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Thespeaker of adeliberative assembly, especially alegislative body, is itspresiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 inEngland.[1][2]
| Speaker | |
|---|---|
| Legislative Body | |
| Status | Presiding Officer |
| Member of | Legislative Body |
| Formation | 1377 (648 years ago) (1377) |
The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role ofThomas de Hungerford in theParliament of England.[3][4]
The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the powers to discipline members who break the procedures of thechamber or house. When members speak they address their remarks through the Speaker, and only address them directly whilst referring to other members in the third person. The speaker often also represents the body in person, as the voice of the body in ceremonial and some other situations.[5]
A speaker usually presides the lower house. Different styles are employed to refer to those who preside upper houses or Senates.
By convention, speakers are normally addressed in Parliament as "Mister Speaker" if a man, or "Madam Speaker" if a woman. In other cultures, other styles are used, mainly being equivalents of English "chairman" or "president". Many bodies also have a speakerpro tempore (or deputy speaker), designated to fill in when the speaker is not available.
The speaker is commonly supported by a "speaker's office".
Examples of speakers include:
Thepresident of the National Assembly of Armenia is the speaker of the house in theNational Assembly ofArmenia. The formation of this position was established on 1 August 1918.[6]
Thespeaker of the House of Representatives is the presiding officer of theAustralian House of Representatives, the lower house of theParliament of Australia. Thepresident of the Senate is the presiding officer of theAustralian Senate, the upper house of the Parliament.
TheFederal Constitution determines that both houses of theNational Congress, in the first session after taking office, must elect their "Mesas Diretoras" (Presiding Boards), consisting each of a president, two vice presidents, four secretaries and alternates to serve two-year terms, with no reappointment to the same position in the immediately subsequent election. In addition to voting as senator or federal deputy at their respective houses, both presidents also hold the casting vote in case of a tie, but the large number of legislators (81 in the Federal Senate and 513 in the Chamber of Deputies, as of 2023) makes this attribution rarely used.
Thepresident of the Federal Senate is the presiding officer of theFederal Senate, the upper house. Thepresident of the Chamber of Deputies is the presiding officer of theChamber of Deputies, the lower house. The Constitution also determines that the president of the Federal Senate presides over the Board of the National Congress in the joint sessions of both houses, the Common Regulations of the National Congress refer to the president of the Federal Senate on these occasions as "President of the National Congress".[7]
Following the Brazilian political tradition, the legislative assemblies of thestates (Legislative Chamber in the case of theFederal District), all unicameral, adopt rules identical to those of the National Congress, electing a Presiding Board among the state deputies for two-year terms on the first session after taking office.
InCanada, thespeaker of the House of Commons (Président de la Chambre des communes) is the individual elected to preside over the House of Commons, the electedlower house.[8] The speaker is amember of parliament (MP) and is elected at the beginning of each new parliament by fellow MPs. The speaker's role in presiding over the House of Commons is similar to that of speakers elsewhere in other countries that use theWestminster system. The speaker does not vote except in the case of a tie. By convention, if required to vote, the speaker will vote in favour of continuing debate on a matter, but will not ultimately vote for a measure to be approved.
Thespeaker of the Senate (président du Sénat) is the presiding officer of theSenate, the appointedupper house. The speaker represents the Senate at official functions, rules on questions of parliamentary procedure and parliamentary privilege, and presides over debates and voting in the "Red Chamber". The speaker of the Senate is appointed by thegovernor general from amongst sitting senators upon the advice of the prime minister. The speaker has a vote on all matters. In the event of a tie, the matter fails.
At the provincial level, the presiding officer of the provincial legislatures is called the "speaker" (président) in all provinces exceptQuebec, where the term "president" is used. The presiding officer fulfills the same role as the speaker of the House of Commons.
Thepresident of the Chamber of Deputies is the highest authority of theChamber of Deputies. Thepresident of the Senate is the highest authority of theSenate of Chile.
In thePeople's Republic of China, thechairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is the presiding officer of theStanding Committee of the National People's Congress, which is considered China's top legislative body. As stipulated in Article 84 of theConstitution of China, should both thepresident andvice-president become incapacitated, and the National People's Congress is unable to elect a timely replacement, the chairman of the NPC Standing Committee will act as president.
Thepresident of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong is the speaker of theLegislative Council and is elected by and from its members. The president presides over the Council meetings and is empowered to enforce the Rules of Procedures solely.
While members of the Legislative Council may be Hong Kong residents who are not Chinese citizens, the president can only be selected from people with Chinese nationality who do not have a right of abode in foreign countries.
Parliamentarism inItaly is centred on the presidents of the two Houses, vested in defence of the members and of the assembly as a whole;[note 1] so "the Speaker invites the representative of the Government not to deviate from the rules of parliamentary behaviour".[10] Now constitutional community highlights changes also in this role.[11] The president of the Senate also acts as deputy president of the republic "in all cases in which the president cannot perform them".[12]
InIndia, theSpeaker of the Lok Sabha is the presiding officer of theLok Sabha, and is elected by theMPs from that chamber.
