List of speakers of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom

This is a list of speakers of the British House of Commons (or of the English House of Commons before 1707).

List of Presiding Officers before 1377

Prior to 1377, the presiding officer was referred to by terms such as the parlour or prolocutor.

The Parliaments mentioned in the table below, in this section, were held at Westminster unless otherwise indicated. The date mentioned is that of the first meeting of the Parliament. Only Parliaments for which a presiding officer is known or suspected, are included in the table.

No.	Parliament	Presiding Officer	Notes
1	The Mad Parliament (Oxford, 11 June 1258)	Sir Peter de Montfort	first identified presiding officer of the English House of Commons, styled prolocutor
2	27th of Edward II (7 January 1327)	William Trussell	joint spokesman of Lords and Commons, styled procurator
3	10th of Edward III 16 March 1332	Henry Beaumont	...
4	11th of Edward III 9 September 1332	Sir Geoffrey Le Scrope	...
2	26th of Edward III (29 March 1340)	William Trussell	...
2	30th of Edward III (28 April 1343)	William Trussell	spokesman for the Commons alone
5	33rd of Edward III (1347)	William de Thorpe	...
5	34th of Edward III (1348)	William de Thorpe	...
6	36th of Edward III (9 February 1351)	William de Shareshull	...
7	55th of Edward III 28 April 1376	Sir Peter de la Mare	...

• Source: Laundy The Office of Speaker

List of Speakers

Speakers of the House of Commons of England 1377-1707

• 1377 Sir Thomas Hungerford (first presiding officer identified by the title "Speaker")
• 1377 Sir Peter de la Mare
• 1378 - 1378 Sir James Pickering
• 1379 - 1380 Sir John Guildesborough
• 1381 - 1382 Sir Richard Waldegrave
• 1382 - 1383 Sir James Pickering
• 1383 - 1393 unknown
• 1393 - 1398 Sir John Bussy
• 1398 none
• 1399 Sir John Cheney
• 1399 Sir John Doreward
• 1400 - 1402 Sir Arnold Savage
• 1402 Sir Henry Redford
• 1403 - 1404 Sir Arnold Savage
• 1404 Sir William Esturmy
• 1405 - 1406 Sir John Tiptoft
• 1407 - 1411 Sir Thomas Chaucer
• 1412 - 1413 unknown
• 1413 Sir William Stourton
• 1413 Sir John Doreward
• 1414 Sir Walter Hungerford
• 1414 - 1415 Sir Thomas Chaucer
• 1415 Sir Richard Redman
• 1415 - 1416 Sir Walter Beauchamp
• 1416 - 1419 Sir Roger Flower
• 1420 - 1421 Sir Roger Hunt
• 1421 Sir Thomas Chaucer
• 1421 - 1422 Sir Richard Baynard
• 1422 Sir Roger Flower
• 1423 - 1424 Sir John Russell
• 1425 Sir Thomas Walton
• 1425 - 1426 Sir Richard Vernon
• 1427 - 1428 Sir John Tyrell
• 1429 - 1430 Sir William Alington
• 1430 - 1431 Sir John Tyrell
• 1432 Sir John Russell
• 1433 Sir Roger Hunt
• 1435 Sir John Bowes
• 1436 Sir John Tyrell
• 1437 Sir William Burley
• 1439 - 1442 Sir William Tresham
• 1444 - 1445 Sir William Burley
• 1446 - 1447 Sir William Tresham
• 1448 - 1449 Sir John Say
• 1449 Sir John Popham
• 1449 - 1450 Sir William Tresham
• 1450 - 1451 Sir William Oldhall
• 1452 - 1453 Sir Thomas Thorpe
• 1453 - 1454 Sir Thomas Charlton
• 1455 - 1456 Sir John Wenlock
• 1459 Sir Thomas Tresham
• 1460 John Green
• 1461 - 1462 Sir James Strangeways
• 1463 - 1468 Sir John Say
• 1469 - 1470 none
• 1472 - 1477 Sir William Alington
• 1482 - 1483 Sir John Wood
• 1483 - 1484 Sir William Catesby
• 1485 - 1486 Sir Thomas Lovell
• 1487 - 1488 Sir John Mordaunt
• 1489 - 1490 Sir Thomas Fitzwilliam
• 1491 - 1492 Sir Richard Empson
• 1495 Sir Robert Drury
• 1496 - 1497 Sir Thomas Englefield
• 1503 Sir Edmond Dudley
• 1509 Sir Thomas Englefield
• 1511 - 1513 Sir Robert Sheffield
• 1514 - 1515 Sir Thomas Nevill
• 1523 Sir Thomas More
• 1529 - 1533 Sir Thomas Audley
• 1533 - 1536 Sir Humphrey Wingfield
• 1536 Sir Richard Rich
• 1539 - 1540 Sir Nicholas Hare
• 1541 - 1544 Sir Thomas Moyle
• 1545 - 1552 Sir John Baker
• 1553 Sir James Dyer
• 1553 Sir John Pollard
• 1554 Sir Robert Broke
• 1554 - 1555 Sir Clement Higham
• 1555 Sir John Pollard
• 1558 Sir William Cordell
• 1559 Sir Thomas Gargrave
• 1562 - 1563 Sir Thomas Williams
• 1566 - 1567 Sir Richard Onslow
• 1571 Sir Christopher Wray
• 1572 - 1576 Sir Robert Bell
• 1580 - 1583 Sir John Popham
• 1584 - 1586 Sir John Puckering
• 1588 - 1589 Sir Thomas Snagge
• 1592 - 1593 Sir Edward Coke
• 1597 - 1598 Sir Christopher Yelverton
• 1601 Sir John Croke
• 1603 - 1611 Sir Edward Phelips
• 1614 Sir Randolph Crewe
• 1621 - 1622 Sir Thomas Richardson
• 1623 - 1625 Sir Thomas Crewe
• 1625 - 1626 Sir Heneage Finch
• 1628 - 1629 Sir John Finch
• 1640 Sir John Glanville
• 1640 - 1647 Sir William Lenthall
• 1647 Sir Henry Pelham
• 1647 - 1653 Sir William Lenthall
• 1653 Sir Rev. Francis Rous
• 1654 - 1655 Sir William Lenthall
• 1656 - 1658 Sir Thomas Widdrington
• 1658 - 1659 Sir Chaloner Chute
• 1659 Sir Lislebone Long
• 1659 Sir Thomas Bampfylde
• 1659 - 1660 Sir William Lenthall
• 1660 Sir Harbottle Grimston
• 1661 - 1671 Sir Edward Turnour
• 1672 Sir Job Charlton
• 1673 Sir Edward Seymour
• 1678 Sir Robert Sawyer
• 1678 - 1679 Sir Edward Seymour
• 1679 Sir William Gregory
• 1680 - 1681 Sir William Williams
• 1685 - 1687 Sir John Trevor
• 1688 - 1689 Sir Henry Powle
• 1689 - 1695 Sir John Trevor
• 1695 - 1698 Sir Paul Foley
• 1698 - 1700 Sir Thomas Littleton
• 1701 - 1705 Sir Robert Harley
• 1705 - 1707 Sir John Smith

