Diane Abbott has earned the title Mother of the House, designated for the longest-serving female MP, as the newly elected Parliament convened last week to elect a Speaker.
The veteran Labour MP, representing Hackney North and Stoke Newington, joined Father of the House Sir Edward Leigh in the formalities that marked the beginning of parliamentary proceedings on Tuesday.
Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle acknowledged her achievements before his re-election, stating, “You’ve served for 37 years, and broken many glass ceilings along the way.”
Abbott, elected to parliament in 1987, was the first Black woman to become a Member of Parliament. A staunch left-winger and close ally of Jeremy Corbyn during his leadership, she served as Shadow Home Secretary from 2016 to 2020, but remained controversially suspended until the early part of the election campaign.
