I’ll heal divisions, says new Speaker
Labour’s Lindsay Hoyle replaces Bercow – and pays moving tribute to tragic daughter Natalie
LABOUR MP Sir Lindsay Hoyle was installed as the new Commons Speaker last night after pledging to heal the ‘fractured and divided’ parliament left behind by John Bercow.
Sir Lindsay, who had served as Mr Bercow’s deputy for more than nine years, emerged victorious after a six-hour contest in which MPs were asked to pick from seven candidates.
In the final round, he defeated fellow Labour MP Chris Bryant in a secret ballot of all MPs by 327 votes to 213. Dame Eleanor Laing, the last Tory in the contest, was knocked out in the previous round with 127 votes.
In what appeared to be a pointed reference to the Bercow years, Sir Lindsay pledged to ‘polish away the tarnish’ of recent times. He added: ‘I hope this House will once again be a great and respected place across the world.’
In an emotional address, he also paid tribute to his daughter Natalie, who was found dead at her mother’s home in 2017.
Ministers hope Sir Lindsay’s victory will mean an end to the parliamentary tricks that Mr Bercow used to allow diehard Remainers to stymie Brexit in Parliament.
The new Speaker told MPs: ‘Fairness is what matters to us all.’
Prime Minister Boris Johnson last night praised him as an ‘impartial’ figure who would bring ‘kindness and reasonableness to our proceedings’.
Sir Lindsay, 62, had bolstered his credentials with Tory MPs last week when he threw out controversial attempts to scupper a snap election by extending the vote to 16-year-olds.
In the run-up to the contest, he hit out a the ‘toxic’ culture that has developed at Westminster in recent years, adding: ‘We are fractured and divided in many ways, and my hope and ambition is to close those fractures and heal the wounds that are out there, and that means setting a good example in the chamber.’
MPs spent hours lavishing praise on Mr Bercow last week as he spent his final hours in the Speaker’s role.
But yesterday, a string of candidates to succeed him distanced themselves from his legacy. Dame Rosie Winterton opened the contest by insisting she would ‘douse the flames, not pour petrol on them’.
Mr Bryant, who put in a stronger-than-expected performance, pledged to ‘return to the rulebook’, acting as an ‘umpire, not a player’.
Former Speaker Betty Boothroyd also took a veiled swipe at Mr Bercow, saying: ‘There was a lot of bitterness in the last few years.’
She added that she hoped his successor would make the Commons a ‘calmer and more dignified place’.
Mr Bercow quit last week and formally stood down as an MP yesterday, meaning that he was unable to vote in the contest.
He is now expected to make a fortune on the international speaking circuit.
But, following controversy over his interventions on Brexit, ministers are in no rush to grant him the traditional peerage handed to past Speakers. One Government source said: ‘He shouldn’t hold his breath.’
Yesterday’s contest was presided over by veteran former Chancellor Kenneth Clarke, who holds the title ‘Father of the House’ as the longest-serving MP.
After the final result was announced, Labour MP Caroline Flint and Tories Nigel Evans and Jackie Doyle-Price performed the tradition of dragging Sir Lindsay to the Speaker’s chair.
He will formally start his new role in the Commons today – the last day before Parliament is dissolved ahead of the General Election.
‘Fairness is what matters’ ‘Shouldn’t hold his breath’
AT last we have a new Commons Speaker – and thank goodness for that.
The appointment of Sir Lindsay Hoyle means we can say goodbye and good riddance to John Bercow, the most divisive and egomaniacal Speaker in modern history. And with an election also in the offing there is a genuine sense of imminent renewal. A cleansing of our democracy.
This zombie Parliament will be put out of its misery, and we sincerely hope Sir Lindsay will soon be presiding over a far better one – preferably with a Tory majority so we can get Brexit done and move on.
Historically, Speakers have seen their role as being honest brokers – upholding MPs’ rights and enforcing the rules with impartiality and respect for precedent.
Mr Bercow by contrast, was an unashamed activist. With his theatrical delivery, pomposity and towering self-regard, everything was about him. And he made no secret of his contempt for Brexit. In the Opposition amendments he controversially allowed – and the Government ones he rejected – he ripped up the rule book and colluded in thwarting the referendum result.
The result was stalemate. So, after a decade of Mr Bercow, the Commons desperately needs a Speaker who puts duty above personal vanity.
Sir Lindsay, thankfully, seems to have all the right credentials.
MPs have become used to his wit, good humour and rich Lancashire brogue in his nine years as Deputy Speaker.
He commands universal trust and is one of the few MPs who refuses to say how he voted in the EU referendum for fear of seeming biased. Such discretion will serve him well in his new job.
We could finally be seeing the green shoots of Britain’s democratic recovery. He must nurture them and help them bloom.