1992 Speaker of the British House of Commons election willing nominee) since William Morrison defeated Major James Milner on 31 October 1951, although Geoffrey De Freitas had been nominated against his wishes in the 1971 election. The candidates were Betty Boothroyd (Labour), MP for West Bromwich West and Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons from 1987 to 1992, and Peter Brooke (Conservative), MP for City of London and Westminster South and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 1989 to 1992. The election was presided over by the Father of the House, Sir Edward Heath, and was conducted by means of a conventional parliamentary motion, originally to elect
Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom) was to be conferred), a routine division of the House would resolve in favour of one candidate. There was, however, a considerable amount of behind-the-scenes lobbying before suitable candidates were agreed upon, and so it was very rare for a new Speaker to be opposed. However, this system broke down in 2000 when 12 rival candidates declared for the job and the debate occupied an entire Parliamentary day. The House of Commons Procedure Committee then re-examined the means of electing a Speaker and recommended a new system that came into effect in 2007 and was first used in June 2009,