Baby of the House
The
Baby of the House is the unofficial moniker given to the youngest member of the
House of Commons in the
Parliament of the United Kingdom. There are no specific duties associated with the honour.
Becoming the Baby of the House is regarded as something of an achievement, and for example,
Jeffrey Archer falsely claimed to have been the youngest MP at the time of his election. However, some MPs who have held the position for a considerable period —
Matthew Taylor was the Baby of the House for over ten years — have found it somewhat embarrassing, as it may suggest that they have a lack of experience, although a perusal of the list shows that many
babies in fact went on to enjoy long, significant and distinguished parliamentary careers. From August 1999 to September 2001, all three of the leaders of the main political parties had been the youngest MPs in the party when they began their political career (
William Hague,
Tony Blair,
Charles Kennedy).
b by-election.:
1 Joseph Aloysius Sweeney did not take his seat; the youngest MP actually sitting in the House of Commons was
Oswald Mosley (Conservative, aged 22):
2 Became the youngest MP for a second time, on the death of the previous youngest MP.:
3 Tony Benn was first elected at the
Bristol South East by-election, 1950, aged 25, but only became the youngest MP from the 1951 general election, on the defeat of Teevan.:
3.5 Elected on an
abstentionist ticket,
Philip Clarke did not take his seat.:
4 Peter Kirk was first elected at the 1955 general election, when he became the youngest MP to take his seat, but only became the youngest MP with the disqualification of
Philip Clarke later in the year.:
5 Elected on an
abstentionist ticket,
Bobby Sands and
Owen Carron did not take their seats;
Stephen Dorrell remained the youngest MP actually sitting in the House of Commons.:
6 Although several sources claim
Claire Ward was the youngest MP during this period, she was 50 days older than
Christopher Leslie.
*
Father of the House*
Youngest Members of Parliament
