Part of Transport – in the House of Commons at on 12 February 2026.
Heidi Alexander
The Secretary of State for Transport
I wondered what the Father of the House was going to ask me. I remember him asking me a couple of months ago to name a train after Margaret Thatcher. I gave him a pretty definitive response to that. On the subject of the station in his Constituency and the through-service from it, I will be sure to speak to the Rail Minister for an update on his latest conversations with the right hon. Gentleman and Martin Vickers. I will be happy to write to the right hon. Gentleman with an update.
The title Father of the House is given to the MP with the longest unbroken service in the House of Commons.
The most important duty of the Father of the House is to preside over the election of a new speaker should that office be vacant at the beginning of a Parliament.
A minister is never considered the Father of the House, even if that minister is more senior than any other MP.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
