Alterspräsident

Father of the House is a term that has been by tradition bestowed unofficially on certain members of some legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the term refers to the oldest member, but in others it refers to the member longest-serving. (Recently, the term 'Mother of the House' or Mother of Parliament has also been used, although the usage varies between countries; it is simply the female alternative to Father of the House, being applied when the relevant member is a woman).

The Father of the House is a title that is bestowed by tradition on the senior member of the House of Commons who has the longest continuous service. 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.

In the House of Commons, the only conventional task required of the Father of the House is to preside over the election of a new Speaker whenever that office becomes vacant. The relevant Standing Order does not refer to this member by the title of "Father of the House", referring instead to the longest-serving member of the House present who is not a Minister of the Crown (meaning that if the member longest-serving is absent or is a government minister, the next member longest-serving presides).

The current Father of the House of Commons is Kenneth Clarke, Conservative MP for Rushcliffe, who began his continuous service at the 1970 general election.

Dennis Skinner, Labour MP for Bolsover, also began continuous service at the 1970 general election, but was sworn in after Clarke. Should Clarke's service conclude before Skinner's, Skinner would be next to serve as Father of the House, however he has stated he would refuse.

The Father of the House is not necessarily the current member with the earliest date of first election. David Winnick was first elected in 1966, and was the last sitting member to have served during the 1960s, but he was defeated for re-election in 1970 and did not return to Parliament until 1979, serving until he lost his seat in 2017. Michael Foot was the only remaining member from the 1945 election between 1987 and 1992, but was never Father of the House because he had been out of Parliament between 1955 and a 1960 by-election. Similarly, though Sir Winston Churchill was first elected in 1900, he did not become Father of the House until 1959, because he had lost his seat in 1922, and did not return to the Commons until 1924.

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