Records of members of parliament of the United Kingdom

This article about records of members of parliament of the United Kingdom and of England includes a variety of lists of MPs by age, period and other circumstances of service, familiar sets, ethnic or religious minorities, physical attributes, and circumstances of their deaths.

Age Youngest

Prior to the Acts of Union, the youngest known person to have sat in the House of Commons of England was Christopher Monck, elected MP for Devon in 1667, "probably without a contest", at the age of 13. He sat in the House for three years, before being elevated to the House of Lords upon his father's death. He is said to have been "moderately active during his short period of membership, sitting on seven committees"."MONCK, Christopher, Earl of Torrington (1653–88)" , in B.D. Henning (ed.), The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660–1690, 1983

Monck was one of many members returned underage in the late seventeenth century, with around ten underage members in each of the Parliaments of 1690 and 1695, many aristocrats. In response to this, the Parliamentary Elections Act 1695 established 21 as the minimum age, although this was not reliably enforced. Until the Reform Act 1832, underage MPs were seldom unseated. For example, Charles James Fox became an MP aged 19 in 1768, and Robert Jocelyn, Viscount Jocelyn, became an MP aged 18 in 1806.

Before the general election of 2015, the youngest MP since the Reform Act 1832Before 1832, minors could be elected; precise information on those MPs is often unclear. was William Charles Wentworth-FitzWilliam, elected at Malton in the 1832 general election aged 20 and 11 months. His election, whilst theoretically illegal, was unchallenged; Malton was a pocket borough controlled by his family, and the matter was viewed as academic as he would be of full age by the time Parliament assembled.

After Wentworth-FitzWilliam, the youngest MP elected was James Dickson, who was elected as a Liberal at a by-election for the Borough of Dungannon on 25 June 1880. He was born on 19 April 1859, and so was aged 21 years 67 days. The youngest female MP was Bernadette Devlin, elected on 17 April 1969 from Mid Ulster, aged 21 years 359 days. Until 1970, the minimum age to sit in parliament was 21. In 1970, the minimum age was lowered to 18. Both records are now jointly held by Mhairi Black, who was aged 20 years and 237 days old at the time of her election to the seat of Paisley and Renfrewshire South in the 2015 general election.

Oldest The oldest serving MP whose exact dates are known was Samuel Young (1822–1918), who was MP for East Cavan from 1892 (when aged 70), until his death at the age of 96 years 63 days.

Oldest debuts Perhaps the oldest parliamentary debut of all time was that of Warren Lisle, believed born in 1695, who was elected on 7 September 1780 during that year's general election as MP for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis as locum tenens, aged reportedly 85. He stood down on 21 November to allow his kinsman, Gabriel Steward, to stand for the seat after completing his own term as mayor of the borough (when he had been the local returning officer). He died in July 1788 aged reportedly 93.

The oldest debut where a confirmed birth date is known was made by Sir Robert Pullar (born 18 February 1828) who was elected at an unopposed by-election for Perth on 12 February 1907 aged 78 years and 359 days. He retired at the January 1910 general election.

The oldest debut at a general election to the UK Parliament was possibly by Bernard Kelly (born 1808) who was elected MP for South Donegal in 1885 in the year of his 77th birthday. He died in office on 1 January 1887 aged 78.

The oldest woman at first entry to the Commons was Dr Ethel Bentham (born 5 January 1861) who was elected MP for Islington East at the 1929 general election aged 68 years and 145 days. She died in office, the first woman to do so, in 1931.

Jim Allister was the oldest MP first elected at the last general election, the 2024 general election, at age 71.

List of oldest sitting MPs since 1945

NameBornBecame oldest MPLeft HouseAge on leavingDiedPolitical partyHighest office held6 May 18661945195083 24 April 1957LiberalDavid Logan22 November 18711950Feb 196492 25 February 1964LabourWinston Churchill 30 November 1874Feb 1964Sep 196489 24 January 1965ConservativePrime Minister of the United KingdomEmanuel Shinwell18 October 1884Sep 1964197085 8 May 1986LabourMinister of DefenceS. O. Daviesprobably 9 November 18791970197292 Davies officially claimed to be 85, but appears to have been older.25 February 1972LabourJohn Rankin1 February 18901972197383 8 October 1973LabourIrene Ward 23 February 18951973Feb 197479 26 April 1980ConservativeDavid Weitzman18 June 1898Feb 1974197980 6 May 1987LabourRobert Edwards16 January 19051979198782 4 June 1990LabourMichael Foot23 July 19131987199278 3 March 2010LabourLeader of the OppositionEdward Heath 9 July 19161992200184 17 July 2005ConservativePrime Minister of the United KingdomPiara Khabra20 November 19212001200785 21 June 2007LabourIan Paisley6 April 19262007201084 12 September 2014Democratic Unionist PartyFirst Minister of Northern IrelandPeter Tapsell 1 February 19302010201585 18 August 2018ConservativeGerald Kaufman 21 June 19302015201786 26 February 2017LabourShadow Foreign SecretaryDennis Skinner 11 February 19322017201987 livingLabourBill Cash10 May 19402019202484 livingConservativeRoger Gale20 August 19432024presentIncumbent aged 82livingConservative

Notes: Also Father of the House (not necessarily contemporaneous with seniority) Died in office Retired Defeated when seeking re-election

Longest-lived MP Oldest living former MP, since 1974 NameBornTenure as MPDiedAgePolitical party1918–29Conservative1935–50Conservative1938–45Liberal1915–52Irish UnionistUlster Unionist1922–241928–311935–70Labour1929–311950–64Labour1945–59Labour1929–51LiberalNational LiberalIndependentLabour1929–31LabourConservative1945–58Labour1945–501964–74Labour1964–70Labour1959–74Conservative1951–76Labour1964–79Conservative1945–55Labour1966–701974–79Labour1963–661970–92Labour1960–641966–92National LiberalConservative1986–87LivingLiberal

Although his alleged birth year predates parish registers and civil birth registration, William Badger, who was member for Winchester in the 1597 parliament of England, is supported by a History of Parliament biographer to have been a centenarian, being established to have been born 'circa 1523' and to have been buried on 18 January 1629, aged at least 105 years.BADGER, William (c.1523–1629), of Winchester, Hants. The History of Parliament. Retrieved 4 July 2017.

