The new Speaker ‘could soon be booted out’

JOHN Bercow’s successor as Commons Speaker will be elected tomorrow, but the winner could be thrown out after next month’s election.

Labour Deputy Speaker Lindsay Hoyle is seen as the frontrunner, but there is anxiety intory circles that Remainers could swing behind Mother of the House Harriet Harman.

However, a senior Cabinet source said the winner could yet be ejected from the Speaker’s chair, saying: “If it’s the wrong result we will just kick them out after the election.”

There are hopes that many Labour MPS will choose to campaign in their constituencies tomorrow rather than come to Westminster for the vote.

Explaining why choosing the new Speaker had not been delayed until after the General Election, the minister said: “It’s because Harriet Harman wanted it delayed, therefore we wanted it to go ahead.

“A lot of Labour MPS won’t be there on Monday because of the [general] election so it gives us a chance to get the right person in.”

Conservative Deputy Speaker Dame Eleanor Laing is seen as Mr Hoyle’s closest rival.

The Epping Forest MP said that cracking down on bullying will be a top priority. She said: “The first task facing the new Speaker is to restore trust and confidence in Parliament.”

She added the new Speaker and MPS must set an example: “[I] think that it’s partly because of the aggressive, macho behaviour in the chamber setting the wrong tone throughout Westminster that we have problems of bullying and bad behaviour.”

Dame Eleanor insisted that if she wins the top post she will welcome greater scrutiny.

“The office of Speaker is totally unaccountable and that’s not right in a modern democracy,” she said.

A further priority is standing up for MPS at a time when, for many, receiving online abuse has become part of daily life.

She said: “Ninety-nine per cent of Members of Parliament are really hard-working, decent, good people and they shouldn’t have their reputation trashed because that’s undermining Parliament itself.”

She also looks forward to the challenge of getting Brexit legislation passed ahead of the January 31 deadline.

She said: “We will have to sit long hours. It is going to be a very, very busy time in Parliament...you are going to have to hit the ground running.”

She said she would be fully prepared to consider a new “meaningful vote” being called on Boris Johnson’s

Brexit deal. “Definitely,” she said. “Because we’ll be in a new Parliament so there’s no problem.”

Mr Hoyle became an object of fun ontwitter yesterday after he posted a picture of himself in an armchair wearing stripy pink socks captioned “Come on England”.

People found it odd that instead of watching the

Rugby World Cup final he appeared to be staring in a different direction.