Father of the House: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

The longest continuously serving Member of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom is customarily designated Father of the House. If two or more MPs have equal lengths of service, then whoever was sworn in first is named Father.

The most important duty of the Father of the House is to preside over the election of a new speaker should that office be vacant at the beginning of a Parliament. However, a minister of the Crown is prohibited from presiding at the election of a speaker in the House of Commons; therefore, a minister is never considered the Father of the House, even if that minister is more senior than any other member. In theory a woman in the same position would be called Mother of the House.

The current Father of the House is Tam Dalyell (Labour Party), who was first elected for the seat of West Lothian (since renamed Linlithgow) in a by-election on 14th June 1962. He has stated his intention to stand down at the next general election; the next in line to be Father is Alan Williams, MP for Swansea West.

Fathers of the House

• Sir John Fagg (1701)
• Thomas Turgis (1701-1704)
• Sir Christopher Musgrave (1704)
• Thomas Strangways (1704-1713)
• Sir Richard Onslow (1713-1715)
• Thomas Erle (1715-1718)
• Edward Vaughan (1718)
• Richard Vaughan (1718-1724)
• Lord William Powlett (1724-1729)
• Sir Justinian Isham (1729-1730)
• Sir Charles Turner (1730-1738)
• Sir Roger Bradshaigh (1738-1747)
• Edward Ashe (1747)
• Thomas Cartwright (1747-1748)
• Richard Shuttleworth (1748-1749)
• Phillips Gybbon (1749-1762)
• Sir John Rushout (1762-1768)
• William Aislabie (1768-1781)
• Charles Fitzroy Scudamore (1781-1782)
• Robert Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent (1782-1784)
• Sir Charles Frederick (1784)
• Welbore Ellis (1784-1790)
• William Drake (1790-1796)
• Sir Philip Stephens (1796-1806)
• Clement Tudway (1806-1815)
• Sir John Aubrey (1815-1826)
• Samuel Smith (1826-1832)
• George Byng (1832-1847)
• Charles Watkin Williams Wynn (1847-1850)
• George Granville Vernon Harcourt (1850-1861)
• Sir Charles Merrik Burrell (1861-1862)
• Henry Cecil Lowther (1862-1867)
• Thomas Peers Williams (1867-1868)
• Henry Thomas Lowry-Corry (1868-1873)
• George Cecil Weld Forester (1873-1874)
• Christopher Talbot (1874-1890)
• Charles Pelham Villiers (1890-1898)
• Sir John Mowbray (1898-1899)
• William Wither Beach (1899-1901)
• Sir Michael Hicks-Beach (1901-1906)
• George Henry Finch (1906-1907)
• Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1907-1908)
• Sir John Kennaway (1908-1910)
• Thomas Burt (1910-1918)
• Thomas Power O'Connor (1918-1929)
• David Lloyd George (1929-1945)
• Edward Turnour, 5th Earl Winterton (1945-1951)
• Sir Hugh O'Neill (1951-1952)
• David Grenfell (1952-1959)
• Winston Churchill (1959-1964)
• Richard Austen Butler (1964-1965)
• Sir Robin Turton (1965-1974)
• George Strauss (1974-1979)
• John Parker (1979-1983)
• James Callaghan (1983-1987)
• Sir Bernard Braine (1987-1992)
• Sir Edward Heath (1992-2001)
• Sir Thomas Dalyell, Bt (2001-)