Lord Speaker
Encyclopedia : L : LO : LOR : Lord Speaker
The Lord Speaker is the speaker of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The office is analogous to the Speaker of the House of Commons. It was announced on 4 July 2006 that Baroness Hayman had won the first election for the position.
Until July 2006, the role of presiding officer in the House of Lords was undertaken by the Lord Chancellor. Under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the position of the Speaker of the House of Lords (as it is termed in the Act) became a separate office, allowing the position to be held by someone other than the Lord Chancellor. The Lord Chancellor continued to act as speaker of the House of Lords in an interim period after the Act was passed, while the House of Lords considered new arrangements about their speakership.
Title and role
The House of Commons has a "Mister/Madam Speaker" as its speaker, and the House of Lords now has a similar position. However, the House of Lords is largely self-governing, and the speaker in the House of Lords has traditionally taken a less active role in debates than the speaker in the House of Commons. For example, unlike the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Lord Speaker will not call the House to order, nor determine who is to speak when two individuals rise at the same time, nor rule on points of order, nor discipline members who violate the rules of the House, nor select amendments to bills—all these functions are performed by the House of Lords as a whole. Furthermore, whilst speeches in the House of Commons are addressed to "Mr Speaker", those in the House of Lords are addressed to "My Lords".In 2003, a Select Committee of the House of Lords looked into the proposed new office, including the title for the elected speaker of the Lords. Following their recommendations, the new speaker is named "Lord Speaker", and the number of deputy speakers will fall from 25 to 12.[Speakership of the House - First Report], HL 199, 18 November 2003. ISBN 010400325 There has been opposition to the title from some in the House of Commons who feel that it will cause confusion between the House of Commons' Speaker and the House of Lords' Speaker.[[Citing sources citation needed]]
The House of Lords Select Committee, chaired by Lord Lloyd of Berwick, a Crossbencher, was reconvened on 12 July 2005 to decide on the name and the duties of the new speaker, and how the new speaker would be selected.[House of Lords Select Committee on the Speakership of the House], official [Parliament.uk] website. The committee reported to the House of Lords on 19 December 2005, recommending powers, method of election and title of the new Speaker. Despite speculation, it recommended the title "Lord Speaker", noting that it was already in use "in the Standing Orders and the Companion".[Speakership of the House - First Report], HL 92, 13 December 2005.
The Lord Speaker will assume most of the duties that the Lord Chancellor used to have in relation to his Parliamentary role, including ceremonial duties such as the State Opening of Parliament. There is also a debate whether the new speaker should have additional powers and responsibilities that the Lord Chancellor does not have. The role of the Lords Commissioners will continue, and the Lord Chancellor will continue to be the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.
The Lord Speaker is elected for a maximum term of five years, and may serve a maximum of two terms. The Lord Speaker earns the same salary as a Cabinet Minister in the House of Lords (£102,685 in 2006), less than the Speaker of the House of Commons. Unlike the Lord Chancellor, who wore a full ceremonial uniform or court dress, including black robes with gold lace embroidery, and ceremonial wig, the Lord Speaker will wear a black gown, but not a wig, when sitting in the House of Lords. At formal ceremonies, the Lord Speaker will wear a special black gown with gold trim. When presiding over debates, the Lord Speaker sits on the Woolsack.
Like the Speaker in the House of Commons, but unlike the Lord Chancellor who was also a judge and a government minister, the Lord Speaker is expected to remain non-partisan whilst in office. On election, the Lord Speaker resigns the party whip and outside interests to concentrate on being an impartial presiding officer.
Election of the first Lord Speaker
A list of nine candidates was announced on 6 June 2006, consisting of: three Conseratives (Lord Elton, Baroness Fookes and Viscount Ullswater), two Labour (Baroness Hayman and Lord Richard), one Liberal Democrat (Lord Redesdale), two Crossbenchers (Lord Boston of Faversham and the Countess of Mar) and one non-affiliated (Lord Grenfell). [Nine peers vie to be first Speaker], The Daily Telegraph, 7 June 2006 [The Election and Role of the new Lord Speaker of the House of Lords - Briefing] 11 May 2006. Accessed 6 June 2006. (PDF)The election of the first Lord Speaker, Baroness Hayman, was announced on 4 July 2006.[Hayman chosen to be Lords speaker], BBC News, 4 July 2006.[Lord Speaker election results], 4 July 2006. (PDF) and Baroness Hayman immediately replaced the Lord Chancellor on the woolsack. The Lord Chamberlain, Lord Luce, was on hand to confirm the approval of Queen Elizabeth II to the election of Baroness Hayman, although this was a mere formality.
See also
References
External links
- [Paying for a peers' speaker], BBC News, 2 May 2006
- [Speakership of the House of Lords: Election of the First Lord Speaker]
- [Hansard - Official Report of the House of Lords for July 4 2006 - Announcement of the election of Baroness Haymann as first Lord Speaker and royal confirmation]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.