Speakers of the House of Commons of Great Britain 1707-1800

No. 1	From	Until	Speaker	Constituency 2	Peerage
1	1707	1708	Sir John Smith	Andover	...
2	1708	1710	Sir Richard Onslow	Surrey	1st Baron Onslow
3	1710	1713	William Bromley 3	Oxford University	...
4	1714	1715	Sir Thomas Hanmer, Bt 4	Suffolk	...
5	1715	1727	Sir Spencer Compton 5	Sussex	1st Earl of Wilmington
6	1728	1761	Sir Arthur Onslow	Surrey	... 6
7	1761	1770	Sir John Cust, Bt	Grantham	... 7
8	1770	1780	Sir Fletcher Norton 8	Guildford	1st Baron Grantley
9	1780	1789	Sir Charles Wolfran Cornwall	Winchelsea 9	... 10
10	1789	1789	William Wyndham Grenville 11	Buckinghamshire	1st Baron Grenville
11	1789	1800	Henry Addington	Devizes	1st Viscount Sidmouth

Notes:-

• ¹ Numbering is from 1707. It is more usual to number Speakers to include those from the English predecessor body. On that basis Smith is the 125th and Addington is the 135th Speaker.
• ² Constituency at the time of first election as Speaker.
• ³ Bromley resigned from the chair to become Secretary of State for the Northern Department. He continued to serve in the House of Commons until his death on 13 February 1732.
• ⁴ Hanmer vacated the chair but continued to serve in the House of Commons until 1727.
• ⁵ Compton vacated the chair but continued to serve in the House of Commons until 1728.
• ⁶ Onslow, the longest serving Speaker, retired from the chair and the House of Commons. He seems to have been the last Speaker who survived his term by a significant period without being offerred a peerage.
• ⁷ Cust died shortly after he ceased to occupy the chair.
• ⁸ Norton was not re-elected as Speaker in 1780, but retained his seat as an MP until 1782.
• ⁹ Cornwall was subsequently MP for Rye 1784-1789.
• ¹⁰ Cornwall died in office.
• ¹¹ Grenville resigned from the chair to become Home Secretary. He continued to serve in the House of Commons until 1790.

