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Father of the House is a term that has by tradition been unofficially bestowed on certain members of some legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the term refers to the oldest member, but in others it refers to the longest-serving member. The term Mother of the House or Mother of Parliament is also found, although the usage varies between countries. It is used simply as the female alternative to Father of the House, being applied when the relevant member is a woman.
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House of Commons
The Father of the House is a title that is by tradition bestowed on the senior member of the House of Commons who has the longest unbroken 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.
In the House of Commons, the only conventional leadership required of the Father of the House is to preside over the election of a new Speaker whenever that office becomes vacant. The relevant Standing Order does not refer to this member by the title of "Father of the House", referring instead to the longest-serving member of the House present who is not a Minister of the Crown (meaning that if the longest-serving member is absent or is a government minister, the next person in line presides).
The current Father of the House of Commons is Kenneth Clarke, Conservative MP for Rushcliffe, who 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 after Clarke. Should Clarke's service conclude before Skinner's, Skinner would be next in line to serve as Father of the House.
The Father of the House is not necessarily the sitting member with the earliest date of first election: David Winnick was first elected in 1966, and is the last current member to have served in the 1960s, but he lost his seat in 1970 and did not return to Parliament until 1979. Michael Foot was the only remaining member from the 1945 election between 1987 and 1992, but was never Father of the House because he had been out of Parliament between 1955 and a 1960 by-election. Similarly, though Sir Winston Churchill was first elected in 1900, he did not become Father of the House until 1959, because he had lost his seat in 1922, and did not return to the Commons until 1924.
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman was simultaneously Father of the House and Prime Minister from May 1907 until shortly before his death (when he was still Father of the House) in April 1908.
House of Lords
The current Father of the House of Lords is Lord Carrington (Conservative), who became eligible to take his seat on his 21st birthday in 1940 (having succeeded to the title in 1938 while still a minor) and actually first took his seat in October 1945. After the House of Lords Act 1999 removed the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, Carrington (along with all former Leaders of the House who were hereditaries) was given a life peerage to enable him to continue to sit.
Should Carrington cease to be a Member of the House of Lords, Lord Denham (Conservative) who sat first on 13 December 1949, would become eligible to be Father of the House. He is a hereditary peer who was elected to remain in the House under the provisions of the 1999 Act.
The senior sitting life peer by date of creation is Baroness Masham of Ilton, who entered the House in 1970.
House of Commons of Northern Ireland (defunct)
The Parliament of Northern Ireland, including the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, was prorogued in 1972 and abolished completely in 1973 leaving the title of Father of the House defunct.
Australia
In Australia, the current member of the House of Representatives with the longest period of continuous service, whether a Minister or not, is known as "Father of the House". Similarly, the current member of the Senate with the longest period of continuous service is known as "Father of the Senate". The longer serving of the two Fathers is called "Father of the Parliament".
As in Britain, these terms have no official status. However, unlike Britain:
Since 6 February 2015, Senator Ian Macdonald, who was first appointed in 1990, has been the Father of the Senate.
Philip Ruddock, who was first elected in 1973, was the Father of the House of Representatives and Father of the Parliament from 1 September 1998 until his retirement on 9 May 2016. He was succeeded by Senator Ian Macdonald as father of the parliament and Kevin Andrews as father of the House.
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. The same term is used for the equivalent position in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Germany
Starting with the Frankfurter Nationalversammlung (Frankfurt Parliament) of 1848, all democratic German parliaments had a Father (or Mother) of the House, usually called Alterspräsident (President by right of age).
Under the current constitution (Grundgesetz) of 1949, the Alterspräsident will preside over the Parliament (Bundestag) at the start of each legislative period.
Following tradition, the Alterspräsident will first ascertain himself that he is the oldest member of the Bundestag by stating his birth date and asking if anyone is present who was born before his date. If no older member of the Bundestag is present (which is usually the case) he will formally declare that he indeed is the Alterspräsident and will start proceedings.
As acting President of the Bundestag (Bundestagspräsident) he delivers the first programmatic speech and oversees the elections of the President of the Bundestag and the Vicepresidents of the Bundestag (Bundestagsvizepräsidenten). He then stands down and yields his power to the newly elected Bundestagspräsident.
As the position of Father of the House usually draws a certain public attention, the Party of Democratic Socialism twice nominated old independents (Stefan Heym in 1994, Fred Gebhardt in 1998) to obtain this office. None of them served a complete term (Heym resigned in 1996, Gebhardt died in 2000). This was considered a manipulation.
Hungary
In Hungary, term refers to the oldest member of the National Assembly (previously House of Representatives, the lower house). Before the open session, the senior chair and junior notaries review the mandates of all the elected MPs in addition to their own. He or she presides over the newly elected parliament until the appointment of the officials.
Israel
In the beginning of each Knesset, before the election of a permanent speaker, there is a temporary speaker. In the past it was the oldest member of Knesset, now it is the longest-serving member. Michael Eitan is the most recent Knesset member to serve in this capacity, doing so from February 24 - March 30, 2010. In 2013 it was Benyamin Ben-Eliezer who had this position, and in 2015, it was Amir Peretz.
Ireland
In the Republic of Ireland, the term Father of the Dáil is an unofficial title applied to the longest-serving Teachta Dála (TD) in Dáil Éireann, regardless of their position. The current Father is the Taoiseach and Fine Gael party leader, Enda Kenny, TD, since the retirement of Séamus Pattison at the 2007 general election. On a number of occasions two or more people have shared the position of Father of the Dáil.
Malaysia
In Malaysia the term "Father of the House" is rarely used. Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah who was elected in 1974, has been the longest serving MP in the Dewan Rakyat. He is also the current oldest serving MP aged 79 years, 10 months.
New Zealand
In New Zealand, the term Father or Mother of the House, as an unofficial title, designates the longest-serving MP in the House of Representatives, regardless of their position. The Father of the House has no official role in Parliament. Peter Dunne, the leader of the United Future party, holds the title in the New Zealand Parliament, having served continuously since the 1984 general election.
In New Zealand's first election of 1853, the Bay of Islands electorate became the first to declare the election of a successful candidate, returning Hugh Carleton unopposed. In the subsequent General Assembly of 1854, Carleton liked to be known as the "Father of the House".
Norway
In Norway it is the representative of the Storting with longest seniority that is temporary Stortingspresident (speaker). Per Kristian Foss had this position in 2009 until Dag Terje Andersen was elected.
Russia
Traditionally when a new Russian parliament is formed the eldest deputy opens and leads the first session until a chairman is elected. In the history of the post-Soviet Dumas these were:
Sweden
Serbia
In the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, the oldest MP serves as the Acting Speaker presiding over the constitutive session, before the Speaker is elected.
Singapore
Until his death on 23 March 2015, former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew was the longest serving Member of Parliament (Tanjong Pagar) and thus the Father of the House. As of April 2015, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong is Father of the House, as the longest serving MP (Marine Parade).