House of Commons - Election of Speaker - Party Leader Address - 09/07/2024

no call the Prime Minister saki stama Mr Speaker elect on behalf of the whole house may I be the first to congratulate you on your reelection those of us here in the previous Parliament will always remember the wonderful support that you provided to the former conservative member Craig McKinley and his inspiring battle to over come his injuries from sepsis all of those returning will remember as I do the speech he gave just a few weeks ago which was inspiring and moving and we wish him well and I had the privilege on that occasion uh to meet his family and his young daughter that support Mr Speaker elect was characteristic of your profound care for the interests and Welfare of all members especially back Ventures and I'm grateful that new members will be able to look to you as they begin the great privilege of serving their constituents in this house and may I too welcome each and every one of the new members who is here for the first time starting their great responsibility my also s thank sir Edward for presiding over this election and congratulate him on becoming the new father of the house more than 40 Years of Contin continuous service that is a stunning achievement and now back in the 1970s sir Edward wrote a book uh described as an I quote a personal collection of quotations dating from 3,000 BC to the present day which might be said to cast some light on the workings of the Tory mind Mr Speaker elect after the last 6 weeks I think it might be time for a new addition Mr Speaker you preside over a new Parliament the most diverse Parliament by race and gender this country has ever seen and I'm proud of the part that my party has played in that the part proud of the part that every party has played in that including in this intake the largest cohort of LGBT plus MPS of any parliament in the world and given all that diversity Mr speaker-elect I hope you will not begrudge me for a slight departure from convention to also pay tribute to the new mother of the house Diane abber who has done so much in her career over so many years to fight for a parliament that truly represents modern Britain we welcome her back to her place and now as in any new Parliament we have the opportunity and the responsibility to put an end to a politics that has too often seemed self-serving and self-obsessed and to replace that politics of performance with the politics of service because service is a precondition for hope and trust and the need to restore trust should weigh heavily on every member here new and returning alike we all have a duty to show that politics can be a force for good so whatever our political differences it's now time to turn the page unite in a Endeavor of national renewal and make this new Parliament a parliament of service thank you I now called the leader of the opposition Rich well Mr Speaker elect I'm pleased to join the prime minister in welcoming you back to the speaker's chair and can I also praise the wonderful speech from The Honorable member for Lancaster and wi and can I start by congratulating the Prime Minister on his election Victory and as he takes on his formidable task he and his family deserve the good wishes of all of us in this house now in our politics we can argue vigorously as the Prime Minister and I did over the past six weeks but still respect each other and whatever disputes we may have in this Parliament I know that everyone in this house will not lose sight of the fact that we are all motivated by our desire to serve our constituents our country and Advance the principles that we honorably believe in and to every member new and old let me welcome them to their places and congratulate them on their results to be sent to this place by one's constituents is the greatest honor privilege and responsibility I know every one of us will be trying to repay the trust placed in us and I look forward to continuing to represent the interests of my own rural North Yorkshire constituents one of the great aspects of our system is no matter how high you rise you still have that constituency which keeps you grounded and my advice to all members is to appreciate the role that you have every every day that you have it and for those of us in my party let me begin with a message to those who are no longer sitting behind me I am sorry we have lost too many diligent community-spirited Representatives whose wisdom and expertise will be missed in the debates and discussions ahead it is important that after 14 years in government the conservative party rebuilds so now we will take up the crucial role of his Majesty's official opposition professionally effectively and humbly and restoring trust Begins by remembering that being here is an opportunity to do what those we serve expect of us and in our case that means holding the new government to account can I congratulate the father of the house the member for gainsboro my right honorable friend has given 41 years of remarkable dedicated service to this house and his constituency I know full well how ferociously my right honorable friend fights for the interests of his constituents and I applaud him for that my rable friend is also Testament to the benefits of an early morning dip in the serpentine and members may be interested to note that the bottomly have also had a biding big influence on my right honorable friend's career it was in 1974 that my rable friend ran against Arthur bottomly in Middlesboro in his first effort to enter this place and today he takes over from s Peta who will be missed and