Thread by @HansardSociety

🧵What will the new MPs be doing today? If you missed the 1st part of our guide to MPs induction check out yesterday’s thread. (It’s been viewed by over 1m people so don’t miss out! ). But today’s the day they elect the Speaker - so be sure to read on👇 1/ buff.ly/4cQyyxB

Before the new MPs elect the Speaker they are invited to attend a 'Chamber briefing' where they will be addressed by the Clerk of the House, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards & senior MPs. It will address standards and procedure & help them get used to the Chamber ..2/

It will be their first chance to properly sit on the green benches, learn the basics of parliamentary etiquette - the do's and don'ts about speaking in the Chamber - and ask some early questions about procedure. Look out for our upcoming thread with more on this shortly! 3/

All MPs will then assemble in the Chamber at 2:30pm.The Clerk of the Crown in Chancery (the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice, @AntoniaRomeoUK) will deliver the ‘Return Book’ - the list of Members returned to serve in this Parliament - to the Clerk of the House. 4/

@AntoniaRomeoUK Sir Edward Leigh - @EdwardLeighGB - the Father of the House (the MP with the longest continuous service who is not a Minister), will then take the chair normally occupied by the Clerk at the table. He will preside until the House elects the Speaker. 5/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB The Lady Usher of the Black Rod, a senior official in the House of Lords whose responsibilities include Royal matters at Westminster (which is a Royal Palace after all!) will be sent to summon MPs to attend the House of Lords. 6/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB The Father of the House and the Clerk will walk out of the House of Commons to the House of Lords followed by the other MPs, starting with the frontbenchers. 7/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB The Lords Commissioners (usually 5 senior Peers including the Lord Speaker; Lord Privy Seal & Leader of the House; shadow Leader of the House; Convenor of the Crossbench Peers,: & Leader of the Lib Dem group) will direct MPs at the Monarch's behest to choose a Speaker. 8/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB MPs will return to the Commons and begin the election. The Father of the House will ask @LindsayHoyle_MP if he is again willing to serve as Speaker. As he sought re-election to the Commons – and so by convention faced no opposition in his seat - we assume he is willing! 9/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP The Father of the House will then invite an MP to move the motion “that Lindsay Hoyle do take the Chair of this House as Speaker.” The MP will make a short speech and the vote on the motion will be taken by acclamation – by MPs shouting in support or opposition to the motion. 10/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP It's customary for the former Speaker to be re-elected uncontested. Exceptionally, if MPs audibly shout in opposition to the motion then a division (a formal vote where MPs go through the voting lobbies to record their vote) will be needed. But we don’t expect that to happen! 11/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP Once the question (the motion) is agreed to, the Father of the House’s job is done for today and he will return to the backbenchers. But the Speaker-elect will be ‘dragged’ from his place on the backbenches to the Chair. 12/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP Why is the Speaker-elect dragged to the Chair? The custom is rooted in the history of the office of the Speaker. In previous centuries one of the roles was to communicate the opinions and decisions of the Commons to the Monarch. 13/
[Photo 2019 House of Commons / Jessica Taylor]

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP On several occasions the Speaker was executed for conveying messages that were not to the liking of the Monarch. So some MPs were understandably reluctant to accept the position! 14/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP Having been conveyed to the Chair the Speaker-elect will say a few words to acknowledge and thank the House for the honour it has bestowed, and he will then take the Chair. 15/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP At this point the Mace (the symbol of Royal authority within Parliament) will be placed on the table in front of the Speaker-elect. Brief speeches of congratulation by each of the party leaders will then follow. 16/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP However, it’s not a done deal at this stage! The Speaker is not confirmed in office until the House of Commons’ choice is approved by the Monarch. The Speaker must receive the 'Royal Approbation'. 17/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP Black Rod will again be sent to summon the House of Commons to attend the House of Lords to confirm the choice. Usually this happens the day after the election (so on Wednesday this week) but it has occasionally happened the same day (as in 2019). 18/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP It hasn’t been confirmed whether the Royal Approbation will take place - either today (9 July) or tomorrow (10 July). But whenever it does, the King will again be represented by the Lords Commissioners. 19/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP The Lords Commissioners will be empowered, by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm, to “do all things in His Majesty’s name, which are to be done on his Majesty’s part in this Parliament”. 20/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP The Speaker-elect will inform the Lords Commissioners that the choice of Speaker has fallen upon himself and he therefore presents himself to the Lords and submits himself "with all humility for His Majesty’s gracious Approbation.” 21/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP The Lord Privy Seal will assure the Speaker of His Majesty's support. As the quote from Hansard below shows, in 2019 the Monarch expressed her appreciation of the Speaker's 'ample sufficiency' to carry out the arduous duties bestowed upon him by the Commons. 22/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP The Speaker-elect will submit himself to the Royal 'will' and stress that should he make any error in the discharge of his duties this should be imputed to him alone and not the Commons as a whole. 23/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP At this stage the Speaker claims ‘rights and privileges’ on behalf of MPs. They are an assertion of parliamentary privilege granted to MPs in the Bill of Rights of 1689 incl. freedom of speech & from arrest, and freedom of access to His Majesty when required via the Speaker. 24/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP But the freedoms parliamentary privilege bestows only extend to parliamentary proceedings in the House. MPs don’t have unlimited freedom of arrest – as quite a few MPs who have ended up in the dock and then in prison in recent years can attest! 25/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP The Lord Commissioners will confirm the Monarch confers the rights and privileges on the Commons and convey reassurance to the Speaker that the Monarch will always place 'the most favourable construction upon your words and actions'. 26/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP Once the Commissioners, on behalf of the Monarch, have approved and confirmed Sir Lindsay Hoyle’s election he will return to the Commons. He will then confirm the arrangements for the swearing-in of all Members. We’ll cover that in a 3rd epic thread about induction shortly! 27/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP Meanwhile, our 'Back to Business' Guide details all the ceremonial, legislative & procedural processes that will happen in Parliament in the coming weeks including the election of the Speaker, swearing-in and lots more. Bookmark or download it. 👇 28/ buff.ly/3xEX7i9

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP If you want to know more about how Parliament really works and what lies ahead for the new MPs sign up to our regular newsletter. There’s lots more to come about State Opening, the King’s Speech, the election of the Deputy Speakers and the Budget! 29/
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@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP If you find this 'behind the scenes' & procedural thread interesting, then follow our Director @RuthFox01 and researcher @mattengland3011 on here for more as the parliamentary session unfolds. 30/

@AntoniaRomeoUK @EdwardLeighGB @LindsayHoyle_MP @RuthFox01 @mattengland3011 And you'll love our Parliament Matters podcast, co-hosted by our Director @RuthFox01 & ex-BBC parliamentary correspondent @DArcyTiP. Listen wherever you get your podcasts to find out what's really going on in Westminster each week!
🧵ends - for now!
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