Grammatical modality and Baby of the House: Difference between pages

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'''Baby of the House''' is the unofficial title given to the youngest member of the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] in the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]]. There are no specific duties associated with the honour.

In general, modality refers to an abstract concept, whereas mood is the ways in which the

concept is marked in a particular language. Many languages will mark some modalities with

particular word endings, etc., but will leave other means for marking other modalities

(e.g. phrases). Languages differ in how fine distinctions of mood they make. No language

would provide markings for all the moods below, although they are all expressible in

any language using sufficient phraseology.

==Australia==

== [[Deontic moods]] ==

In Australia the term is rarely used, as most MPs and Senators are elected usually only in their thirties and later but some prominent MPs have been elected rather early in life including Prime Ministers [[Malcolm Fraser]] and [[Paul Keating]] who were both elected at age 25 in 1955 and 1969 respectively. The current baby of the house is the 29 year old [[Kate Ellis]] ([[Australian Labor Party|Labor]], [[Division of Adelaide|Adelaide]]).

==Canada==

Deontic moods include the commissive, directive and volitive moods.

The currect Baby of the House for the Canadian House of Commans is Pierre Poilievre born on {{birth date and age | 1979|06|03}} who was first elected in 2004 at the age of 24.

==United Kingdom==

=== [[Commissive moods]] ===

Becoming the Baby of the House is regarded as something of an achievement, and for example, [[Jeffrey Archer]] falsely claimed to have been the youngest MP at the time of his election. However, some MPs who have held the position for a considerable period — [[Matthew Taylor (politician)|Matthew Taylor]] was the Baby of the House for over ten years — have found it somewhat embarrassing, as it may suggest that they have a lack of experience, although a perusal of the list shows that many ''babies'' in fact went on to enjoy long, significant and distinguished parliamentary careers. From August 1999 to September 2001, all three of the leaders of the main political parties had been the youngest MPs in the party when they began their political career ([[William Hague]], [[Tony Blair]], [[Charles Kennedy]]).

Of those whose age can be verified, the youngest MP since the [[Reform Act 1832]]<ref>Prior to 1832 minors could be elected; precise information on those MPs is often unclear.</ref> was [[Esmond Harmsworth, 2nd Viscount Rothermere|Esmond Harmsworth]], elected on [[15 November]] [[1919]] from [[Isle of Thanet (UK Parliament constituency)|Isle of Thanet]] aged 21 years 170 days. The youngest female MP was [[Bernadette Devlin McAliskey|Bernadette Devlin]], elected on [[17 April]] [[1969]] from [[Mid Ulster (UK Parliament constituency)|Mid Ulster]] aged 21 years 359 days.

Indicate promises or threats.

The oldest '''Baby''' at first election in modern times is [[Sarah Teather]] elected in 2003 aged 29 years 109 days.

=== [[Directive moods]] ===

===List of Babies of the House of Commons===

Indicate requests, commands, instructions, etc.

{| class="wikitable"

!Elected !! Name !! Constituency !! colspan=2 | Party !! Age

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, 1895|1895]] || [[William Charles de Meuron Wentworth-Fitzwilliam|William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam]] || [[Wakefield (UK Parliament constituency)|Wakefield]]

{{Party name with colour|Liberal Unionist Party}}

|22

|-

|[[West Down by-election, 1898|1898]]^b || [[Arthur Hill (politician)|Arthur Hill]] || [[West Down (UK Parliament constituency)|West Down]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|24

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, 1900|1900]] || [[Richard Rigg]] || [[Appleby (UK Parliament constituency)|Appleby]]

{{Party name with colour|Liberal Party (UK)}}

|23

|-

|[[Horsham by-election, 1904|1904]]^b || [[Edward Turnour, 6th Earl Winterton|Edward Turnour]] || [[Horsham (UK Parliament constituency)|Horsham]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|21

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, 1906|1906]] || [[John Wodehouse, 3rd Earl of Kimberley|John Wodehouse]] || [[Mid Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)|Mid Norfolk]]

{{Party name with colour|Liberal Party (UK)}}

|22

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, 1910 (January)|1910]] || [[Charles Thomas Mills]] || [[Uxbridge (UK Parliament constituency)|Uxbridge]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|22

|-

|[[Hythe by-election, 1912|1912]]^b || [[Philip Sassoon]] || [[Hythe (UK Parliament constituency)|Hythe]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|23

|-

|[[North Tipperary by-election, 1915|1915]]^b || [[John Esmonde (politician)|John Esmonde]] || [[North Tipperary (UK Parliament constituency)|North Tipperary]]

{{Party name with colour|Irish Parliamentary Party}}

|21

|-

|[[North Louth by-election, 1916|1916]]^b || [[Patrick Joseph Whitty]] || [[North Louth (UK Parliament constituency)|North Louth]]