can I also congratulate the new mother of the house the member for Hackney North and sto Newington we have our differences on policy but no one can deny the right honorable L's important role in this house and the inspiration for so many young women of color that she has provided the right honorable lady is true in every sense of the word a Trailblazer and can I join with you Mr speaker-elect to thank house staff for their hard work in welcoming our new colleagues to this house and their service over the coming Parliament and finally may I congratulate you Mr Speaker elect when you first ascended to the speaker's chair you did so with a healthy majority and that was Testament to your wide appeal and the confidence in which this house places in you and your judgments the last conservative prime minister the right honorable John Major who spoke from these opposition benches said about the role of the speaker the job specification is pretty daunting the patience of Job and the wisdom of Solomon are only the basic requirements we demand also impartiality Independence and fairness well Mr speaker-elect you have shown over the past four and a half years how to protect that careful balance the last few years in this house have been at times difficult and you sir have always brought this house together that was clear when we lost our colleague sir David amamos and I know your guidance and support for members then was greatly appreciated it is a privilege to be in this house our democracy is powerful and as if we have witnessed it can be definitive but I know that this house will true to its best Traditions hold the executive to account and I know that Mr speaker-elect will facilitate that so in conclusion Mr speaker-elect I have no doubt that we will face difficult days together in this place but I also know that I speak for the whole house when I say that we will all welcome your leadership and guidance in the months and years ahead call the father of the house sir Edward Lee Mr speaker-elect as the first backbencher to speak in this Parliament I seem to remember that almost the very first thing you said almost before you even arrived in the chair to start your distinguished career as our speaker you said that your primary job was to defend us backbenches and I know that you will do that with enormous spirit and diligence I know that this place is primarily about great events and the government being held to account by the opposition but it's also about the right and the duty for all of us backbenchers even if some of our views are a bit idiosyncratic to have our views and to have our say we all welcome the fact that we are such a diverse parliament in every single way but above all we are a parliament of a diversity of views we are all equal although to be fair some are more equal than others but you will defend our right to speak our mind to hold the government to account i' like to pay tribute to my predecessor sir Peter Bly who go gave such wonderful service to this house and he sent me a lovely little note uh today he said have fun do some good and make people happy and you Mr Speaker I think you stand up every single day and you can't make all of us happy all the time but you try and make most of us happy for most of the time thank you very much the M of the house di I would like to congratulate the speaker elect on his election and say this he has been a speaker through tumultuous times but he has never failed to serve with Grace and expertise and fairness I would also like to congratulate the 304 new members of parliament who have entered Parliament after this election and say to them it is a great job and you will never regret coming here I would also Al like to congratulate the officers of the house who have organized such a meticulous and careful induction I remember when I was a new MP they just gave you a bunch of keys and told you to get on with it so I have to congratulate the officers I would also like to say that when I was a new member in 19 7 there were only 40 female members of parliament today we have 264 and some of us are glad that we have lived to see this and I can't speak about the increased numbers of female members of parliament without referencing my predecessor baroness Harriet Harman who did so much to work to have an equal and diverse house we are going into very tumultuous times and historically this house has played a role in these events both nationally and internationally and I'm sure it will be the same going forward and we will be prided over in the excellent way of the speaker elect I call the leader of the liberal Democrats Ed David Mr Speaker elect it is a real pleasure and privilege to say on behalf of these benches congratulations on your reelection you know only too well how tough a task you're taking on so thank you for agreeing to serve you've shown time and again your commitment to the vital role this house plays in holding the government of the day to account the new government of the day as the mother of the house has just said faces a very difficult ult task clearing up the mess it has inherited we on these benches will hold the government to account that is our job we will focus on the Health and Care crisis we will focus on ending the sewage Scandal we will focus on helping people with the cost of living crisis um Mr Speaker elect um the new government is has a huge majority and therefore it's a particularly difficult job for the speaker to help the opposition parties as it does its job in holding uh the government to account I'm sure you'll do it with uh Independence and impartiality