Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)
presiding officer of the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the lower house and primary chamber of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The current speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, was elected Speaker on November 4 2019, following the retirement of John Bercow. Hoyle began his first full parliamentary term in the role on December 17 2019, having been unanimously re-elected after the 2019 general election.
The speaker presides over the House's debates, determining which members may speak and which amendments are selected for consideration. The speaker is also responsible for maintaining order and decorum in the House during debate and during its normal operations. As a result, the speaker has full, supreme authority to impose the penalties that they deem just and that they deem fair on members who break the rules of the House. By convention, the Speaker is strictly non-partisan; accordingly, a Speaker is expected to renounce all affiliation with their former political parties when taking office and afterwards.
The speaker does not take part in debate or vote (except to break ties; and even then, the convention is that the speaker casts the tie-breaking vote according to Speaker Denison's rule which results either in further debate or a vote for the status quo). Aside from duties relating to presiding over the House, the speaker also performs administrative and procedural functions. In addition, they remain a constituency Member of Parliament (MP), are part of the Privy Council, and represent the Commons to the monarch, the House of Lords and other authorities.
“Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)” enters the record as presiding officer of the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Speaker, House and Commons can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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