he has had any advice from his father. The question is met with a familiar throaty chuckle. "What my dad has always said to me is 'be yourself. You'll get criticism, you'll get people having a go at you, the key thing is to never take it personally. This is the job'."

Before he can get on with the job, he and the other 649 MPs have to be sworn in, taking the oath of allegiance. They have to do this in English, but can repeat the oath - or affirmation - in Welsh, Scottish Gaelic or Cornish. Without it, they can't take part in Commons debates or votes - or even get paid.