John Parker (Labour politician)

John Parker
Parker in 1978
Father of the House of Commons
In office 3 May 1979 – 9 June 1983
Preceded by	George Strauss
Succeeded by	James Callaghan
Member of Parliament for Dagenham Romford (1935–1945)
In office 14 November 1935 – 13 May 1983
Preceded by	William Hutchison
Succeeded by	Bryan Gould (Dagenham) Thomas Macpherson (Romford)
Personal details
Born	Herbert John Harvey Parker (1906-07-15)15 July 1906 Bristol, England
Died	24 November 1987(1987-11-24) (aged 81) London, England
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Zena Mimardiere ​ (m. 1943)​
Children	1
Alma mater	St 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.