Lindsay Hoyle to replace John Bercow as speaker of the House of Commons

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, in the House of Commons as he bids to become the new speaker. UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. - Credit: PA

Labour MP Sir Lindsay Hoyle has won the ballot of MPs to succeed John Bercow as speaker of the House of Commons.

Hoyle, 62, was previously deputy speaker of the house after being elected in a secret ballot back in 2010.

The MP for Chorley has been a popular and experienced figure in the house, having first been elected in the constituency in 1997.

Sir Lindsay used his speech prior to the vote by paying tribute to a “great hero” of his, former speaker Betty Boothroyd, who watched from the side gallery.

The MP highlighted his experience as a deputy speaker for nine years, and stressed the need to allow backbench MPs to hold those in power to account.

He also said the Commons is “not a club” where length of service takes priority, adding: “The person who walked through that door yesterday is just as important to their constituents – their voice must be heard as well – and the pecking order ought not to be there, it is about equality.”

In his pitch he vowed to push on with security reforms to keep MPs, their families, staff and the Commons safe.

He has vowed to “tame the bear pit” of a “toxic parliament”.

He told the Times: “Of course I don’t want to stop political disagreement, but I don’t want the abuse of each other and I think we have got to close that down quickly and make sure it is a calmer place to be.”

Despite taking a mild-mannered approach compared to Bercow, Hoyle has not been afraid to stand up to prime ministers, even clashing with Tony Blair when he led the Labour Party over his stance on tuition fees and Gibraltar.

“I’m not anti-Tony; he made us electable and won three times. But there are principles and promises you don’t break,” he told the Guardian in 2013.

Unlike Bercow, he has never let his views on Brexit be known, enabling the MP to secure votes from all sides of the Commons.

Last week he blocked a vote on allowing 16 and 17-year-olds and EU nationals to have a say in the December general election.

Hoyle won the vote after running against Dame Rosie Winterton, Dame Eleanor Laing, who also both served as Bercow’s deputies, Labour’s Meg Hillier, Chris Bryant, and Harriet Harman, plus Conservatives Sir Edward Leigh and Shailesh Vara.

More soon…