[1] 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.

[5] The previous Father was Sir Peter Bottomley,[6] who was an MP continuously from 1975 until he lost his seat to Labour's Beccy Cooper in the 2024 general election.

The first recorded usage of the term dates to 1788, in an obituary of Thomas Noel; it is also attested in an engraved portrait of Whitshed Keene by Charles Picart, from 1816.

[13] During speeches at the re-opening of Parliament after the 2024 general election, Diane Abbott was described as the "Mother of the House" by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and then Leader of the Opposition Rishi Sunak.

Unseated is indicated by a U This list covers all those who would have been considered Father of the House, by the modern definition, since an arbitrary date of 1701.

[7] The longest-serving member is recorded on the House website, though no duties or special distinctions are associated with the position.

[14] As of 2024[update], the longest-serving member is The Lord Trefgarne (Conservative), who first took his seat on 3 July 1962[15] (having succeeded his father in the peerage in 1960 while still a minor).

[16] The below table lists the longest continuously serving members of the House of Lords since the Acts of Union 1707, in the order they achieved that status.