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,
Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom) and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. In 2010, the Speaker received a salary of £145,492, equal to that of a Cabinet Minister. Speaker's House, the official residence, is at the northeast corner of the Palace of Westminster and is used for official functions and meetings, with private accommodation in a four-bedroom apartment upstairs. Each day, prior to the sitting of the House of Commons, the Speaker and other officials travel in procession from the apartments to the Chamber. The procession includes the Doorkeeper, the Serjeant-at-Arms, the Speaker, a trainbearer, the Chaplain, and the Speaker's Private