List of speakers of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom facts for kids

The Speaker is a very important person in the House of Commons. Think of them as the referee or chairperson of the meetings. Their job is to make sure debates are fair, rules are followed, and everyone gets a chance to speak. They also represent the House of Commons on important occasions.

This page lists all the Speakers of the House of Commons, starting from when the Kingdom of Great Britain was formed in 1707, and then continuing after the United Kingdom was created in 1801.

Speakers of Great Britain (1707–1800)

The Kingdom of Great Britain was created in 1707 when the kingdoms of England and Scotland joined together. Later, in 1801, Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland combined to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. This meant there was one House of Commons for the whole new kingdom.

John Smith was already the Speaker for the House of Commons of England. When Great Britain was formed, he became the very first Speaker for the new House of Commons of Great Britain.

Portrait	Name Where they represented (Born–Died)	Time in Office E: Elected R: Approved by King/Queen †: Died in office		Election(s) (in brackets if no one else ran) Parliament(s)		Special Title After Leaving
	John Smith MP for Andover (1656–1723)	E 23 October R 30 October 1707	1708	(1707)	1st	—
	Sir Richard Onslow Bt MP for Surrey (1654–1717)	E 16 November R 18 November 1708	1710	(1708)	2nd	Baron Onslow
	William Bromley MP for Oxford University (1663–1732)	E 25 November R 27 November 1710	1713	(1710)	3rd	—
	Sir Thomas Hanmer Bt MP for Suffolk (1677–1746)	E 16 February R 18 February 1714	1715	(1714)	4th	—
	Sir Spencer Compton KB MP for Sussex (c. 1673–1743)	E 17 March R 21 March 1715	1727	(1715) (1722)	5th 6th	Baron Wilmington
	Arthur Onslow MP for Surrey (1691–1768)	E 23 January R 27 January 1728	18 March 1761	(1728) (1735) (1741) (1747) (1754)	7th 8th 9th 10th 11th
	Sir John Cust Bt MP for Grantham (1718–1770)	E 3 November R 6 November 1761	19 January 1770	(1761) (1768)	12th 13th
	Sir Fletcher Norton MP for Guildford (1716–1789)	E 22 January R 23 January 1770	31 October 1780	1770 (1774)	13th 14th	Baron Grantley
	Charles Wolfran Cornwall MP for Winchelsea until 1784 MP for Rye from 1784 (1735–1789)	E 31 October R 1 November 1780	2 January 1789†	1780 (1784)	15th 16th
	William Wyndham Grenville MP for Buckinghamshire (1759–1834)	E 5 January 1789 no royal approval	5 June 1789	Jan.1789	16th	Baron Grenville
	Henry Addington MP for Devizes (1757–1844)	E 8 June R 9 June 1789	continued as UK Speaker	Jun.1789 (1790) (1796)	16th 17th 18th	Viscount Sidmouth

Speakers of the United Kingdom (from 1801)

