ePolitix.com hears from nine candidates all competing to become Speaker of the House.
MPs will elect a new Speaker on June 22. Whoever emerges as the occupant of the Chair will face the task of restoring public confidence in a Commons tarnished by the expenses furore. Last week saw the list of candidates lengthen.
The House Magazine sought interviews from all those who had put themselves forward as candidates, and those who were touted as possible contenders. Nine of the potential Speakers outline their thoughts on the role, offer their views on parliamentary reform, and explain why they think they deserve support.
Margaret Beckett
When did you begin to think about standing?
People have asked me, over many years, if I have thought about it. I became more concerned as I considered the circumstances that the new Speaker will face. It seems both unprecedented and unprecedentedly difficult. When I was no longer debarred (as a minister) from standing, I decided to put my name forward.
How can reform be carried forward?
I’m not opposing reform at all, but we’ve got to get it right. The changes that will be proposed by the House of Commons Commission need to be quite carefully managed. The next Parliament could be quite difficult. I’ve been in a hung Parliament and I remember the crucial role played by Selwyn Lloyd, then the Speaker. Additionally, if we have a new upper chamber then the relationship between the Commons and the Lords will be crucial.
Should the Speaker lead reform?
The Speaker is both a servant of the House and a guide to its Members. Some people in the media talk as if it’s the Speaker’s job to drive the House. I don’t agree with that. You’ve got to take the House with you.
Should the Speaker take on a greater media role?
I’ve got mixed views. It depends on what the House wants. It’s not something I’m frightened of doing; it’s something I would be prepared to do.
Does the primacy of Parliament need to be restored?
It always needs to be carefully nurtured and sometimes it needs to be strengthened. We can often learn from other parliamentary systems, but let’s not lose the strengths of our own.
What are your personal attributes?
The Speaker must get on with pretty well everybody in the House, and as leader of the House I believe I did that. I chaired the modernisation committee and we made some quite substantial changes, such as setting up Westminster Hall. I have experience of managing change in the House and trying to take people with you. I’m a good negotiator.
How will you convince people that you’re not too close to the Executive?
I’m not the Establishment candidate; I didn’t consult senior figures in my party before I decided to let my name go forward. As leader of the House I was seen as somebody who respected the rights and convictions of Members across the House.
Sir Alan Beith
How will the role of the Speaker change?
There is an expectation amongst Members and a public demand that the next Speaker should give a lead in cleaning up and reforming. The Speaker is also the spokesman for the House, and needs to communicate with the public about what is happening in Parliament – not on the political policy issues, but on the House itself. A Speaker should definitely not be getting involved in the cut and thrust of politics, but they should be speaking up for the Commons and explaining how Parliament works.
How can Parliament reassert its primacy over the Executive?
The Commons needs to reassert control of its own timetable. That should be done by a body that is more representative of the House as a whole: a business committee chaired by the Speaker with strong backbench representation and no government majority. There are a few occasions when the influence of the whips is either excessive or indeed inappropriate. Select committees have worked hard to place themselves outside the influence of whips; that process needs to be continued and completed.
What are your personal attributes?
I’ve always been a reformer. One of the very first things I did in terms of House internal affairs was to secure pension provision for the staff of Members. I’ve always wanted to see Parliament more effective and I think I’m a fair-minded person who is prepared to bring together the views of different people so everyone can have their say properly.
You have been an MP for a long time. How can you be the fresh change Parliament seems to need?
I’ve been an opposition Member for the whole of my parliamentary career. I would also be the first Liberal Speaker since Speaker Whitley in the 1920s. You do need some experience to carry out the work of Speaker too.
What are your views on the more arcane rituals of Parliament?
There are always changes that we can make where our procedures become absurd. Some of the things that add a bit of colour and show a bit of tradition tell a historical story which we sometimes forget. We slam the door in the face of the sovereign’s representative, yet we failed to stop the police coming in without appropriate authority.
Which past Speaker do you most admire?
Speaker Lenthall for refusing to do the King’s bidding.
John Bercow
Has the expenses row changed the role of the Speaker?