TheChairman of the Rajya Sabha is the presiding officer of theRajya Sabha, and similarly to theU.S. Vice President presiding over theU.S. Senate in theUnited States, the role is filled by theVice President of India. Unlike the Lok Sabha, the Chairman is not elected by the Rajya Sabha MPs.
InNew Zealand, thespeaker of the House of Representatives is the presiding officer of theNew Zealand House of Representatives,[13] the only chamber of theNew Zealand Parliament.[14] Precedent set by otherWestminster-style parliaments means thatmembers of Parliament must always address the speaker.[15]
InSingapore, thespeaker of the Parliament of Singapore is thehead officer of thecountry's legislature. By recent tradition, theprime minister nominates a person, who may or may not be an electedmember of parliament (MP), for the role. The person's name is then proposed and seconded by the MPs, before being elected as speaker.[16] TheConstitution states that Parliament has the freedom to decide how to elect its speaker.[17]
While the speaker does not have to be an elected MP, they must possess the qualifications to stand for election as an MP as provided for in the Constitution.[18] The speaker also cannot be a cabinet minister or parliamentary secretary,[19] and must resign from those positions prior to being elected as speaker.
The speaker is one of the few public sector roles which allow its office-holder to automatically qualify as a candidate in theSingapore presidential elections.[20]
Thepresident of the Congress of Deputies is the speaker of theCongress of Deputies, the lower house of theCortes Generales (the Spanish parliament). The president is elected among the members of the Congress and is, after theking and theprime minister, the highest authority in theKingdom of Spain.
Thepresident of the Senate is the speaker of the Spanish upper house calledSenate.
TheLegislative Yuan is the highest legislative body ofTaiwan. The president of the Legislative Yuan presides over its meetings and is elected by the legislators from among themselves. Until 1993, thepresident of theControl Yuan was elected by and from the members like the speaker of many other parliamentary bodies.
In theParliament of the United Kingdom, theSpeaker is the individual elected to preside over the electedHouse of Commons. The speaker is amember of Parliament (MP) and is elected at the beginning of each new parliament by fellow MPs. MPs also elect three Deputy Speakers, known as theChairman of Ways and Means and the First and Second Deputy Chairmen of Ways and Means.
TheLord Speaker is the presiding officer of theHouse of Lords. The presiding officer of the House of Lords was until recently theLord Chancellor, who was also a member of the government (a cabinet member) and the head of the judicial branch. The Lord Chancellor did not have the same authority to discipline members of the Lords that the speaker of the Commons has in that house. The Lord Speaker is elected by themembers of the House of Lords and is expected to be politically impartial.
Thepresiding officer of the Scottish Parliament is the president, presiding officer and speaker of theScottish Parliament.
TheLlywydd of the Senedd is the speaker of theSenedd, the Welsh parliament.
Thespeaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly presides over theNorthern Ireland Assembly.
Both chambers of theUnited States Congress have a presiding officer defined by theUnited States Constitution. Thespeaker of the United States House of Representatives presides over the lower house ofCongress, theHouse of Representatives. The speaker, elected by the entire House, is the top-ranking officer of the legislative branch of the federal government. Unlike in Commonwealth realms, the position is partisan, and the speaker often plays an important part in running the House and advancing a political platform;Joseph Gurney Cannon, speaker from 1903 to 1911, is an extreme example.
Thevice president of the United States, as provided by theUnited States Constitution formally presides over the upper house, theSenate. In practice, however, the vice president does not regularly appear in Congress owing to responsibilities in the executive branch and the fact that the vice president may only vote to break a tie, something that rarely occurs due to thefilibuster preventing tie votes from occurring in practice. In the vice president's absence, the presiding role is delegated to the mostsenior member of the majority party, who is thepresident pro tempore of the United States Senate. Since the Senate's rules give little power to its non-member presider (who may be of the minority party), the task of presiding over daily business is typically rotated among junior members of the majority party.
In the forty-ninestates that have abicameral legislature, the highest leadership position in thelower house is usually called the "Speaker" and the upper house is usually the "President of the (State) Senate". In Nebraska—the only state with aunicameral legislature—the senators elect one senator to serve as "Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature", who presides over legislative sessions in the absence of theLieutenant Governor but retains the powers typical of other legislative speakers. In Tennessee, the senators elect a "Speaker of the Senate" who presides over theTennessee Senate and serves as lieutenant governor.
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The presiding officer for anupper house of a bicameral legislature usually has a different title such as Chairman or President of the senate when the upper house is called asenate, but they have the same duties.Australia,Chile, theUnited States and many other countries have upper houses with presiding officers titled "president". In several American republics, the vice president of the country serves as the president of the upper house. This pattern is not universal, however. Some upper houses, including those ofCanada, have a speaker.
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