Father of the House

Father of the House is a term that has by tradition been unofficially bestowed on certain members of some national 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 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.

United Kingdom

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).

Father of the House (New Zealand)

Father or Mother of the New Zealand Parliament, often called Father of the House, is an unofficial title applied to the longest continuously serving MP in the house, regardless of their position. The Father of the House has no official role in Parliament. The current Father of the House in the New Zealand Parliament is Peter Dunne, the leader of the United Future party, having served continuously since the 1984 general election.

In New Zealand's first election of 1853, the Bay of Islands electorate was the first to declare the election of a successful candidate, Hugh Carleton, who was returned unopposed. In the subsequent General Assembly of 1854, Carleton liked to be known as the Father of the House.

List of Fathers (and Mothers) of the House

Key

Table footnotes:

See also

Notes

References

The House

The House may refer to:

In arts and entertainment

In film and television

In print

Other uses in arts and entertainment

The House (The Keys to the Kingdom)

The House is a domain that serves as the center of the universe in The Keys to the Kingdom series by Australian author Garth Nix. Anything in creation not in the House, such as earth (the solar system and indeed this universe), is part of the Secondary Realms. The House is divided into seven demesnes; each of which is ruled by a master named for a day of the week, the Trustees, or sometimes the Morrow Days. The demesnes are, in the order Arthur Penhaligon has claimed them: the Lower House, the Far Reaches, the Border Sea, the Great Maze, the Middle House, the Upper House and the Incomparable Gardens.

Description

The House's physical appearance in the Secondary Realms is described as a vast building featuring many different architectural styles, which often appear to be brought together at random. Its physical location differs; Arthur first sees it near his own residence, and his friend Leaf sees it above a hospital. Arthur, Leaf, and Leaf's ally Sylvie are the only mortals shown to see the House, each by a different means: Arthur can see it presumably because he is the Heir of the Architect; Sylvie requires special glasses given to Leaf by the House Sorcerer Dr. Scamandros; and Leaf appears able to see it without aid. It is her belief that she has inherited powers of extrasensory perception from her grandmother, whom she thinks to have been a witch, but this has not been confirmed. A possible alternative suggests that her immersion in the House (which occurred prior to her view of it from outside) enabled her to see it.

The House (1999 film)

The House is a 1999 Chinese film directed by Wang Xiaoshuai. It is rarely, if ever, screened abroad, and remains one of Wang Xiaoshuai's least well-known works outside of China. It is alternatively referred to as Suburban Dreams, Fantasy Garden or Dream House. The film was produced by the Beijing Film Studio and the China Film Group. Wang Xiaoshuai himself considers it one of his most inconsequential efforts to date, to the extent that it has "sunk into oblivion."

Plot

In contrast to Wang's previous films, The House is a family-comedy that follows a young urban married couple as well as their friends, ex-girlfriends, and family. A young couple has recently purchased their dream house and are expecting a baby. One day, while his wife is out of the home, an ex-girlfriend arrives at the door drenched from rain. She had heard of his wife's pregnancy and had come only to sell the couple insurance. The husband, feeling sympathetic allows her to take a shower in his home.

Suddenly, his in-laws arrive at the home unexpectedly. The husband now has to find a way to get his ex-girlfriend out of the home without his in-laws noticing, and all before his wife returns home.