speaker of the british house of commons

In the British House of Commons the Speaker of the House of Commons controls the day to day running of the house. It is he (or she) that decides who may speak and has the powers to discipline members who break the procedures of the house.

History

The office of Speaker is an ancient one, and is almost as old as Parliament itself. The earliest year for which a presiding officer has been identified is 1258, when Peter de Montfort presided over a Parliament held in Oxford. Early presiding officers were known by the title parlour or prolocutor. The first "Speaker" of the House of Commons was Sir Thomas Hungerford, who took office in 1376. Until the seventeenth century, members the House of Commons often viewed their Speaker as an agent of the Crown. As Parliament evolved, however, the Speaker's position grew into one that involved more duties to the House than to the Crown; such was definitely the case by the time of the English Civil War. This change is sometimes said to be reflected by an incident in 1642, when King Charles I entered the House in order to search for and arrest five members for high treason. When the King asked him if he knew of the location of these members, the Speaker, William Lenthall, famously replied: "May it please your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here." The development of Cabinet government under King William III in the late seventeenth century caused further change in the nature of the Speakership. Speakers were generally associated with the ministry, and often held other government offices. For example, Robert Harley served simultaneously as Speaker and as a Secretary of State between 1704 and 1705. The Speaker between 1728 and 1761, Arthur Onslow, reduced ties with the government, though the office did remain to a large degree political. The Speakership evolved into its modern form—in which the holder is an impartial and apolitical officer who does not belong to any party—only during the middle of the nineteenth century.

Election

Members of Parliament (MPs) elect the Speaker from amongst their own ranks. The House must elect a Speaker at the beginning of each new parliamentary term after a General Election, or after the death or resignation the incumbent. Once elected, a Speaker continues in office until the dissolution of Parliament. Customarily, the House re-elects Speakers who desire to continue in office for more than one term.

If a new Speaker is to be elected, the Father of the House (the member of the House with the longest period of unbroken service, but never a Minister of the Crown) becomes the presiding officer. (However, if the Speaker chooses to resign whilst still a Member of Parliament, he or she presides over the election of a successor.) Candidates must be nominated by at least twelve members, of whom at least three must be of a different party than the candidate. Each member may nominate no more than one candidate. The House then votes by secret ballot; an absolute majority is required for victory. If no candidate wins a majority, then the individual with the fewest votes is eliminated, as are any candidates who receive less than five percent of the votes cast. The House continues to vote, for several rounds if necessary, until one member receives the requisite majority. Then, the House votes on a formal motion to appoint the member in question to the Speakership. (If the unlikely event that this motion fails, the House must hold a fresh series of ballots on all of the nominees.) If only one candidate is nominated, then no ballot is held, and the House proceeds directly to the motion to appoint the candidate to the Speakership. A similar procedure is used if a Speaker seeks a further term after a General Election: no ballot is held, and the House immediately votes on a motion to re-elect the Speaker. If the motion to re-elect the Speaker fails, candidates are nominated, and the House proceeds with voting (as described above). Upon the passage of the motion, the Speaker-elect is expected to show reluctance at being chosen; he or she is customarily "dragged" by colleagues to the Chair. This custom is a relic of the era when the Speaker, as representative of the Commons, could have been required to bear bad news to the Sovereign. The Speaker-elect must receive the Sovereign's approval, or the "approbation," before he or she may take office. On the day of the election, the Speaker-elect leads the Commons to the Chamber of the House of Lords, where Lords Commissioners appointed by the Crown confirm him or her in the monarch's name. Thereafter, the Speaker symbolically requests "in the name and on behalf of the Commons of the United Kingdom, to lay claim, by humble petition to Her Majesty, to all their ancient and undoubted rights and privileges, especially to freedom of speech in debate, to freedom from arrest, and to free access to Her Majesty whenever occasion shall require." After the Lords Commissioners, on the behalf of the Sovereign, confirm the Commons' rights and privileges, the Commons return to their Chamber. If a Speaker is chosen in the middle of a Parliament due to a vacancy in the office, he or she must receive the royal approbation as described above, but does not again lay claim to the Commons' rights and privileges.

Non-partisanship

Upon election, the Speaker, by convention, breaks all ties with his or her political party, as it is considered essential that the Speaker be seen as completely impartial. In General Elections, it is customary for the Speaker to stand without party affiliation. On the ballot, his or her affiliation is listed as "Speaker seeking re-election." At the same time, it is conventional, at least among the major parties, for individuals not to challenge the Speaker's candidacy. This custom, however, has not precluded minor parties from nominating candidates in the Speaker's constituency. In the House, the Speaker does not vote on any motion, except in order to resolve ties. After leaving office, the Speaker normally takes no part in political life; if elevated to the House of Lords, he or she would normally sit as a Cross-bencher. It has often been suggested that the Speaker's constituents may feel disenfranchised, for their parliamentary representative takes no part in partisan politics and does not vote in the House. Thus, proposals have been made to create a separate constituency for the Speaker, called "St Stephen's" or "Palace of Westminster," making the Speaker a Member representing Parliament itself. Such ideas, however, have yet to bear fruit.

