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 among 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 male 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 first recorded usage of the term dates to 1788, in an obituary of Thomas Noel. In 2017, Harriet Harman was described as "Mother of the House" by Prime Minister Theresa May, in recognition of her status as the longest-continuously serving woman MP. During speeches at the re-opening of Parliament after the 2024 General Election, Diane Abbott was also described as the "Mother of the House" by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and then Leader of the Opposition Rishi Sunak.
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.
Among the twentieth-century Fathers, there were several very prominent figures; four former prime ministers became Father of the House, and a fifth, Henry Campbell-Bannerman, was simultaneously Father of the House and Prime Minister from 22 May 1907 until shortly before his death on 22 April 1908.
Devolved legislatures In the Senedd of Wales, Father of the House is an official title bestowed on the longest-serving Member of the Senedd. The first to hold the title was Rod Richards, who was the first member to be sworn in following the first election to the legislature in 1999, while the current father is John Griffiths, who was also elected in 1999. In the Scottish Parliament, both Father of the House and Mother of the House are used for the longest serving Members of the Scottish Parliament. The current mother is Christine Grahame while the current father is John Swinney, who were both first elected at the 1999 Scottish Parliament election. The Northern Ireland Assembly also grants the title of Father of the House to its longest serving male member. The current father is Alan Chambers.
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; born 1945) and the current Mother of the Senate is Penny Wong (senator since 2002; born 1968).
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. 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 and serving as the Dean of the House since 2008.
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: — 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 Member Born Entered parliament Became oldest member Iisakki Hoikka 1840 1907 1907–1908 John Hedberg 1840 1908 1908–1909 Leo Mechelin 1839 1910 1910–1913 John Hedberg 1840 1908 1914 Axel Lille 1848 1916 1917 Rabbe Wrede 1851 1910 1917–1918 Wilhelmi Malmivaara 1854 1907 1919 Artur Wuorimaa 1854 1907 1920–1921 Waldemar Bergroth 1852 1917 1922–1926 Juho Torppa 1859 1907 1927–1929 Anders Forsberg 1864 1924 1929–1930 Pehr Evind Svinhufvud 1861 1907 1930–1931 K. J. Ståhlberg 1865 1908 1932 Matti Paasivuori 1866 1907 1933–1935 Miina Sillanpää 1866 1907 1936–1947 Akseli Brander 1876 1933 1948–1950 Väinö Tanner 1881 1907 1951–1953 Matti Lahtela 1881 1930 1954–1957 Väinö Tanner 1881 1907 1958–1961 Raino Hallberg 1890 1951 1962–1965 Kustaa Tiitu 1896 1945 1966–1969 Rafael Paasio 1903 1948 1970–1975 Evald Häggblom 1905 1966 1975, 1976 V. J. Sukselainen 1906 1948 1976–1978 Mikko Kaarna 1911 1960 1979–1982 Tuure Junnila 1910 1951 1983–1986 Johannes Virolainen 1914 1945 1987–1989 Tuure Junnila 1910 1951 (again 1990) 1990 Maunu Kohijoki 1923 1987 1991–1994 Martti Tiuri 1925 1983 1995–2002 Kalevi Lamminen 1935 1987 2003–2006 Claes Andersson 1937 1987 2007–2008 Jacob SödermanSöderman toimi puhemiesvaalin toimittajana, koska Andersson oli sairauslomalla; Hs.fi: Sauli Niinistö jatkaa eduskunnan puhemiehenä. Viitattu 24.4.2015. 1938 1972 2008Eduskunta: Täysistunnon pöytäkirja PTK 1/2008 vp Eduskunta: Täysistunnon pöytäkirja PTK 1/2009 vp -2010 Kauko Tuupainen 1940 2011 2011–2013 Jörn Donner 1933 1987 (again 2013) 2014 Pertti Salolainen 1940 1970 2015–2018 Erkki Tuomioja 1946 1970 2019–2022 Kimmo Kiljunen 1951 1995 2023–
Germany
Starting with the Frankfurter Nationalversammlung (Frankfurt Parliament) of 1848, and based on older regional traditions, basically all German nation-wide, state-level and lower parliaments had a father of the House at the start of each legislative period, usually called Alterspräsident (President by right of age). This elder statesman steps forward to break the tie among equal members, to open the proceedings and to arrange the very first self-organizing election without external help from e.g. parliament employees. Then, the elected president takes over.
This tradition was continued from the North German Confederation into the 1871 German Empire (also known as Weimar Republic after 1918) and, after being discontinued in Nazi Germany, was resumed in 1949 by the present Parliament (Bundestag) in the Federal Republic until it was discontinued again before the 2017 German federal election to prevent any member of the upcoming Alternative for Germany (AfD), or any other new party, as the position was changed to refer to the longest sitting member. Thus the meaning of Alter (age, literally oldness) was shifted from Lebensalter (age of life) to Dienstalter (age of service).
In accordance with tradition up to 2013, the Alterspräsident first ascertained himself that he was indeed the oldest member of the Bundestag by stating his date of birth and asking if anyone is present who was born before this date. If no older member of the Bundestag was present he would formally declare that he indeed is the Alterspräsident and will start proceedings. Starting from 2017, the prospective Alterspräsident states the number of years served in the Bundestag and asks if anyone has served more years.
The Alterspräsident then greets the present members and delivers the first programmatic speech. After appointing members to write down notes, the identity, affiliation to parties or factions and number of members is checked. The largest faction usually is asked who they propose as candidate for president, and according to another tradition, this candidate is then elected without much controversy. After supervising the election of the president of the Bundestag the Alterspräsident immediately yields his power to the elected president who, after receiving congratulations, takes over. The newly elected president will in turn supervise the elections of the vice presidents who form the Presidium of the Bundestag that organizes parliament sessions. Usually, each recognized faction proposes a candidate that is elected without much controversy. Since 2017, none of over 40 AfD candidates has been elected as Bundestags-Vizepräsident, though, while some state parliaments have elected an AfD vice president. In addition, the factions appoint members for the Ältestenrat, the Council of Elders of the Bundestag, which organizes the parliament work behind the scenes.
The rules of order of the Bundestag also state that the Alterspräsident shall preside over sessions of the Bundestag at any given time during a legislative period, if the whole Presidium (i.e. the president and the vice presidents of the Bundestag) is altogether unable to perform its duties. With the number of vice presidents growing over time, this became unlikely.
As the Alterspräsidents opening speech usually draws a certain amount of public attention, the position has recently attracted controversy, when after German Reunification the far-left Party of Democratic Socialism (the successor of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany which had ruled communist East Germany) obtained the position by including aged independents (writer Stefan Heym in 1994, Fred Gebhardt in 1998) in their party lists. In 2017, expecting the oldest representative of next Bundestag to be a member of the far-right AfD, parliament changed its rules of procedure to have the member with the longest service in the Bundestag serve as father of the house, rather than the oldest member. These changed rules of procedure nonetheless allowed Gregor Gysi of the far-left party Die Linke (the successor of the PDS) to attain this position.