By Ben Davies BBC News political reporter

Parliament has a unique whiff which is pretty much impossible to identify, according to its newest MP.

Hartlepool by-election winner Iain Wright says it's not a nasty smell - it's just one of the many distinctive things about working at the House of Commons.

Ian Wright: It smells like a bad B&B

Arriving in October the successor to Peter Mandelson said he felt a range of emotions from exhilaration through to frustration.

"I feel privileged. It's a great place to work," he says.

And that Parliamentary odour?

"I have never smelt anything like it before. It's not a bad smell, it's not a good smell - it's just very distinctive," he said.

"It's like a very bad B&B and it's very weird."

Benefits

Fellow newcomer Parmjit Singh Gill, who won Leicester South for the Lib Dems back in July, said he just can't believe how busy the life of an MP can be.

The demands at Westminster, the demands in his constituency, the demands of being the only Lib Dem ethnic minority MP - the list goes on.

But he says there are plenty of benefits to being an MP.

Mr Singh Gill says he can't believe how busy being an MP is

"I was turning into a bit of a fatty and I've lost some weight since I was elected in July."

Though there were only three new MPs in 2004, this year's widely expected general election will see plenty more. There will also be lots of old hands leaving.

One of them, Tory Gillian Shepherd, said she is going to miss being in a place full of people drawn together by a shared belief in democracy.

The ex-education secretary added: "I shall miss very much indeed everything about it: the atmosphere, friends, the humour - being here means you are at the centre of things."

Archie Norman who left a highly successful life in business to become a Tory MP in 2001 is also stepping down.

He agreed his timing for entering politics was not exactly "propitious" but he insisted he had enjoyed serving "at the top level of British politics" under William Hague.

I think I will miss having somewhere to go Sir Teddy Taylor

Ex-sports minister Tony Banks meanwhile made it clear last month that he now finds dealing with constituents' cases "tedious in the extreme".

The Labour member also complained about the way he and his colleagues get treated in the media bemoaning that despite a �57,485 salary and expenses allowances that includes �77,534 for staff, he will leave Parliament with overdrafts in all his bank accounts.

'Somewhere to go'

Veteran Tory Sir Teddy Taylor rued what he sees as a dwindling interest in politics among the young.

Mr Banks has come to find constituency casework tedious

He said his most exciting time in Parliament was the moment under John Major when he and fellow eurosceptics had the whip withdrawn by the party because of their stance over the Maastricht Treaty.

Sir Teddy said he and his colleagues "held the balance of power" until they were invited back into the fold.

Asked what he will miss he said: "I think I will miss having somewhere to go ... it's been 40 years."

Sir Teddy added that he was extremely worried that young people had "simply switched off from politics".

Tam Dalyell, who as the longest serving MP has the honorary title Father of the House, has built a reputation in his 42-year career for doggedly asking questions.

He said his worst memory was his "failure to persuade Blair not to go into Iraq".

World heritage site

His best memory is saving the Aldabra Atoll, a unique nature reserve in the Indian Ocean, which he helped prevent becoming a British military runway in the 1960s.

"Overall je ne regrette rien. I am 72 it may be alright to be an MP at 73/74 but if it's a five year Parliament it takes me to 78."

Sir Teddy worries about the lack of passion for politics among the young

Lib Dem MP Jenny Tonge, who will stand down after serving two terms as the Richmond Park MP, said she could do another five years but she has to abide by a deal with her husband to retire at 65.

On being in the Commons she said: "It's the first time I have done anything - and I was a medic before I did this - when I've woken up every morning and said yippee!"

Controversial

She cited two high points. One was her successful campaign to get the morning after pill sold over the counter in pharmacies.

The support and warmth of people was just staggering Jenny Tonge

The other was something that got her fired from her party's frontbench. She said she might consider becoming a suicide bomber if she were forced to live like the Palestinians.

"I stuck my neck out and highlighted their situation."

Dr Tonge said she felt supported by colleagues when family tragedy struck

Dr Tonge said she will miss the atmosphere in the Commons chamber which on a good day is like "being in a really good football crowd".

And she highlights the kindness earlier this year of many colleagues when they heard her 34-year-old daughter Mary was electrocuted because of shoddy building work carried out on her home.

"The support and warmth of people was just staggering," she said.