Father of the House (New Zealand)
Father or Mother of the House is an unofficial title applied to the longest-serving member of Parliament sitting in the New Zealand House of Representatives. No duties or special distinctions are associated with the position.
The current Father of the House is Nick Smith, a former Cabinet Minister, who has served continuously since 1990. He succeeded former Prime Minister Bill English, who was also elected in 1990, when the latter resigned as an MP in March 2018. The position is determined by continuous service, not aggregate time in parliament. While Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters first entered parliament in 1979, he was not an MP from 1981 to 1984, or between 2008 and 2011.
In New Zealand's first general election of, the 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.
In March 2005 then Prime Minister Helen Clark became the first to be dubbed Mother of the House.Key
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