Based on British tradition, the longest continuously serving member in the House holds the unofficial title "Father (or Mother) of the House". The current Father of the House is Nick Smith, first elected in . Smith inherited the title on 14 March 2018, following the departure of former Prime Minister Bill English, who had also entered the House in 1990. The House started with 37 members in 1854, with numbers progressively increasing to 95 by 1882, before being reduced to 74 in 1891. Numbers slowly increased again to 99 by 1993. In 1996 numbers increased to at least 120 with the introduction of MMP elections (i.e. 120 plus any overhang seats; there has been at least one overhang seat in four of the seven MMP elections held since 1996). The year in which each change in the number of members took effect is shown in the following table. Universal suffrage exists for those 18 and over; New Zealand citizens and others who are permanently residing in New Zealand are usually eligible to vote. However there are a few disqualifications; since 2010, all prisoners are ineligible to vote. New Zealand was the first self-governing nation to enfranchise women, starting from the . Parliamentary elections are conducted by secret ballot—for European New Zealanders since  and Māori seats since . Almost all general elections between and were held under the first-past-the-post voting system. Since , a form of proportional representation called mixed-member proportional (MMP) has been used. Under the MMP system each person has two votes; one is for electorate seats (including some reserved for Māori), and the other is for a party. Currently there are 71 electorate seats (which includes seven Māori electorates), and the remaining 49 seats are assigned so that representation in parliament reflects the party vote, although a party has to win one electorate or 5 percent of the total party vote before it is eligible for these seats. At the , the total number of electorate seats was increased from 70 in the to account for the needs of a growing population. No single party has won an outright majority since the introduction of proportional representation. Table notes  The House of Representatives elects one of its members as a presiding officer, known as the Speaker of the House, at the beginning of each new parliamentary term, and also whenever a vacancy arises. It is the Speaker's role to apply the rules of the House ("Standing Orders"), and oversee procedures and the day-to-day operation of the House. He or she responds to points of order from other members of the House.