1992 Speaker of the British House of Commons election 1992 Speaker of the British House of Commons election The 1992 election of the Speaker of the House of Commons occurred on 27 April 1992, in the first sitting of the House of Commons following the 1992 general election and the retirement of the previous Speaker Bernard Weatherill. The election resulted in the election of Labour MP Betty Boothroyd, one of Weatherill’s deputies, who was the first ever woman to become Speaker. This was at a time when the Conservative Party had a majority in the House of Commons. It was also the first contested election (with more than one
Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom) request, addressed as "Madam Speaker". When Betty Harvie Anderson served in the 1970s as a Deputy Speaker, on the other hand, she was addressed as "Mr Deputy Speaker". Eleanor Laing, a Deputy Speaker since 2013, is addressed as "Madam Deputy Speaker". MPs elect the Speaker from amongst their own ranks. The House must elect a Speaker at the beginning of each new parliamentary term after a general election, or after the death or resignation of the incumbent. Once elected, a Speaker continues in office until the dissolution of Parliament, unless he or she resigns prior to this. Customarily, the House