Baby of the House is the unofficial title given to the youngest member of a parliamentary house. The term is most often applied to members of the British parliament, from which the term originated.[1] The title is named after the Father of the House, which is given to the longest-serving member of the British and other parliaments.
In Australia the term is rarely used. Most MPs and senators are elected only in their thirties and later, but some prominent MPs have been elected rather early in life, including Prime Ministers Harold Holt, Malcolm Fraser and Paul Keating, the latter two of whom 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.[2]
, the current Baby of the House is the Member for Brisbane Stephen Bates (age). Senator Fatima Payman (age 27) is the youngest member of the Senate.
in the 2020 Azerbaijani parliamentary election, Sabina Khasayeva was the youngest MP elected, at the age of 27.[3]
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.[4] In the past this distinction has been held by MPs such as Sean O'Sullivan, Pierre Poilievre, Andrew Scheer, Claude-André Lachance and Lorne Nystrom.
The youngest current MP is Eric Melillo, a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, representing the riding of Kenora, Ontario; 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.
| Entered | Name | Born | Party | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 1946 | ||||
| 1972 | 1950 | ||||
| 1979 | 1956 | died in 2011 | |||
| 1983 | 1959 | ||||
| 1991 | 1967 | ||||
| 1994 | 1967 | ||||
| 1995 | 1972 | ||||
| 1999 | 1975 | ||||
| 2003 | 1976 | ||||
| 2004 | 1977 | ||||
| 2007 | 1982 | ||||
| 2011 | 1986 | ||||
| 2015 | 1991 | ||||
| 2019 | 1994 | ||||
| 2023 | 1999 |
This is a list of youngest members of the French parliament at the time of their election.
| Elected | Name | Department | Age | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yvelines | 22 | |||
| Yonne | 24 | |||
| Indre-et-Loire | 22 | |||
| Vaucluse | 22 | |||
| Pas-de-Calais | 23 | |||
| French Polynesia | 21 | |||
| Flavien Termet[5] | Ardennes | 22 |
In Germany the term is rarely used. Emilia Fester was the youngest MP elected in the 2021 federal election at the age of 23.[6]
Emily Vontz became the youngest MP in 2023, at the age of 22.[7]
In 2022, Pascal Leddin became the youngest member of the Landtag of Lower Saxony.[8]
Kerryne James was elected in the 2022 Grenadian general election at the age of 24, becoming the country's youngest ever legislator.[9]
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.
From 1991 to 2016 the youngest elected member 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 ages of 23 and 25 respectively; they 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 he himself got disqualified in August 2021. The title eventually returned to Steven Ho who was elected as the youngest member in 2012.
| Duration | Name | Date of birth | Constituency | < | -- Do NOT use colspan. It breaks sorting --> | Party | Elected | Start age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 October 1991 – 1 July 1998 | 1963 3, df=yes | |||||||
| 1 July 1998 – 1 October 2008 | 1965 1, df=yes | |||||||
| 1 October 2008 – 1 October 2012 | 1976 4, df=yes | |||||||
| 1 October 2012 – 29 February 2016 | 1979 11, df=yes | |||||||
| 29 February 2016 – 1 October 2016 | 1981 6, df=yes | |||||||
| 1 October 2016 – 14 July 2017 | 1993 7, df=yes | |||||||
| 14 July 2017 – 21 March 2018 | 1985 1, df=yes | |||||||
| 21 March 2018 – 17 December 2019 | 1987 6, df=yes | |||||||
| 17 December 2019 – 31 May 2020 | 1985 1, df=yes | |||||||
| 31 May 2020 – 26 August 2021 | 1983 11, df=yes | |||||||
| 26 August 2021 – 31 December 2021 | 1979 11, df=yes | |||||||
| 1 January 2022 – Present | 1990 12, df=yes | |||||||
[(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.
