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
Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom) to be changed. Since that time, as recommended by a Select Committee, the Father of the House (the member of the House with the longest period of unbroken service who is not a Minister) becomes the presiding officer. Until 2001, the election of a Speaker was conducted as a routine matter of House of Commons business, as it used motions and amendments to elect. A member would move "That Mr(s) [X] do take the Chair of this House as Speaker", and following debate (which may have included an amendment to replace the name of the member on whom the Speakership