Sir Patrick Duffy (17 June 1920 – 2 January 2026), the member for Colne Valley from 1963 to 1966 and for Sheffield Attercliffe from 1970 to 1992, was the oldest living former MP since the death of Ronald Atkins in December 2020, and the oldest ever former MP with a known birth date since surpassing Atkins in January 2025 until his death in January 2026.

Ronald Atkins (13 June 1916 – 30 December 2020), member for Preston North from 1966 to 1970 and from 1974 to 1979 was, between 2018 and 2025, the longest-lived former MP whose birth date is registered. On 30 August 2018, he surpassed the previous record set by Theodore Cooke Taylor (3 August 1850 – 19 October 1952), member for Radcliffe-cum-Farnworth from 1900 to 1918, who had lived to be 102 years and 77 days old. Atkins died aged 104 years and 200 days old. His record was surpassed on 3 January 2025 by Sir Patrick Duffy.

Other ex-MPs who have reached their centenary are Nathaniel Micklem (1853–1954), Sir Harry Brittain (1873–1974), Sir George Ernest Schuster (1881–1982), Manny Shinwell (1884–1986), Edgar Granville (1898–1998), Jack Oldfield (1899–1999, who outlived his parliamentary service by 68 years), Hartley Shawcross (1902–2003), Bert Hazell (1907–2009), and Michael Shaw (1920–2021).

Frank James, who was elected MP for Walsall at the 1892 general election, but unseated on petition in November that year, died at 102 years and 135 days old; James's record was surpassed by Atkins on 27 October 2018.The Times, 24 March 1924; pg. 15.

Jill Knight (9 July 1923 – 6 April 2022) was the longest lived former woman MP, aged 98 years, 271 days.

Elizabeth Shields is the oldest living female former MP (born 27 February 1928, age ). , upon the death of Sir Patrick Duffy, she is the oldest living former MP. This is the first time that a woman has been the oldest living former MP.

Stratton Mills (born 1 July 1932, age ), who was elected MP for Belfast North at the 1959 general election, is the earliest elected former MP still living. Mills was sworn in on 22 October that year.

The oldest former prime minister was James Callaghan (27 March 1912 - 26 March 2005), who died the day before his 93rd birthday. The oldest living former prime minister is John Major, (born 29 March 1943, age ).

Shortest-lived MPs One known contender for this record for whom both birth and death dates are known, in the Parliament of England, was James Wriothesley, Lord Wriothesley, who while still a minor was MP for Callington in 1621–1622, and for Winchester from early in 1624 until his death from illness on military service in the Netherlands on 1 November 1624 aged 19 years and 251 days.

Based only on evidence from his university entrance records,He was recorded as aged 16 when he matriculated at Oriel College, Oxford, on 25 January 1638/1639. Peter Legh, MP for Newton from 1640, may have been aged 19 or younger when he died after a duel on 2 February 1642, but his precise birthdate is not known.

Geoffrey Palmer, MP for Ludgershall from March 1660, died in office on 31 October 1661 aged 19 years and at least 245 days, based on his baptism registration (28 February 1642). History of Parliament article

After the setting of the youngest age of candidacy at 21, the youngest MP to die in office was George Charles Grey who was elected MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1941 and was killed in action on 30 July 1944 aged 25 years 240 days. Throughout this period he was the Baby of the House.

The shortest-lived female MP, Lady Cynthia Mosley, MP for Stoke 1929–1931, died in 1933 aged 34. The youngest female MP to die in office was Jo Cox, MP for Batley and Spen since 2015, who was murdered on 16 June 2016, 6 days before her 42nd birthday.

The shortest-lived former prime minister was William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire (8 May 1720 - 2 October 1764), who was aged 44 years, 147 days upon his death. The youngest living former prime minister is Rishi Sunak, (born 12 May 1980, age ).

Period of service Longest

Sir Francis Knollys (also the oldest ever sitting MP) was first elected as MP for Oxford in 1575 at the age of around 25 and was MP for Reading at the time of his death in 1648, a period spanning 73 years, although there were eight periods, amounting to 27 entire years (1590–1592, 1594–1596, 1599–1600, 1602–1603, 1605–1613, 1615–1619, 1627 and 1630–1639) in which the Parliament of England did not meet, and his period of service totalled little more than 23 years. History of Parliament online article, by Alan Davidson and Simon Healy, who state he was born about 1553, was elected in about January 1576 (New Style calendar, in his day this would have been Old Style, now expressed as January 1575/76), and died in about April 1648.

The longest span of service of an MP since the start of the 20th century was Winston Churchill who was first elected on 1 October 1900 and left the House of Commons on 25 September 1964, a period of 63 years 360 days. His service was not continuous, as he was not an MP for a spell in 1908 and between 1922 and 1924.