 Privy Counsellors are accorded a formal rank of precedence , if not already having a higher one . At the beginning of each new Parliament , and at the discretion of the Speaker , those members of the House of Commons who are Privy Counsellors usually take the oath of allegiance before all other members except the Speaker and the Father of the House , who is the most senior member of the House . Should a Privy Counsellor rise to speak in the House of Commons at the same time as another Honourable Member , the Speaker usually gives priority to the " Right Honourable " Member . This parliamentary custom , however , was discouraged under New Labour after 1998 , despite the Government not being supposed to exert influence over the Speaker . 