Ceremony and formality

The Speaker has both a ceremonial and working uniform, his working uniform consisting of a black court suit with linen bands worn with a plain black robe with a train. On occasions of state, the black robe is replaced with a long gold-laced robe and the linen bands with a lace jabot. Previously the Speaker also wore breeches, silk stockings, buckled court shoes and a full-bottomed wig at all times. In 1992, when Betty Boothroyd became the first female Speaker of the House, she did not wear the wig, which owing to Miss Boothroyd's luxuriant white curls would have been both awkward and unnecessary. Her successor, Michael Martin, though lacking a similar coiffure, has continued to eschew the full-bottomed wig (on most occasions), and in addition has also decided to wear trousers and normal shoes instead of the traditional breeches, silk stockings and buckled shoes. Each day, prior to the sitting of the House, the Speaker and other officials travel in a procession from the Speaker's official apartments in the Palace of Westminster to the House Chamber. At the front of the procession is a Doorkeeper of the House, who is followed by the Serjeant-at-Arms bearing the mace. Thereafter comes the Speaker and his trainbearer, and finally the Speaker's Chaplain and the Speaker's Secretary. The procession takes an indirect and elaborate route to the House of Commons. The route was adopted during World War II, when the Commons Chamber was bombed, thus requiring them to sit in the House of Lords Chamber. After the Commons Chamber was rebuilt in 1950,http://www.parliament.uk/works/palace.cfm the longer procession was retained, for it provides a ceremony that may be viewed by the general public.

The Speaker as presiding officer

The Speaker is much more powerful than his Lords counterpart, the Lord Chancellor. It is the Speaker who determines whom to call to speak. Traditionally, the Speaker alternates between members of the Government party and of the Opposition parties. Furthermore, the Speaker may declare time limits, subject to certain minimums set by the House's Standing Orders (rules), for speeches, prior to the commencement of debate. Also, the Speaker may decide to overrule a closure motion, which seeks to end debate in the House. In addition, the Speaker may allow or disallow a debate on the breach of parliamentary privilege. The Speaker may make a ruling on all points of order, or objections made by members asserting that a rule of the House has been broken. Furthermore, he has various powers that he may use against disruptive members. For instance, he may order a member to withdraw an offensive remark. If a member disobeys any of the Speaker's instructions, he may be ordered to leave the House for the remainder of the day's sitting. For further disobedience, the Speaker may "name" a member by saying "I name Mr ..." Then, the House may proceed to consider a motion to suspend the offending member for a number of days as provided for by the rules. In the case of "grave disorder," the Speaker may adjourn the entire sitting without the House having to vote on a motion for adjournment.

Other functions of the Speaker

In addition to his role as presiding officer, the Speaker performs several other functions on the behalf of the House. He represents the body in relations with the Sovereign, the House of Lords, and also with non-Parliamentary bodies. He also chairs the House of Commons Commission, which is responsible for controlling or overseeing services and benefits provided to members. The Speaker is in charge of various proceedings relating to vacant seats in the House. Upon a vacancy occurring, the Speaker may, if the House is in session, issue a Warrant authorising the issue of writs of election, but only after the House passes a motion to the same effect. When the House is not in session, he may still issue the Warrant if any two members certify that the seat is vacant.

Deputies

The Speaker is assisted by three deputies. The most senior deputy has the title of "Chairman of Ways and Means", where Ways and Means is a defunct parliamentary committee associated with finance bills. The other two deputies are the First Deputy and Second Deputy Chairmen of Ways and Means. The Speaker does not preside during all House sessions; deputies take the chair for a very high proportion of the time, and if a Committee of the Whole House is meeting, which is the procedure for bills of special importance such as changes to the constitution or finance houses, the Speaker never presides.

The casting vote

The Speaker or Deputy that is chairing the House may not vote in divisions, except when a vote is tied, when the occupant of the Chair must cast the "casting vote." In exercising the casting vote, the Speaker should not vote in accordance with their own conscience, or the instructions of a party whip, but is expected to adhere to certain unwritten conventions:

The Speaker should vote so as not to decide the question. This means that, where possible, they should give the house the opportunity to consider the question further before coming to a final determination upon it. This gives the house further opportunity to come to a decision supported by a majority and means that the Speaker's vote will less likely determine the final outcome.

A motion should be approved by the majority. This means that the Speaker should usually vote against a motion when there is a tie.

The Speaker should vote to leave a bill in its existing form, and therefore should always vote against an amendment.

The very large membership of the House of Commons means that instances of an 'equality of votes' are very rare, and in recent times they have been growing even less common. From 1801-2000 there were only 49 ties (if one does not include votes erroneously recorded as such). As of 2003, the last true tie in the House of Commons occurred in 1980 (although in 1993 a vote on the Maastricht Treaty was initially believed to have been a tie, but this was quickly discovered to have been an error).

Speakers of the House from 1376

References

Dasent, Arthur Irwin. The Speakers of the House of Commons. London: John Lane, 1911.
"House of Commons: Tied Divisions" in Boothroyd, D, (2004). United Kingdom Election Results. Retrieved 17 Mar. 2004 from http://www.election.demon.co.uk/ties.html.