Speakers And The Speakership: Presiding Officers And The Management Of Business From The Middle Ages To The Twenty-First Century

From the Publisher

This volume explores the role of the Speaker and the Lord Chancellor in the Westminster Parliament before the advent of democracy, setting it beside the practice at Dublin and Edinburgh over the same period, and the more recent history of the role at London and Washington.

• First in-depth study since the mid-1960s of how Speakers and the Speakership have operated in Parliament in Britain
• Includes contribution by the former Speaker of the House of Commons, Baroness Boothroyd, describing her own tenure of the Speakership
• Covers practice at Westminster and at Dublin and Edinburgh, and a comparison of Speakers at Westminster and Washington during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
• Composed of papers from a conference held at the House of Commons in April 2008

Editorial Reviews -

Speakers and the Speakership

From the Publisher

This volume explores the role of the Speaker and the Lord Chancellor in the Westminster Parliament before the advent of democracy, setting it beside the practice at Dublin and Edinburgh over the same period, and the more recent history of the role at London and Washington.

• First in-depth study since the mid-1960s of how Speakers and the Speakership have operated in Parliament in Britain
• Includes contribution by the former Speaker of the House of Commons, Baroness Boothroyd, describing her own tenure of the Speakership
• Covers practice at Westminster and at Dublin and Edinburgh, and a comparison of Speakers at Westminster and Washington during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
• Composed of papers from a conference held at the House of Commons in April 2008

From the Publisher

In the modern period, Speakers and other presiding officers are expected to remain impartial and above party politics; however, this was not always so, and in previous times they acted as key, though sometimes equivocal, government allies in the political management of parliament.

This volume is the first dedicated to the subject of Speakership since the mid 1960s, and offers an absorbing analysis of how Speakers and the speakership have operated in parliament in Britain. Composed of papers from a conference held at the house of commons in April 2008, it explores the role of the Speaker and the lord chancellor in the Westminster parliament before the advent of democracy, and sets it beside the practice in Dublin and Edinburgh over the same period, and the more recent history of the role both at London and at Washington. It concludes with a fascinating description by the former Speaker of the house of commons, Baroness Boothroyd, of her own tenure of the chair.

Features -

Speakers and the Speakership

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction Paul Seaward Seaward, Paul 1

Speakers at War in the Late 14th and 15th Centuries Anne Curry Curry, Anne 8

The Tudor Speakers 1485-1601: Choosing, Status, Work Alasdair Hawkyard Hawkyard, Alasdair 22

Chancellors, Presidents and Speakers: Presiding Officers in the Scottish Parliament before the Restoration Alan R. MacDonald MacDonald, Alan R. 49

Speakers in the 17th-Century Irish Parliament Coleman A. Dennehy Dennehy, Coleman A. 62

The Reputation and Authority of the Speaker and the Speakership of the House of Commons, 1640-60 Stephen K. Roberts Roberts, Stephen K. 75

The Speaker in the Age of Party, 1672-1715 Paul Seaward Seaward, Paul 90

The Speakership of the House of Lords, 1660-1832 Ruth Pally Pally, Ruth 102

Thurlow, Eldon and Lyndhurst and the Management of the House of Lords Richard W. Davis Davis, Richard W. 118

'Nothing Could Exceed the Badness of His Character Even in This Bad Age' William McKay McKay, William 129

The Role of the Speaker in the 20th Century Baroness Boothroyd 136

Index 145

Synopsis

In the modern period, Speakers and other presiding officers are expected to remain impartial and above party politics; however, this was not always so, and in previous times they acted as key, though sometimes equivocal, government allies in the political management of Parliament.

This volume is the first dedicated to the subject of Speakership since the mid-1960s, and offers an absorbing analysis of how Speakers and the Speakership have operated in Parliament in Britain. Composed of papers from a conference held at the House of Commons in April 2008, it explores the role of the Speaker and the Lord Chancellor in the Westminster Parliament before the advent of democracy, and sets it beside the practice in Dublin and Edinburgh over the same period, and the more recent history of the role both at London and at Washington. It concludes with a fascinating description by the former Speaker of the House of Commons, Baroness Boothroyd, of her own tenure of the chair.

About The Author:

Biography

Paul Seaward has held the position of Director of the History of Parliament Trust since 2001. Previously, he was a Clerk in the House of Commons. He has written on politics, history and political thought in the late seventeenth century and on Parliament in the twentieth century. His publications include The Cavalier Parliament and the Reconstruction of the Old Regime, 1661-1667 (1989); The Restoration, 1660-1688 (1991); The Politics of Religion in Restoration England (1990: edited with Mark Goldie and Tim Harris); and editions of Clarendon’s History of the Rebellion (2009) and Hobbes’s History of the English Civil War, Behemoth (2009).

Special Features:

Features -

Speakers and the Speakership

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction Paul Seaward Seaward, Paul 1

Speakers at War in the Late 14th and 15th Centuries Anne Curry Curry, Anne 8

The Tudor Speakers 1485-1601: Choosing, Status, Work Alasdair Hawkyard Hawkyard, Alasdair 22

Chancellors, Presidents and Speakers: Presiding Officers in the Scottish Parliament before the Restoration Alan R. MacDonald MacDonald, Alan R. 49

Speakers in the 17th-Century Irish Parliament Coleman A. Dennehy Dennehy, Coleman A. 62

The Reputation and Authority of the Speaker and the Speakership of the House of Commons, 1640-60 Stephen K. Roberts Roberts, Stephen K. 75

The Speaker in the Age of Party, 1672-1715 Paul Seaward Seaward, Paul 90

The Speakership of the House of Lords, 1660-1832 Ruth Pally Pally, Ruth 102

Thurlow, Eldon and Lyndhurst and the Management of the House of Lords Richard W. Davis Davis, Richard W. 118

'Nothing Could Exceed the Badness of His Character Even in This Bad Age' William McKay McKay, William 129

The Role of the Speaker in the 20th Century Baroness Boothroyd 136

Index 145