Father of the House (United Kingdom): Difference between revisions

 

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|[[Arthur Hill, 7th Marquess of Downshire]]

|[[Arthur Hill, 7th Marquess of Downshire]]

|[[Peerage of Ireland|Ireland]]{{refn|Entitled to a seat in the House of Lords as ”Earl of Hillsborough, Viscount Fairford and Baron Harwich” in the Peerage of Great Britain.|group= n}}

|[[Peerage of Ireland|Ireland]]{{refn|Entitled to a seat in the House of Lords as ”Earl of Hillsborough” in the Peerage of Great Britain.|group= n}}

|Other

|Other

|18 May 1920 – 28 March 1989{{Cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords-reports/1920/may/18/preamble|title=Marquess of Downshire |website=UK Parliament|date=18 May 1920|access-date=15 July 2023}}

|18 May 1920 – 28 March 1989{{Cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords-reports/1920/may/18/preamble|title=Marquess of Downshire |website=UK Parliament|date=18 May 1920|access-date=15 July 2023}}

Honorary position in the British parliament

The father of the House is a title that is bestowed on the senior member of the House of Commons who has the longest continuous service. If two or more members have the same length of current uninterrupted service, then whoever was sworn in earliest, as listed in Hansard, is named as Father of the House.^[1]

The only formal duty of the father of the House is to preside over the election of the speaker of the House of Commons. However, the relevant Standing Order does not refer to this member by the title of “Father of the House”, but instead to the longest-serving member of the House present who is not a minister of the Crown. Until 1971, the clerk of the House of Commons presided over the election of the Speaker. As the clerk is never a member, and therefore is not permitted to speak, he would silently stand and point at the Member who was to speak. However, this procedure broke down at the election of a new Speaker in 1971 and was changed upon the recommendation of a select committee.^{[2][failed verification]}

Since the 2019 general election, Sir Peter Bottomley, who has been an MP continuously since 1975, has been Father of the House. His grandmother’s cousin Robin Turton was also Father. The previous father was Kenneth Clarke^[3] who began his continuous service at the 1970 general election and became father in 2017 after the death of Sir Gerald Kaufman. Dennis Skinner also began continuous service at the 1970 general election, but was sworn in after Clarke.^[4][5][1] Clarke declined to seek re-election in 2019 and retired from the Commons. Skinner contested the 2019 election, but was defeated.

History[edit]

Historically, the father of the House was not a clearly defined term, and it is not clear by what process it was used for individual Members. The first recorded usage of the term dates to 1788, in an obituary of Thomas Noel; it is also attested in an engraved portrait of Whitshed Keene by Charles Picart, from 1816. It may have been interpreted at various times as the oldest member, the member with the longest total service, the member with the longest unbroken service (the modern definition), or the member who entered the House longest ago. There is also some evidence that in the late 19th century, the position may have been elected. The modern definition was not settled upon until the late 1890s.^[6]

After the Second World War, a convention arose that the father would normally be a member of the Select Committee on Privileges, but this lapsed following the establishment of the modern Standards and Privileges Committee in the 1990s.^[6]

Among the twentieth-century fathers, there were several very prominent figures; four former Prime Ministers became Father of the House, and a fifth, Henry Campbell-Bannerman was simultaneously Father of the House and Prime Minister from May 1907 until soon before his death during April 1908. Almost all have been Privy Councillors.^[6]

To date, all holders of the position have been men.^[6] In 2015 Harriet Harman described herself as the ‘Mother of the House’ as she was the longest continuously serving woman MP.^[7] David Cameron referred to her as the Mother the week after,^[8] and Theresa May referred to Harriet Harman as the Mother of the House in 2017.^[9] Harman had in fact been the longest serving female MP since at least 2010.

List of fathers of the House since 1899[edit]

This list covers all fathers of the House since W.W. Beach, the first to become Father after the modern approach (longest period of continuous service) was agreed in 1898.^[6] Those who died as fathers are indicated by a ^†.

Earlier “fathers”[edit]

This list covers all those who would have been considered Father of the House, by the modern definition, since an arbitrary date of 1701. Many of these will not have been considered “Father of the House” by contemporaries, and some men who were described as such are not listed here.

Name	Entered…