It has brought greater urgency to the challenge to revitalise Parliament. The Speaker has very limited powers, but people will look to the next Speaker to take the lead in overseeing fundamental reform of the allowances system. Even where the Speaker doesn’t have powers, I think there is real merit in candidates having a view about parliamentary reform. We must redress the huge imbalance of power between the Executive and the legislature.
How could this be achieved?
There should be a backbench-dominated business committee to ensure a decent spread of business, and opportunities for backbenchers. Select committees should be democratically elected and have greater powers. Pre-legislative scrutiny needs to happen on a much bigger scale, and topical debates need to be more commonplace and chosen by MPs.
Should the Speaker have a greater public presence?
We cannot have an internal Speaker shrouded in mystique. There is a case for the Speaker to get out in the community and communicate what Parliament does.
What about an increased media role?
No Speaker can become embroiled in any partisan controversy, but they should be able to make authoritative statements on behalf of the House. The Speaker should not be Parliament’s shop steward, but should be its ambassador.
What are your personal qualities?
I am standing for the first time; I’m the clean-break candidate. I’ve been involved in a lot of cross-party work. I have chaired the Speaker’s panel for the last four years, and I’ve chaired public bill committees, statutory instruments, and Westminster Hall debates. I think I have demonstrated impartiality, fairness and competence, and I’m also a good communicator who can listen and learn.
It seems that your candidacy is popular with Labour MPs but less so amongst your own party?
Peer group pressure, partly based on the idea that someone a little more senior should be Speaker, can deter Conservative MPs from expressing public support for me – but it will not prevent them for voting for me in private. The best answer to scepticism is effective performance.
Sir Patrick Cormack
Will the role of the Speaker change?
We’ve had a sad period in Parliament. We need somebody who can appeal to people in all parts and who is a healer. This is a unique opportunity. The Speaker can’t draw up rules; they are there to referee and adjudicate. They must set a good example and always be available to all Members. The Speaker also has an ambassadorial role in the wider community. It’s very important that we do not allow people’s faith in the integrity of Parliament as an institution to be destroyed merely because of a few rather unfortunate stories.
Would this involve media visibility?
Talk about Parliament and how the House of Commons functions – yes. Become involved in political controversy – no. The absolute defining characteristic of the Speaker is utter impartiality.
How can the primacy of Parliament best be restored?
I would seek to have a Speaker’s conference to look at the whole way in which we legislate. It is quite wrong that legislation passes through the House of Commons without being adequately scrutinised. I’m also wondering if there’s a case for a new system whereby the House is not always sitting at the same time as select committees. I think a business committee is a very good idea, and I also think the House of Commons should have ownership of its own committees through electing its chairmen. It’s not the job of the Speaker to interfere in the way in which parties organise their own internal discipline. The Speaker’s job is to try and ensure that a fair hearing is obtained for all sides of the argument.
What are your qualities for the role?
I love this place, have a deep knowledge of its institutions, and I want to see the chamber back at the centre of our national life. I believe that I can bring a robust impartiality. I have never been anything other than a parliamentarian, a backbencher, and the work of which I am most proud has been in a cross- or all-party context. I was the editor of this magazine – a role which required great impartiality – for 21 years. It is also my intention to retire at 75 at the latest, timing my retirement so that Parliament could elect a new Speaker before a general election.
Which Speaker in history do you most admire?
The two that stand out for me are Mr Speaker Thomas and Madam Speaker Boothroyd. They helped to define the role in the public mind as being somebody who is above reproach and who keeps order with a firm but gentle touch.
Parmjit Dhanda
How has the expenses row changed the role?
There is a need to make radical changes, largely out of the mistrust caused by Members’ allowances. If we make Parliament far more deferential to the public, then we can rebuild trust and get beyond the allowances issue. This is an opportunity to have a Speaker who actually gets on breakfast television and speaks up for the House. People like my constituents have always seen Speakers as these austere characters, a million miles from their everyday reality.
So how can Parliament reconnect?
