The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The office was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which combined the Irish House of Commons and House of Commons of Great Britain, forming the modern Commons. "Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793 (33 Geo. 3. c. 13)")
A speaker is elected at the beginning of every parliamentary term and has no term limits. Upon being elected, it is by convention that they disaffiliate themselves with any political parties. As the speaker remains a member of parliament (MP) for their constituency, there is a gentlemen's agreement between major political parties to not run candidates in the speaker's constituency.
The incumbent speaker is Lindsay Hoyle, MP for Chorley, who assumed office on 4 November 2019.
List of speakers House of Commons of Great Britain, 1707–1800 The Kingdom of Great Britain was created by the Acts of Union 1707. At the beginning of 1801, Great Britain was combined with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with a single House of Commons serving the whole kingdom.
John Smith, Speaker of the House of Commons of England since October 1705, was elected the first Speaker of the House of Commons of Great Britain.
Portrait Name Term of office Election(s)<hr/ >Parliament(s) Retirement peerage John Smith 1707 1708 (1707) 1 — Sir Richard Onslow2nd Baronet 1708 1710 (1708) 2Baron Onslow William Bromley 1710 1713 (1710) 3 — Sir Thomas Hanmer4th Baronet 1714 1715 (1714) 4 — Sir Spencer Compton 1715 1727 (1715)(1722) 56Baron Wilmington Arthur Onslow 1728 1761 (1728)(1735)(1741)(1747)(1754) 7891011 Sir John Cust3rd Baronet 1761 1770 (1761)(1768) 1213 Sir Fletcher Norton 1770 1780 1770(1774) 1314Baron Grantley Charles Wolfran Cornwall 1780 1789† 1780(1784) 1516 William Wyndham Grenville 1789 1789 1789 16 Baron Grenville Henry Addington 1789 1789(1790)(1796) 161718Viscount Sidmouth
House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was created in 1801. In 1922 the Irish Free State ceased to be part of the UK. The official name of the United Kingdom was changed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, in 1927.
Portrait Name Term of office Election(s)<hr/ >Parliament(s) Party Retirement peerage Henry Addington 1801 1801 ( 1801) 1 ToryViscount Sidmouth Sir John Mitford 1801 1802 ( 1801) 1 ToryBaron Redesdale Charles Abbot 1802 1817 ( 1802)( 1802)(1806)(1807)(1812) 12345 ToryBaron Colchester Sir Charles Manners-Sutton 1817 1835 1817(1819)(1820)(1826)(1830)(1831)1833 567891011 ToryViscount Canterbury James Abercromby 1835 1839 1835(1837) 1213 WhigBaron Dunfermline Charles Shaw-Lefevre 1839 1857 1839(1841)(1847)(1852) 13141516 WhigViscount Eversley John Evelyn Denison 1857 1872 (1857)(1859)(1866)(1868) 17181920 LiberalViscount Ossington Sir Henry Brand 1872 1884 (1872)(1874)(1880) 202122 LiberalViscount Hampden Arthur Peel 1884 1895 (1884)( 1886)( 1886)(1892) 22232425 LiberalViscount Peel William Court Gully 1895 1905 1895( 1895)(1900) 252627 LiberalViscount Selby James Lowther 1905 1921 (1905)(1906)(1910)(1911)(1919) 2728293031 ConservativeViscount Ullswater John Henry Whitley 1921 1928 (1921)(1922)( 1924)( 1924) 31323334 Liberal Edward FitzRoy 1928 1943† (1928)(1929)(1931)(1935) 34353637 Conservative Douglas Clifton Brown 1943 1951 (1943)(1945)(1950) 373839 ConservativeViscount Ruffside William Morrison 1951 1959 1951(1955) 4041 ConservativeViscount Dunrossil Sir Harry Hylton-Foster 1959 1965† (1959)(1964) 4243 Conservative Horace King 1965 1971 (1965)(1966)(1970) 434445 LabourBaron Maybray-King for Life Selwyn Lloyd 1971 1976 1971( 1974)( 1974) 454647 ConservativeBaron Selwyn-Lloyd for Life George Thomas 1976 1983 (1976)(1979) 4748 LabourViscount Tonypandy Bernard Weatherill 1983 1992 (1983)(1987) 4950 ConservativeBaron Weatherill for Life Betty Boothroyd 1992 2000 1992(1997) 5152 LabourBaroness Boothroyd for Life Michael Martin 2000 2009 2000(2001)(2005) 525354 LabourBaron Martin of Springburn for Life John Bercow 2009 2019 2009(2010)(2015)(2017) 54555657 Conservative — Sir Lindsay Hoyle 2019 Incumbent 2019( 2019)(2024)575859 Labour —
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