Father of the House

“There are still thousands of people being exploited,” says Sir Peter Bottomley, former Father of the House of Commons and a campaigner against the leasehold system.

As the longest-serving female and male MPs in Parliament, Abbott and Sir Edward hold the titles of Mother and Father of the House.

The father of the house, Sir Peter Bottomley, one of 22 Conservative MPs who also voted for the amendment, said the government was still not doing enough for victims.

The father of the house spoke Hebrew, which he said he had learned years earlier working in Israel.

Ms Creasy did not take the issue to a vote, meaning the bill passed its first stage with cross-party support, including from the Commons' longest serving male and female MPs - known as the Mother and Father of the House - Labour's Harriet Harman and Tory Sir Peter Bottomley.