The Speakers

This month we hear from Parliament’s two Speakers: Lord Speaker, Lord McFall of Alcluith, and Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

In this episode, they discuss how their similar backgrounds have forged a new working relationship between the two speakers, the importance of engaging with the whole country and the surprisingly international aspects of their roles.

‘We share a common heritage in that we're both local lads from the area that we represented. And that was a really important element of our representative history’ Lord McFall of Alcluith

‘It's about both using soft power to make friends around the world, reaching out... Democracy matters to both of us, so it's about meeting up with people, sharing ideals’ Sir Lindsay Hoyle

The Speakers also discuss the challenges of the last two years and preparing for the future.

‘I'm still trying to get used to the idea of... What is a Speaker in the Commons really like? Because we've not really found out what it's like. No sooner than I got elected, within days I'm into a General Election, then Christmas comes, everybody's talking about Brexit, and before we know it, we're then into a pandemic.’ Sir Lindsay Hoyle

‘I keep thinking of 2007, which to me, was just round the corner, but in 2007, that was the year of the iPhone. And that's a new life that's been adopted since 2007. So the pace of change, technologically, is going to be great. And we have got to be alive to that. Because our primary interest is engaging with the public, and with society.’ Lord McFall of Alcluith

·      Find out more about the Lord Speaker, Lord McFall of Alcluith

·      Find out more about the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle

Read a transcript

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