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was formed in 1801. Later, in 1922, the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) left the UK. Because of this, the official name of the United Kingdom was changed in 1927 to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Portrait	Name Where they represented (Born–Died)	Time in Office E: Elected R: Approved by King/Queen †: Died in office		Election(s) (in brackets if no one else ran) Parliament(s)		Political Party		Special Title After Leaving
	Henry Addington MP for Devizes (1757–1844)	E 22 January R 23 January 1801	10 February 1801	(Jan.1801)	1st		Tory	Viscount Sidmouth
	Sir John Mitford KC FRS MP for East Looe (1748–1830)	E 11 February R 12 February 1801	9 February 1802	(Feb.1801)	1st		Tory	Baron Redesdale
	Charles Abbot FRS MP for Helston until 1802 MP for Woodstock 1802–1806 MP for Oxford University after 1806 (1757–1829)	E 10 February R 11 February 1802	2 June 1817	(Feb.1802) (Nov.1802) (1806) (1807) (1812)	1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th		Tory	Baron Colchester
	Sir Charles Manners-Sutton GCB MP for Scarborough until 1832 MP for Cambridge University after 1832 (1780–1845)	E 2 June R 3 June 1817	19 February 1835	1817 (1819) (1820) (1826) (1830) (1831) 1833	5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th		Tory	Viscount Canterbury
	James Abercromby MP for Edinburgh (1776–1858)	E 19 February R 20 February 1835	27 May 1839	1835 (1837)	12th 13th		Whig	Baron Dunfermline
	Charles Shaw-Lefevre MP for North Hampshire (1794–1888)	E 27 May R 28 May 1839	30 April 1857	1839 (1841) (1847) (1852)	13th 14th 15th 16th		Whig	Viscount Eversley
	John Evelyn Denison MP for North Nottinghamshire (1800–1873)	E 30 April R 1 May 1857	9 February 1872	(1857) (1859) (1866) (1868)	17th 18th 19th 20th		Liberal	Viscount Ossington
	Sir Henry Brand GCB MP for Cambridgeshire (1814–1892)	E 9 February R 12 February 1872	26 February 1884	(1872) (1874) (1880)	20th 21st 22nd		Liberal	Viscount Hampden
	Arthur Peel MP for Warwick until 1885 MP for Warwick and Leamington after 1885 (1829–1912)	E 26 February R 27 February 1884	10 April 1895	(1884) (Jan.1886) (Aug.1886) (1892)	22nd 23rd 24th 25th		Liberal	Viscount Peel
	William Court Gully KC MP for Carlisle (1835–1909)	E 10 April R 22 April 1895	8 June 1905	Apr.1895 (Aug.1895) (1900)	25th 26th 27th		Liberal	Viscount Selby
	James Lowther MP for Penrith until 1918 MP for Penrith and Cockermouth after 1918 (1855–1949)	E 8 June R 20 June 1905	28 April 1921	(1905) (1906) (1910) (1911) (1919)	27th 28th 29th 30th 31st		Conservative	Viscount Ullswater
	John Henry Whitley MP for Halifax (1866–1935)	E & R 28 April 1921	20 June 1928	(1921) (1922) (Jan.1924) (Dec.1924)	31st 32nd 33rd 34th		Liberal (Coalition)
	Edward FitzRoy DL MP for Daventry (1869–1943)	E 20 June R 21 June 1928	3 March 1943†	(1928) (1929) (1931) (1935)	34th 35th 36th 37th		Conservative
	Douglas Clifton Brown MP for Hexham (1879–1958)	E & R 9 March 1943	31 October 1951	(1943) (1945) (1950)	37th 38th 39th		Conservative	Viscount Ruffside
	William Morrison MC QC MP for Cirencester and Tewkesbury (1893–1961)	E 31 October R 1 November 1951	19 September 1959	1951 (1955)	40th 41st		Conservative	Viscount Dunrossil
	Sir Harry Hylton-Foster MP for Cities of London and Westminster (1905–1965)	E 20 October R 21 October 1959	2 September 1965†	(1959) (1964)	42nd 43rd		Conservative
	Horace King MP for Southampton Itchen (1901–1986)	E & R 26 October 1965	12 January 1971	(1965) (1966) (1970)	43rd 44th 45th		Labour	Baron Maybray-King for Life
	Selwyn Lloyd CH CBE QC DL MP for Wirral (1904–1978)	E & R 12 January 1971	3 February 1976	1971 (Mar.1974) (Oct.1974)	45th 46th 47th		Conservative	Baron Selwyn-Lloyd for Life
	George Thomas MP for Cardiff West (1909–1997)	E & R 3 February 1976	10 June 1983	(1976) (1979)	47th 48th		Labour	Viscount Tonypandy
	Bernard Weatherill MP for Croydon North East (1920–2007)	E 15 June R 16 June 1983	9 April 1992	(1983) (1987)	49th 50th		Conservative	Baron Weatherill for Life
	Betty Boothroyd MP for West Bromwich West (1929–2023)	E 27 April R 28 April 1992	23 October 2000	1992 (1997)	51st 52nd		Labour	Baroness Boothroyd for Life
	Michael Martin MP for Glasgow Springburn until 2005 MP for Glasgow North East after 2005 (1945–2018)	E & R 23 October 2000	22 June 2009	2000 (2001) (2005)	52nd 53rd 54th		Labour	Baron Martin of Springburn for Life
	John Bercow MP for Buckingham (born 1963)	E & R 22 June 2009	4 November 2019	2009 (2010) (2015) (2017)	54th 55th 56th 57th		Conservative	—
	Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP for Chorley (born 1957)	E & R 4 November 2019	Currently in office	Nov.2019 (Dec.2019)	57th 58th		Labour	—