Father of the House of Commons

E42597

informal parliamentary title tradition of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom

The Father of the House of Commons is an informal title given to the longest continuously serving member of the UK House of Commons.

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Observed surface forms (2)

Surface form	Occurrences
Fathers of the House of Commons	1
Mother of the House of Commons	1

Statements (44)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	informal parliamentary title ⓘ tradition of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom ⓘ
appliesToBody	Members of Parliament ⓘ surface form: Members of Parliament of the United Kingdom
appliesToJurisdiction	House of Commons of the United Kingdom ⓘ
country	United Kingdom ⓘ
definition	longest continuously serving Member of Parliament in the House of Commons ⓘ
differentFrom	Dean of the House of Commons (Canada) ⓘ Father of the House of Lords ⓘ
governingRulesSource	custom and parliamentary convention ⓘ
hasAbbreviation	Father of the House ⓘ
hasCeremonialImportance	true ⓘ
hasCharacteristic	based on seniority ⓘ informal ⓘ non-statutory ⓘ
hasCustomaryRole	symbol of continuity in the House of Commons ⓘ
hasGenderedForm	Father of the House of Commons self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Mother of the House of Commons
hasNoFixedTermLength	true ⓘ
hasPluralForm	Father of the House of Commons self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Fathers of the House of Commons
holderLosesTitleWhen	another MP surpasses their length of continuous service ⓘ they cease to be an MP ⓘ
holderMustBe	continuously serving MP ⓘ
inception	19th century ⓘ
isNot	Speaker of the House of Commons ⓘ government office ⓘ ministerial role ⓘ paid position ⓘ
isTitleOf	Member of Parliament ⓘ
isTitleStyle	honorific ⓘ
languageOfName	English ⓘ
mayBeHeldBy	female MP ⓘ male MP ⓘ
officeHolderRole	participating in ceremonial functions ⓘ presiding over the election of the Speaker at the start of a new Parliament when the Speaker is not returned ⓘ
precedenceDeterminedBy	earliest date of continuous election to the House of Commons ⓘ
relatedConcept	Father of the House (parliamentary title) ⓘ Mother of the House of Commons ⓘ parliamentary seniority ⓘ
scope	British Parliament ⓘ surface form: Westminster Parliament
selectionCriterion	length of continuous service in the House of Commons ⓘ membership as a sitting MP ⓘ
termDependsOn	continuous service of the incumbent MP ⓘ
tieBreakingRule	age of MPs when continuous service start dates are identical ⓘ
usedFor	designating the longest continuously serving MP ⓘ
usedInContext	United Kingdom parliamentary practice ⓘ

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Father of the House of Commons → hasGenderedForm → Father of the House of Commons self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Mother of the House of Commons

Father of the House of Commons → hasPluralForm → Father of the House of Commons self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Fathers of the House of Commons

James Callaghan → positionHeld → Father of the House of Commons ⓘ