| Member | Party | Date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Károly Wirth | NYKP | 1939–1944 | ||
| András Kis | MKP | 1944–1945 | ||
| András Hegedüs | MKP | 1945 | ||
| István B. Rácz | FKGP | 1945–1947 | ||
| János Gosztonyi | NPP | 1947–1949 | ||
| Etel Kurlik | MDP | 1949–1953 | ||
| Mária Inklovics | MDP MSZMP | 1953–1957 | ||
| Margit Kaptur | MSZMP | 1957–1958 | ||
| Jusztina Csarnai | MSZMP | 1958–1963 | ||
| István Ollári | MSZMP | 1963–1967 | ||
| István Bartha | MSZMP | 1967–1971 | ||
| Ilona Burka | MSZMP | 1971–1975 | ||
| Valéria Czégai | MSZMP | 1975–1980 | ||
| Ibolya Kovács | MSZMP | 1980–1985 | ||
| Márta Danka | MSZMP | 1985–1989 | ||
| Edit Bödő-Rózsa | Ind. | 1989–1990 | ||
| SZDSZ | ||||
| Béla Glattfelder | Fidesz | 1990–1993 | ||
| Róbert Répássy | Fidesz | 1993–1994 | ||
| László Botka | MSZP | 1994–1998 | ||
| János Zuschlag | MSZP | 1998–2002 | ||
| Péter Szijjártó | Fidesz | 2002–2006 | ||
| László Nagy | MSZP | 2006–2010 | ||
| Dóra Dúró | Jobbik | 2010–2018 | ||
| Péter Ungár | LMP | 2018–2022 | ||
| Miklós Hajnal | Momentum | 2022–present | ||
| Elected | Name | Constituency | < | -- Do NOT use colspan. It breaks sorting --> | Party | Age when elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barh | 25 years, 3 months[10] | |||||
| Phulbani | 26 years, 8 months[11] | |||||
| Vadodara | 26 years, 2 months[12] | |||||
| Ganganagar | 25 years, 4 months[13] | |||||
| Gorakhpur | 25 years, 8 months[14] | |||||
| Kannauj | 26 years, 7 months[15] | |||||
| Mainpuri | 25 years, 8 months[16] | |||||
| Lakshadweep | 27 years, 0 months[17] | |||||
| Hisar | 26 years, 1 month[18] | |||||
| Keonjhar | 25 years, 11 months | |||||
| Kaushambi | 25 years, 3 months | |||||
[(b) – by-election]
Source:[19]
| Elected | Member | Affiliation | Age when elected | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Mohammad Hassannejad | Independent | 31 | ||
| 2016 | Fatemeh Hosseini | List of Hope | 30 | ||
| 2020 | Rouhollah Nejabat | Independent | 31 | ||
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.
| Elected | Name | Constituency | < | -- Do NOT use colspan. It breaks sorting --> | Party | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [20] | West Donegal | 21 | ||||
| Cork North | 26 | |||||
| Dublin North-West | 24 | |||||
| 1943 | Laois–Offaly | 23 | ||||
| 1948 | Donegal East | 26 | ||||
| 1949 | Cork West | 21 | ||||
| 1951 | Dublin North-West | 24 | ||||
| 1956 | Kerry North | 21 | ||||
| 1957 | Galway South | 24 | ||||
| 1958 | Galway South | 23 | ||||
| 1961 | Wexford | 21 | ||||
| 1965 | Dublin County | 24 | ||||
| 1969 | Meath | 22 | ||||
| 1975 | Galway West | 24 | ||||
| 1975 | Mayo West | 24 | ||||
| 1977 | Dublin County Mid | 23 | ||||
| 1979 | Cork North-East | 22 | ||||
| 1981 | Wexford | 21 | ||||
| 1984 | Laois–Offaly | 24 | ||||
| 1987 | Donegal South-West | 21 | ||||
| 1995 | Wicklow | 24 | ||||
| 1997 | Longford–Roscommon | 24 | ||||
| 2002 | Meath | 24 | ||||
| 2007 | Dublin South-East | 27 | ||||
| 2011 | Wicklow | 24 | ||||
| 2016 | Dublin West | 25 | ||||
| Cork East | 22 |
| Elected | Name | Panel | < | -- Do NOT use colspan. It breaks sorting --> | Party | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [21] | Industrial and Commercial Panel | 22 | ||||
| Cultural and Educational Panel | 24 |
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.
