The Speaker of the House of Commons to step down

[InsaneApache]

Och, I'll miss old Gorbals Mick. He might not have known what he was doing but he's more likeable than the usual boring conservative.

Bizzarre! Against convention the last two Speakers have come from the Labour ranks. I think Weatherill was the last tory and that must be twenty years ago. I'll say it again. Bizzarre.

[Rhyfelwyr]

Bizzarre! Against convention the last two Speakers have come from the Labour ranks. I think Weatherill was the last tory and that must be twenty years ago. I'll say it again. Bizzarre.

I don't mean a champagne socialist this is the Gorbals we are talking about.

[InsaneApache]

Now you've completely lost me.

[Rhyfelwyr]

Now you've completely lost me.

I'm just joking about Mike being a hardcore radical (you do know about the Gorbals, right?).

[InsaneApache]

Yes I do. I lived in Scotland for a couple of years.

Boothroyd came from Dewsbury, you know, Shannon Mathews country. Not exactley salubrious. I'm still lost on your point though.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Naturally, I do not know who most of the candidate speakers from the poll are.

Just posting here to say that I am fascinated by recent events in Britain. This time, it's serious. The British electorate means business. Exciting times!

(Do they by any chance have a handful of inconsequential vagabonds and drunks locked up in a small prison tower in London somewhere? About to be freed by a pitchfork-armed mob? )

[Adrian II]

Just posting here to say that I am fascinated by recent events in Britain. This time, it's serious. The British electorate means business. Exciting times!

Aren't they? And they certainly put paid to recurrent British whining about corruption, absenteeism and the expenses culture in France or Brussels. Makes one wonder how the British public will react? Will they chop off some heads (the French way) or elect a brute to do the chopping for them (the German way)?

In the background of all of this, I hear the constant drumroll of forces affirming that democracy is a shambles and that there is an alternative, that we deserve better.

[KukriKhan]

So, with Mr. Martin being sacrificed, is this the end of it? Or just the start of inquiries, inspections and investigations? And will/would those i,i & i's thwart the House's ability to do its normal business?

[InsaneApache]

So, with Mr. Martin being sacrificed, is this the end of it? Or just the start of inquiries, inspections and investigations? And will/would those i,i & i's thwart the House's ability to do its normal business?

Not the end by a long chalk. People are furious at being bilked by our elected representatives. Combined with the general ineptitude and incompetence of our present government, the people are in no mood to be lectured to by these no marks.

I expect that the three main parties will take a hammering in the EUSSR elections in June. I also suspect that come the general election there will be an awful lot of independent Mps in parliament.

My moneys on the skateboarding duck.

[Furunculus]

the end of it will come after the next general election, which will be a bloodbath for those perceived to be at the forefront of the sleaze.

[Scurvy]

Bizzarre! Against convention the last two Speakers have come from the Labour ranks. I think Weatherill was the last tory and that must be twenty years ago. I'll say it again. Bizzarre.

I thought the convention was debated? --> something like the ruling party had always appointed the speaker, but it happened that each time the speaker changed, the parties changed.

I didn't vote on poll, as I have no idea who is best suited to the role - although Menzies Campbell presumably ruled himself out with the expenses thing, and IMO it should be a conservative, just to even it out a bit.