Election of the Speaker of the House of Commons
It’s 3.40pm on Monday, June 22, and the ten candidates for Speaker of the Commons have just completed their final addresses to the House.
Voting, which may be protracted, has just begun.
Of the ten, two stood out for me: Sir George Young won it on authority and gravitas; Sir Patrick Cormack, on mastery of the House and entertainment value.
As predicted here, the duffers were:
John Bercow, who was slight, ineffectual, and frankly ghastly.
Ann Widdecombe — far too pleased with herself.
Parmjit Dhanda’s street politics would be a disaster.
Sir Michael Lord, ditto from the Tory side.
Of the rest, Sir Alan Haselhurst got the biggest “hear, hear”, but doesn’t do it for me. Sir Alan Beith was fine but lacked clout. Margaret Beckett competent, but too Labour at this stage of the game.
An outsider who performed well was Sir Richard Shepherd, a Conservative with all the right ideas and the passion to carry them through. Surely, though, his time has passed.
My choice would be between Young and Cormack.
On the day, and going on the final speeches, I would choose Sir George Young. But either would do.
John Evans
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