Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom) and 2005. At the 2010 general election, Speaker John Bercow faced ten opponents, including Nigel Farage, former leader of UKIP, who obtained 17.4% of the vote, and John Stevens, from the Buckinghamshire Campaign for Democracy party, who obtained 21.4%. Bercow won with 47% of the vote. The Speaker's primary function is to preside over the House of Commons. Traditionally, the Speaker when presiding wore court dress—a black coat with white shirt and bands, beneath a black gown, with stockings and buckled shoes, and a full-bottomed wig. But in 1992 Betty Boothroyd, the first female Speaker, eschewed the wig. Her successor,
2009 Speaker of the British House of Commons election turn confirmed as nominated candidates by the Parliamentary authorities on the morning of the election: All 10 of the above candidates appeared at a Hansard Society hustings on 15 June. This was the first full hustings to take place for a Speaker election, although there was a hustings for the 2000 speaker election, which several of the candidates did not attend. The following candidate announced his candidacy, only to withdraw before the election was held: The result of the first secret ballot was announced at approximately 17:10 (16:10 UTC) on 22 June 2009, after the nominated candidates had all addressed