Prior to the Acts of Union, the youngest known person to have sat in the House of Commons of England was Christopher Monck, elected MP for Devon in 1667, "probably without a contest", at the age of 13.
His election, whilst theoretically illegal, was unchallenged; Malton was a pocket borough controlled by his family, and the matter was viewed as academic as he would be of full age by the time Parliament assembled.
The youngest female MP was Bernadette Devlin, elected on 17 April 1969 from Mid Ulster, aged 21 years 359 days.
He stood down on 21 November to allow his kinsman, Gabriel Steward, to stand for the seat after completing his own term as mayor of the borough (when he had been the local returning officer).
Notes: Although his alleged birth year predates parish registers and civil birth registration, William Badger, who was member for Winchester in the 1597 parliament of England, is supported by a History of Parliament biographer to have been a centenarian, being established to have been born 'circa 1523' and to have been buried on 18 January 1629, aged at least 105 years.
[11] Sir Patrick Duffy (born 17 June 1920, age 104 years, 240 days),[12] the member for Colne Valley from 1963 to 1966 and for Sheffield Attercliffe from 1970 to 1992, has been the oldest living former MP since the death of Ronald Atkins in December 2020, and has been the oldest ever former MP with a known birth date since surpassing Atkins in January 2025.
Ronald Atkins (13 June 1916 – 30 December 2020),[13] member for Preston North from 1966 to 1970 and from 1974 to 1979 was, between 2018 and 2025, the longest-lived former MP whose birth date is registered.
As of 2024[update] Elizabeth Shields is the oldest living female former MP (born 27 February 1928, age 96 years, 351 days).
Based only on evidence from his university entrance records,[17] Peter Legh, MP for Newton from 1640, may have been aged 19 or younger when he died after a duel on 2 February 1642, but his precise birthdate is not known.
Geoffrey Palmer, MP for Ludgershall from March 1660, died in office on 31 October 1661 aged 19 years and at least 245 days, based on his baptism registration (28 February 1642).
[19] The longest span of service of an MP since the start of the 20th century was Winston Churchill who was first elected on 1 October 1900 and left the House of Commons on 25 September 1964, a period of 63 years 360 days.
The longest continuous service record for a female MP is held by Harriet Harman, first elected in October 1982.
The longest total service record for a female MP is held by Dame Margaret Beckett, who served for 4 years and 7 months between 1974 and 1979 and was then re-elected in June 1983.
In 1906, Thomas Higgins was declared elected for the seat of North Galway, even though he had died earlier that morning, after polling day.
More recently, in 1945 Sir Edward Taswell Campbell at Bromley and Leslie Pym at Monmouth died after polling, but nine days before the declaration of the results.
The shortest non-posthumous service was that of Alfred Dobbs, who was declared elected MP for Smethwick on 26 July 1945 and was killed the following day in a car accident on the way to take his seat.
[20] The shortest service for women MPs has been 92 days in the case of both Ruth Dalton, who was MP for Bishop Auckland from a by-election on 7 February 1929 to dissolution of Parliament on 10 May 1929 prior to that year's general election, and Margo MacDonald, who was MP for Glasgow Govan from a by-election on 8 November 1973 until the dissolution of Parliament on 8 February 1974 prior to the coming general election.
Notes: In modern times, it is unusual for an MP who has been defeated (or retired e.g. due to their seat being abolished) to achieve more than one comeback to the House of Commons after a period of absence.
Of living MPs, George Galloway transferred to a different constituency and party in 2005 but did not have any period of absence from the Commons at that time.
Several Prime Ministers of Northern Ireland when it had its own parliamentary government between 1921 and 1972 while remaining in the UK came to serve in Westminster as follows: Several United Kingdom MPs have become a head of government in other parts of the Commonwealth: The first woman elected to the House of Commons was Constance Markievicz who was elected on 14 December 1918 to the constituency of Dublin St Patrick's, but she refused to take her seat as she was a member of Sinn Féin.
The first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was Margaret Thatcher who served as PM from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990.
Longest period represented by women MPs: Birmingham Edgbaston has been represented by 4 women MPs in continuous succession since a by-election on 2 July 1953, a period of 70 years, apart from a vacancy interval of 63 days between the death of Dame Edith Pitt on 27 January 1966 and the election of her successor Dame Jill Knight at the general election that year.
Longest span of couple's service in the Commons Although differing in that the husband's service preceded and outlasted the wife's, the Bevans' span has been surpassed by Sir Peter Bottomley who served in the Commons from 26 June 1975 to the 2024 general election, and his wife Virginia, who sat as MP for South West Surrey from by-election on 4 May 1984 to the 2005 general election – a period of 48 years, 339 days.
Louth, Lincolnshire was represented for the shortest time, a total of 4 years and 3 months, by Thomas Wintringham from June 1920 to his death in August 1921, then by his widow, Margaret, from the by-election in September 1921 to the general election in October 1924.
It is rarer for parents and children to serve in the Commons simultaneously than consecutively (frequent cause of latter being death, retirement or promotion to House of Lords of the father).
Thomas Hyde Villiers and his brother Charles Pelham Villiers (above) had a span of nearly 72 years service from the former's first election as MP in 1826 to the latter's death as a serving MP and Father of the House in 1898, but this was broken by an interval when the former was out of parliament in 1831, and the gap between Thomas' death on 3 December 1832 and Charles' first election in 1835.
[33] Before Kawczynski's election the record was held by Louis Gluckstein, MP for Nottingham East between 1931 and 1945, who measured 2.02 metres (6 feet 8 inches).
Not counting MPs who served as minors, adult contenders for this record in modern times include Sarah Teather, MP for Brent East 2003–2010 and Brent Central 2010–2015, who in 2014 was held to be the shortest MP then sitting, at 4 feet 10 inches (1.47 m)[33] and is now regarded as the shortest woman member in British parliamentary history.
[37][38] The following were all known to be disabled when serving as MPs: Died after end of hostilities but listed as First World War casualty by Commonwealth War Graves Commission:[63] Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Mark Sykes, 6th Baronet (5th Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment); born 1879: died 1919 of Spanish influenza at Paris while attending peace negotiations.
Died after end of hostilities but listed as Second World War Casualty by Commonwealth War Graves Commission:[65] Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes, 1st Baronet, later 1st Baron Keyes of Zeebrugge (Royal Navy); born 1872; died 1945 of effects of smoke inhalation sustained in a Japanese aircraft attack when visiting USS Appalachian during a government goodwill tour over 1944–45.