Comment: Are any of them fit to be Speaker?
Time to find a new Speaker - but are any of them any good?
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Wednesday, 20, May 2009 12:00
Do any of them hold the moral authority to carry out the job?
By Matthew West
Yesterday saw the historic ousting of the Speaker of the House of Commons for the first time in 300 years.
We have to go as far back as 1695 for a precedent. Sir John Trevor had been Speaker for ten years before he was removed from office for accepting 1,000 guineas from the City of London to push through a bill.
So it's safe to say Michael Martin didn't commit quite as heinous a crime as Sir John. But there still stands the charge levelled at him by Douglas Carswell - who not only has his 15 minutes of fame but also his place in history as the man who helped to bring down the Speaker – of lacking moral leadership.
And this is a problem for the House among many that still needs to be sorted out before this constitutional crisis is resolved.
Obviously the first job is to bring in the new interim rules on MPs' expenses announced yesterday evening by Mr Martin. But the second job, and one which many MPs appear to already be busying themselves with if for no other reason than to have something other than their own shortcomings to focus on, is who should be the next Speaker.
Martin had barely fallen on his own sword before the jostling for position and name dropping began. We've had Frank Field suggested, Sir Alan Beith put his name forward. And Anne Widdecombe, John Bercow, Sir Menzies Campbell, Sir George Young are all in the running. Even Jack Straw was mentioned by one sketch writer yesterday.
Some of them, like Anne Widdecombe who was being touted by backbench Tories as an interim Speaker holding the position until the next general election, have already – probably rather wisely in this commentator's opinion – ruled themselves out.
Of the rest it's difficult so see which one of them has the moral authority to fill the role. And yes, I know we could argue into the small hours about whether Michael Martin ever had the moral authority to fill the role but really that's not the point.
Carswell in his clear show of disrespect to the Speaker the other day has also somewhat laid down the framework for picking his successor. But what of the remaining potential candidates so far named? Do any of them hold the moral authority to carry out the job?
Field appears to be one of the frontrunners, even to the point that there seems to be a coordinated "Stop Frank" campaign already in motion from backbench Labour MPs. His personal animosity towards the prime minister however is the biggest obstacle to his being enthroned in the chair, given that there would always be questions over his ability to carry out his job impartially. Although it has to be said his understanding of procedure is excellent and he might be someone that enough members of all the parties could vote for in the secret ballot.
Sir Menzies Campbell, unfortunately, probably couldn't keep order in the chamber. After all, it used to be hard enough to hear him during prime minister's questions when he was leader of the Liberal Democrats. Could you imagine his thin reedy voice trying to quiet the baying mob? Me neither. Plus as he was embroiled in the expenses scandal over his refurbishment claims I suspect that rules him out anyway.
John Bercow is an unknown and wants the job, perversely enough - always something that should fill you with dread. He is liked by Labour backbenchers, who again were already manoeuvring to get him into the chair yesterday afternoon and evening, but distrusted by his own party for moving so far to the left he might as well have crossed the floor and joined Labour. So don't expect his candidacy to get very far.
Jack Straw is a non-starter. There would be nothing ceremonial about it - he would literally be dragged kicking and screaming the whole way to the Speaker's chair. This is a man who some believe still harbours strong ambitions to one day lead the Labour party after Gordon Brown stands down. He hasn't reached retirement age yet as far as he is concerned and that's probably how he also views the job of Speaker.
That leaves two names: Sir Alan Beith and Sir George Young.
Sir Alan might get through the first round, picking up votes from Labour MPs who don't want to see a Tory in the chair but know that the next Speaker really can't be another Labour MP. He is a respected parliamentarian but has a fairly low profile and may not be reforming enough.
Sir George Young was considered by some to be perfect for the job a decade ago. While he commands the respect of other politicians and one-nation Tories in particular, working class Labour MPs can't stand him for his Eton background. It also won't help that he has also been chairman of the standards and privileges committee and therefore has been responsible for giving a lot of MPs a dressing down. Actually in terms of just moral authority Sir George might be the best placed MP but whether he attracts the votes he needs from his colleagues is another matter.
Then there's the question of whether the Speaker should just hold the role until the next election or for an unspecified period as has been the case in the past. Some have suggested that the new Speaker will be the most powerful in history. I'm not really sure that's the case given the government's new proposals. He or she may in fact be the weakest Speaker in history if plans for an independent body to scrutinise MPs' expenses and pay, as well as dealing with disciplinary matters, are realised. If such a body does come into being and there is still a lot of debate over whether it really will, it was proposed last year and rejected out of hand by MPs after the last expenses scandal, what is left for the Speaker to do?
To some it may have seemed as if getting rid of the Speaker was a bold and decisive action by parliamentarians but actually all they have done is created a whole new set of problems for themselves. Last night Gordon Brown said that politics had become about the politicians and not the issues.
If he thinks it's going to get back to the issues any time soon he is sorely mistaken. There's a lot more navel gazing to come yet.