to believe Betty Boothroyd is the best Speaker of recent years?

[longfingernails]

Michael Martin was terrible, he was totally incompetent - and John Bercow is ridiculously pompous, and diminishes the standing of Parliament.

Bernard Weatherill was also pretty good.

I am glad that William Hague has pulled his little stunt allowing a secret vote on Bercow after the election - it is petty politics, but funny nonetheless. It would be fantastic to see Bercow receive his comeuppance.

Hear, hear.

Agree totally and he's such a pomopus short arse too. Looks like a smug garden gnome and them there the saddo wife.

Loved Betty and always hoped she would suddenly start high kicking as in her tiller girl days.

Ha but, in fact vmnbu!

Ha but should say YANBU!

Lindsey Hoyle usually does a good job presiding over the budget (I remember him keeping order in difficult circumstances during the 2010 emergency budget).

He would be a good Speaker I think.

Surely Speakers are like Doctors Who; you like the one you got at a formative time in your life.

Agree OP

Loved Betty Boothroyd.

She kept the whole bear garden in order. Best Speaker I remember, and I have known of a few. Betty seemed to have a great sense of humour as well as being one not to cross.

Actually Bercow is rated by those in the know as one of the most effective speakers of recent times. It's worth noting that he also does a lot for charities for disabled children.

YABU I think Bercow has been a fantastic Speaker. He has been prepared to make difficult decisions and not see the job as a popularity contest.

I think half the problem with Bercow is his wife, to be honest.... (ducks for cover)

But unquestionably Betty Boothroyd was an exceptional Speaker.

Bercow is really good and understands the importance of debate and parliamentary rules.

Boothroyd was a pantomime figure who just played to the gallery.

Is that Betty "O-O-O-O...Order" Boothroyd? always seemed a very affected foible to me.

They need that Welsh chap, Nigel Owens, who refereed the England v France game on Saturday. He was excellent.

My DC showed me a YouTube clip of him dealing with the aftermath of a flare up on the pitch in another match. He called all the players round him in a circle, basically told them to pack it in and that he would treat them like adults if they behaved like adults. Of course, he'd need to stand for Parliament first.

But yes, Betty Boothroyd was the best.

Douglas Carswell (the Tory MP who defected to UKIP) wrote a good article on Bercow in the Telegraph a couple of years ago, pointing out that he held Ministers to account and empowered the backbenchers. So he has his fans on the right as well as the left.

I think Bercow is a good speaker. It's a shame about his wife though.. I don't have any time for her, seems like she's one of these people who speaks first and thinks later (e.g. when she got sued by Lord McAlpine)

I though Betty Boothroyd was very good as well.

That Douglas Carswell piece is good. Just like he doesn't share Bercow's politics, I don't share his, but we all agree that the Government, whoever they are, should be called to account and it's the Speaker's job to do this.

Bercow is fulfilling that role more than any other Speaker I can remember. I remember five of them going back to George Thomas in the Seventies.

People who want to dodge the House, or get pulled up for lying - notably Michael Gove and Iain Duncan Smith - and toadies who want to brown-nose the Prime Minister, don't like him for that.

I disappointed in William Hague for tabling this sneaky vote. I thought better of him.

I'd expect nothing else from Gove, who's called a three line whip to some footling meeting to ensure that almost every Tory MP is in Westminster for the vote.

Julian Lewis, another Tory, has pointed out that the Tories are lying when they say this is a recommendation of the Procedure Committee, that Hague has revealed this after most MPs of other parties have gone to their constituencies, but a Conservative Party meeting has been called beforehand to ensure they are all there in order to vote.

"One need not be a particular admirer of the Speaker to realise that this is no way for decent people to behave."

Scholes34

That happened in the Scarlets Vs Leinster game in 2011, he has refined his technique since then and silenced the English captain Chris Robshaw on Saturday by looking at him, and just saying.... Ehhh Christopher.

Christopher walked away without a word.

You know when you get you full name, you are in trouble.

Ehhh Christopher

Boothroyd was a pantomime dame. I agree with limited , except that I definitely would not have thought better of Haig. It's petty, spiteful and dishonest, and not the first time Haig's moral judgment has been shown wanting.

It is an abuse of power and vindictive student union politics from a failed Tory leader on his last day in Parliament.

Elected representatives in the house of commons should not vote in secret.

Hague, ffs.

limited - I remember back to George Thomas too.

He was good, as was Weatherill.

My perception of Bercow is that it's all about him - he's far too prominent. Betty just did the job without you really notice it being done. He tries far too hard to be clever and witty and fails.