SNP MPS will not be “seduced by Westminster flummery” one of the new 2015 intake has promised.

As the 56, 49 of whom are new to the Palace of Westminster, get used to their new surroundings, its lavish interiors and historic halls, they face a workplace like no other.

Arcane rituals, bizarre rules and centuries old traditions pervade the everyday life of an MP.

From a no clapping rule to nods and bows and a way of requesting to speak that looks like a children’s party game, it is a world away from the Scottish Parliament and other modern legislatures.

John Nicolson, East Dunbartonshire MP, a former Westminster correspondent is no stranger to the old place, and is aware of the dangers of going native.

He said his Labour predecessors have fallen into the establishment trap that neuters their radicalism and co-opts them as one of their own.

And he said the defeat of 40 Scots Labour MPs has been likened to a “draining of poison” within the party.

He said: “I think traditions shield a lot of MPs from reality, a lot of it is designed to appear seductive.

“Over a long period Labour MPs have been seduced by this.

“John Reid for example, arrives as a young left winger and ends up in ermine in the House of Lords.”

He said SNP MPs are often on the same plane as Labour peers on the weekly flight south.

He said: “Every one of them at some point has said they disagree with the House of Lords.

“From the doorman opening the door to the subsided drinks in the bars and just the general flummery of the place is designed to be seductive and generations of Scottish Labour MPs have gone straight from one side of parliament to the other to sit in the House of Lords.

“The traditions play a part in that.”

The SNP have bucked the traditions and got into bother for it, but Mr Nicolson said the clapping they have reprimanded for is normal behaviour and will continue.

He said: “We got slapped down by the speaker for clapping. We still do it to keep our hand in at being normal.

“I got a big mailbag telling me to keep clapping. Normal people clap, it’s what we do.”

While Westminster is new to them, they are also new to the majority of MPs but he said they have surprised people and have been well received.

He said: “Looking across at the Tory benches some backbenchers were surprised we spoke English. They thought the Jacobite hordes were descending south to terrorise the natives.

“I think they have been flabbergasted by the quality of some of the maiden speeches. They have been extremely impressed by the standards of front bench contributions.

“I found them on the whole to be very courteous on a one to one basis. I think they respect us as opponents they know they are unable to seduce with flummery and seats in the Lords.”

He said the SNP had been misrepresented by Scottish Labour MPs, giving others an unjust negative image which is being dispelled.

He added: “The Labour Party has been interesting too. Some of my very experienced colleagues say it is as if a lot of the poison has been drained by the Labour Scottish MPs being defeated.

“They are very politically sectarian, weren’t interested in team work or alliances, even though a lot of the divisions are quite artificial. A lot of English Labour MPs simply accepted what their Scottish colleagues told them about us.

“They’re now finding they are agreeing with us. A lot are saying we are saying what they are too frightened to say, because a lot of them are cowed by English right wing tabloids.

“Take Trident, I’ve had several English Labour MPs telling me it’s a waste of money it’s not a deterrent we should be decommissioning, but we can’t say that. You’re saying what we think.”

The visibility and activity of the SNP group has been noticed, he said and welcomed by political opponents.

Mr Nicolson said: “We’re here to be respectful of parliament but here to do a job of work and represent our constituents.

“We hear from people that we’ve been more attentive and in attendance more in 100 days than many of our predecessors were in 100 months.

“I’m hearing this from Conservative MPs ‘you guys have made this a more lively place, because you turn up work hard always here, no skiving and we see more of you than your Labour predecessors’.

“And they know, unlike our Labour predecessors, we’re not going to be seduced by anything here.”