What is the Role of the Speaker? - TLDR Explains

before we start I want to let you know about our new line of merch it includes a special edition speakers print referring to everyone's favorite catchphrase for the first 24 hours you can get 10% off by using the code order order the patreon backers who donate $10 or more a month can always get 20% off our merch so if you meet that criteria drop me a DM on patreon to get the code check out all of our merch using the link in the description so this is our much-anticipated video on the role of the speaker people have been calling out for this video in our comments for weeks and I've recent videos on the speaker performed for really well so it's clear you're very interested in mr. Burke oh and the role of the speaker more generally if you'd like more of this style of video on how British politics works give this video a like and let us know what you'd like to learn in the comments we'll happily do a video on whatever silly arcane political practice you'd like to know more about anyway on to the speaker you've probably seen a lot of John Burke oh the current Speaker by this point he's become a bit of an internet meme with his constant orders [Music] [Applause] order order order order order order but apart from that what does the speaker actually do the speaker is basically there to keep Parliament and parliamentary debates running smoothly whenever they shall order they're trying to get MPs to quieten down so whoever's speaking can actually speak the other house was calm itself long time to go today subsequent days he car gemelas getting overexcited he's a young cop I'm easier he's a new young member I never requires encouragement however that's not the only thing the speaker can do or even the only thing they're famous for shouting whenever they shout they're telling MPs that it's time for a vote as we explained in our video on the rowdiest of the House of Commons this phrase falls into two parts the votes themselves are called divisions because MPs literally divided between the two separate lobbies one for those who vote in favor of the bill and another for those who are voting against it clear the lobby is his request that anyone besides MPs leaves the lobby so there's no confusion about who's voting and who isn't one's voting is complete he will say to the 312 the nose to the left 314 [Applause] when he says eyes he's referring to those who voted for the motion and when he says no he means those who voted against it the question is the main motion Englishman is our that means a I of the country No [Applause] once the vote is announced MPs have 8 minutes to get the lobby's in order to vote once that times up the doors are locked to prevent any further voting so when the speaker shouts unlock he's stating at the door should be reopened the speaker can also demand that MPs withdraw any distasteful remarks they can also tell MPs who are wasting parliamentary time to finish their speeches to keep parliamentary debate running smoothly and efficiently if MPs don't obey the speaker then they can be suspended from Parliament until the end of the day this is pretty rare but it does happen the last time was in 2016 when Berko name's Dennis Skinner after he refused to withdraw his infamous dodgy Dave comment aimed at David Cameron maybe you've seen it before but it's such an iconic moment it's worth revisiting I asked him a very important question I didn't receive a proper answer then maybe dodgy Dave will answer it now Oh order order order order I must ask the honorable gentlemen order require any assistance jr. Minister Sir proposition I invite the honorable gentlemen to withdraw that adjective or David incapable of asking his question without using that word this man has done more [Applause] looked after his own pocket [Applause] under the power given to me by standing water number 43 I order the Honourable member to withdraw immediately from the house for the remainder of this stay sitting the speaker also chooses who speaks in the house if an MP wants to speak they stand up once the speech EMP has finished and sat down the speaker chooses one of the standing MPs to speak this is often referred to as catching speakers eye or bobbing and speaking when not chosen can result in suspension from the house if the House of Commons gets really unruly even more than it usually is or there's some sort of emergency the speaker also has the power to spend the sitting of the whole house citing grave disorder the last time the speaker invoked this was in 2017 during the Westminster terror attack but this really isn't very common order list it I am no good to suspend the sitting of the house this house is no suspended but please wait here and it's sort of a last resort available to the speaker as well as making sure that the house remains relatively civil the speaker also has some influence in legislation the speaker gets to select proposed amendments for bills and as has become apparent recently he can block government motions in order to uphold parliamentary conventions this is what happened when Berko upheld a parliamentary convention and told the government and they couldn't bring back Mays deal for a third time without substantial changes well there's a much constitutional precedent for this sort of intervention the speaker is actually the highest authority in the House of Commons and so does have the power to do this and can technically only be overruled by Parliament things get a little hazy in this area as the UK doesn't have a codified Constitution which means that unlike most countries the UK doesn't have a black-and-white set of rules explaining procedure if you'd like us to make a video about the UK's Constitution then give this video a like and comment below to let us know the only other time that speaker has impact on legislation is when there's a tie in the House of Commons apart from this the speaker doesn't vote on legislation ever ties are obviously very rare but one has happened last week for the time since the early 1990s the eyes to the right 310 the nose to the left 310 as expected he voted the motion down order in accordance with precedent and on the principle that important decisions should not be taken except by a majority I cast my vote with the nose according to constitutional convention known as speaker Denison's rule the speaker should vote against the motion in order to maintain status quo unless it's an early reading in which case the speaker votes for it to encourage future debate as I said though the speaker doesn't ordinarily vote on bills or take part in debates because they're expected to be politically impartial as such upon their election they're expected to renounce all party affiliations so how are they elected well until 2000 the election of the speaker was just normal parliamentary business behind-the-scenes MP would agree on a speaker and they were put forward a motion suggesting that the MP becomes speaker and this would normally pass with a majority the chosen MP would then become speaker and that was that however in 2000 MPs couldn't agree on a new speaker and so 12 MPs were put forward with 12 separate motions this was really unhelpful and makes picking a speaker nearly impossible luckily that one time was fine and a new speaker was chosen without much fuss but everyone agreed that a new procedure was required so in 2009 when the next speak was elected the process changed any candidate MP had to be nominated by at least 12 other MPs and at least three of those MPs had to come from a different party all successful candidate MPs were then voted on by a secret ballot candidates are eliminated until one is able to achieve a majority of the vote this was conservative John Bercow who's been the speaker ever since although as mentioned he renounced his party affiliation once he was elected while this whole shenanigans is going on an interim speaker is chosen by a select committee this is usually the longest-serving non Minister MP known as the father at the house a little bit more weird trivia upon election the speaker is supposed to be dragged unwillingly from their chair even though being speaker is to be honest a great gig it's good money you get some pretty cool parliamentary lodgings and you basically got political tenure this is because historically speakers were at risk of execution because new kings and queens saw them as too close to the previous monarch so what do we mean by political tenure which some of you might have noticed that 2009 was quite a long time ago Berko has been speaker for about decade most political careers last about half that time so how come Berko has stayed speaker for so long it's because conventionally speakers allowed to stay on for as long as they like parties aren't supposed to oppose the speaker in a general election and the speaker doesn't have to contest a secret ballot upon their return to Parliament there is a motion that goes through moving that the speaker remains a speaker but this almost always passes if it were to fail then there be a new round of voting with secret ballots and the other steps we just discussed Oh another weird tradition is that speakers used to have to wear a wig and court dress which is a ridiculous long black outfit however unfortunately Burke who didn't continue this and only wears a simple black gown on top of his usual attire anyway that's enough about the speaker for one day if you want to hear more about the UK's political system do let us know as I said at the top you can drop a comment below this video telling us what you'd like to learn about one video I'd like to call out is the one that we made on why the House of Commons is so unruly and how the House of Commons actually works if you enjoyed this video I think that one might be right up your street while you're checking out our content make sure to subscribe to make sure you don't miss any of our future videos also following us across our other social channels gives you exclusive bonus content and you get notified when we post articles off on our website you can find us across all of our social platforms by searching for TLDR news you

Channel: TLDR News

Views: 221,669

Keywords: speaker, the speaker, house of commons, commons, john bercow, bercow, parliament, job, role, purpose, responsibility, power, powers, duty

Id: OG-l6VQxG04

Length: 11min 16sec (676 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 11 2019