Michael Martin isn’t the first Speaker of the Commons to come under fire. Steve Pratt finds out that previous holders of the post have been beheaded, murdered and sacked.

THE Labour MP who suggested in the House of Commons yesterday that there had “never been in the history of our land such an attack on the Speaker” was mistaken.

The role has been fraught with controversy for centuries. No less than nine Speakers died a violent death – by beheading, murder and in battle – before 1560, which must put the job up there among deep sea diver and bomb disposal expert on the list of most dangerous jobs.

The Speaker of the House of Commons, Michael Martin, wasn’t on the receiving end of the line, “You’re fired” when he faced the men and women who elected him over the MPs’ expenses row.

They discovered that getting rid of him isn’t easy. No Speaker has been given the boot by MPs for more than three centuries, when Sir John Trevor was found guilty by the House of a “high crime and misdemeanour”. He took a £1,000 bribe from the Corporation of London.

Michael Martin, the 63-year-old teetotal father- of-two who worked for Rolls Royce before becoming a trade union organiser, might have expected to have stayed in office until he retired, in contrast to some of his predecessors whose time in the Speaker’s chair was cut short in unpleasant circumstances.

They’ve died on the job – beheaded, murdered and killed on the field of battle. There was even a double axing when Sir Richard Empson and Edmond Dudley both lost their heads on the same day in 1510.

There’s no doubting that the Speaker is an important, influential chap, or chapess as would’ve been said in the presence of Betty Boothroyd, the first female Speaker from 1992 to 2000. More than 150 people have served as Speaker, their names inscribed in gold leaf around the upper walls of Room C in the House of Commons library. The direction and guidance the House receives from its chairman, or Speaker is central to the House’s whole way of life, as the House of Commons Information Office Factsheet M2 Members Series (revised September 2003) so eloquently puts it.

This is where some feel Michael Martin has failed, misreading the public mood on the matter of MPs’ expenses and worrying more about the leaks than the accusations when the row broke after the Daily Telegraph revelations.

Worse still, he was rude to MPs who tried to speak on the subject. He’s reported to have put this down to being in a bad mood. And he did not take well criticism of his decision to ask the police to investigate the leaking of expenses details.

The first Speaker listed in parliamentary records is Sir Thomas Hungerford, in January 1377. His appointment was by the so-called Good Parliament which, determined to live up to its name, wanted to curb King Edward III’s racy private life and his frolicking in the royal bedchamber with a former maid called Alice.

So they elected another Speaker, Peter de la Mare, but had reckoned without one of the king’s sons, John of Gaunt, overruling the election and locking up de la Mare in Nottingham Castle. Hungerford was the royal choice to preside over the Bad Parliament. His stay was brief. He was thrown out when Edward’s grandson, Richard, inherited the throne, and de la Mare, who didn’t know whether he was coming or going, was reinstated.

It was obvious that the Speaker was the king’s man, although sometimes required to give the monarch unwelcome news, such as explaining why the Commons had voted against raising a tax for the royal revenues.

ALL this bowing and scraping to the monarchy ended with the English Civil War. In 1642, Speaker William Lenthall found someone sitting in his seat – King Charles I, no less, who’d come to the Commons to arrest five MPs for treason.

Lenthall’s often-quoted reply was taken as the new philosophy of the Speaker’s duty to the House. “May it please your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see, nor tongue to speak in this place, but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here, and I humbly beg Your Majesty’s pardon that I cannot give any other answer than this to what Your Majesty is pleased to demand of me”. This may be roughly translated as telling the king to get stuffed.

Once the monarchy was restored in 1660, Speakers were usually linked with the government of the day and often held office. It was Arthur Onslow, Speaker from 1728 to 1761, who loosened these ties and established many of the practices adopted by the Speaker today.

Since the mid-19th Century, the Speaker has been expected to take the role of chairman. His job is to keep order, decide who to call to speak and ejecting from the chamber any who break the rules.

He’s expected to be above party politics and even-handed, areas in which some think Michael Martin has failed. That impartiality extends to steering clear of old party colleagues and groups to the extent of not using the Commons dining rooms or bars. Does the right to wear a full-bottomed wig compensate for not being able to a G&T with a chum after work, you have to ask.

However and whenever Michael Martin goes, he won’t be the first Speaker to exit under a cloud. One in the 19th Century was persuaded to stand down because of a fondness for drink.

Even highly-regarded Speakers can have secrets.

Miner’s son George Thomas became famous with his cry of “Order! Order!” when the Commons was first broadcast on radio. After his death, it was revealed he’d been blackmailed for years over his sexual preferences.

Sir John Trevor, elected Speaker in 1685, was not only known for his persecution of Catholics, but was challenged to a dual for calling a rival a Roundhead in the election campaign.

For the moment, Michael Martin is Speaker.

Despite a hint that “your early retirement sir would help the reputation of the House”, he would say that was “not a subject for today”.

Jobsearch

WANTED FOR HOUSE WORK IN WESTMINSTER

Job title: The Speaker.

Salary: Same as a Cabinet minister, £141,866.

Benefits: Rent-free home overlooking the Thames.

Uniform (optional): Knee breeches, silk stockings, buckled court shoes and full-bottom wig.

Job description: To chair debates in the House of Commons.

Requirements: A catchphrase along the lines of “Order! Order!” or “Right, time’s up.”

Hours: Two hours during the day, an hour each evening and some overtime attending ceremonial and formal occasions. Back-up from three deputies.

Perks: Big chair, the power to boss people around, a good chance of meeting the Queen, generous expenses (under review).

Start date: Soon – once the present holder of the post can be persuaded to clear his desk.