2000 Speaker of the British House of Commons election 2000 Speaker of the British House of Commons election The 2000 election of the Speaker of the House of Commons occurred on 23 October 2000 after the retirement of Betty Boothroyd as Speaker. The election resulted in the election of Labour MP Michael Martin, who had served as Deputy Speaker since 1997. It was the first contested election since 27 April 1992. This was the last Speaker election to be conducted by means of a conventional parliamentary motion with recorded votes on an amendment for each candidate. With an unusually large number of candidates, a significant number of MPs spoke
Next Speaker of the British House of Commons election the House (currently Kenneth Clarke) acts as presiding officer of the Commons during the election process. If there is only one candidate, a motion is put before the House asking if the candidate should take the Chair as Speaker. If the question is challenged the decision is made by division (vote). If there is more than one candidate the House then votes by secret ballot using the exhaustive ballot voting system, with each MP having one vote and an absolute majority required for victory. If no candidate wins a majority then the individual with the fewest votes is eliminated, as