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.

For the Canadian official, see Clerk of the House of Commons (Canada).

Under Clerk of the Parliaments To wait upon the Commons
Incumbent John Benger since 1 March 2019
Office of the Clerk and Chief Executive
Residence	Outbuilding, Palace of Westminster
Appointer	Elizabeth II
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.

Duties

Sir Courtenay Ilbert

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.[2] 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, and 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.[3] 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.[4]

Incumbent

The office is currently held by John Benger who replaced Sir David Natzler, who retired on 1 March 2019.

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 the younger 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 20th century 1900 – Sir Archibald Milman KCB[5] 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)[6] 2019 – John Benger[7]

References

1. 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."
2. "Clerk of the House of Commons". www.parliament.uk. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
3. "Speaker Bercow says Commons clerks' wigs to get chop – BBC News". BBC News. Retrieved 2017-02-06.
4. "Clerk of the House and Chief Executive". Parliament.uk. 24 July 2014.
5. "No. 27164". The London Gazette. 13 February 1900. p. 999.
6. "House of Commons Commission decisions, 16 October 2014". parliament.uk. 20 October 2014.
7. "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.

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