From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clerical role in Parliament of the UK
Clerk of the House of Commons
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House of Commons
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Status
| Principal constitutional adviser to the House and Corporate Officer of the House
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Seat
| Palace of Westminster
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Appointer
| The Crown
(de jure)
Clerk of the Parliaments
(de facto)
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Inaugural holder
| Robert de Melton
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Formation
| 1363
first permanent appointment
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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
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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
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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
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As of October 2023
[update]
, 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
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14th century
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- 1363 ? Robert de Melton
- 1385 ? John de Scardeburgh
15th century
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- 1414 ? Thomas Haseley
- 1440 ? John Dale
- 1461 ? Thomas Bayen
16th century
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- 1504 ? Thomas Hylton
- 1510 ? William Underhill
- 1515 ? Robert Ormeston
- 1547 ? John Seymour
- 1570 ? Fulk Onslow
17th century
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- 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
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19th century
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20th century
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21st century
[
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References
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External links
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