The youngest member of the Chamber of Deputies ever is Enzo Lattuca (PD), elected in 2013, aged 25 years, 1 month, and 6 days.
| Elected | Name | Party | Date of birth | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Francesco Pignatone | 30 March 1923 | |||||
| Fabio De Felice | 13 July 1927 | |||||
| Riccardo Misasi | DC | 14 July 1932 | ||||
| 25 July 1932 | ||||||
| 1967 | Giuseppe Antonio Bottaro | PCI | 21 October 1933 | |||
| Carlo Sangalli | DC | 31 August 1937 | ||||
| Giuseppa Mendola | PCI | 4 December 1945 | ||||
| Paolo Allegra | PCI | 2 December 1950 | ||||
| Anna Maria Castelli Migali | PCI | 5 October 1951 | ||||
| 1979 | 20 September 1952 | |||||
| Giovanni Negri | 16 May 1957 | |||||
| Cristina Bevilacqua | PCI | 9 March 1962 | ||||
| Elisabetta Bertotti | 8 December 1966 | |||||
| Sebastiano Fogliato | LN | 28 September 1967 | ||||
| Franca Gambato | LN | 31 August 1969 | ||||
| 23 October 1974 | ||||||
| 15 May 1978 | ||||||
| 6 May 1982 | ||||||
| 9 February 1988 | ||||||
| Angela Raffa | 26 January 1993 | |||||
| Rachele Scarpa | PD | 29 January 1997 | ||||
| John Paul Mwirigi[22] | 23 | UDA | Igembe South | 2017 | 12th Parliament |
The youngest MP in Malawi was Angela Zachepa, who was voted in as MP at age 21.[23]
In Malaysia, the term is very rarely used. Most MPs are directly elected and Senators are appointed or indirectly elected, usually in their middle age, but a few were elected as an MP at a very young age, including former Prime Minister and former Pekan MP Najib Razak, who was elected at 22 years and 6 months 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.[24] 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 directly elected to the Dewan Rakyat as an MP and State Legislative Assemblies as an MLA,[25] while any citizen 30 years of age or older can be appointed or indirectly elected to the Dewan Negara as a Senator.
In the 2019 general election, Kitlang Kabua became the youngest person ever elected to the Nitijeļā.[26] [27]
The term "Baby of the House" is rarely used in New Zealand. The current Baby of the House is Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke of Te Pāti Māori, who was elected on 14 October 2023 aged 21.[28] Maipi-Clarke succeeded Chlöe Swarbrick of the Green Party, who was elected on 24 September 2017 aged 23.[29]
| Elected from ! | < | -- Do NOT use colspan. It breaks sorting --> | Party | Date of birth | Became baby | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christchurch Country | ||||||
| Akaroa | 22 | |||||
| Oamaru | ||||||
| Suburbs of Nelson | 22 | |||||
| Ashley | 27 | |||||
| Gladstone | ||||||
| Waitemata | 23 | |||||
| Inangahua | ||||||
| Wellington Suburbs | ||||||
| City of Dunedin | ||||||
| Wellington Central | ||||||
| Westland | ||||||
| Auckland East | ||||||
| Motueka | ||||||
| Motueka | ||||||
| Lyttelton | ||||||
| Rangitikei | ||||||
| Wanganui | ||||||
| Northern Maori | ||||||
| Mt Albert | ||||||
| Napier | ||||||
| Timaru | ||||||
| Dunedin Central | ||||||
| New Lynn | ||||||
| Otago Central | ||||||
| Eden | ||||||
| Raglan | ||||||
| Waikato | ||||||
| Tasman | ||||||
| List | ||||||
| Ōtaki | ||||||
| List | ||||||
| List | ||||||
| Botany | ||||||
| List | ||||||
In the Congress of the Philippines, the term "Baby of the House" is rarely used; the term "Benjamin" of the chamber is used instead. 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;[30] the Jones Law, which created the Senate, had prescribed the minimum age of 30.
