The 1971 election of the Speaker of the House of Commons occurred on 12 January 1971, following the retirement of the previous

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 ...

Dr Horace King. The election resulted in the election of

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 ...

Selwyn Lloyd John Selwyn Brooke Lloyd, Baron Selwyn-Lloyd, (28 July 1904 – 18 May 1978) was a British politician. Born and raised in Cheshire, he was an active Liberal as a young man in the 1920s. In the following decade, he practised as a barrister and s ...

, formerly

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

and

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

. It was the first election with more than one nominee since William Morrison defeated Major James Milner in the 1951 election. Following tradition, the election was chaired by the clerk of the house, Barnett Cocks, and all speeches were directed at him. As he was not a member of the house, he could not speak himself and merely pointed at the next MP to speak in the debate. This proved problematic given that the debate was controversial, with allegations that Selwyn Lloyd's nomination had been stitched up between the two front benches and then announced without consulting backbenchers or minor parties. Later elections of Speakers would be chaired 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- ...

. However, under the rules at the time, any MP could be nominated for Speaker with or without their consent or knowledge.

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 ...

MP Sir Geoffrey de Freitas was nominated against his wishes to stand against Lloyd. Subsequently, the rules were changed to require the consent of a nominee for Speaker before he or she could be nominated.

Nominated candidates

(

) * Sir Geoffrey de Freitas (

)

Election

The election was conducted by means of a conventional parliamentary motion, originally to elect Selwyn Lloyd. He was proposed and seconded by Conservative MP Dame

Irene Ward Irene Mary Bewick Ward, Baroness Ward of North Tyneside, (23 February 1895 – 26 April 1980) was a British Conservative Party politician. She was a long-serving female Member of Parliament (MP), the longest serving female Conservative MP in his ...

and Labour MP

Charles Pannell Thomas Charles Pannell, Baron Pannell, PC (10 September 1902 – 23 March 1980) was a British Labour Party politician. He entered local politics in the outer London suburbs: he was a member of Walthamstow Borough Council from 1929 to 1936 a ...

respectively. Conservative MP

Robin Maxwell-Hyslop Sir Robert ("Robin") John Maxwell-Hyslop (6 June 1931 – 13 January 2010) was a British Conservative Party politician. The younger son of Royal Navy Captain Alexander Henry Maxwell-Hyslop (who adopted the additional name of Maxwell in 1925), ...

moved an amendment to the original motion to elect Geoffrey De Freitas, who was then seconded by Labour MP

Willie Hamilton William Winter Hamilton (26 June 1917 – 23 January 2000) was a British politician who served as a Labour Member of Parliament for constituencies in Fife, Scotland for 37 years, between 1950 and 1987. He was known for his strong republican ...

. Lloyd then gave a speech of submission to the will of the House, but De Freitas followed by stating he had not been consulted by anyone who proposed his name and stated his support for Lloyd.

Results

MPs then voted on the motion that Selwyn Lloyd take the Chair as Speaker, which was approved by 294 votes to 55. Lloyd was thus conducted to the Speaker's Chair by Charles Pannell and Dame Irene Ward.

References

House of Commons transcript, 12 January 1971
{{United Kingdom Speaker elections

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...