In the United Kingdom, the Speaker of the House of Commons is the
presiding officer of the Lower House of Parliament, the House of
Commons, and is seen historically as the "First Commoner of the Land".
The current Speaker is The Right Honourable Michael Martin MP, who
took office in 2000 and was re-elected on 11 May 2005 following the
2005 general election. The office of Speaker dates to the fourteenth
century. The Speaker presides over the House's debates, determining
which members may speak. The Speaker is also responsible for
maintaining order during debate, and may punish members who break the
rules of the House. Conventionally, the Speaker remains non-partisan,
and renounces all affiliation with his or her former political party
when taking office. The Speaker does not take part in debate nor vote
(except to break ties). Aside from duties relating to presiding over
the House, the Speaker also performs administrative and procedural
functions, and remains a constituency MP. The Lord Chancellor presides
in the Upper House of Parliament, the House of Lords, but this
function will be devolved to a separate person under the
Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the Speaker of the House of Lords.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_of_the_British_House_of_Commons
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1470:
Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick, restored Henry VI to the British
throne during the Wars of the Roses.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Neville%2C_16th_Earl_of_Warwick)
1831:
African American slave Nat Turner was captured after leading a
brutally suppressed slave rebellion.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_Turner)
1905:
Russian Revolution: Tsar Nicholas II reluctantly signed the "October
Manifesto", establishing the State Duma as the elected legislature in
Imperial Russia.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Revolution_of_1905)
1938:
The radio drama The War of the Worlds frightened many listeners in the
United States into believing that an actual Martian invasion was in
progress.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_%28radio%29)
1961:
The Soviet hydrogen bomb Tsar Bomba was detonated over Novaya Zemlya
Island in the Arctic Sea as a test; it was the largest nuclear weapon
ever detonated.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bomba)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government
ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public
liberty." -- John Adams
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Adams)