Clerk of the House of Commons
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 of the House of Commons of England.
| Clerk of the House of Commons | |
|---|---|
 | |
| House of Commons | |
| Status | Principal constitutional adviser to the House and Corporate Officer of the House |
| Seat | Palace of Westminster |
| Appointer | The Crown (de jure) Clerk of the Parliaments (de facto) |
| Inaugural holder | Robert de Melton |
| Formation | 1363 first permanent appointment |
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, the office is currently held by Tom Goldsmith, who replaced Sir John Benger when he retired on 1 October 2023.
On 30 March 2023, it was announced that Benger, who is leaving to assume the role of Master of St Catharine's College, Cambridge, will be replaced by Tom Goldsmith, the Principal Clerk of the Table Office, who will assume office in October.[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
19th century
- 1820 – John Henry Ley
- 1850 – Sir Denis Le Marchant, Bt
- 1871 – Sir Thomas Erskine May
- 1886 – Sir Reginald Palgrave KCB
20th century
- 1900 – Sir Archibald Milman KCB[8]
- 1902 – Sir Courtenay Ilbert KCB KCSI CIE
- 1921 – Sir Thomas Lonsdale Webster KCB
- 1930 – Sir Horace Dawkins KCB MBE
- 1937 – Sir Gilbert Campion GCB
- 1948 – Sir Frederic Metcalfe KCB
- 1954 – Sir Edward Fellowes KCB CMG MC
- 1962 – Sir Barnett Cocks KCB OBE
- 1974 – Sir David Lidderdale KCB
- 1976 – Sir Richard Barlas KCB OBE
- 1979 – Sir Charles Gordon KCB
- 1983 – Sir Kenneth Bradshaw KCB
- 1987 – Sir Clifford Boulton GCB
- 1994 – Sir Donald Limon KCB
- 1998 – Sir William McKay KCB
21st century
- 2003 – Sir Roger Sands KCB
- 2006 – Sir Malcolm Jack KCB
- 2011 – Sir Robert Rogers KCB
- 2015 – Sir David Natzler KCB (acting 2014–2015)[9]
- 2019 – Sir John Benger KCB[10]
- 2023 – Tom Goldsmith[11]
References
- 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."
- "Clerk of the House of Commons". erskinemay.parliament.uk. Houses of Parliament. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
- Rogers, Robert (18 September 2012). Who Goes Home? A Parliamentary Miscellany. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 9781849544801.
- "Clerk of the House of Commons". www.parliament.uk. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- "Speaker Bercow says Commons clerks' wigs to get chop – BBC News". BBC News. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
- "Clerk of the House and Chief Executive". Parliament.uk. 24 July 2014.
- Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House (30 March 2023). "Speaker's Statement". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Commons.
- "No. 27164". The London Gazette. 13 February 1900. p. 999.
- "House of Commons Commission decisions, 16 October 2014". parliament.uk. 20 October 2014.
- "Clerk of the House of Commons appointment: Dr John Benger". GOV.UK. Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street. 5 February 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
- "Tom Goldsmith appointed as Clerk of the House of Commons". Parliament of the United Kingdom. 30 March 2023.