User:Neil Jones/Deputy Speaker Act 1855

The Deputy Speaker Act 1855 was an act passed by the House to establish a formal post of a Deputy Speaker. As the durations of the sitting of the House became longer, it became necessary for the Speaker to be relieved. Prior to this, the House simply adjourned.

History

Two years previously in 1853, a select committee reported to the House that the Chairman of Ways and Means should take the chair of the House of Commons on the occasions when the Speaker was unavoidably absent.

1855 Act

The Deputy Speaker Act of 1855 allowed for the House of Commons to meet in the absence of the Speaker, and allowed all House business overseen by the deputy to be as "as valid and effectual as if the Speaker himself were in the chair".

Aftermath and Today

The 1855 act effectively that there is only one Deputy Speaker. In reality, the Deputy Speaker and his own deputies are all one and the same as far as the House is concerned.

The Committee of Ways and Means was abolished in 1967, but the role of its chairman lives on in the Deputy Speaker.