Father Of The House

Father of the House is a title that has been traditionally bestowed, unofficially, on certain members of some legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the title refers to the longest continuously-serving member, while in others it refers to the oldest member. Recently, the title Mother of the House or Mother of Parliament has also been used, although the usage varies between countries; it is either the female alternative to Father of the House, being applied when the relevant member is a woman, or refers to the oldest or longest-serving woman without reference to male members.

United Kingdom

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 earlier, as listed in ''Hansard'', is named as Father of the House. Traditionally, however, the qualifications used for the Father of the House are not entirely clear and may have included the oldest member, the member with the longest aggregate service, or the member who entered the House longest ago.

The only formal duty of the Father of the House is to preside over the election of the Speaker of the House of Commons. The Father of the House may also participate in ceremonial events, and is the second member to be sworn in after the Speaker. At the election of the Speaker and dissolution of parliament in November 2019, the Father of the House of Commons was Kenneth Clarke representing the Rushcliffe constituency, formerly a member of the Conservative Party before becoming an Independent MP in 2019, and not standing again in the subsequent election. Clarke began his continuous service at the 1970 general election. Dennis Skinner, Labour MP for Bolsover, also began continuous service at the 1970 general election, but was sworn in minutes after Clarke.

The first recorded usage of the title dates back to 1816 an engraved portrait of Whitshed Keene by Charles Picart, dated 1 February. Henry Campbell-Bannerman was simultaneously Father of the House and Prime Minister from May 1907 until soon before his death during April 1908. On 13 June 2017, Harriet Harman was dubbed "Mother of the House" by Prime Minister Theresa May, in recognition of her status as the longest-continuously-serving woman MP.

Australia

The titles "Father of the House" and "Father of the Senate" are sometimes used to refer to the members of each chamber of the Parliament of Australia with the longest continuous service. The current Father of the House is Bob Katter (MP since 1993) and the current Father of the Senate is Marise Payne (senator since 1997).

According to ''House of Representatives Practice'', the title Father of the House is a "completely informal designation" with "no functions attached to it". The equivalent publication for the Senate, ''Odgers' Australian Senate Practice'', describes the title Father of the Senate as "now seldom referred to or used". It also notes that "as no woman senator has ever been in this situation, it is not clear what the title would be in that circumstance".

Canada

The longest-serving member of the House of Commons who is not a cabinet minister is known as the Dean of the House, and presides over the election of the Speaker at the beginning of each Parliament. As of September 2021, the current Dean of the House is Bloc Québécois MP Louis Plamondon, who was first elected to the Commons as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party in 1984.

Czech Republic

In the Chamber of Deputies, if previous President of the Chamber of Deputies or his deputies are not elected, the oldest MP serves as the Acting President presiding over the constitutive session, before new President is elected.
* 1993: Robert Dostál — Czech Social Democratic Party
* 1996: Zdeněk Jičínský — Czech Social Democratic Party
*1998: Augustin Bubník — Civic Democratic Party
* 2002: Břetislav Petr — Czech Social Democratic Party
* 2003: Zdeněk Jičínský — Czech Social Democratic Party
* 2010: Karel Schwarzenberg — TOP 09
* 2021: Bohuslav Svoboda — Civic Democratic Party

In the Senate, if previous President of the Senate or his deputies are not elected for the next term, the oldest Senator serves as the Acting President presiding over the opening session gathered every two years, before election of the new President.
* 1996: Jaroslav Musial — Czech Social Democratic Party
*2000: Jaroslava Moserová — Civic Democratic Alliance
* 2004: Bedřich Moldan — Civic Democratic Party
* 2010: Jiří Dienstbier — Czech Social Democratic Party
* 2011: Pavel Lebeda — Czech Social Democratic Party
* 2014: František Čuba — Party of Civic Rights
* 2018: Jaroslav Malý — Czech Social Democratic Party
* 2020: Jaroslav Doubrava — Severočeši.cz
* 2022: Jan Pirk – TOP 09

European Parliament

Until 2009, the oldest member of the European Parliament presided over the opening of a new session and the election of the President of the European Parliament.

Finland

Germany

Starting with the Frankfurter Nationalversammlung (Frankfurt Parliament) of 1848, all German parliaments had a father of the House, usually called ''Alterspräsident'' (President by right of age). This tradition was continued into the Weimar Republic and, after being discontinued in Nazi Germany, was resumed by the present Parliament (Bundestag