ePolitix.com - Sylvia Heal

As Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons Sylvia plays a different role in Westminster from other MPs. Below is a brief outline of the roles of Speaker and Deputy Speaker.

The Speaker

The job of Speaker emerged in the thirteenth century, but in a much different form from that with which we are familiar today. The Speaker was appointed by the King or Queen and thus more of a Monarchist than a Parliamentarian. It was not until the seventeenth century, when the battle between King and Parliament reached its height, that there was the first sign of the King's authority being defied. In 1641 King Charles I tried to arrest five Members of Parliament, but was obstructed by Speaker Lenthall with words which have become famous:

"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, and I humbly beg your Majesty's pardon that I cannot give any other answer than this to what your Majesty is pleased to demand of me."

The role of Speaker remained ambivalent. When it came to granting money to the King who was still effectively the Government, the House of Commons, not trusting the Speaker, set up a committee of Ways and Means and elected someone it could trust as Chairman, which is where the title of Chairman of the Ways and Means originates from.

Deputy Speaker

For a long time the Speaker had no official deputy. However as the House began to assemble for longer periods, some people relieved the Speaker on an occasional basis. It was not until 1855 that the House resolved that there should be a formal post of The Chairman of Ways and Means.

The business of the House continued to become more demanding and in 1902 the post of First Deputy Chairman was created and in 1971 a Second Deputy Chairman was appointed. The Chairman of Ways and Means and his Deputies are all referred to as Deputy Speaker but in the strict sense of the 1855 Act there is only one Deputy Speaker, the Chairman of Ways and Means. There is no longer a Ways and Means Committee as such but the title remains.

In a practical day-to-day sense the Deputy Speaker has all the same powers in the Chair as the Speaker. The only exceptions are carefully described in Standing Orders and relate to the selection of amendments.

The Speaker and his three Deputies act as a team, meeting every day to discuss the handling of business before the House. It is likely that on every sitting day each one will occupy the Chair for at least a two-hour spell. To uphold the neutrality of the Chair they neither speak nor vote on any matter before the House (unless a casting vote is required).

What does being Deputy Speaker mean?

It is sometimes asked whether a constituency is effectively represented in Parliament if its Member is also the Speaker or Deputy Speaker and cannot speak or vote. This question pre-supposes that the only way in which representation can take place is by speaking or voting. This is not the case, an MP may get 100 or 200 letters per week from constituents and the average MP would be lucky to speak in the House more than eight times a year. So a Member looks after the interests of their constituents mainly in other ways. These principally involve writing to Ministers, taking delegations to see them, and the 'quiet word' in the lobby. Being Speaker or Deputy Speaker enhances rather than diminishes these functions, because Ministers recognise the special position held.

It is not only the Speaker and the Deputies who cannot raise constituency matters on the floor of the House. The same is true of the eighty or so MPs, who from time to time are appointed to the Government. They can speak in the House only on behalf of the Government, not their constituents.

Whereas the Speaker becomes, on election, wholly independent of party politics, his Deputies are not so constrained. Whilst they must act with scrupulous neutrality in the House they are free to be party politicians in their constituencies.