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 Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

in November 1935. After boundary changes, he continued as MP for

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Fo ...

from 1945, remaining in the House of Commons until he retired in June 1983. 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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 Dennis Edward Skinner (born 11 February 1932) is a British former politician who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolsover (UK Parliament constituency), Bolsover for 49 years, from 1970 to 2019. A m ...

Early and private life

Parker was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

and raised in Liverpool. He was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

and St John's College,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, where he was Chair of the Oxford University Labour Club. He married Zena Mimardiere in 1943; the couple had one son.

Political career

He contested the seat of Holland with Boston in Lincolnshire in the 1931 general election, but the sitting National Liberal MP James Blindell was reelected. In the 1935 general election, Parker was elected as MP for

in Essex, which he represented until

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

. He was elected as MP for

at the 1945 general election, a new seat carved out of the Romford constituency. (His Labour colleague Thomas Macpherson was elected in Romford in 1945, but lost the seat to the Conservative John Lockwood in 1950). Parker was briefly a junior minister from 1945 to 1946, serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the

Dominions Office The position of secretary of state for dominion affairs was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for British relations with the Empire’s dominions – Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Newfoundl ...

, with future

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the L ...

as his Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS). He lost this position as a result of the strong views he held regarding South Africa. He remained a backbencher afterwards, serving on several Parliamentary committees, including the Procedure Committee from 1966 to 1973. His

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in wh ...

introduced in 1952 to repeal the Sunday Observance Act 1780 was rejected; however, another private member's bill of his became the

Legitimacy Act 1959 The Legitimacy Act 1959 ( 7 & 8 Eliz. 2. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may als ...

, dealing with the legitimacy of children from

void marriage A void marriage is a marriage that is unlawful or invalid under the laws of the jurisdiction where it is entered. A void marriage is invalid from its beginning, and is generally treated under the law as if it never existed and requires no form ...

s and that of children whose parents married after their birth. He also shepherded a ten-minute rule bill into law, the British Nationality (No 2) Act 1964, which implemented into British law the United Nations

Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness The Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness is a 1961 United Nations multilateral treaty whereby sovereign states agree to reduce the incidence of statelessness. The convention was originally intended as a Protocol to the Convention Rel ...

. He remained MP for Dagenham until he retired at the 1983 general election. He was the last serving MP to have been elected before the

, and he was the Father of the House of Commons from 1979 to 1983. His former PPS,

, was the next MP to hold this honorary title. Parker was associated with the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...

throughout his political career. He became General Secretary of the New Fabian Research Bureau in 1933 and was General Secretary of the Fabian Society from 1939 to 1945. He was subsequently its Vice-Chairman and Chairman. He became President of the Fabian Society in 1980. He wrote several books, including ''42 Days in the Soviet Union'' (1946) and ''Labour Marches On'' (1947), and his memoirs, ''Father of the House'' (1982). His archive of papers, spanning nearly 40 years of public office from 1943 to 1982, are held by the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

as part of the British Library of Political and Economic Science.

Death

Parker died in London on 24 November 1987, at the age of 81.

References

External links

* *
Catalogue of the Parker papers held at LSE Archives
*
The Parliamentary Archives holds correspondence sent from John Parker to Philip Fanner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, John 1906 births 1987 deaths 20th-century English male writers Chairs of the Fabian Society General secretaries of the Fabian Society Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People educated at Marlborough College UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 Presidents of the Fabian Society Foreign Office personnel of World War II Ministers in the Attlee governments, 1945–1951