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.
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Australia [edit]
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This section does not cite any references or sources. (May 2008) |
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 current Baby of the House is Wyatt Roy (age 22; he was elected at age 20 in 2010, being the youngest person ever to be elected to an Australian parliament) and the current Baby of the Senate is Sarah Hanson-Young (age 30).[1]
Canada [edit]
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.[2] In the past, MPs such as Pierre Poilievre, Andrew Scheer, Claude-Andre 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.[3]
Republic of Ireland [edit]
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 Fine Gael deputy Simon Harris (Wicklow), who was 24 years old when elected in 2011. The youngest TD of all time was William J. Murphy, elected aged 21 years 29 days; the youngest female TD was Kathleen O'Connor, 21 years 7 months.
List of Babies of the Dáil [edit]
Malawi [edit]
The youngest MP in Malawi was Angela Zachepa who was voted in as MP at age 21 [4]
New Zealand [edit]
Like Australia, the term "Baby of the House" is rarely used. "Youngest MP" is the usual term
The current Baby of the House is Jami-Lee Ross of the National Party, who was elected to Parliament in the Botany by-election on 5 March 2011, aged 25.
| Name | Electorate | Party | Date of Birth | Entered Parliament | Age | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Moore | Eden | Labour | 28 January 1949 | 25 November 1972 | 23 | |
| Marilyn Waring | Raglan | National | 7 October 1952 | 29 November 1975 | 23 | |
| Darren Hughes | Ōtaki | Labour | 3 April 1978 | 27 July 2002 | 24 | |
| Jacinda Ardern | (List) | Labour | 26 July 1980 | 8 November 2008 | 28 | |
| Gareth Hughes | (List) | Green | 31 October 1981 | 11 February 2010 | 28 | |
| Jami-Lee Ross | Botany | National | 10 December 1985 | 5 March 2011 | 25 |
Uganda [edit]
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 [edit]
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. For example, Jeffrey Archer incorrectly 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 careers (William Hague, Tony Blair, Charles Kennedy).
Of those whose ages can be verified, the youngest MP since the Reform Act of 1832[5] was James Dickson who was elected as a Liberal at a by-election for the Borough of Dungannon on 25 June 1880. He was born on 19 April 1859 and so was aged 21 years 67 days. The youngest female MP was Bernadette Devlin, elected on 17 April 1969 from Mid Ulster aged 21 years 359 days. The age of candidacy for Parliament was lowered from 21 to 18 by the Electoral Administration Act of 2006.
In more recent times, the oldest Baby at first election is Sarah Teather, elected in 2003 aged 29 years 109 days.
List of Babies of the House of Commons [edit]
[ (b) - by-election]
United States [edit]
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 113th Congress, which began on January 6, 2013, the youngest member of the United States House of Representatives is Patrick Murphy (D-FL 18), who was born on March 30, 1983 . He replaces Aaron Schock (R-IL 18) who was born on May 28, 1981 and was first elected in 2008. Schock is now the second youngest House member.
Currently the youngest U.S. Senator is Chris Murphy (D-CT) born on August 3, 1973 and first elected in 2012; Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) is the second youngest senator, and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) is the third youngest.
See also [edit]
Notes [edit]
- ^ Barrett, R. (2010), "Dad says nation's youngest MP Wyatt Roy 'won't sit there quietly'". The Australian, 23 August 2010, Page 9.
- ^ Banerjee, Sidhartha (May 4, 2011). "19-year-old sets record as youngest MP; NDPer planned summer job at golf course". The Canadian Press.
- ^ Members of the House of Commons - Average Age.
- ^ http://www.malawivoice.com/entertainment/atupele-muluzi-to-engage-former-youngest-parliamentarian-angella-zachepa/
- ^ Prior to 1832 minors could be elected; precise information on those MPs is often unclear.
- ^ Joseph Aloysius Sweeney did not take his seat; the youngest MP actually sitting in the House of Commons was Oswald Mosley (Conservative, aged 22).
- ^ a b Became the youngest MP for a second time, on the death of the previous youngest MP.
- ^ Tony Benn was first elected at the Bristol South East by-election, 1950, aged 25, the day after Thomas Teevan, who was aged 23, but Benn took the oath the day before Teevan, and so was Baby of the House for a single day.
- ^ Tony Benn became the youngest MP again after the 1951 general election, on the defeat of Teevan.
- ^ a b Elected on an abstentionist ticket, Philip Clarke did not take his seat. 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.
- ^ Basil de Ferranti was the youngest MP for 15 days between his taking his seat after the Morecambe by-election and Patrick Wolrige-Gordon taking his seat after the East Aberdeenshire by-election. (source).
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ Although several sources claim Claire Ward was the youngest MP during this period, she was 50 days older than Chris Leslie.
