1971 Speaker of the British House of Commons election information
Election for House of Commons Speaker
1971 Speaker of the British House of Commons election
← 1965
12 January 1971
1976 →
Candidate
Selwyn Lloyd
Sir Geoffrey de Freitas
Party
Conservative
Labour
Constituency
Wirral
Kettering
Popular vote
294
55
Percentage
84.2%
15.8%
Speaker before election
Horace King
Labour
Elected Speaker
Selwyn Lloyd
Conservative
The 1971 election of the Speaker of the House of Commons occurred on 12 January 1971, following the retirement of the previous Speaker Horace King. The election resulted in the election of Conservative MP Selwyn Lloyd, formerly Chancellor of the Exchequer and Foreign Secretary. It was the first election with more than one nominee since William Morrison defeated Major James Milner in the 1951 election.
Following tradition, the election was chaired by the clerk of the house, Barnett Cocks, and all speeches were directed at him. As he was not a member of the house, he could not speak himself and merely pointed at the next MP to speak in the debate. This proved problematic given that the debate was controversial, with allegations that Selwyn Lloyd's nomination had been stitched up between the two front benches and then announced without consulting backbenchers or minor parties. Later elections of Speakers would be chaired by the Father of the House.
However, under the rules at the time, any MP could be nominated for Speaker with or without their consent or knowledge. Labour MP Sir Geoffrey de Freitas was nominated against his wishes to stand against Lloyd. Subsequently, the rules were changed to require the consent of a nominee for Speaker before he or she could be nominated.
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