As you might have gathered from the radio silence I have had a bit of a busy day. This afternoon I was the warm up act for Lord Currie, the Ofcom chairman, at a lecture he was giving to parliamentarians in the House of Commons. I gave a ten minute talk about blogging and how it would be rather uswise of the PCC and Ofcom to seek to regulate the internet. More on that later.
Despite being in the Commons most of the day I've only just been able to catch up with the furore over Prime Ministers Questions at lunchtime. For some reason I can't download it from the BBC so I can only go on the news reports, but the Speaker's behaviour does seem quite extraordinary. And it's not the first time. I'm told by Tory MP friends that he continually forgets to call the right people during Question Time and just hasn't been the same since he returned from illness some time ago. Several MPs were openly speculating this afternoon that the Speaker's equivalent of the Men in Grey Coats might well be encouraged to pay him a visit soon. If they do, I suspect they'd get short shrift.
But it would not surprise me at all if we had a new Speaker during this Parliament. Sir Alan Haselhurst impressed all sides of the House when he deputised for Michael Martin following his heart scare and he would be a very strong contender. Sir George Young is keen on the job too. In theory at least it is the Tories' turn, but many Labour supporters say that if Labour is in power there should be a Labour Speaker.
Click HERE to read an article I wrote in March on the likely runners and riders for the Speakership. The ensuing poll gave this result...
Ann Widdecombe 37%, Sir George Young 22%, Sir Patrick Cormack 15%, Sir Alan Haselhurst 12%, Derek Conway 8%, Sir Nicholas Winterton 6%, Sir Michael Lord 2%
38 comments:
Wot no Derek Conway? A working class man, gets on well with Labour MPs, noted for his toughness. And he's already got a big office below the Speaker's! Labour can't have three Speakers in a row, Derek could be a compromise.
He did look a bit stupid when Dave reworded it.
On the upside, having a Labour speaker means there's one less leftie to vote in knife edge votes - it's not as if his/her casting vote matters, since, I believe, by convention the speaker's casting vote always goes in favour of the government of the day.
Oh, and we'll have none of that insulting nonsense about Gorbals Mick, okay? The good people of the Gorbals shouldn't be tarnished by the activities of one of their few wayward sons :-)
Speaker Martin's decision to rule out Dave's question on the future of the Labour "leadership" is strange. Strictly speaking, no pun, the presiding officer's decision is final. But in this case it is not backed by precedent. One only need think back to the barmy days of June 1995 and the Major leadership election etc. Read the relevant part of Hansard here.
PS: Anne Widdecombe for Speaker? Come on Iain its November first, not April.
Iain - you can watch PMQs here: http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page306.asp
"Sir Alan Haselhurst impressed all sides of the House when he deputised for Michael Martin following his heart scare and he would be a very strong contender. "
apart Dennis Skinner who was thrown out for suggestion that Haselhurst applied a rule for the tories and another one for the others (because he let Theresa May let away with suggesting that the PM misled the House)
Anne Widdecombe? Oh dear Iain, would this mean the end of your highly lucrative talk evenings with the aforementioned.
On a related subject, I'm puzzled as to how 18 Doughty Street earns its keep.
The Druid, I think that Ann Widdecombe would be excellent, impartial and absolutely on top of her brief on Parliamentary rules, behaviour and etiquette. The only problem is that she would be to good and therefore will not get the vote from either Labour or the conservatives!
Re. the casting vote, I thought the convention was that the Speaker cannot create a majority in the House which otherwise would not exist. So what if a confidence vote was tied? If the Opposition had tabled a vote of no confidence, the Speaker would vote with the government. If the government, by contrast, had tabled a vote of confidence in itself, the Speaker would vote with the opposition.
As a Labour Party activist who watched today's PMQs, I thought Martin was being unduly Jesuitical. It was like watching the querulous martinet of a referee at the World Cup who stopped the England players taking refreshment from their water bottles. No wonder the Tory MPs were engaging in the parliamentary equivalent of 'the referee's a w*nker'
Sir Alan Haselhurst would be an excellent Speaker, as would Sylvia Heal. Neither would have landed themselves in today's imbrogolio.
Let's cut out the Mister Nice Guy and go straight for the jugular.
I vote for Sir Alan Sugar. Well ... at the very least it might make a few MPs sharpen up their public speaking skills.
In theory at least it is the Tories' turn
I keep seeing this point made but there's about as much historic substance to it as the idea that blue and red have always been used for political diagrams of the US Democrats and Republicans respectively.
The convention seems to have been that the Speaker comes from the governing party of the day. Between 1959 and 2000 the Speakership did indeed alternate between the parties but this was because at first the occasions when it becmae vacant (1959, 1965, 1971, 1976, 1983) were between changes of government. In 1992 it wasn't the case that Conservatives and Labour agreed to make Betty Boothroyd Speaker, but rather there was a rebellion in the Commons by Conservative MPs. Otherwise the Conservative Bernard Weatherill would have been succeeded by fellow Conservative Peter Brooke.
On this one Labour MPs who argue for retaining the Speakership have history on their side.
George Galloway.
Chatterbox - I have nothing personally against Widdecombe. But for me she has sought the limelight of celebrity a little too much. Remember all those ghastly shows like "Celebrity Fit Club" and so on. She lost credibility doing that. Not a serious politician.
splashitallover, if Derek Conway gets it, then I wonder what MP's were thinking to elect him! From what I have heard he is an unpleaant and vindictive bully! Admittedly not unusual in politics, but do we really need someone like that as Speaker, and many Labour and Lib Dem MP's won't stand for it.
