Tag Archives: speaker

Conservative, General

Bercow Elected Speaker

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John Bercow MP has been elected Speaker of the House of Commons to succeed Michael Martin who resigned from the post in June as a result of a lack of parliamentary and public confidence arising from the expenses scandal.  He was the first Speaker to be forced out of office for over 300 years.

Bercow was elected on the third ballot of a secret ballot, the first time such a sytem has been used for the election of a Speaker.   The final round of the ballot was between Bercow and Sir George Young MP.  John Bercow led in all three rounds of the ballot.

The Speaker receives a salary of £72,862 per annum.

The final vote in the third ballot was

  • John Bercow MP            322 votes
  • Sir George Young MP   271 votes
Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat

Election of the Speaker: the Candidates

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Margaret Beckett MP  Labour

Sir Alan Beith MP Liberal Democrat

John Bercow MP Conservative

Sir Patrick Cormack MP Conservative

Parmjit Dhanda MP Labour

Sir Alan Haslehurst MP Conservative

Sir Michael Lord MP Conservative

Richard Shepherd MP Conservative

Ann Widdecombe MP Conservative

Sir George Young MP Conservative 

The voting begins after the candidates give a short election address in the House of Commons at 2.30pm.  A series of secret ballots will take place until one candidate has a majority of the votes.