IT was a piece of parliamentary history that passed in the blink of an eye; well, almost.

After centuries of doing things the traditional way, MPs took part in their very first electronic vote; a temporary mechanism brought about because of virus-inspired lockdown. Boris Johnson was a notable digital absentee; he probably had better things to do.

Backbenchers ate cheese and took their children to the swings while participating in what was not the most important division the Commons had ever seen: whether or not they believed the House had considered Covid-19 following a two-day debate on the pandemic.

MPs cast their votes not by queueing up in a dusty oak-panelled division Lobby as they usually do but by pressing either an "aye" or a "no" button on the Member Hub system available on their phones and computers.

After the division was called by the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, some among the small number of MPs present in the chamber could be heard remarking how they had managed to work out the technology and vote successfully on their phones.

However, one Tory MP could be heard snapping: "What an absolute farce!"

Mark Spencer, the jolly Government Chief Whip, could be seen jokingly holding up his smartphone in the air as if to suggest he was struggling to get a signal.

Outwith Westminster, Tory Tom Tugendhat posted a video of himself walking with his children, noting: "One of the upsides is I'm walking along the path to take the kids to the swings and I've just voted. That's not bad."

The SNP's Stewart McDonald boasted on Twitter: "Mine was with cheese."

Conservative MP Harriett Baldwin could be heard saying she was waiting in the chamber to see how the vote would be announced.

Sir Lindsay drew laughter from nearby MPs when he remarked it would, of course, all be online.

In the end, for those interested, MPs approved the motion by 363 votes to 248, a resounding majority of 115.

The division list showed those who voted in favour included 344 Tories, 11 Liberal Democrats, seven DUP and Alliance MP Stephen Farry.

Those who voted against included 196 Labour MPs, 46 SNP, four Plaid Cymru, the Green Party’s Caroline Lucas and Independent Scottish MP Neale Hanvey.

The division, in fact, was something of a dry run for tomorrow when MPs vote with their fingers on the Agriculture Bill. The party whips can only hope they press the correct button.