Personally I am not too bothered from which Party in the Commons the next Speaker will emerge, although obviously I would be most comfortable if it was a Labour MP. That said I would be happy if it were Sir Alan Haslehurst, Ann Widdecombe, or Alan Beith!
Gordon Ramsay or someone else with tourettes. It's time someone told them exactly what the country thinks of them.
Good I was wondering when you'd get on to this incident- Speaker looked a bit stupid when it came through to Cameron's second attempt- I thought Michael Howard captured it well on PM, he called it an interesting decision but didn't condemn it. As to the party afiliation I don't think that matters- and as Mr Roll Pickering says it might be that the government gets it, but it would be nice if it was an MP who was good for the role.
Iain Dale: The concise read: Labour speaker = bad, some tory speaker = good. err, that's it. All hail the new media.
The Speaker is wrong. Blair's replacement is not just a matter for the Labour Party. The new Leader will be Prime Minister on which we shall have no opportunity to choose or comment until the next General Election. In this undemocratic regard it is correct to ask and debate as Cameron did. I am not a Tory and I want all opposition parties to needle Blair on this.
I agree it's time to replace Mr. Bumble. All his deputies seem fine but Haslehurst excels.
Was Mr Martin ever anything but a joke? He's like an ageing scout master trying to install discipline on a bunch of kids who are far more quick-witted than him. Meanwhile in between meetings he's being told not to let the sods take the piss out of him. I half expect him to say "I know what you're up to". Is it possible to be worse than sub-standard?
I vote that PMQs be relocated to the Whitehall Theatre - the house of farce seems far more appropriate for these proceedings.
From observation of yesterday`s exchanges, and also from prior correspondence with the Speaker`s office some time ago, it seems that while the Leader of the Opposition must restrict his questions to HMG`s business (tho` I thought who was going to be i/c after Mr Blair fell into that category) Mr Speaker cannot require the PM to answer the question - so he lets him dodge them week after week. Sounds like a classic Catch22 case to me.
Widdie for speaker. Brilliant idea. It would keep her off the telly and she'd have to give up her self-appointed role as spokeswoman on all matters relating to Roman Catholicism.
Paul Burgin has already mentioned Alan Beith and I don't think it's any great sceret that he wants the job. Personally I think he would be great.
Labour won't get the Speakership three times in a row, which is a pity for Margaret Beckett who has been eyeing it up as just the job to ease her into retirement.
Agree Widdecombe is the outstanding Tory contender but isn't she retiring at the next election?
I understood the convention to be that any new speaker was generally selected from the opposition of the time.
Am I misinformed or has this government overturned yet another eminently sensible tradition for the sake of party advantage?
I think Widdy would be a star speaker in the mould of Betty Boothroyd, sadly she has said she'll retire at the next General Election (so long as this Parliament runs to its full term) hasn't she?
I say retire, I suspect I really mean will leave Parliament to concentrate on writing and TV.
I would expect a Labour speaker - just as I would expect most Labour MP's to casually lie and deceive their electorate.
As sure as night follows day Lies follow Labour.
What about a Lib Dem? Norman Baker is a bore but at least he takes parliament seriously. I would be sorry to see the great Anne Widdecombe muzzled by this job.
How about Kate Hoey? That could be interesting.
The PCC already deals with complaint about content on the internet concerning newspaper and magazine publisher content.
It can't expand its remit beyond magazine and newspaper publishers because it is a self regulatory body.
So there is no debate to be had on PCC internet involvment.
There is no such thing as a convention that "it's the Tories turn"; it's just a coincidence that the parties alternated in the period 1965-2000. Before that there were four Tories in succession: Fitzroy, Clifton-Brown, Morrison, and Hylton-Foster.
Whichever party the Speaker is from makes no difference to the party voting strengths as the Speaker has three deputies who also don't vote. The four are chosen to be two from each side.
For all my wanting her to be Speaker, I can imagine her being a bit derisive about the suggestion (although some of us who want her to have the job mean it as a compliment).
Perhaps it is time for a Speaker from the Liberal Democrats!
Personally I think Anne Widdecombe would make an appalling Speaker. It should be Sir Alan Haselhurst, who is utterly fair, impartial, intelligent and no soft touch on MPs who try to test the boundaries.
Paul Burgin said: "From what I have heard he (Derek Conway) is an unpleasant and vindictive bully!"
You should hear what he's heard about you Paul.
http://conservativemindc4.blogspot.com/2006/11/cameron-should-have-walked-out-in.html
Blamerbell said...
George Galloway.
Good grief, no one would ever be able to shut him up if he became Speaker (that if he ever showed up instead flying out the Iran to praise it as a beacon of modern soical democracy).
The next Speaker should be Ming Campbell!
1.whatever happened to:
"I have neither eyes to see or tounge to tell WITHOUT PERMISSION of this house"
2.I seem to remember that Roman Cathlics, by convention, could not be the Prince of Wales, the PM, and the Speaker - whatever happened to that convention?
Where's Norman Singeing Stevens when you want him?
Iain,, were you really in the Commons or were you just in Parliament?
William Hague would make a very good speaker, it would suit him better than a frontbench role and give him plenty of time to write books.
William Hague would make a very good speaker, it would suit him better than a frontbench role and give him plenty of time to write books.
God has preserved Hague for the premiership as Cameron will be forced to resign as Tory Leader by his own shadow cabinet for agreeing to Lib Dem demands for PR in exchange for agreeing to join a Tory led-coalition government in 2009.
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