Ann Widdecombe bids for Speaker job
- 00:01:20
- ITN
Ann Widdecombe bids for Speaker job
Tory MP Ann Widdecombe and ex-Cabinet minister Margaret Beckett have thrown their hats into the ring as candidates for Commons Speaker. The announcements come less than a fortnight before the crunch Commons vote to decide Michael Martin's successor. Veteran MP Miss Widdecombe said she was putting her retirement plans on hold after announcing her bid to become Speaker. The 61-year-old, who said 18 months ago she was stepping down at the next General Election, joined a growing list of candidates for the key Westminster job after declaring she wanted to "clean up the place". Miss Widdecombe said she thought she would "connect very well with the public", and that the polls made her "the runaway favourite with the public". She said the Speakership would be "an enormous challenge, because we do have to get the reputation of parliament restored in time for the next election". She added: "My own retirement plans are very advanced and it's quite true that until Michael Martin resigned, this idea had just never entered my head. "And that's why it's taken me a while to make up my mind that I would put my hat in the ring, because I wasn't entirely convinced that an interim was necessarily the right thing to do. "But as I've talked to people, and people have responded positively, I've decided to do it." Mrs Beckett, who was sacked from the Government in Prime Minister Gordon Brown's reshuffle, said she hopes to help Parliament face its "very considerable problems" and will be "sending a letter round to MPs asking for support." She added: "I think at the moment we have got very considerable problems in Parliament. We have got to make changes. "After the next election, if we have a more finely balanced chamber than we have had in the recent past, it will be a very different ball game. I hope I can help us deal with that." Asked if controversy over her expenses claims for hanging baskets and pot plants would damage her prospects, the recently-departed housing minister replied: "Only time will tell." Ex-minister Parmjit Dhanda and Tory Sir Michael Lord have since added their names to those vying for the powerful post. However, left-leaning Conservative backbencher John Bercow is looking increasingly difficult to beat amid reports that senior Labour figures are ready to back him. The Buckingham MP's chances were seen as being further boosted this week when rival Frank Field joined the unsuccessful rebellion against Gordon Brown, angering many in his own party. Other front-runners to take the chair include Tory Sir George Young and Liberal Democrat Sir Alan Beith. Mr Martin became the first Speaker to be forced out of office in 300 years amid the Parliamentary expenses debacle. It followed an extraordinary rebellion in the chamber from MPs critical of his handling of the controversy. The former sheet metal worker, who spent years blocking greater transparency and reforms of the system, spent more than £1,400 on chauffeurs in his Glasgow constituency. He has also relinquished his Glasgow North East seat, triggering a by-election which could come as early as July.
ITN | June 11, 2009
