Baby of the House

Becoming the Baby of the House of Commons is regarded as something of an achievement despite the lack of any special treatment that comes with the title. 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 many holders of the title have gone on to enjoy long and distinguished parliamentary careers.

From August 1999 to September 2001, all three of the leaders of the main political parties - Tony Blair, William Hague and Charles Kennedy - had been the youngest MPs in their party when they began their political careers, though only Kennedy had been Baby of the House.

Of those whose ages can be verified, the youngest MP since the Reform Act 1832[2] is Mhairi Black, elected in 2015 aged 20 years 237 days.[3] The age of candidacy for Parliament was lowered from 21 to 18 by the Electoral Administration Act 2006. William Pitt the Younger was elected at 21 and became Prime Minister two years later in 1783.

Owen Carron directly replaced Bobby Sands as both MP for Fermanagh South Tyrone and Baby of the House after Sands' death on hunger strike, neither ever took their seats.[4] George Charles Grey is the only other Baby of the House to die while in post, after his death in World War Two.[5]

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 youngest Baby of the House was Wyatt Roy. He was elected at age 20 in 2010, being the youngest person ever to be elected to an Australian parliament.[21]

As of 2022, the current Baby of the House is the Member for Brisbane Stephen Bates (age 30). Senator Fatima Payman (age 27) is the youngest member of the Senate.

in the 2020 Azerbaijani parliamentary election, Sabina Khasayeva at the age of 27 was the youngest MP elected.[22]

The youngest-ever elected member of the House of Commons of Canada 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.[23] In the past, MPs such as Sean O'Sullivan, Pierre Poilievre, Andrew Scheer, Claude-André Lachance and Lorne Nystrom have also held the distinction.

Eric Melillo is the youngest current MP, representing the riding of Kenora, Ontario, a member of the Conservative Party of Canada; born in 1998, elected at 21 years of age. The youngest member of the Senate of Canada is Patrick Brazeau of Repentigny, Quebec; born 1974, appointed at 34 years of age.

In Germany the term is rarely used. Emilia Fester was the youngest MP elected in the 2021 federal election at the age of 23.[24]

Emily Vontz became the youngest MP in 2023, at the age of 22.[25]

In 2022, Pascal Leddin became the youngest member of the Landtag of Lower Saxony.[26]

Kerryne James was elected in the 2022 Grenadian general election at the age of 24 becoming the country's youngest ever legislator.[27]

Nathan Law, the youngest member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, was elected at the age of 23.

In Hong Kong the term is rarely used. The current baby of the Legislative Council is Joephy Chan who was elected in the 2021 Legislative Council election.

The youngest-ever elected member from 1991 to 2016 was James To, who ran for the first Legislative Council direct election in 1991 at the age of 28. His record ceased in 2016, when the youngest-ever elected member Nathan Law and the youngest-ever elected female member Yau Wai-ching, were both elected in the 2016 election at the age of 23 and 25 respectively, were both disqualified over the oath-taking controversy between 2016 and 2017. He was replaced by Ho Kai-ming, who was the fourth-youngest member when he was elected in 2016. He was later replaced by Au Nok-hin who was elected in the 2018 by-election but was unseated in 2019. The title went back to Ho who subsequently resigned in May 2020 for joining the government and was replaced by Cheng Chung-tai who was the fifth youngest member in 2016, until himself got disqualified in August 2021. The title eventually returned to Steven Ho who was elected as the youngest member in 2012.

[ (b) – by-election]

The youngest-ever elected member of the National Assembly is Ilona Burka, who became MP at the age of 19 years, 5 months and 13 days on 12 May 1971, following the 1971 parliamentary election.

[(b) – by-election]

Source:[37]

In the Republic of Ireland the term is rarely used, as TDs normally enter the Dáil after a political career in local government, usually only in their thirties and later. The current baby of the Dáil is the Fianna Fáil deputy James O'Connor (Cork East), who was 22 years and 7 months old when elected in February 2020.

The youngest TD of all time was William J. Murphy, elected age 21 years 29 days; the youngest female TD was Kathleen O'Connor, 21 years 7 months.

In Israel the term is seldom used. The youngest member of the current Knesset is Yitzhak Wasserlauf of Otzma Yehudit elected in 2022 aged 30.

The youngest member of the Knesset ever is Moshe Nissim, elected in 1959 aged 24.

