United Kingdom

House of Commons

Political system
Parliamentary system
Structure of parliament
Bicameral
IPU membership
Yes

About parliament

Basic information such as the official name of parliament and details of its structure and leadership. Also includes the current breakdown of MPs by sex and age, and provisions for quotas and reserved seats.

Parliament name
UK Parliament
Chamber name
House of Commons
Structure & status of parliament
Lower chamber
Parliamentary term (years)
5

IPU membership

Affiliation periods
from 1889
IPU Geopolitical Group/s
Twelve Plus Group

Speaker

Official title
Speaker of the House of Commons
Speaker
Sir Lindsay Hoyle (Male)
Date of birth: 10 Jun 1957
Term
04 Nov 2019
Additional information

Elected on 4 Nov. 2019, re-elected on 17 Dec. 2019 and on 9 July 2024.

Speaker terms

No information available

Secretary general

Official title
Clerk
Secretary General
Tom Goldsmith (Male)
Term
01 Oct 2023
Notes

Sworn in on 1 Oct. 2023.

Members

Statutory number of members
650
Principal mode of designation of members
Directly elected
Directly elected members
650
Current number of members
650
Men
387
Women
263
Percentage of women
40.5%
Statutory number of members per country
1,450
Population (in thousands)
68,682
Inhabitants per parliamentarian
47,367

Age

Data on the age of parliamentarians is collected at the start of the legislature, following the most recent elections. This data is not updated during the legislature, except when parliament notifies the IPU of a change in the youngest or oldest member.

Average age of all members
Click for historical data
Youngest member
Sam Carling (Male)
Youngest member (years)
22
Oldest member
Christopher Chope (Male)
Oldest member (years)
77
Number of members, by age
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Male No information available
Female
Total <= 45: - Total >= 46: -
Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal Overall Male Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger
- - -
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger
- - -
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger
- - -

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups
No
Electoral quota for women
Yes

Notes: Voluntary political party quotas.

Sources: Cf. The Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002 which allows political parties to select candidates from all-women shortlists. Cf. also individual party statutes.

Youth quota
No

Links to additional information

Parliamentary website
List of members
Rules of procedure/Standing Orders
Constitution
No information available

Historical data for IPU membership

Historical data for IPU membership
Year IPU membership
2020-09
List of values for 2020-09
No
2019-04
List of values for 2019-04
No
2018-06
List of values for 2018-06
No