Speakers of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1801-1922

No. 1	From	Until	Speaker	Party 2	Constituency 3	Peerage	Ref
1	1801	1801	Henry Addington 4	Tory	Devizes	1st Viscount Sidmouth
2	1801	1802	Sir John Mitford	Tory	East Looe	1st Baron Redesdale
3	1802	1817	Sir Charles Abbot	Tory	Helston 5	1st Baron Colchester
4	1817	1835	Sir Charles Manners-Sutton	Tory	Scarborough 6	1st Viscount Canterbury
5	1835	1839	Sir James Abercromby	Whig	Edinburgh	1st Baron Dunfermline
6	1839	1857	Sir Charles Shaw-Lefevre	Whig	North Hampshire	1st Viscount Eversley
7	1857	1872	Sir John Evelyn Denison	Liberal	North Nottinghamshire	1st Viscount Ossington
8	1872	1884	Sir Henry Brand	Liberal	Cambridgeshire	1st Viscount Hampden
9	1884	1895	Sir Arthur Wellesley Peel	Liberal	Warwick 7	1st Viscount Peel
10	1895	1905	William Court Gully	Liberal	Carlisle	1st Viscount Selby
11	1905	1921	James William Lowther	Conservative	Penrith 8	1st Viscount Ullswater
12	1921	1928	John Henry Whitley	Coalition Liberal	Halifax	... 9

Speakers of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 1922

No. 1	From	Until	Speaker	Party 2	Constituency 3	Peerage	Ref
1	1921	1928	John Henry Whitley	Coalition Liberal	Halifax	... 9
2	1928	1943	Edward Algernon FitzRoy	Conservative	Daventry	... 10
3	1943	1951	Douglas Clifton Brown	Conservative	Hexham	1st Viscount Ruffside
4	1951	1959	William Shepherd Morrison	Conservative	Cirencester and Tewkesbury	1st Viscount Dunrossil
5	1959	1965	Sir Harry Braustyn Hylton-Foster	Conservative	Cities of London and Westminster	... 11
6	1965	1971	Dr Horace Maybray King	Labour	Southampton Itchen	The Baron Maybray-King
7	1971	1976	John Selwyn Brooke Lloyd	Conservative	Wirral	The Baron Selwyn-Lloyd
8	1976	1983	Thomas George Thomas	Labour	Cardiff West	1st Viscount Tonypandy
9	1983	1992	Bruce Bernard Weatherill	Conservative	Croydon North East	The Baron Weatherill
10	1992	2000	Betty Boothroyd	Labour	West Bromwich West	The Baroness Boothroyd
11	2000	2009	Michael John Martin	Labour	Glasgow Springburn 12	...

Notes:-

• ¹ Numbering is from 1801. It is more usual to number Speakers to include those from the English and British predecessor bodies. On that basis Addington is the 135th Speaker and Martin the 156th.
• ² Party allegiance at the time of first election as Speaker. The modern convention is for the Speaker to sever connections with his or her former party. From 1935 the Speaker has sought re-election as such, not using a party label. (Source: Craig British Electoral Facts 1832-1987). The general convention is that the Speaker is not opposed, by major party candidates, at general elections.
• ³ Constituency at the time of first election as Speaker.
• ⁴ Addington resigned from the chair to become Prime Minister. He continued to serve in the House of Commons until 1805.
• ⁵ Abbot was subsequently MP for Heytesbury 1802, Woodstock 1802-1806 and Oxford University 1806-1817.
• ⁶ Manners-Sutton was subsequently MP for Cambridge University 1832-1835. In 1835 he was defeated for re-election as Speaker, but retained his seat as an MP for a time. No subsequent Speaker has been defeated or remained in the House of Commons after leaving the chair.
• ⁷ Peel was subsequently MP for Warwick and Leamington 1885-1895.
• ⁸ Lowther was subsequently MP for Penrith and Cockermouth 1918-1921.
• ⁹ Whitley declined the customary peerage, upon his retirement from the chair and the House of Commons.
• ¹⁰ Fitzroy died in office. His widow was created 1st Viscountess Daventry.
• ¹¹ Hylton-Foster died in office. His widow was created The Baroness Hylton-Foster.
• ¹² Martin was subsequently MP for Glasgow North East from 2005. He resigned the Speakership in 2009, the first to do so since Sir John Trevor in 1695, and also as an MP.

References

• The Office of Speaker, by Philip Laundy (Cassell & Company, 1964)
• The Officers of the Commons 1363-1978, by Philip Marsden (Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1979)