IT IS almost possible to feel sorry for the Tories. Looking down upon them from the Commons press gallery on Monday night, one could certainly see the source of their anguish. Apart from anything else, the chamber just looks so disfigured.
Maybe Mr Tony Blair will get round to changing the structure - he seems set to change just about everything else and it is rumoured he would favour the less adversarial horseshoe format.
Until then, newly elected Labour MPs (still learning their way, sitting in even on Northern Ireland debates) will continue to sit where they can.
On a good turnout the Tories occupy only half the opposition benches. With the Ulster Unionists, Liberal Democrats, Scots and Welsh nationalists spread out alongside them on the other side of the gangway, the previous party of government looks more like the largest of the "minority parties".
Certainly, as yet, they have acquired none of the grandeur that befits Her Majesty's Official Opposition.
And events on Monday night underlined the need for a vigorous opposition. Mr Blair had already attracted complaints of arrogance following his decision, without consultation with the Speaker, to change the arrangements for Prime Minister's Questions.
The same charge was levelled at the Chancellor, Mr Gordon Brown, for his unilateral announcements about the role of the Bank of England.
Queen Elizabeth was reportedly upset not to have been invited to meet President Clinton - and, earlier, by Mr and Mrs Blair's public procession to the State Opening of the new parliament while the Irish State Coach bore her to the Palace of Westminster.
Some of the complaints - for example, that the larger than usual number of "special advisers" to ministers amounts to a "politicisation" of the civil service - are clearly over blown.
But there is an underlying unease that the sheer scale of Labour's majority will encourage ministers to ride roughshod over parliamentary objections. And that was felt acutely as the Leader of the House announced a guillotine on the debate on the Bill providing for referendums on Scottish and Welsh devolution.
Mr Michael Howard dined royally on the row, bringing more than a snigger as he accused the new government of showing contempt for decency and for parliament itself.
There was more than a bit of posturing for the Tory leadership campaign, to be sure. And Mr Donald Dewar and Mr Tony Benn were right to say that the Tory game plan, with hundreds of amendments tabled, would delay the democratic consultation with the people.
But constitutional legislation demands proper parliamentary scrutiny. When we get to the substance of the devolution proposals, Labour will rightly be pressed to answer questions it has largely ignored about the contradictions and conflicts which might arise between London and Edinburgh.
And this early "smack of firm government" has dramatically underlined the need for the Tory party to gather itself at the earliest moment around a new leader.
The indications are that it will not be Mr Howard.
He appears to have recovered somewhat from Ms Ann Widdecombe's lacerating attacks. But the widespread wisdom at Westminster is that Mr Howard, like Mr John Redwood, will be deemed unelectable.
Mr Peter Lilley, too, is characterised as too extreme.
The general expectation is that Mr Kenneth Clarke will top the first ballot, and slug it out in the end with the Tory `boy wonder', Mr William Hague.
Mr Clarke received a boost yesterday, on the eve of formal nominations, with the withdrawal of Mr Stephen Dorrell.
It is impossible to calculate how this translates into votes. But the move heightened a growing sense of a bandwagon effect for the former chancellor.
Mr Hague (36) remains the bookmakers' favourite. And some Tories yesterday declared they could never bring themselves to vote for a man they blame for locking Mr John Major into the "wait and see" policy on the single currency.
However, they acknowledged that developments in France and Germany have helped Mr Clarke to a more sceptical position.
And The Irish Times has learned that several constituency parties have told right of centre MPs they do not consider Europe should any longer be the defining issue.
The message on the ground is that the single currency can be Mr Blair's problem; that the Tory party needs a heavy hitter; and that, at 36, Mr Hague is quite simply too young and inexperienced.