as you always have done and we on these benches want to work constructively with you as you do that as the largest third party force in this Parliament for over 100 years and for new members can I say uh Mr speaker-elect has always been a Champion for the security and safety of all members and all our staff as well as looking after our Health and Welfare and we are grateful to you for doing that sir just yesterday you asked after my health following my active campaign um and the house may be interested to know that after I had reassured you uh about my health you expressed really enthusiasm about bunge jump so can I congratulate you again and wish you the very best for this Parliament stal party Steven Flyn thank you very much Mr Speaker I wish to to begin by welcoming all new members to the chamber in particular those members from Scottish constituencies there's probably a few more new members from Scottish constituencies than I would like to have seen uh but I do I do look forward to working constructively with you to deliver in the best interest of the people that we are all so fortunate to represent to you Mr Speaker elect I think it's safe to say that me and you didn't always see eye to eye during the course of the last Parliament but in politics and in life I think it's important to let bygones be be bygones and to focus on the future and I think events of that time showed us they mean you have quite a lot in common when it comes to both then and indeed the general election because despite the best efforts and indeed the best intentions of certain people we both managed to hang on to the seats that we hold so Dear Mr Speaker I do look forward to working constructively with you over the course of the coming weeks months and years to allow us to best represent the people that we respect in the finest traditions of this house thank you very much I know called leader of the dup Gavin Robinson congratulations Mr Speaker alect we are thrilled to see you back in your seat but for those new members of parliament who have yet to understand just how this place works some of them will learn through time that Jim Shannon needed no further [Laughter] encouragement and so was the reference was appreciated no doubt by his mother and others others others will learn to see the the consequences of Mr Speaker we have all uh survived and some of us indeed enjoyed a a energetic election campaign all of us will have experienced the odd one who approached you and said I'm not voting for you I had my fair share no surprise in that but in the Guild Hall Square in London der somewhere I wouldn't expect to get too many votes this man came up and he said I'm not voting for you I'm voting for Lindsay Hy he was a Chely man and he impressed upon me the constituency grinding you have the commitment you have to your community the length of service you have given him and his neighbors you and your neighbors and he impressed upon me how fondly you are thought of within your home constituency and I in turn was able to reflect to him how you have risen within the office you hold how over the last number of years we have seen just how important it is to have a true champion for us as backbench representatives in Parliament you have given us that and it was a pleasure for me to reflect to him and have the the ability to reflect to you and the house today just how fond we are of you the semity that you bring to the office you hold but that you never lose either the steadfast or the chirpy nature of your Lancer Roots so thank you uh for putting yourself forward and being prepared to serve us this house and democracy in this way I on behalf of my party colleagues and I trust those others representing Northern Ireland as well wish you well and thank you for it I now called the leader of Reform you okay Nigel farage you Mr Speaker re thank you very much indeed we are the New Kids on the Block we have no experience in this Parliament whatsoever even though some of us have tried many times over the years previously to get here so we can't judge you from working in this place but we can judge you from the way the outside world sees you and I don't just mean the United Kingdom I mean the world because prime minister's questions time is global box office politics and it's pretty clear to everybody that you act with great neutrality that you were bought tremendous dignity to the role as speaker so we absolutely endorse you entirely for this job and it is I must say in marked contrast to the little man that was there before you and bmer the office so dreadfully in doing his best to overturn the biggest Dem ratic result in the history of the country we support you sir fully I know called the leader of plag Li sh Roberts deare and I too rise to congratulate you on your reelection as Speaker of this house and to wish you well of course in priding over this historic session of the new Parliament and I'm heartened that for the first time in history the proportion of women elected here is over 40% and more than half of those are new to this house it is fantastic to see steady progress towards proper representation and I'd also like to take this opportunity congratulate not just the incoming government for their Victory but also the smaller parties in this place all of us here whether we belong to the largest parties the smallest parties or no parties at all we were all elected in the same way way whatever the size of our parliamentary grouping the principle of one vote one value is the foundation of our democracy and that principle should be cherished and defended for the