Clerk of the House of Commons
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The clerk of the House of Commons is the chief executive of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and before 1707 in the House of Commons of England.
The formal name for the position held by the Clerk of the House of Commons is Under Clerk of the Parliaments;[1] The chief clerk of the House of Lords is the Clerk of the Parliaments.
Appointment
The Clerk of the House is appointed by the sovereign by Letters Patent, in which they are styled "Under Clerk of the Parliaments [...] to attend upon the Commons".[2] Before 1748, the Clerkship of the House of Commons could be purchased until Jeremiah Dyson (then Clerk of the House) ended the practice of purchase when he left the Clerkship.[3]
Duties
The Clerk of the House is the principal constitutional adviser to the house, and adviser on all its procedure and business, including parliamentary privilege, and frequently appears before select and joint committees examining constitutional and parliamentary matters. As with all the members of the House Service, he is politically entirely impartial and is not a civil servant. Until 1 January 2008, when the reforms to the house's governance proposed by the Tebbit Review of management and services of the house were implemented, the clerk was the head of the Clerk's Department.[4] He sits at the table of the house, in the right-hand chair (the left-hand chair, looking towards the Speaker’s chair) for part of every sitting. The historic role of the clerks at the table is to record the decisions of the house (not what is said, which is recorded by Hansard). This they (but not the clerk) still do. The clerks at the table used to wear court dress with wing collar and white tie, a bob (barrister’s) wig and a silk gown. However, as of February 2017 the clerks will only have to wear gowns.[5] For the State Opening of Parliament and other state occasions, the Clerk of the House wears full court dress with breeches, and a lace jabot and cuffs.[6]
Incumbent
As of October 2023[update]Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"., the office is currently held by Tom Goldsmith, previously the Principal Clerk of the Table Office, who replaced Sir John Benger when he retired on 1 October 2023.[7]
List of Clerks of the House of Commons
14th century
- 1363 – Robert de Melton
- 1385 – John de Scardeburgh
15th century
- 1414 – Thomas Haseley
- 1440 – John Dale
- 1461 – Thomas Bayen
16th century
- 1504 – Thomas Hylton
- 1510 – William Underhill
- 1515 – Robert Ormeston
- 1547 – John Seymour
- 1570 – Fulk Onslow
17th century
- 1603 – Ralph Ewens
- 1611 – William Pinches
- 1612 – John Wright
- 1639 – Henry Elsyng
- 1649 – Henry Scobell
- 1658 – John Smythe
- 1659 – John Phelips
- 1659 – Thomas St. Nicholas
- 1660 – William Jessop
- 1661 – William Goldsborough
- 1678 – William Goldsborough the Younger
- 1683 – Paul Jodrell
18th century
- 1727 – Edward Stables
- 1732 – Nicholas Hardinge
- 1748 – Jeremiah Dyson
- 1762 – Thomas Tyrwhitt
- 1768 – John Hatsell (1733–1820)
19th century
- 1820 – John Henry Ley (on the death of Hatsell)
- 1850 – Sir Denis Le Marchant, Bt
- 1871 – Sir Thomas Erskine May
- 1886 – Sir Reginald Palgrave Script error: No such module "If empty".
20th century
- 1900 – Sir Archibald Milman Script error: No such module "If empty".[10]
- 1902 – Sir Courtenay Ilbert Script error: No such module "If empty".
- 1921 – Sir Thomas Lonsdale Webster Script error: No such module "If empty".
- 1930 – Sir Horace Dawkins Script error: No such module "If empty".
- 1937 – Sir Gilbert Campion Script error: No such module "If empty".
- 1948 – Sir Frederic Metcalfe Script error: No such module "If empty".
- 1954 – Sir Edward Fellowes Script error: No such module "If empty".
- 1962 – Sir Barnett Cocks Script error: No such module "If empty".
- 1974 – Sir David Lidderdale Script error: No such module "If empty".
- 1976 – Sir Richard Barlas Script error: No such module "If empty".
- 1979 – Sir Charles Gordon Script error: No such module "If empty".
- 1983 – Sir Kenneth Bradshaw Script error: No such module "If empty".
- 1987 – Sir Clifford Boulton Script error: No such module "If empty".
- 1994 – Sir Donald Limon Script error: No such module "If empty".
- 1998 – Sir William McKay Script error: No such module "If empty".
21st century
- 2003 – Sir Roger Sands Script error: No such module "If empty".
- 2006 – Sir Malcolm Jack Script error: No such module "If empty".
- 2011 – Sir Robert Rogers Script error: No such module "If empty".
- 2015 – Sir David Natzler Script error: No such module "If empty". (acting 2014–2015)[11]
- 2019 – Sir John Benger Script error: No such module "If empty".[12]
- 2023 – Tom Goldsmith[13]
See also
- Clerk of the Parliaments
- Clerk of the Scottish Parliament
- Chief Executive and Clerk of the Senedd
- Clerk of the Northern Ireland Assembly
References
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- ↑ Parliamentary Corporate Bodies Act 1992, section 2(2): "The individual who for the time being is by letters patent appointed to the office of the Under Clerk of the Parliaments (and who is customarily referred to as the Clerk of the House of Commons) shall be the Corporate Officer of the Commons."
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- ↑ Ley is pictured with Hatsell in 1795 by James Sayers in Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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External links
- Information sheet – Clerk of the House – UK Parliament website
- Records of the Department of the Clerk of the House – UK Parliamentary Archives website
- Records of the Office of the Clerk of the House – UK Parliamentary Archives website
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