One of the most prominent features of the future political life of Egypt will be the absence of the Muslim Brotherhood from the Parliament for the first time in a quarter of a century. This raises questions over the impact that the movement’s exit from the Parliament will have on it, representing not only its estrangement from the fount of legislation and oversight, but also – and perhaps particularly for the Brotherhood – the loss of an important arena of societal, political and cultural interaction. In addition, activism within the electoral constituencies provided a means for the Brotherhood of being closer to the concerns of the people. To what extent will this event influence the political project of the Brotherhood, formulated in the early 1980s, one of the most important items of which was entering the Parliament?