2000 Speaker of the British House of Commons election for electing a Speaker were changed the following year to a use a secret and exhaustive ballot. This procedure was first used in the Speaker election of 2009. Under the old system for electing Speakers of the House of Commons, a candidate would be nominated and seconded, and alternative candidates would be offered as 'amendments' to that initial motion. In 2000, 11 candidates stepped forward, leading Sir Edward Heath, presiding in his capacity as Father of the House, to have the candidates voted on two at a time. He called Michael Martin to be nominated first. In the event, no
2009 Speaker of the British House of Commons election turn confirmed as nominated candidates by the Parliamentary authorities on the morning of the election: All 10 of the above candidates appeared at a Hansard Society hustings on 15 June. This was the first full hustings to take place for a Speaker election, although there was a hustings for the 2000 speaker election, which several of the candidates did not attend. The following candidate announced his candidacy, only to withdraw before the election was held: The result of the first secret ballot was announced at approximately 17:10 (16:10 UTC) on 22 June 2009, after the nominated candidates had all addressed