sake of all our constituents and I repeat now to the house Mr Speaker what I said upon your election all those years ago all those constituents are equal and they all deserve respect We Begin the work of representing and Champion our constituents and I have every confidence Mr Speaker that you will continue to ensure that Representatives here are treated fairly because our constituents should be treated fairly too yeah yeah the co-leader of the green party Edan Ramy thank you very much Mr Speaker alect and congratulations on the support you have received from across this house today and I can already say on behalf of the new cohort of green MPS that we have been very pleased with the support you have given us where you've shown that you go out of your way to support new members in this house and support MPS from all parties to be able to hold the government to account and represents your our constituents and I know I speak on behalf of all the green MPS and I'm sure all the new MPS in saying we are very conscious that we are here first and foremost to be constituency MPS to represent our residents and we appreciate your support in enabling us to do that may I associate myself with the remarks of the Prime Minister about the importance of politics being about public service and I very much hope in this new Parliament we can all move to a less tribal form of politics where we work together where we can agree and move things forward in the National interest Mr speaker-elect thank you for your support and congratulations I know call the leader of the sdlp bwood thank you Mr Speaker um I'm very glad to be back um and very glad to see uh the results of that election um many people in Northern Ireland are delighted uh with it and we look forward to holding the new government to account for the promises that they've made to the people of the north of Ireland I want to take this opportunity also to welcome all the new members even the ones that I profoundly disagree with um the one the one piece of advice I would give every new member here is to remember that the speaker doesn't just chair the meetings he's the boss he is in charge of everything around this place and it would do well for you not to fall out with them in fact even a bit of sucking up sometimes is good um I want to take this opportunity as I say that Mr Speaker to thank you and to congratulate you for all the for all the Fantastic work that you did over the last Parliament uh you were a you were a champion as you said yourself for the the back benchers of this place uh a champion for the smaller parties even when some of us pushed very very close to the line when we felt that certain things had to be put on the record of this house you were there uh he knows what I'm talking about you were there to protect us um uh from some of the legal authorities who would like to get at us some of these time but anyway thank you very much uh Mr Speaker for that I wish you all the best in caring this new uh house it is very diverse in terms of uh uh representation and in terms of opinion and I I look forward to the the end of tripal politics I think that'll be a sight to congratulations I call S to Lucy Eastwood on behalf of the alliance party thank you Mr Speaker I warmly congratulate you on your reelection as Speaker elect I am here as the new MP for Lian Valley and representative for the alliance party of Northern Ireland my presence here demonstrates a changing more shared and integrated Northern Ireland and of that Alliance we are very proud you have managed business smoothly and fairly including ensuring that smaller parties have had their voices heard given the greater diversity of parties in this house this leadership and precedent becomes even more important I also want to put on record how well you represented Parliament on the world stage and at the time of the passing of our late queen and the coronation of our new king I also want to associate myself with the remarks from the prime minister about this JW being of Public Service all of us in this house do owe a debt of gratitude to our constituents I will never forget the constituents of Lagan Valley and I join with everybody in the whole house in looking forward to committing to public service for all thank you speaker finally I call Jim Alister on behalf of the traditional unionist voice Mr Speaker elect I join in the congratulations and best wishes to you to this point of course I have observed your speakership from a distance now I will have the benefit of observing it rather more closeup uh and with me on my best behavior and you at your tolerant best I trust that we will have a mutually cordial relationship going forward and I I will certainly draw upon your guidance and the experience that you br bring to this house as I come to this house I come on behalf uh of constituents in Northern Ireland with a very clear message that Northern ir's place within this United Kingdom must be restored we must end the partitioning of our kingdom by a foreign border and we must end a situation where 300 areas of law in Northern is are not controlled by this house not controlled by storman but controlled by a foreign Parliament that is an appalling constitutional affront and my focus in this house will be in playing my part in seeking to redress that gross inequity can I just say thank you for all the kind words from the parties and just will be remiss of me not to say thank you to the previous Deputy speakers I going to thank Nigel Rosie Elena and S Roger for stepping in as he was so it is a big thank you to all of them I have to