Speaker rivals pledge (slight) change to restore public trust

Rivals: Parmjit Dhanda, Margaret Beckett, Richard Shepherd, Ann Widdecombe, Sir George Young and Sir Michael Lord
12 April 2012

A sombre House of Commons this afternoon accepted the need for cautious reform as MPs gathered to choose a new Speaker in the wake of the expenses scandal.

As the contest to succeed Michael Martin got under way, all of the frontrunners pledged themselves to embrace change in the hope of regaining the trust of angry and disenchanted voters.

However, several tried to win favour by attacking the media over revelations about their expenses, and made clear they would not push reforms just for the sake of appeasing public opinion.

Margaret Beckett, the bookmakers' favourite, spoke first after winning a lottery to open a debate that was as much about Parliament's future as the occupant of its chair.

The former Cabinet minister, who has been dubbed the anti-reform candidate, was the most conservative of the frontrunners. She said: "The Speaker cannot and should not attempt to drive this House, but neither should he or she be an obstacle. I pledge myself, if elected, to facilitate desire for change." In her five-minute address the 66-year-old MP declared: "I have never been afraid to speak truth to power, wherever power may be found."

Sir George Young, also criticising the media-led pressure for change, promised to stand up to "a bidding war to be tough that loses sight of the basic principles of justice". He promised to make the Commons more self-confident and to force ministers to make more statements on topical issues. He won smiles by promising to keep speeches shorter. But he went on: "We have left the age of deference, we are in the age of earned respect."

Ann Widdecombe won laughter by beginning: "I think I am unique in this contest." She claimed the public trusted her more than most MPs, thanks to what she admitted was "vulgar" self-publicity. In a dig at fellow Tory John Bercow, the most pro-reform candidate, she added: "When you see some of the manifestos, I think we might be electing a supreme dictator." She also stood for "adequate remuneration" — code for backing a bumper pay rise for MPs.

Sir Alan Beith, the former Lib-Dem deputy leader, also had a dig at Mr Bercow, saying it was "not enough to win the most votes". Mr Bercow is paradoxically backed by Labour MPs but few Tories. Sir Alan also said the expenses system had to go. "I don't want to spend another Saturday morning explaining to the media why the office toilet had to be repaired," he said.

The last of the frontrunners was Mr Bercow himself. Aiming his speech at the Labour benches , he drew laughter by performing an impression of an unnamed Tory grandee whose vote he sought. "You are not just too young, you are far too young," the grandee had told him. "In my judgment a Speaker ought to be virtually senile."

Mr Bercow said his age, 46, should not count against him because past Speakers had been as young as 29.

Labour MPs hear-heared loudly when he claimed to have no personal ambition but to do good. "I don't want to be someone, I want to do something," he said. He threatened full-blooded reform in the wake of the expenses scandal, calling himself the "clean-break candidate". He warned: "A legislature cannot be effective while suffering from public scorn."

The five outsiders are Richard Shepherd, Sir Michael Lord, Sir Patrick Cormack, Sir Alan Haselhurst and Parmjit Dhanda.

Earlier today, a group of Tory MPs warned that they would not accept either Mrs Beckett or Mr Bercow as permanent Speaker, following anger over the involvement of Labour whips championing Mrs Beckett.

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