ROWDY MPs risk embarrassment on television with the easing of tight restrictions on broadcasters’ coverage of parliamentary proceedings.

At present the cameras are allowed to film only tight shots of MPs who are speaking, or exchanges between ministers and opposition spokesmen. But in the new year the broadcasters will be allowed to pan around the chambers and film “reaction shots” that will capture the verbal volleys across the floor of the House.

It could land some of the more vocal MPs in hot water if they are shown using “unparliamentary” language or making unseemly hand gestures at their political opponents.

It may also expose how ill-attended the Commons is during many sittings. A full house is a comparative rarity, occurring usually only during prime minister’s questions on Wednesdays or for important statements such as the budget.

This absenteeism has led to a trick that now stands to be exposed. MPs from the main parties are apt to indulge in “doughnutting”, in which several MPs cluster around and behind a minister to suggest that the chamber is fuller than it actually is. The “doughnuts” invariably consist of youthful, female or ethnic minority MPs, depending on the desired political message.

It is hoped that the new measures, announced last week by Frank Doran, chairman of the Commons administration committee, will help to “illustrate the mood of the House” and re-engage viewers in parliamentary proceedings.

BBC Parliament is watched by an average of 55,000 viewers per day.

The changes are being urged by Lord Puttnam, the Labour peer and Oscar-winning film director, who wrote a report for the Hansard Society recommending 39 measures — his “39 steps” — aimed at making parliament more relevant to people’s lives.

Puttnam also called for fewer restrictions on the locations where reporters can shoot interviews in and around the palace of Westminster.

The new rules were introduced on a trial basis in October and the committee has now agreed that the changes should be made permanent. The new broadcasting system will go live on the return of the House in January.

There is uncertainty as to how both MPs and public will respond. Stephen Pound, Labour MP for Ealing North, said: “I think the changes are going to be good for democracy, bad for politicians. If we’re going to have a warts-and-all approach, you’re going to see lots of warts.”

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