The Clerk of the House of Commons is the chief executive of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

in the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

, and before 1707 of the House of Commons of England. The formal name for the position held by the Clerk of the House of Commons is Under Clerk of the Parliaments.Parliamentary Corporate Bodies Act 1992
section 2(2): "The individual who for the time being is by letters patent appointed to the office of the Under Clerk of the Parliaments (and who is customarily referred to as the Clerk of the House of Commons) shall be the Corporate Officer of the Commons." The chief clerk of the House of Lords is the

Clerk of the Parliaments The Clerk of the Parliaments is the chief clerk of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The position has existed since at least 1315, and duties include preparing the minutes of Lords proceedings, advising on proper parlia ...

Appointment

The Clerk of the House is appointed by the sovereign by Letters Patent, in which they are styled "Under Clerk of the Parliaments ..to attend upon the Commons". Before 1748, the Clerkship of the House of Commons could be purchased until Jeremiah Dyson (then Clerk of the House) ended the practice of purchase when he left the Clerkship.

Duties

The Clerk of the House is the principal constitutional adviser to the house, and adviser on all its procedure and business, including parliamentary privilege, and frequently appears before select and joint committees examining constitutional and parliamentary matters. As with all the members of the House Service, he is politically entirely impartial and is not a civil servant. Until 1 January 2008, when the reforms to the house's governance proposed by the Tebbit Review of management and services of the house were implemented, the clerk was the head of the Clerk's Department. He sits at the table of the house, in the right-hand chair (the left-hand chair, looking towards the Speaker’s chair) for part of every sitting. The historic role of the clerks at the table is to record the decisions of the house (not what is said, which is recorded by ''

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official prin ...

).'' This they (but not the clerk) still do. The clerks at the table used to wear

court dress Court dress comprises the style of clothes and other attire prescribed for members of courts of law. Depending on the country and jurisdiction's traditions, members of the court ( judges, magistrates, and so on) may wear formal robes, gowns, ...

with wing collar and white tie, a ''bob'' (barrister’s) wig and a silk gown. However, as of February 2017 the clerks will only have to wear gowns. For the State Opening of Parliament and other state occasions, the Clerk of the House wears full court dress with breeches, and a lace jabot and cuffs.

Incumbent

The office is currently held by John Benger who replaced Sir

David Natzler Sir David Lionel Natzler (born 16 August 1952) is a former Clerk of the House of Commons, the principal constitutional adviser to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, and adviser on all its procedure and business. He was the 50th person to ...

, who retired on 1 March 2019.

List of Clerks of the House of Commons

14th century

*1363 – Robert de Melton *1385 – John de Scardeburgh

15th century

*1414 – Thomas Haseley *1440 – John Dale *1461 – Thomas Bayen

16th century

*1504 – Thomas Hylton *1510 – William Underhill *1515 – Robert Ormeston *1547 – John Seymour *1570 – Fulk Onslow

17th century

*1603 – Ralph Ewens *1611 – William Pinches *1612 – John Wright *1639 – Henry Elsyng the younger *1649 –

Henry Scobell Henry Scobell (baptised 1610; died 1660) was an English Parliamentary official, and editor of official publications. He was clerk to the Long Parliament, and wrote on parliamentary procedure and precedents. Life Initially under-clerk of the ...

*1658 – John Smythe *1659 – John Phelips *1659 – Thomas St. Nicholas *1660 – William Jessop *1661 – William Goldsborough *1678 – William Goldsborough the Younger *1683 – Paul Jodrell

18th century

*1727 – Edward Stables *1732 – Nicholas Hardinge *1748 – Jeremiah Dyson *1762 –

Thomas Tyrwhitt Thomas Tyrwhitt (; 27 March 173015 August 1786) was an English classical scholar and critic. Life He was born in London, where he also died. He was educated at Eton College and Queen's College, Oxford. He was elected a fellow of Merton College ...

*1768 –

John Hatsell John Hatsell (22 December 1733 – 15 October 1820) was an English civil servant, clerk of the House of Commons, and an authority on parliamentary procedure. Early life He was the son of the lawyer Henry Hatsell (1701–1762), a bencher of t ...

19th century

*1820 – John Henry Ley *1850 – Sir Denis Le Marchant, Bt *1871 – Sir Thomas Erskine May *1886 – Sir Reginald Palgrave, KCB

20th century

*1900 – Sir Archibald Milman KCB *1902 – Sir Courtenay Ilbert KCB KCSI CIE *1921 – Sir Thomas Lonsdale Webster KCB *1930 – Sir Horace Dawkins KCB MBE *1937 – Sir Gilbert Campion GCB *1948 – Sir Frederic Metcalfe KCB *1954 – Sir Edward Fellowes KCB CMG MC *1962 – Sir Barnett Cocks KCB OBE *1974 – Sir David Lidderdale KCB *1976 – Sir Richard Barlas KCB OBE *1979 – Sir Charles Gordon KCB *1983 – Sir Kenneth Bradshaw KCB *1987 – Sir Clifford Boulton GCB *1994 –

Sir Donald Limon Sir Donald William Limon, KCB (29 October 1932 – 26 July 2012) was a British public servant who served as Clerk of the House of Commons from 1994 to 1997. Early life Limon was born on 29 October 1932 in Hartlepool to Arthur Limon, the bor ...

KCB *1998 –

Sir William McKay Sir William Robert McKay, KCB, (born 18 April 1939), is a British administrator. He was Clerk of the House of Commons between 1998 and 2002, and was appointed in 2012 to chair the Commission on the consequences of devolution for the House of C ...

KCB

21st century

*2003 –

Sir Roger Sands Sir Roger Blakemore Sands, (born 6 May 1942) is a British retired public servant who served as Clerk of the House of Commons from 2003 to 2006. Sands attended University College School in Hampstead, followed by Oriel College, Oxford. He joined t ...

KCB *2006 – Sir Malcolm Jack KCB *2011 – Sir Robert Rogers KCB *2015 – Sir David Natzler KCB (acting 2014–2015) *2019 – John Benger

References

External links

Information sheet – Clerk of the House – UK Parliament website Records of the Department of the Clerk of the House – UK Parliamentary Archives websiteRecords of the Office of the Clerk of the House - UK Parliamentary Archives website
{{Officers of the Lords and Commons