{{Party name with colour|Irish Parliamentary Party}}

|21

|-

|[[Liverpool Abercromby by-election, 1917|1917]]^b || [[Edward Stanley, Lord Stanley (1894-1938)|Edward Stanley]] || [[Liverpool Abercromby (UK Parliament constituency)|Liverpool Abercromby]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|22

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, 1918|1918]]¹ || [[Joseph Aloysius Sweeney]] || [[West Donegal (UK Parliament constituency)|West Donegal]]

{{Party name with colour|Sinn Féin}}

|21

|-

|[[Isle of Thanet by-election, 1919|1919]]^b || [[Esmond Harmsworth]] || [[Isle of Thanet (UK Parliament constituency)|Isle of Thanet]]

{{Party name with colour|Coalition Conservative}}

|21

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, 1922|1922]] || [[Henry Arthur Evans]] || [[Leicester East (UK Parliament constituency)|Leicester East]]

{{Party name with colour|National Liberal Party (UK)}}

|24

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, 1923|1923]] || [[Charles Arthur Uryan Rhys]] || [[Romford (UK Parliament constituency)|Romford]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|24

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, 1924|1924]] || [[Hugh Lucas-Tooth]] || [[Isle of Ely (UK Parliament constituency)|Isle of Ely]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|21

|-

|[[North Lanarkshire by-election, 1929|1929]]^b || [[Jennie Lee]] || [[Lanarkshire (UK Parliament constituency)|North Lanarkshire]]

{{Party name with colour|Labour Party (UK)}}

|24

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, 1929|1929]] || [[Frank Owen]] || [[Hereford (UK Parliament constituency)|Hereford]]

{{Party name with colour|Liberal Party (UK)}}

|23

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, 1931|1931]] || [[Roland Robinson, 1st Baron Martonmere|John Roland Robinson]] || [[Widnes (UK Parliament constituency)|Widnes]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|24

|-

|[[Rutland and Stamford by-election, 1933|1933]]^b || [[Gilbert James Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 3rd Earl of Ancaster|Lord Willoughby de Eresby]] || [[Rutland and Stamford (UK Parliament constituency)|Rutland and Stamford]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|25

|-

|[[Eastbourne by-election, 1935|1935]]^b || [[Charles Taylor (UK politician)|Charles Taylor]] || [[Eastbourne (UK Parliament constituency)|Eastbourne]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|24

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, 1935|1935]] || [[Malcolm Macmillan]] || [[Western Isles (UK Parliament constituency)|Western Isles]]

{{Party name with colour|Labour Party (UK)}}

|22

|-

|[[Kettering by-election, 1940|1940]]^b || [[John Profumo]] || [[Kettering (UK Parliament constituency)|Kettering]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|25

|-

|[[Berwick-upon-Tweed by-election, 1941|1941]]^b || [[George Charles Grey]] || [[Berwick-upon-Tweed (UK Parliament constituency)|Berwick-upon-Tweed]]

{{Party name with colour|Liberal Party (UK)}}

|22

|-

|1944² || [[John Profumo]] || [[Kettering (UK Parliament constituency)|Kettering]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|29

|-

|[[Chelmsford by-election, 1945|1945]]^b || [[Ernest Millington]] || [[Chelmsford (UK Parliament constituency)|Chelmsford]]

{{Party name with colour|Common Wealth Party}}

|29

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, 1945|1945]] || [[Edward Carson (English politician)|Hon. Edward Carson]] || [[Isle of Thanet (UK Parliament constituency)|Isle of Thanet]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|25

|-

|[[Southwark Central by-election, 1948|1948]]^b || [[Roy Jenkins]] || [[Southwark Central (UK Parliament constituency)|Southwark Central]]

{{Party name with colour|Labour Party (UK)}}

|27

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, 1950|1950]] || [[Peter Baker (UK politician)|Peter Baker]] || [[South Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)|South Norfolk]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|28

|-

|[[Belfast West by-election, 1950|1950]]^b || [[Thomas Teevan]] || [[Belfast West (UK Parliament constituency)|Belfast West]]

{{Party name with colour|Ulster Unionist Party}}

|23

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, 1951|1951]]³ || [[Tony Benn]] || [[Bristol South East (UK Parliament constituency)|Bristol South East]]

{{Party name with colour|Labour Party (UK)}}

|26

|-

|[[Bournemouth West by-election, 1954|1954]]^b || [[John Eden, Baron Eden of Winton|John Eden]] || [[Bournemouth West (UK Parliament constituency)|Bournemouth West]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|28

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, 1955|1955]]⁴ || [[Philip Clarke]] || [[Fermanagh and South Tyrone (UK Parliament constituency)|Fermanagh and South Tyrone]]

