Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
More than 60 MPs tell speaker to go
MORE than 60 MPs have now signed a motion expressing no confidence in the speaker after angry scenes in the Commons on Wednesday.
Senior Conservatives and Scottish National Party MPs have put their names to the “early day motion” proposed by senior Tory William Wragg in a move intended to pressure Sir Lindsay Hoyle to step down.
By yesterday afternoon the total number of signatures stood at 64, including Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers, former Tory deputy chairmen Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith, the SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn and his deputy Mhairi Black.
More than half of the SNP’s Westminster contingent have signed the motion, reflecting anger in the party at the speaker’s handling of its opposition day motion on Wednesday, while 37 Conservatives and one independent, former Tory Rob Roberts, have joined them.
Environmental audit committee chairman Philip Dunne appeared to have signed the motion but then withdrew his signature shortly afterwards.
As an early day motion, it is very unlikely to be debated on the floor of the Commons but a large number of signatures could signify that the speaker has lost the confidence of the House and persuade him to step down.
There does not appear to be a formal mechanism for removing a speaker, with previous holders of the office only being replaced on their resignation or death, but it would be difficult for him to carry on if a significant number of MPs called for him to go or he lost a confidence vote in the Commons.
In 2009, speaker Michael Martin was effectively forced to resign over his handling of the MPs’ expenses scandal, the first speaker to be forced out in more than 300 years.