Parliamentary Reform: The Route from Here to There.

A Speech by the Speaker of the House of Commons

Thursday 24th September, 2009

The Rt. Hon John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, gave a speech yesterday to a sizeable and eager Hansard Society audience at Portcullis House in Westminster.

The focus of the Speaker's speech was the role of the MP, their rights and duties and, more importantly, their future in a newly reformed House of Commons. The present role of the backbencher is, according to Mr Bercow, far from satisfactory. 'Akin to the soldiers at the Somme, turfed out of the trenches on the orders of distant masters‘, subject to decades of marginalisation, their vote only valued when the outcome uncertain.

Mr Bercow laid out a 10-point plan encompassing his vision of reform in the lower house, ranging from the collective rights and duties of MPs when they act in committee to the institutional rights and duties of the House of Commons as a whole. The Speaker floated the possibility of backbench MPs directly questioning Ministers of the Crown who reside in the House of Lords. Equating Lord Mandelson's empire to that of Alexander the Great, his message was clear - these prominent ministers must concede that they are responsible to backbenchers if meaningful accountability is to be achieved.

The Speaker was adamant that the House of Commons must change and will change, predicting the outcome of Sir Christopher Kelley's committee to provide the necessary blueprint. When questioned on whether a let up in public and media pressure would allow such change to be placed on the backburner, the Speaker was adamant that it would not. He went on to state that all the main party leaders are publicly committed to reform as never before, 'This is hugely welcome and it presents a superb opportunity for serious and significant change‘.

The Speaker's speech will be aired on BBC Parliament on Saturday 26th September at 10pm.

Click here to view the full transcript of the speech.

Listen to the event: The Speech   Q&A Part 1   Q&A Part 2

See the photos on Flickr