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) Secretary. The Serjeant-at-Arms attends the Speaker on other occasions, and in the House; he or she bears a ceremonial mace that symbolises the royal authority under which the House meets, as well as the authority of the House of Commons itself. Customarily, Speakers are appointed to the Privy Council upon election. Thus, the present and former Speakers are entitled to the style "The Right Honourable". On retirement, Speakers were traditionally elevated to the House of Lords as viscounts. The last Speaker to receive a viscountcy was George Thomas, who became Viscount Tonypandy on his retirement in 1983. Since that year,