{{Party name with colour|Sinn Féin}}

|21

|-

|1955⁴ || [[Peter Michael Kirk|Peter Kirk]] || [[Gravesend (UK Parliament constituency)|Gravesend]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|27

|-

|[[Bristol West by-election, 1957|1957]]^b || [[Robert Cooke (politician)|Robert Cooke]] || [[Bristol West (UK Parliament constituency)|Bristol West]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|26

|-

|[[Aberdeenshire East by-election, 1958|1958]]^b || [[Patrick Wolrige-Gordon]] || [[Aberdeenshire East (UK Parliament constituency)|Aberdeenshire East ]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|23

|-

|[[Southend West by-election, 1959|1959]]^b || [[Paul Channon]] || [[Southend West (UK Parliament constituency)|Southend West]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|23

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, 1964|1964]] || [[Teddy Taylor]] || [[Glasgow Cathcart (UK Parliament constituency)|Glasgow Cathcart]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|27

|-

|[[Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles by-election, 1965|1965]]^b || [[David Steel]] || [[Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles (UK Parliament constituency)|Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles]]

{{Party name with colour|Liberal Party (UK)}}

|26

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, 1966|1966]] || [[John Ryan (UK politician)|John Ryan]] || [[Uxbridge (UK Parliament constituency)|Uxbridge]]

{{Party name with colour|Labour Party (UK)}}

|25

|-

|[[Nuneaton by-election, 1967|1967]]^b || [[Leslie Huckfield]] || [[Nuneaton (UK Parliament constituency)|Nuneaton]]

{{Party name with colour|Labour Party (UK)}}

|24

|-

|[[Mid Ulster by-election, 1969|1969]]^b || [[Bernadette Devlin]] || [[Mid Ulster (UK Parliament constituency)|Mid Ulster]]

{{Party name with colour|Unity (Northern Ireland)}}

|21

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, February 1974|1974]] || [[Dafydd Elis-Thomas]] || [[Merioneth (UK Parliament constituency)|Merioneth]]

{{Party name with colour|Plaid Cymru}}

|27

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, October 1974|1974]] || [[Hélène Hayman]] || [[Welwyn and Hatfield (UK Parliament constituency)|Welwyn and Hatfield]]

{{Party name with colour|Labour Party (UK)}}

|25

|-

|[[Liverpool Edge Hill by-election, 1979|1979]]^b || [[David Alton, Baron Alton of Liverpool|David Alton]] || [[Liverpool Edge Hill (UK Parliament constituency)|Liverpool Edge Hill]]

{{Party name with colour|Liberal Party (UK)}}

|28

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, 1979|1979]] || [[Stephen Dorrell]] || [[Loughborough (UK Parliament constituency)|Loughborough]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|27

|-

|[[Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election, 1981 (April)|1981]]⁵^b || [[Bobby Sands]] || [[Fermanagh and South Tyrone (UK Parliament constituency)|Fermanagh and South Tyrone]]

{{Party name with colour|Anti H-Block}}

|27

|-

|1981² || [[Stephen Dorrell]] || [[Loughborough (UK Parliament constituency)|Loughborough]]

{{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|29

|-

|[[Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election, 1981 (August)|1981]]⁵^b || [[Owen Carron]] || [[Fermanagh and South Tyrone (UK Parliament constituency)|Fermanagh and South Tyrone]]

{{Party name with colour|Anti H-Block}}

|28

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, 1983|1983]] || [[Charles Kennedy]] || [[Ross, Cromarty and Skye (UK Parliament constituency)|Ross, Cromarty and Skye]]

{{Party name with colour|Social Democratic Party (UK)}}

|23

|-

|[[Truro by-election, 1987|1987]]^b || [[Matthew Taylor (politician)|Matthew Taylor]] || [[Truro (UK Parliament constituency)|Truro]]

{{Party name with colour|Liberal Party (UK)}}

|24

|-

|[[United Kingdom general election, 1997|1997]]⁶ || [[Christopher Leslie]] || [[Shipley (UK Parliament constituency)|Shipley]]

{{Party name with colour|Labour Party (UK)}}

|24

|-

|[[Tottenham by-election, 2000|2000]]^b|| [[David Lammy]] || [[Tottenham (UK Parliament constituency)|Tottenham]]

{{Party name with colour|Labour Party (UK)}}

|27

|-

|[[Brent East by-election, 2003|2003]]^b || [[Sarah Teather]] || [[Brent East (UK Parliament constituency)|Brent East]]

{{Party name with colour|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}

|29

|-

| [[United Kingdom general election, 2005|2005]] || [[Jo Swinson]] || [[East Dunbartonshire (UK Parliament constituency)|East Dunbartonshire]]

{{Party name with colour|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}

|25

|}

:^b [[by-election]].

*[[Precative mood]]: signifies requests, e.g. Could you pass me the salt?

