Petition · past parliament

Make the Speakership a Commons position in its own right, remove his MP status

Closed 180 signatures

What the petition asks

The Speaker (and the three Deputy Speakers) are not allowed to speak or vote in debates which means that they can't represent their constituents properly. We believe that the Speakers should be staff roles rather than being an MP which effectively disenfranchses 4 constituencies (approx 280k people)
This has been considered before by the Procedure Committee and several times (more in the past) before then ( http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmproced/1573/157305.htm ). But we don't agree with the idea that the Speaker is 'most representative of the popular will' (quoted, 22.) since he is not allowed to express the opinion of his constituents in debate. His ability to speak to Government Ministers is not adequate compensation - since they stick to their views anyway.

Timeline

14 Feb 2016 Petition opened for signatures
14 Aug 2016 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 180
Status Closed
Opened 14 Feb 2016
Closed 14 Aug 2016

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.