Enzo Lattuca, baby of the Italian Chamber of Deputies (2013–2018) and youngest deputy ever.

Rachele Scarpa, current baby of the Italian Chamber of Deputies.

The youngest member of the Chamber of Deputies ever is Enzo Lattuca (PD), elected in 2013, aged 25 years, 1 month, and 6 days.

The youngest MP in Malawi was Angela Zachepa who was voted in as MP at age 21.[41]

In Malaysia, the term is rarely used. Most MPs are elected and Senators are appointed or elected usually in their Middle Ages but some prominent ones have been elected or appointed in their young ages including former Prime Minister and corrupt ruler Najib Razak who was elected at 22 years and 6 months in age in 1976. The youngest ever elected is Batu MP Prabakaran Parameswaran, who was elected at the age of 22 years and 3 months in 2018.[42] The present Baby of the House is Sungai Petani MP Mohammed Taufiq Johari who was elected in 2022. Mohammed Taufiq is a month younger than Prabakaran. Any citizen 18 years of age or older can become a candidate and be elected to the Dewan Rakyat as an MP and State Legislative Assemblies of Malaysia as an MP[43] while any citizen 30 years of age or older can be appointed or elected to the Dewan Negara as a Senator.

In the 2019 general election, Kitlang Kabua became the youngest person ever elected to the Nitijeļā.[44][45]

Swarbrick in 2017

The term "Baby of the House" is rarely used in New Zealand. The current Baby of the House is Chlöe Swarbrick of the Green Party, who was elected on 24 September 2017 aged 23.[46] Swarbrick succeeded Todd Barclay of the National Party, who had been elected at the 2014 general election at age 24.[47][48]

In the Congress of the Philippines, the term "Baby of the House" is rarely used; the term "Benjamin" of the chamber is used instead.[49] Special treatment is not given to the youngest member of either chamber. However, by tradition, the youngest member of the chamber usually administers the oath of office to their incoming leader (i.e. President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives).

The minimum age for being a member of the House of Representatives is 25 years old, while for the Senate, it is 35, as stipulated in the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines. In 1933, Benigno Aquino, Sr. became senator at the age of 33;[50] the Jones Law, which created the Senate, had prescribed the minimum age of 30.

The current Benjamin of the House is Representative Braeden Jaime Cojuangco of the 1st District of Tarlac. Meanwhile, Senator Mark Villar has been the youngest Senator since 2022.[51]

The current youngest MP in Singapore's parliament is Nadia Ahmad Samdin, who was elected at age 30 in 2020.[61][62][63] The youngest MP ever elected in Singapore is Lim Chin Siong, who was elected at the age of 22 in the 1955 election.[63]

The current, since 2017, titleholder is Hlomela Bucwa of the Democratic Alliance.[64]

The current Baby of the House is Aida Birinxhiku. The youngest person ever to be elected MP to a Swedish parliament is Anton Abele who was only aged 18 when elected in September 2010.[67] Current record holder for the world's youngest-ever elected MP is Anton Abele, who was at 18 years elected to the Swedish Parliament for his activism against street violence.[68]

Rümeysa Kadak (born 16 May 1996) is the youngest MP in the history of Republic of Turkey.[69]

Saddam Hosein is the baby of the house of the 12th Republican Parliament.[70]

At 19 years old, Proscovia Alengot Oromait was the world's youngest MP and youngest ever MP in Africa when elected in 2011.[71][72] Oromait is a member of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) in Uganda and was a representative of Usuk County until 2016.[73] She was succeeded by Hellen Auma Wandera as the youngest member of parliament in Uganda.[74]

While the term is used in the Commonwealth Parliaments, Baby of the House or Senate is not in general contemporary use in the United States, nor does being the youngest member confer special treatment in either house of Congress.

Members of the US 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 those under the age of 25 from serving in the House, and those 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 118th Congress, which began on 3 January 2023, the youngest member of the United States House of Representatives is Maxwell Frost, who was born on (1997-01-17) 17 January 1997 and was first elected in 2022.

Currently the youngest US senator is Jon Ossoff, born on (1987-02-16) 16 February 1987, and first elected to a full term in the Senate in the 2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia.

• Dean of the House
• Dean of the Senate
• Father of the House

• Youngest Members of Parliament Archived 9 October 1999 at the Wayback Machine Archived 9 October 1999 at the Wayback Machine