John Parker (Labour politician)

John Parker
Parker in 1978
Father of the House of Commons
In office
3 May 1979 – 9 June 1983
Preceded byGeorge Strauss
Succeeded byJames Callaghan
Member of Parliament
for Dagenham
Romford (1935–1945)
In office
14 November 1935 – 13 May 1983
Preceded byWilliam Hutchison
Succeeded byBryan Gould (Dagenham)
Thomas Macpherson (Romford)
Personal details
Born
Herbert John Harvey Parker

(1906-07-15)15 July 1906
Bristol, England
Died24 November 1987(1987-11-24) (aged 81)
London, England
Political partyLabour
Spouse
Zena Mimardiere
(m. 1943)
Children1
Alma materSt John's College, Oxford

Herbert John Harvey Parker (15 July 1906 – 24 November 1987) was a British Labour Party politician. He was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Romford in November 1935. After boundary changes, he continued as MP for Dagenham from 1945, remaining in the House of Commons until he retired in June 1983.[1][2] As the longest-serving MP, he was the Father of the House of Commons from 1979 to 1983. When he left parliament in 1983, he was the last serving Member of Parliament to have served in the Commons before the Second World War.

With over 47 years in office, he was the longest-serving Labour MP in the party's history until 15 December 2017, when his record was overtaken by Dennis Skinner.

  1. ^ "The Labour MP who served for longer than Tony Benn". BBC News. 19 March 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  2. ^ Bates, Stephen (5 October 2007). "People". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 October 2007.