:¹ [[Joseph Aloysius Sweeney]] did not take his seat; the youngest MP actually sitting in the House of Commons was [[Oswald Mosley]] (Conservative, aged 22)

*[[Deliberative mood]]: asks whether something should be done, e.g. Should we go to the market?

:² Became the youngest MP for a second time, on the death of the previous youngest MP.

*[[Imperative mood]]: expressing commands, e.g. Pass me the salt!

:³ [[Tony Benn]] was first elected at the [[Bristol South East by-election, 1950]], aged 25, but only became the youngest MP from the 1951 general election, on the defeat of Teevan.

*[[Immediate imperative mood]]: commands that should be implemented immediately, e.g. Pass me the salt right now!

:⁴ Elected on an [[abstentionism|abstentionist]] ticket, [[Philip Clarke]] did not take his seat. [[Peter Michael Kirk|Peter Kirk]] was first elected at the 1955 general election, when he became the youngest MP to take his seat, but only became the youngest MP with the disqualification of [[Philip Clarke]] later in the year.

*[[Jussive mood]]: indicates commands, permission or agreement with a request

:⁵ Elected on an [[abstentionism|abstentionist]] ticket, [[Bobby Sands]] and [[Owen Carron]] did not take their seats; [[Stephen Dorrell]] remained the youngest MP actually sitting in the House of Commons.

*[[Permissive mood]]: indicates that the action is permited, e.g. You may come inside.

:⁶ Although several sources claim [[Claire Ward]] was the youngest MP during this period, she was 50 days older than [[Christopher Leslie]].

*[[Prohibitive mood]]: indicates that the action of the verb is not permitted, e.g. You can't come in!

{{expand list}}

=== [[Volitive moods]] ===

==United States==

Indicate desires, wishes or fears.

Currently the "Baby of the House" is [[Patrick T. McHenry]] who was born on {{birth date and age|1975|10|22}}. The "Baby of the House" before McHenry who was elected at the age of 26 in [[2000]] was, [[Adam H. Putnam]] who was born on {{birth date and age|1974|07|31}} .

*[[Imprecative mood]]: indicates a desire for an threatening event to occur, e.g. May he lose the race.

*[[Optative mood]]: indicates wishing or hoping for an event to occur, e.g. I hope I win the race.

Currently the "Baby of the Senate" is [[John E. Sununu]] who was born on {{birth date and age | 1964|09|10}}. The "Baby of the Senate" before Sununu who was elected at the age of 38 in [[1998]] was, [[Blanche Lincoln]] who was born on {{birth date and age|1960|09|30}}

== [[Epistemic moods]] ==

==See also==

Indicate the epistemic probability of an uterrance being true. Some epistemic moods:

*[[Father of the House]]

*[[Quotative evidental mood]]: indicates that the utterance is based on someone elses say so, e.g. I've heard she can be a real bitch sometimes.

*[[Sensory evidental mood]]: indicates the utterance is based on what the speaker has seen/heard with their own eyes/ears. Sometimes, sensory evidental moods are distinguished based on what sense this sensory experience was from, e.g. sight v.s. hearing

*[[Assumptive mood]]: indicates that the statement is assumed to be true, because it usually is, although there may not be any specific evidence that it is true because in this particular case

*[[Declarative mood]]: indicates that the statement is true, without any qualifications being made

*[[Deductive mood]]: indicates that the truth of the statement was deduced from other information, rather than being directly known. For example, There's gas in the house! Someone ''must'' have left the stove on! (deductive indicated by must)

*[[Dubitative mood]]: indicates that the statement is dubious, doubtful, or uncertain

*[[Hypothetical mood]]: the statement, while not actually true, could have been true - e.g. You ''could have'' killed him.

*[[Interrogative mood]]: the statement is a question, Did you do that?

*[[Speculative mood]]: based on the available information, the statement might be true but that is admittedly a speculation

==Notes==

== Some other moods ==

<div class="references-small"><references/></div>

==References==

* [[Alethic moods]]: indicate the logical necessity, possibility or impossibility of the state of affairs. For example,

*[http://www.election.demon.co.uk/youngmp.html Youngest Members of Parliament]<!-- contains some factual errors -->

in "A circle can't be square", "can't be" is an alethic mood, whereas "He can't be that wealthy", "can't be" is not an alethic mood.

* [[Realis moods]]: indicates something is actually the case, most commonly the indicative/declarative mood

* [[Irrealis moods]]: indicates that something is not the case

* [[Subjunctive mood]]: a mood found in some languages (e.g. many European languages), which conflates together

notions of counterfactualness, hypotheticality, the optative mood, etc. It groups together irrealis modalities

which are distinguished as separate moods in some other languages.

[[Category:GrammarParliament of the United Kingdom]]