The current Benjamin of the House is Representative Jaime Cojuangco of the 1st District of Tarlac. Meanwhile, Senator Mark Villar has been the youngest Senator since 2022.[31]
| 1987 | Gerardo A. Roxas Jr. | Capiz–1st | |||||||
| 1992 | Ralph Recto | Batangas–4th | [32] | ||||||
| 1995 | Mike Defensor | Quezon City–3rd | |||||||
| 1998 | Alan Peter Cayetano | Pateros–Taguig | |||||||
| 2001 | Felix William Fuentebella | Camarines Sur–3rd | [33] | ||||||
| 2002 | Joel Villanueva | Partylist | |||||||
| 2004 | Joel Villanueva | Partylist | |||||||
| 2007 | Sharee Ann Tan | Samar–2nd | |||||||
| 2010 | Abigail Faye Ferriol-Pascual | Kalinga | Partylist | sworn in Feliciano Belmonte as Speaker[34] | [35] | ||||
| 2013 | Xavier Jesus Romualdo | Camiguin | sworn in Feliciano Belmonte as Speaker[36] | [37] | |||||
| 2016 | Dennis Laogan | Ang Kabuhayan | Partylist | sworn in Pantaleon Alvarez[38] and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo[39] as Speaker | [40] | ||||
| 2019 | Braeden John Biron | Iloilo–4th | sworn in Alan Peter Cayetano as Speaker | ||||||
| 2022 | Jaime Cojuangco | Tarlac–1st | sworn in Martin Romualdez as Speaker |
| 8th | Joey Lina | ||||||
| 9th, 10th | Nikki Coseteng | ||||||
| 11th | Loren Legarda | ||||||
| 12th | Ralph Recto | ||||||
| 13th | Bong Revilla | ||||||
| 14th, 15th | Antonio Trillanes | ||||||
| 16th | Bam Aquino | ||||||
| 17th, 18th | Manny Pacquiao | ||||||
| 19th | Mark Villar | present |
| Elected | Name | Party | Age when elected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | ||||
| 22 | ||||
| 25 | ||||
| 27 | ||||
| 23 | ||||
| 21 | ||||
| Georgy Arapov[41] | 22 | |||
The current youngest MP in the Singapore Parliament is Nadia Ahmad Samdin, who was elected in 2020 at the age of 30.[42] [43] The youngest MP ever elected in Singapore is Lim Chin Siong, who was elected in the 1955 general election at the age of 22.[44]
| Elected | Name | Party | Age | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | ||||
| 27 | ||||
| Tin Pei Ling | 27 | |||
| Raeesah Khan | 26 | |||
| 2020 | Nadia Ahmad Samdin | 30 | ||
The current titleholder, since 2017, is Hlomela Bucwa of the Democratic Alliance.[45]
| Entered | Name | Constituency | < | -- Do NOT use colspan. It breaks sorting --> | Party | Age | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stockholm Municipality | 19 | Spokesperson of the Green Party, 2011–2019 Minister for Education, 2014–2019 | |||||
| Jönköping County | 23 | Leader of the Centre Party, 2011–2023 Minister for Enterprise, 2011–2014 | |||||
| Stockholm Municipality | 18 | ||||||
| Jönköping County | 21 | ||||||
| 2015 | Gotland County | 21 | Replaced Gustaf Hoffstedt on 19 January 2015 when Hoffstedt resigned his seat. | ||||
| Skåne County | 22 | ||||||