Speaker no stranger to controversy

By Emma Griffiths
Political reporter, BBC News

Speaker Michael Martin's row with David Cameron on Wednesday is the latest in a series of controversies since he was elected to the role six years ago.

Mr Martin succeeded Betty Boothroyd as Speaker in 2000

He began his time in the job with a press conference, criticised by some for breaking with the tradition of the Speaker keeping a distance from the media.

And just one month in the role, he expelled pro-Israeli Tory MP John Butterfill from the Commons, after he complained he had not been called to speak during a debate, while six pro-Arab MPs had been.

Since then there have been mutterings among the Conservatives that Mr Martin favours his old Labour colleagues.

Mr Martin is a Labour MP for Glasgow North East but, as Speaker, he ceases to represent any party and is expected to be strictly neutral.

To help this process, none of the other main parties stand at General Elections against whichever MP is Speaker.

In October 2001 he had to apologise after speaking up in favour of then Home Secretary David Blunkett's abolition of the voucher scheme for asylum seekers.

I wish to assure the House that I am wholly committed to maintaining the long standing tradition that the Speaker stands aside from politics Michael Martin

Mr Martin told MPs: "I wish to assure the House that I am wholly committed to maintaining the long standing tradition that the Speaker stands aside from politics."

He added: "If, contrary to my intention, my remark was subject to the interpretation that has been placed upon it, I seek the indulgence of the House."

It is not just Conservative MPs who have criticised Mr Martin. The Glasgow North East MP - a former sheet metal worker - has reportedly felt he was the victim of snobbery within the Labour Party hierarchy.

'Gorbals Mick'

As Speaker, he is expected to keep order and call MPs to speak during debates - or reprimand them if necessary.

In February 2002, in a similar intervention to Wednesday's row, he told off then-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, and Tony Blair, for raising what he described as party matters during prime minister's questions.

The ensuing row saw Charles Clarke, then Labour Party chairman, quoted in the Times newspaper as saying he had "become an embarrassment" - Mr Clarke later denied saying this.

It was reported that Mr Martin felt he was being undermined, because he is Scottish and working class. He said the attack on him was "an attack on every working class person from Clydeside".

SPEAKER'S DUTIES Keep order during debates Ensure House rules obeyed Act impartially Represents Commons Chooses MPs to speak Can suspend sittings Protects interests of minorities

Later Labour MP Tam Dalyell argued the snobbery about Mr Martin's background was not the fault of the Cabinet, but of the media.

"All this stuff I read about 'Gorbals Mick' is odious. What the man is trying to do is do the job of Speaker properly," he said.

"There are a great many people in the Labour Party who are glad there is a working class Speaker."

Mr Martin was the first Roman Catholic to serve as Speaker since the Reformation, when he took over from Betty Boothroyd in October 2000 and has not been shy to dispose of Parliament's centuries-old traditions.

He did away with the traditional tights worn by speakers in favour of dark flannel trousers and continued the precedent set by Ms Boothroyd by dispensing with the traditional wig.

In its present form the Speakership dates back to 1377 and the holder is generally a respected senior MP who is paid a salary similar to that of Cabinet ministers.

As well as acting as a chairman during debates, and protecting the House of Commons rules for carrying out its business, he is also responsible for protecting the interests of minorities in the Commons.

In the case of serious general disorder, he has the power to suspend the sitting - as when hunt protesters stormed into the Commons chamber in September 2004, and as he threatened to do on Wednesday.

Whatever the controversy, no one in Parliament has the power to remove Mr Martin; not the prime minister, the father of the House or MPs.