The Executive needs to loosen its grip so that Parliament has more powers, and Parliament has to involve the voters far more. Why aren’t topical debates chosen through internet polling? Why don’t we take some of the apparatus of Westminster and hold day-long adjournment debates around the country? Ministers would have to square what they’re saying beyond the refined atmosphere in London. If I was elected Speaker this would be part of my mandate.
Why haven’t these issues been raised by other candidates?
I would get behind another candidate if I thought they would take up these issues, but until I feel that they do, I’ll stay in this race. I’m know I’m a huge underdog, but I don’t want to look back on my career and say ‘In 2009 I chose not to talk about these ideas because I was a bit intimidated, because Parliament’s always been more austere than that, because I haven’t got a knighthood, and because I don’t fit the bill for being Speaker’.
What are your personal qualities?
There are a lot of things that seem to stand in the way of this House being more diverse and more representative, and I’m very aware of the issues that would put off people like me: young people, people with young children, and people from ethnic minority backgrounds. I think that awareness helps. I’ve been a minister and a whip too – as well as talking about work-life balance. Let’s be more like that ourselves. Crèche facilities in the House in 2009 is not ridiculous.
How do you answer criticism that you are too inexperienced?
I accept that. I don’t speak Erskine May. I speak common English. I’m the son of a cleaner and a lorry driver. I went to a comprehensive school. Perhaps I’m doing a risky thing, but I passionately believe in the changes that I’m proposing.
Sir Alan Haselhurst
Has the row over expenses affected the role?
I’m not sure how far it has. There’s hardly anyone who hasn’t been fingered in some way. We’ve been subjected to all-round condemnation but the electorate for the speakership is amongst ourselves. It’s in the Speaker’s gift to be proactive; to encourage, and to interpret. The Speaker is the servant of the House and can be overruled by the House, but he can assist and encourage the process of reform.
Is there room for a more public role?
The Speaker can only speak for Parliament, but that role can be developed by seeking out platforms to talk up this place. I see the Speaker as the advocate of the House of Commons.
Can the primacy of Parliament over Executive be restored?
Only if the Executive is prepared to relax its grip. We put our Speaker on a pedestal of impartiality, but we should trust the Speaker more and let his discretion be exercised in other ways. Why don’t we let the Speaker decide the topical debate or have a mechanism whereby he or she could make sure there is a statement to Parliament? We could also loosen the criteria for determining urgent questions.
Is there a role for a business committee?
Why not? Ad hoc minorities are sometimes prejudiced against, by the way that we have been severely timetabling bills. The House should also be given a bigger role in determining who’s going to be the chairmen of select committees.
Should sitting hours be looked at?
This family-friendly thing can be played too far: there are a heck of a lot of people in this country apart from MPs who are working all hours. If we’ve got a set finishing time which people are not prepared to breach, then there’s a problem.
Why should you be Speaker?
I’ve got the love for this place and the experience of this place, and I believe I really can help the House through a transitional period. I would simply adore the challenge to show that even without change, things can be done differently, but with change we could really transform this place and renew the public confidence in it. It’s down to style, personality, and the ability to do the job. I’ve been deputy Speaker for 12 years; and I stood in for Michael Martin when he was unwell in 2006.
Sir Michael Lord
How should the role of the Speaker evolve?
I think the principal role will be what it always has been, which is to take charge of the chamber in the traditional way, to protect the rights of backbenchers and make sure that the government doesn’t always have its way with the House of Commons. I think also in this day and age the public does expect to know what’s going on in the House of Commons, to have a more direct link with the way the House operates. I am not in favour of the Speaker appearing regularly on television, but I do think there will be occasions when he may have to put the case in a very neutral and authoritative way on behalf of the House of Commons.
Do you think the primacy of Parliament over the Executive needs to be restored?
I think it does, I think government has increasingly overpowered and by-passed the House of Commons and that the power of the House of Commons has to be reasserted, and that is very much the role of the new Speaker. There are ways in which a Speaker can exert pressure on government to ensure that important statements are made to the House of Commons and not elsewhere, and that backbenchers have a much greater ability to question ministers and policies.
What are your thoughts on a business committee?
