The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England.

Usage

The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerford in the Parliament of England.Lee Vol 28, pp. 257,258. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the powers to discipline members who break the procedures of the chamber or house. The speaker often also represents the body in person, as the voice of the body in ceremonial and some other situations. By convention, speakers are normally addressed in Parliament as 'Mister Speaker', if a man, or 'Madam Speaker', if a woman. In other cultures, other styles are used, mainly being equivalents of English "chairman" or " president". Many bodies also have a speaker ''

pro tempore ''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a ''locum tenens'' (placeholder) in the absence o ...

'' (or deputy speaker), designated to fill in when the speaker is not available. The speaker is commonly supported by a Speaker's Office. Examples of speaker's include:

Armenia

The President of the National Assembly of Armenia is the speaker of the house in the National Assembly of

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and '' ...

. The formation of this position was established on 1 August 1918.

Australia

The Speaker of the House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Austra ...

, the lower house of the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-gen ...

. The President of the Senate is the presiding officer of the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. There are a tot ...

, the upper house of the Parliament.

Canada

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by total ...

, the Speaker of the House of Commons (''président de la Chambre des communes'') is the individual elected to preside over the House of Commons, the elected

lower house A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or oth ...

. The speaker is a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members ofte ...

(MP) and is elected at the beginning of each new parliament by fellow MPs. The Speaker's role in presiding over Canada's House of Commons is similar to that of speakers elsewhere in other countries that use the Westminster system. The Speaker does not vote except in the case of a tie. By convention, if required to vote, the Speaker will vote in favour of continuing debate on a matter, but will not ultimately vote for a measure to be approved. The Speaker of the Senate of Canada (''président du Sénat'') is the presiding officer of the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the ...

, the appointed

upper house An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restrict ...

. The Speaker represents the Senate at official functions, rules on questions of parliamentary procedure and parliamentary privilege, and presides over debates and voting in the "Red Chamber". The Speaker of the Senate is appointed by the

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, ...

from amongst sitting senators upon the advice of the Prime Minister. The Speaker has a vote on all matters. In the event of a tie, the matter fails. At the provincial level, the presiding officer of the provincial legislatures is called the "Speaker" (''président'') in all provinces except Quebec, where the term "President" is used. The presiding officer fulfills the same role as the Speaker of the House of Commons.

Chile

The President of the Chamber of Deputies is the highest authority of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile. The President of the Senate is the highest authority of the

Senate of Chile The Senate of the Republic of Chile is the upper house of Chile's bicameral National Congress, as established in the current Constitution of Chile. Composition According to the present Constitution of Chile, the Senate is composed of fort ...

China (Mainland)

In the People's Republic of China, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is the presiding officer of the

Standing Committee of the National People's Congress The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which is the highest organ of state p ...

which is considered China's top legislative body. As stipulated in Article 84 of the Constitution of China, should both the President and

Vice-President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

become incapacitated, and the National People's Congress is unable to elect a timely replacement, the Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee will act as President.

Hong Kong

The President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong is the speaker of the Legislative Council and is elected by and from its members. The President presides over the Council meetings and is empowered to enforce the Rules of Procedures solely. While Members of the Legislative Council may be Hong Kong residents who are not Chinese citizens, the President can only be selected from those who possess a Chinese nationality and does not have a right of abode in foreign countries.

Italy

Parliamentarism in Italy is centred on the Presidents of the two Houses, vested in defence of the members and of the assembly as a whole; so "the Speaker invites the representative of the Government not to deviate from the rules of parliamentary behaviour". Now constitutional community highlights changes also in this role. The President of the Senate also acts as deputy President of the Republic "in all cases in which the President cannot perform them".

New Zealand

In New Zealand, the Speaker of the House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the New Zealand House of Representatives, the only chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. Precedent set by other Westminster-style parliaments means that Members of Parliament must always address the Speaker.

Singapore

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borderin ...

, the

Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore The speaker of the Parliament of Singapore is the presiding officer of the Parliament of Singapore. The speaker is nominated by the prime minister before being appointed by the Parliament. The speaker is also second in the presidential line ...

is the head officer of the country's legislature. By recent tradition, the Prime Minister nominates a person, who may or may not be an elected

(MP), for the role. The person's name is then proposed and seconded by the MPs, before being elected as Speaker. The Constitution states that Parliament has the freedom to decide how to elect its Speaker. While the Speaker does not have to be an elected MP, they must possess the qualifications to stand for election as an MP as provided for in the Constitution. The Speaker also cannot be a Cabinet Minister or Parliamentary Secretary, and must resign from those positions prior to being elected as Speaker. The Speaker is one of the few public sector roles which allow its office-holder to automatically qualify as a candidate in the Singapore presidential elections.Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, Art. 19(3)(a).

Taiwan

The Legislative Yuan is the highest legislative body of Taiwan. The President of the Legislative Yuan presides over its meetings and is elected by the legislators from among themselves. Until 1993, the President of the Control Yuan was elected by and from the members like the speaker of many other parliamentary bodies.

United Kingdom

In the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Speaker is the individual elected to preside over the elected

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

. The speaker is a

(MP) and is elected at the beginning of each new parliament by fellow MPs. The Lord Speaker is the presiding officer of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster i ...

. The presiding officer of the House of Lords was until recently the Lord Chancellor, who was also a member of the government (a cabinet member) and the head of the judicial branch. The Lord Chancellor did not have the same authority to discipline members of the Lords that the speaker of the Commons has in that house. The Lord Speaker is elected by the members of the House of Lords and is expected to be politically impartial.

Devolved legislatures

The

Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament sco, Preses o the Scots Pairlament , body = , member_of = Scottish Parliamentary Corporate BodyScottish Parliament , insignia = Scottish_Parliament_logo_purple_vertical.png , insigniasize = 150px , insigniacaption = Logo used to represent ...

is the President of the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holy ...

. The Llywydd of the Senedd is the speaker of Senedd Cymru, the Welsh parliament. The Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly presides over the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameral , house1 = , leader1_type = ...

United States

Federal

Both chambers of the United States Congress have a presiding officer defined by the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

. The

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the ...

presides over the lower house of Congress, the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ca ...

. The Speaker, elected by the entire House, is the top-ranking officer of the legislative branch of the federal government. Unlike in Commonwealth realms, the position is partisan, and the Speaker often plays an important part in running the House and advancing a political platform;

Joseph Gurney Cannon Joseph Gurney Cannon (May 7, 1836 – November 12, 1926) was an American politician from Illinois and leader of the Republican Party. Cannon served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1903 to 1911, and many consi ...

, speaker from 1903 to 1911, is an extreme example. The

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice p ...

, as provided by the

formally presides over the upper house, the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. In practice, however, the Vice President does not regularly appear in Congress owing to responsibilities in the Executive branch and the fact that the Vice President may only vote to break a tie, something that rarely occurs due to the

filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...

preventing tie votes from occurring in practice. In the Vice President's absence, the presiding role is delegated to the most

Senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

member of the majority party, who is the President pro tempore of the United States Senate. Since the Senate's rules give little power to its non-member presider (who may be of the minority party), the task of presiding over daily business is typically rotated among junior members of the majority party.

States

In the forty-nine states that have a bicameral legislature, the highest leadership position in the

is usually called the "Speaker" and the upper house is usually the "President of the (State) Senate. In Nebraska—the only state with a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

legislature—the senators elect one senator to serve as " Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature". In Tennessee, the senators elect a "Speaker of the Senate" who presides over the

Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any issue regar ...

and serves as lieutenant governor.