Baby of the House

Baby of the House is the unofficial title given to the youngest member of a parliamentary house. The term is most often applied to members of the British parliament.^[1] The title is named after the Father of the House, which is given to the longest serving member of the British and other parliaments.

Australia

In Australia the term is rarely used. Most MPs and Senators are elected usually only in their thirties and later but some prominent MPs have been elected rather early in life including Prime Ministers Malcolm Fraser and Paul Keating who were both elected at age 25 in 1955 and 1969 respectively. The youngest Baby of the House was Wyatt Roy. He was elected at age 20 in 2010, being the youngest person ever to be elected to an Australian parliament.^[2]

The current Baby of the House is Chris Crewther MP (age 32). The current Baby of the Senate is Senator James Paterson (age 29).^[3]

Canada

The youngest-ever elected member of the Canadian House of Commons is Pierre-Luc Dusseault, who was elected at the age of 19 years and 11 months in 2011. Dusseault is the youngest MP in Canadian history.^[4] In the past, MPs such as Sean O'Sullivan, Pierre Poilievre, Andrew Scheer, Claude-André Lachance and Lorne Nystrom have also held the distinction.

The previous youngest current MP was Nicolas Dufour, to represent the riding of Repentigny, Quebec, for the Bloc Québécois; born in June 1987, elected at 21 years and 4 months in age. The youngest current female MP is Laurin Liu, NDP MP for Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, Québec.^[5]

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong the term is rarely used. The current baby of the Legislative Council is Ho Kai-ming after three younger members of the Legislative Council, the youngest-ever elected member Nathan Law, Yau Wai-ching and Sixtus Leung were all disqualified over the oath-taking controversy.

Hungary

The youngest-ever elected member of the National Assembly is Ilona Burka, who became MP at the age of 19 years, 5 months and 13 days on 12 May 1971, following the 1971 parliamentary election.

Iran

Source:^[6]

Republic of Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland the term is rarely used, as most TDs are elected usually only in their thirties and later. The current baby of the Dáil is the Fianna Fáil deputy Jack Chambers (Dublin-West), who was 25 years old when elected in February, 2016.

The youngest TD of all time was William J. Murphy, elected age 21 years 29 days; the youngest female TD was Kathleen O'Connor, 21 years 7 months.

List of Babies of the Dáil

Baby of Seanad Éireann

The youngest senator in Seanad Éireann is Fintan Warfield who was elected as a senator at the age of 24.

Malawi

The youngest MP in Malawi was Angela Zachepa who was voted in as MP at age 21.^[7]

Malaysia

In Malaysia the term "Baby of the House" is rarely used. Nowadays, most MPs are elected in their thirties. In the past however, the youngest MPs have been in their early 20s. Of which, this includes the current Prime Minister of Malaysia and President of UMNO, Najib Razak who was elected at 22 years, 6 months years old in the 1976 by-election following the death of his father, Abdul Razak Hussein. He won uncontested primarily due to the nation's grief for the former Prime Minister.

The current youngest MP is Zairil Khir Johari aged 34 years, 9 months. The age of candidacy for election to public office at federal and state level is 21.

New Zealand

Like Australia, the term "Baby of the House" is rarely used. "Youngest MP" is the usual term. The current Baby of the House is Todd Barclay of the National Party, who was elected on 20 September 2014 aged 24.^[9][10] Barclay succeeded Jami-Lee Ross of the National Party, who was elected to Parliament in the Botany by-election on 5 March 2011, aged 25.^[9]

South Africa

The current titleholder is Hlomela Bucwa.

Sweden

The current Baby of the House is Mr Jesper Skalberg Karlsson (entered in January 2015 at the age of 21). The youngest person ever to be elected MP to a Swedish parliament is Mr Anton Abele who was only aged 18 when elected in September 2010.^[11] Current record holder for the world's youngest-ever elected MP is Anton Abele, who was at 18 years elected to the Swedish Parliament for his activism against street violence.^[12]

Uganda

At 19 years old Proscovia Alengot Oromait is currently the world's youngest MP and youngest ever MP in Africa. Miss Oromait is a member of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) in Uganda and a representative of Usuk County.

United Kingdom

Mhairi Black, current Baby of the UK House of Commons

Becoming the Baby of the House is regarded as something of an achievement despite the lack of any special treatment that comes with the title. 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 their party when they began their political careers (William Hague, Tony Blair, Charles Kennedy).

Of those whose ages can be verified, the youngest MP since the Reform Act of 1832^[13] is Mhairi Black, elected in 2015 aged 20 years 237 days.^[14] The age of candidacy for Parliament was lowered from 21 to 18 by the Electoral Administration Act of 2006.

List of Babies of the House of Commons

[ (b) – by-election]

Baby of the House of Lords

As of 2017, the youngest member of the House of Lords is The Baroness Bertin (born 14 March 1978) who was created a life peer on 2 September 2016, at the age of 38.^[23] Hereditary peer Lord Redesdale (born 18 July 1967) was created a life peer on 18 April 2000 at the age of 32, becoming the youngest ever life peer, to enable him to continue to sit after the removal of the majority of hereditary peers.

Standing Orders state that "No Lord under the age of one and twenty years shall be permitted to sit in the House". When most members of the Lords were hereditary peers, a peer who had inherited his or her peerage(s) while under age was entitled to take a seat on his or her 21st birthday. In theory, such a hereditary peer could be elected to sit in the House at that age; in practice, the youngest hereditary peer is Lord Freyberg (born 15 December 1970), who was elected in October 1999 at the age of 28.

United States

While the term is used in the Commonwealth Parliaments, Baby of the House/Senate is not in general contemporary use in the United States, nor does being the youngest member guarantee special treatment in either house of Congress.

Members of the U.S. Congress tend to be older than parliamentarians elsewhere in the English-speaking world, a main factor being that the minimum ages for members of Congress is written into Article One of the United States Constitution, which forbids persons under the age of 25 from serving in the House and persons under the age of 30 from serving in the Senate. Moreover, election to the federal Congress is expensive and requires extensive contacts and recognition across a very wide area. Individuals aiming to serve in the federal legislature generally seek election to the state legislature (which generally have lower minimum ages for entry) or other state office before seeking to serve in Washington.

In the 115th Congress, which began on 3 January 2017, the youngest member of the United States House of Representatives is Elise Stefanik (R-NY 21), who was born on (1984-07-02) 2 July 1984, and was first elected in 2015. She is also the youngest woman elected to the House in U.S. history. The second youngest member is Mike Gallagher (R-WI 8) who was born on (1984-03-03) 3 March 1984, and was first elected in 2017. Trey Hollingsworth (R-IN 9) is the third youngest house member, born on (1983-09-12) 12 September 1983.

Currently the youngest U.S. Senator is Tom Cotton (R-AR) born on (1977-05-13) 13 May 1977, and first elected in 2014; Cory Gardner (R-CO) is the second youngest senator, and Chris Murphy (D-CT) is the third youngest.

See also

• Dean of the House
• Dean of the Senate
• Father of the House

Notes

References

• Youngest Members of Parliament