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New Speaker must be seen as well as heard
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| Parent(s) |
Race
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| Contributor | Ralphie |
| Last Edited | Ralphie May 20, 2009 10:58am |
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| Category | Opinion |
| Media | Newspaper - Guardian |
| News Date | Wednesday, May 20, 2009 04:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | As the dust settles on Martin's tenure, let me share some of the gossip I picked up in the dark Gothic corridors and in the sunlit atrium at Portcullis House, itself a symbol of modernisation of parliamentary process that was late in arriving, too – but did arrive eventually. It is the building with dark Tudor chimneys across the road from Big Ben.
The general assumption is that the next Speaker will not be Labour after two appointments from that party. There were five Tories and one National Liberal between 1906 and 1968, but that was then.
Sir George Young, "the bicycling baronet" (my nickname has stuck), a former John Major transport secretary and one of only two ministers sacked and reinstated by Margaret Thatcher, starts off as Tory frontrunner, always a dangerous position, as bookies happily know.
Young used to be my London MP. He's a decent, moderate-to-social democratic Tory who has been brave on issues like the poll tax, against which he helped organise rebellion. Other parties might well back him as they did in 2000 when Martin's superior organising skills prevailed.
Ken Clarke, Vince Cable (initially my own half-humorous suggestion, I think, but taken up by today's Times editorial), Frank Field, Ann Widdecombe, Keith Simpson, the jolly Sandhurst historian with a moustache (must be OK) ... good fun, but unlikely to go anywhere near the chair – even if they want to. Most don't.
Speaker Clarke would be bored in 10 minutes. Speaker Field might rule that stupid MPs (as judged by him) should only get 30 seconds of speech time. Speaker Widdecombe? No, let's not think about it; an admirable woman in many ways, but too indisciplined. |
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