A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention that maiden speeches should be relatively uncontroversial, often consisting of a general statement of the politician's beliefs and background rather than a partisan comment on a current topic. This convention is not always followed, however. For example, the maiden speeches of Pauline Hanson in the Australian House of Representatives in 1996, and

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

in the United States House of Representatives in 1947, broke the tradition.

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

's maiden speech in the House of Commons in 1959 included the successful introduction of the bill which became the

Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 The Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which allowed members of the public and press to attend meetings of certain public bodies. The Act is notable for having been initiated as a pri ...

. There is also a strong convention in some countries, such as in the Netherlands, that maiden speeches should not be subjected to interruption or interjection and should not be attacked or dismissed by subsequent speakers. Another convention in the British House of Commons is that a Member of Parliament will include tribute in a maiden speech to previous incumbents of their seat. Some countries, notably Australia, no longer formally describe a politician's first speech as a 'maiden' speech, referring only to it as a 'first' speech. The Australian Parliament website and Hansard records no longer use 'maiden' as a term; the word remains common in discourse and colloquial use.

UK House of Commons

The first maiden speeches following general elections were:

References

Speeches by type {{politics-stub