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) receive the royal approbation as described above, but does not again lay claim to the Commons' rights and privileges. Though the election of a Speaker is normally non-partisan, there have been several controversial elections in history. For example, in 1895, the sudden retirement of Arthur Peel came at a time when partisan feelings were running high. The Conservatives and Liberal Unionists put forward Sir Matthew White Ridley, a well-respected MP who had many years of experience, and hoped for a unanimous election as the previous Speaker had been a Liberal. However, the Liberals decided to oppose him and nominated William