The 1992 election of the Speaker of the House of Commons occurred on 27 April 1992, in the first sitting of the House of Commons following the 1992 general election and the retirement of the previous Speaker

Bernard Weatherill Bruce Bernard Weatherill, Baron Weatherill, (25 November 1920 – 6 May 2007) was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons between 1983 and 1992. Family He was the son of Bernard Bruce Weatherill (1 ...

. The election resulted in the election of

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Betty Boothroyd Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd (born 8 October 1929) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich and West Bromwich West from 1973 to 2000. From 1992 to 2000, she served as Speaker of the House of ...

, one of Weatherill's deputies, who was the first woman to become

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

. This was at a time when the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

had a majority in the House of Commons. It was also the first contested election (with more than one willing nominee) since William Morrison

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Major James Milner on 31 October 1951, although

Geoffrey de Freitas Sir Geoffrey Stanley de Freitas (7 April 1913 – 10 August 1982) was a British politician and diplomat. For 31 years a Labour Member of Parliament, he also served as British High Commissioner in Accra and Nairobi, and later as President of ...

had been nominated against his wishes in the 1971 election.

Candidates

The candidates were

(

), MP for West Bromwich West and Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons from 1987 to 1992, and Peter Brooke (

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

), MP for

City of London and Westminster South Cities of London and Westminster (also known as City of London and Westminster South from 1974 to 1997) is a constituency returning a single Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons in the United Kingdom Parliament. It is a borough co ...

and

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

from 1989 to 1992.

Election

The election was presided over by the

Father of the House Father of the House is a title that has been traditionally bestowed, unofficially, on certain members of some legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the title refers to the longest continuously- ...

, Sir

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conserv ...

, and was conducted by means of a conventional parliamentary motion, originally to elect Peter Brooke. He was proposed and seconded by Conservative MPs Sir

Michael Neubert Sir Michael Jon Neubert (3 September 1933 – 3 January 2014) was Conservative MP for Romford from 1974 until 1997. His loss in the landslide 1997 general election was considered something of a surprise. He was educated at Bromley Grammar S ...

and Sir

Tom Arnold Tom Arnold may refer to: * Tom Arnold (actor) (born 1959), American actor * Tom Arnold (economist) (born 1948), Irish CEO of Concern Worldwide * Tom Arnold (footballer) (1878–?), English footballer * Tom Arnold (literary scholar) (1823–1900), ...

respectively. When Brooke had made his own speech submitting his candidacy, Conservative MP

John Biffen William John Biffen, Baron Biffen, (3 November 1930 – 14 August 2007), was a British Conservative Party politician. A member of the House of Lords, he was previously a Member of Parliament for over 35 years, and served in Margaret Thatcher's ...

moved an amendment to the original motion to elect

, who was then seconded by Labour MP

Gwyneth Dunwoody Gwyneth Patricia Dunwoody (née Phillips; 12 December 1930 – 17 April 2008) was a British Labour Party politician, who was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Exeter from 1966 to 1970, and then for Crewe (later Crewe and Nantwich) from February 1 ...

. Boothroyd then gave her own speech submitting her candidacy.

Results

MPs then voted on the amendment to the original motion, that

take the Chair as Speaker, which was approved by 372 votes to 238. Boothroyd was thus conducted to the Speaker's Chair by Biffen and Dunwoody, to unprecedented scenes of spontaneous and sustained applause. Clapping was and remains disorderly in the House of Commons, but it has since been tolerated in subsequent elections of Speaker.

References

House of Commons transcript, 27 April 1992
{{United Kingdom Speaker elections 1992 elections in the United Kingdom

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

April 1992 events in the United Kingdom