I’m quite happy to think about that, but these things are easily said but a little more complicated sometimes to organise. I think the way the House of Commons does all its business probably needs to be looked at to make sure that everybody who is a Member of Parliament feels they are participating. I think at the moment quite a lot of backbenchers feel that their voices aren’t heard as often as they ought to be and their votes don’t count as often as they ought to.
What are your attributes for the role?
Strength and experience are two key requirements. And I think the combination of keeping the good and the tried and tested, but also changing things in the way that everybody now is calling for, can best be done by somebody who understands the system thoroughly.
Can you pick a Speaker in history who has had the greatest impression on you?
Speaker Lenthall, because he was clearly the bravest Speaker we’ve ever had. I was also a deputy Speaker under Baroness Boothroyd, and she was absolutely splendid. She had tremendous presence in the chamber, she was forthright, and she had a wonderful sense of humour.
Ann Widdecombe
How will the role of Speaker change?
It is more than a chairman’s role, but much less than a dictator’s role. The Speaker is not God, and cannot, as some of my colleagues have implied in various manifestos, say ‘I will do this, I will do that’. But the Speaker can take a much firmer line than has been hitherto taken. The Speaker must clean the place up and restore our reputation with the public, and they must look at the role of Parliament vis-à-vis the Executive.
Does the Speaker need to take a more public role?
The Speaker should not take sides and appear to engage in controversy, but I do think the Speaker could be a bit more public-friendly. Engaging in high-octane political interviews on Newsnight? Definitely not.
How can the primacy of Parliament be restored?
A business committee is fine, and the role of whips can be very speedily curtailed by simply taking away the monopoly that they have over appointments, and making that a matter for a very balanced and senior committee of the House.
What about Commons hours?
What’s coyly called timetabling is actually routine guillotining of every single bill at every single stage. If you want increased scrutiny you’ve got to have more hours, though I wouldn’t touch them at the moment.
What are your qualities for being Speaker?
As never before, you need a Speaker who’s respected by the public, and I’ve already got a very well established public reputation. It’s important that the Speaker has a very good track record of standing up for backbench rights. Occasionally I’ve even joined up with Dennis Skinner to try and thwart things that were proposed by the last government, never mind this one. The Speaker’s expenses have got to stand up to minute scrutiny, otherwise you could have a very unstable situation. I was one of the first to be exonerated by the Telegraph as having saintly claims. I think that’s very important.
How would you answer those who oppose the idea of an interim Speaker?
Because of the mess that we’ve got, you want somebody who can handle it immediately and then hand over to a cleansed House. This is an opportunity to start again, and no other Speaker offers the opportunity to start again with a fresh Parliament.
Sir George Young
How will the row over expenses and the parliamentary reform agenda change the role of the Speaker?
Parliament really needed somebody who could help the public understand what was going on and put the whole thing in perspective. If you leave it to the government or the party leaders, then you get an auction. Someone needed to speak for the House.
Should the Speaker have more of a media presence?
The word that I’ve used is ‘ambassador’, and the parallel I would draw is with what Helene Hayman has been doing with the House of Lords as Lord Speaker. I’m not sure that the Speaker should give a running commentary, but I think they could make some well-timed interventions.
How can whips’ influence over select committees be reduced?
I think people ought to write in and say why they should serve on select committees and some of the public bill committees. The committee of selection can then come up with the right balance.
Should sitting hours be changed?
The sitting hours were cut while the number of bills was increased, meaning everything has been guillotined. In the next Parliament I hope we might have fewer bills, properly scrutinised, keeping the hours roughly where they are. My instincts are to go for shorter speeches, to re-engineer the time of the House, and to have more topical statements and fewer debates.
What are your attributes for the role?
I’ve been round this course before. Last time, when I was runner-up, I had only just stopped being on the front bench and it was only three years since I’d been in the cabinet. I’ve now done some quarantine; those are all spent convictions. I’ve sat on the modernisation committee, the House of Commons Commission, the liaison committee, bill committees, and have chaired the standards and privileges committee. I also helped produced the Democracy Taskforce report.
How will you convince colleagues?
I’ve got a programme of sustainable, balanced reform. That’s the result of being here, but also from talking to the younger intake which recognises that we’ve simply got to change how we operate.
