Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom) Commons. Their names are inscribed in gold leaf around the upper walls of Room C of the House of Commons Library. The three most recent Speakers have been notable for a series of firsts. Betty Boothroyd, elected in 1992, was the first woman Speaker. Michael Martin, elected in 2000, was the first Roman Catholic Speaker since the Reformation. John Bercow, elected in 2009, is the first Jewish Speaker. By convention, Speakers have traditionally been addressed in Parliament as "Mr Speaker", and their deputies as "Mr Deputy Speaker", regardless of their gender or their usual title. Betty Boothroyd was, at her
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario E.C. Drury, looked to the opposition benches for a Speaker. Upon becoming Speaker, Parliament resigned from the Liberal caucus and sat without party affiliation. While this is the normal practice in the British House of Commons, it is the only time it has happened in Ontario. Hugh Edighoffer was elected Speaker following the 1985 provincial election that returned a tenuous minority Progressive Conservative government under Frank Miller. However, the opposition Liberals and NDP controlled the legislature and elected Edighoffer as Speaker at the beginning of the session. Days later, the Miller government was brought down by a Motion of Non-Confidence