[EM] The Speaker

[Olli Salmi]

Here's a Select Committee report on the election of the Speaker of the
House of Commons, in case you haven't kept abreast of developments in this
area. A reform was thought necessary when the election of a new Speaker
took some seven hours on 23 October 2000.
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200001/cmselect/cmproced/
40/4002.htm

There's also a PDF file about it.
http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/rp2001/rp01-030.pdf.

Here's a page from the BBC archives, with lots of links:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk_politics/newsid_1171000/1171438.stm

Perhaps the part that interests this list most is the memorandum by the
Electoral Reform Society:
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200001/cmselect/cmproced/
40/40ap04.htm
"Approval voting is particularly vulnerable to tactical voting."
They recommend the Alternative Vote or the Exhaustive Ballot. The latter
"may provide some benefits over AV but it can be long and cumbersome
process when many candidates are involved." I'd prefer the Exhaustive
Ballot if this was my business, but I'd make it a lot quicker.

The present Standing Orders which incorporate the reform:
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200102/cmstords/1mpubbs.h
tm
Because nothing happens in the House without a motion, the result of the
ballot has to be accepted by a motion. If it's negatived, the process
starts afresh, says the report.

There's a later report on the election of the Deputy Speaker. It's
interesting to read all the arguments why there shouldn't be a ballot.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmselect/cmproced/770/77002.ht
m

For comparison, this is the Finnish procedure. The Speaker is elected by
ballot at the beginning of every session, annually that is. Three rounds,
in the last one a relative majority is sufficient. Nominations are from the
floor, without notice. Blank ballots are used. Debate is out of order
during the election. There's voluntary proportionality, the Speaker and the
two deputies are from different parties and so are the Speaker and the
Prime Minister.

Olli Salmi


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