| Post: | Clerk |
| Body: | the House of Commons |
| Insignia: | House of Commons of the United Kingdom logo 2018.svg |
| Insigniasize: | 240 |
| Insigniaalt: | Logo of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom consisting of the crowned portcullis alongside the words "House of Commons" |
| Incumbent: | Tom Goldsmith |
| Incumbentsince: | 1 October 2023 |
| Department: | 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) |
| Appointer Qualified: | Clerk of the Parliaments (de facto) |
| Inaugural: | Robert de Melton |
| Formation: | 1363 first permanent appointment |
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.
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]
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]
, 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]