The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the lower house and primary chamber of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The current speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, was elected Speaker on 4 November 2019, following the retirement of John Bercow. Hoyle began his first full parliamentary term in the role on 17 December 2019, having been unanimously re-elected after the 2019 general election.
John Selwyn Brooke Selwyn-Lloyd, Baron Selwyn-Lloyd, was a British politician who served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1971 to 1976, having previously held various ministerial positions under Prime Ministers Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan and Alec Douglas-Home between 1954 and 1964. A member of the Conservative Party, Lloyd served as Foreign Secretary from 1955 to 1960 and as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1960 to 1962. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wirral from 1945 to 1976.
John Simon Bercow is a British former politician who served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 2009 to 2019, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Buckingham between 1997 and 2019. A member of the Conservative Party prior to becoming Speaker, he was the first MP since Selwyn Lloyd in 1971 to be elected Speaker without having been a Deputy Speaker. After resigning as Speaker in 2019 and opting not to seek re-election as MP for Buckingham in the 2019 general election, Bercow left Parliament. In 2021, he joined the Labour Party but was suspended in 2022.
Eleanor Fulton Laing, Baroness Laing of Elderslie,, is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Epping Forest from 1997 to 2024. She served in the shadow cabinets of Michael Howard and David Cameron. From 2013 to 2024, Laing was a deputy speaker of the House of Commons and was the first female Chairman of Ways and Means from 2020 to 2024. She had one of the longest tenures in the speaker's chair.
Sir Lindsay Harvey Hoyle is a British politician who has served as Speaker of the House of Commons since 2019 and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Chorley since 1997. Before his election as speaker, he was a member of the Labour Party.
Michael John Martin, Baron Martin of Springburn, was a Scottish politician who served as Speaker of the House of Commons between 2000 and 2009. A member of the Labour Party prior to becoming speaker, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Springburn from 1979 to 2005 and for Glasgow North East until 2009. He was elected as Speaker of the House of Commons in 2000, remaining in the office for nine years until his involuntary resignation in 2009.
Sir Charles Ashley Rupert Walker is a British politician who served as chair of the House of Commons Procedure Committee from 2012 to 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Broxbourne in Hertfordshire from 2005 to 2024.
The Cambridge University Conservative Association, or CUCA, is a student political society founded 1921, as a Conservative Association for students at Cambridge University, although it has earlier roots in the late nineteenth century. CUCA is not affiliated with the nationwide youth branch of the Conservative Party, the Young Conservatives, but is a fully independent Association distinct from other Conservative youth organisations. The association puts on a range of events for its members each term, notably its ‘Port & Policy’ debates, as well as addresses from a number of high-profile speakers.
Sir Geoffrey Stanley de Freitas was a British politician and diplomat. For 31 years, a Labour Member of Parliament, he also served as British High Commissioner in Accra and Nairobi, and later as President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Christopher John Ferguson Ward is a British solicitor and Conservative Party politician, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for only seven months after winning a by-election. His attempts to be selected for a safe seat were thwarted, and when he found a winnable marginal seat, he found his vote split by an unofficial Conservative candidate.
Florence Beatrice Paton was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom, and a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1950.
Parliamentary records of the United Kingdom covers the period from the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707, including records from the Parliament of Great Britain and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The 2009 election of the Speaker of the House of Commons occurred on 22 June 2009 following the resignation of Michael Martin as Speaker during the parliamentary expenses scandal. Martin was the first Speaker since Sir John Trevor in 1695 to be forced out of office. It was the first Speaker election since 11 May 2005, and the first contested election of a Speaker since 23 October 2000.
A vote of no confidence in the British Labour government of James Callaghan occurred on 28 March 1979. The vote was brought by the Official Opposition leader Margaret Thatcher and was lost by the Labour government by one vote, which was announced at 10:19 pm. The result mandated a general election that was won by Thatcher's Conservative Party. The last time an election had been forced by the House of Commons was in 1924, when Ramsay MacDonald, the first Labour prime minister, lost a vote of confidence. Labour politician Roy Hattersley later remarked that the vote marked "the last rites" of Old Labour. Labour did not return to government for another 18 years, with New Labour ideology. The BBC has referred to the vote as "one of the most dramatic nights in Westminster history".
The 2000 election of the Speaker of the House of Commons occurred on 23 October 2000 following the retirement of Betty Boothroyd as Speaker. The election resulted in the election of Labour MP Michael Martin, who had served as Deputy Speaker since 1997. It was the first contested election since 27 April 1992.
The 1992 election of the Speaker of the House of Commons occurred on 27 April 1992, in the first sitting of the House of Commons following the 1992 general election and the retirement of the previous Speaker Bernard Weatherill. The election resulted in the election of Labour MP Betty Boothroyd, one of Weatherill's deputies, who was the first woman to become Speaker. This was at a time when the Conservative Party had a majority in the House of Commons. It was also the first contested election since William Morrison defeated Major James Milner on 31 October 1951, although Geoffrey de Freitas had been nominated against his wishes in the 1971 election.
The 1951 election of the Speaker of the House of Commons occurred on 31 October 1951, following the 1951 general election and the retirement of the previous speaker Douglas Clifton Brown. The election resulted in the election of Conservative MP William Morrison. This was one of the few speaker elections held in the 20th century in which there was more than one nominee, and the first contested election of speaker since 10 April 1895.
John Nater is a Canadian politician. He is currently serving as the Member of Parliament for the riding of Perth Wellington in the House of Commons of Canada.
Gregory Cristophe Fergus is a Canadian politician who has served as the 38th and current speaker of the House of Commons of Canada since October 3, 2023. He is the member of Parliament (MP) for Hull—Aylmer.
The election for the 158th Speaker of the House of Commons took place on 4 November 2019. Lindsay Hoyle was elected with 325 votes in the final ballot, out of a total of 540 votes cast.
