Michael Martin (politician)

Michael John Martin MP (born 3 July 1945) is the current Speaker of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom.

Early life

Martin was born in Glasgow, United Kingdom, in 1945, the son of a merchant seaman and a school cleaner. He attended St. Patrick's Boys School in Anderston, before leaving at the age of 15 to become an apprentice sheet-metal worker. He became involved in the Sheet Metal Workers trade union and joined the Labour Party when he was 21. He later worked in the Rolls-Royce plant at Hillington, and was an AUEW shop steward from 1970 to 1974. In 1973, Martin was elected as a councillor on Glasgow Corporation — a position he retained until he was elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. He also served as a trade union organiser with the National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) between 1976 and 1979. He was elected as Member of Parliament for Glasgow Springburn in the 1979 general election, and was associated with the right-wing of the party. He was a supporter of Roy Hattersley and Denis Healey, whom he served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary from 1980 until 1983.

Speakership

He served as Chairman of the Scottish Grand Committee from 1987 to 1997, and also sat on the Speaker's Panel of Chairmen. In 1997 he was appointed as First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means (Deputy Speaker). Martin was elected Speaker on 23 October 2000, succeeding Betty Boothroyd. He is the first Roman Catholic to hold the office of Speaker in either the Parliament of Great Britain or the Parliament of the United Kingdom. He has been an active Speaker; he has on occasion, during Prime Minister's Questions, stopped the Prime Minister from criticising the policies of the opposition. Martin's strong Glaswegian accent led to his being nicknamed Gorbals Mick by some people from outside of Scotland, although the nickname is inaccurate, as Martin is from the Anderston and Springburn areas of Glasgow and has never lived in the Gorbals. In the 2005 general election, he stood in the new constituency of Glasgow North East. There is an imperfectly observed convention that the UK main national parties (Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats) do not stand candidates against a Speaker who is seeking re-election, although other parties, including the Scottish National Party, have never observed this pact. On 26 February 2006 it was announced that Martin had received treatment at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary for a heart condition and would be absent from his duties for some weeks. [1] He returned to the Chair on 18 April. In an interview on the BBC's Politics Show on 11 February 2007, he said that his proudest achievement as Speaker, in the traditions of his working-class origins, was to establish an apprenticeship scheme for local young people to become craftsmen (upholsters, restorers, electricians, etc.) who maintain the fabric of the Houses of Parliament. His son, Paul Martin, has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow Springburn constituency since 1999.

Controversy

Martin's initial appointment as Speaker caused controversy as his success in a vote by the Labour-dominated house broke a long-held convention in which the post alternates between the two main political parties - presently the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. Martin's immediate predecessor was Betty Boothroyd, MP for Labour and consequently the new Speaker should have come from the Conservative bench.[2] On 1 November 2006 during Prime Minister's Questions, Martin, in his role as Speaker, caused uproar in the House of Commons by striking down a question from David Cameron, leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in which he challenged Tony Blair over the future leadership of the Labour Party. Martin stated that the purpose of Prime Minister's Questions was for the House to question the Prime Minister on the actions of the government. This caused such dissent amongst MPs that Martin threatened to suspend the session. Cameron then reworded the question so he asked about Tony Blair's future as Prime Minister rather than leader of the Labour Party, which Martin accepted. Conservative MPs have threatened to walk out if a similar event occurs in the future. Conservative politicians and commentators have sometimes accused Martin of bias towards the Labour government in stark contrast to the wide respect in which the previous Speaker, also a former Labour heavyweight, had been held across the political spectrum, although he does often reprimand Labour MPs as well.[3] [4] On 11 October 2007 Martin was criticised for spending more than £20,000 of taxpayers' money on lawyers to challenge negative press stories. High-class libel firm Carter-Ruck was employed to represent him following articles querying his conduct. Martin was also criticised for the exemption of his wife, Mary, from security checks in the Palace of Westminster, where they live, and for trying to block details of MPs' £5m-a-year travel expenses being published under the Freedom of Information Act.[5]

External links

• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Michael Martin MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Michael Martin MP
• Conservative MPs accuse Speaker of bias and threaten to walk out

Offices held