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| Ann Widdecombe seeks Speaker role | Ann Widdecombe seeks Speaker role |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Veteran Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe has announced she is to stand as Speaker of the House of Commons. | Veteran Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe has announced she is to stand as Speaker of the House of Commons. |
| The former Home Office minister said she wanted to "clean up the place". | The former Home Office minister said she wanted to "clean up the place". |
| Ms Widdecombe, 61, joins a growing list of MPs hoping to replace the current speaker, Michael Martin, who is due to step down on 21 June. | |
| Former Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett earlier announced she was also to join the race to become House of Commons Speaker. | Former Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett earlier announced she was also to join the race to become House of Commons Speaker. |
| Ms Widdecombe told the BBC she thought she would "connect very well with the public" and that the polls made her "the runaway favourite with the public". | |
| The MP for Maidstone and The Weald said the job "will certainly be an enormous challenge, because we do have to get the reputation of parliament restored in time for the next election. It's not something which can be postponed until afterwards''. | |
| She also said her possible appointment as speaker would only be a temporary one, as she intends to retire at the next general election. | |
| After the next election ... it will be a very different ball game. I hope I can help us deal with that Margaret Beckett | After the next election ... it will be a very different ball game. I hope I can help us deal with that Margaret Beckett |
| "My own retirement plans are very advanced and it's quite true that until Michael Martin resigned, this idea had just never entered my head. | |
| "And that's why it's taken me a while to make up my mind that I would put my hat in the ring, because I wasn't entirely convinced that an interim was necessarily the right thing to do. | |
| "But as I've talked to people, and people have responded positively, I've decided to do it." | |
| Mrs Beckett said she wanted to help Parliament deal with its "considerable problems" - Mr Martin stepped down amid pressure over his handling of the MPs' expenses. | |
| Growing list | |
| On Monday nine MPs are to take part in hustings for the Speaker job. Mr Martin's successor will be elected on 22 June. | |
| Mrs Beckett became the third MP on Wednesday to announce she is standing for the job - her Labour colleague Parmjit Dhanda and the Conservative deputy Speaker Sir Michael Lord announced earlier they were standing. | Mrs Beckett became the third MP on Wednesday to announce she is standing for the job - her Labour colleague Parmjit Dhanda and the Conservative deputy Speaker Sir Michael Lord announced earlier they were standing. |
| Mrs Beckett, who left her government job as housing minister in last week's reshuffle, said: "I think at the moment we have got very considerable problems in Parliament. We have got to make changes. | Mrs Beckett, who left her government job as housing minister in last week's reshuffle, said: "I think at the moment we have got very considerable problems in Parliament. We have got to make changes. |
| "After the next election, if we have a more finely balanced chamber than we have had in the recent past, it will be a very different ball game. "I hope I can help us deal with that." | "After the next election, if we have a more finely balanced chamber than we have had in the recent past, it will be a very different ball game. "I hope I can help us deal with that." |
| She was the first woman to serve as deputy leader of the Labour Party and the first woman foreign secretary under Tony Blair. | She was the first woman to serve as deputy leader of the Labour Party and the first woman foreign secretary under Tony Blair. |
| She was replaced by David Miliband in Gordon Brown's first reshuffle but returned to the government as a housing minister the following year. | She was replaced by David Miliband in Gordon Brown's first reshuffle but returned to the government as a housing minister the following year. |
| Michael Martin's decision to stand down as Speaker in May after nearly nine years in the role, came at the height of public anger over claims made by MPs on their second homes expenses. | Michael Martin's decision to stand down as Speaker in May after nearly nine years in the role, came at the height of public anger over claims made by MPs on their second homes expenses. |
| Expenses row | |
| Several MPs stood up to tell him he had to make way for a Speaker who could help the Commons reform itself. | Several MPs stood up to tell him he had to make way for a Speaker who could help the Commons reform itself. |
| Mrs Beckett is one of Labour's most experienced MPs | Mrs Beckett is one of Labour's most experienced MPs |
| Mrs Beckett has faced some questions about her own expenses - she claimed second home allowances of £72,537 from 2004 to 2008, despite having no mortgage or rent to pay on her constituency home and living in a grace and favour flat for part of the time. | Mrs Beckett has faced some questions about her own expenses - she claimed second home allowances of £72,537 from 2004 to 2008, despite having no mortgage or rent to pay on her constituency home and living in a grace and favour flat for part of the time. |
| She has defended them, saying grace and favour homes are not rent free and said MPs incur "extra costs that people even in comparable jobs do not have". | She has defended them, saying grace and favour homes are not rent free and said MPs incur "extra costs that people even in comparable jobs do not have". |
| Asked if the controversy would damage her prospects, she replied: "Only time will tell." | Asked if the controversy would damage her prospects, she replied: "Only time will tell." |
| Among people taking part in hustings for the role, organised by the Hansard Society, are the Conservative chairman of the Commons standards and privileges committee Sir George Young, Lib Dem Sir Alan Beith and Labour's Frank Field. | Among people taking part in hustings for the role, organised by the Hansard Society, are the Conservative chairman of the Commons standards and privileges committee Sir George Young, Lib Dem Sir Alan Beith and Labour's Frank Field. |
| Tory MP Sir Alan Haselhurst, veteran Tory Sir Patrick Cormack and Tory backbenchers Richard Shepherd and John Bercow, will also take part in the hustings. | Tory MP Sir Alan Haselhurst, veteran Tory Sir Patrick Cormack and Tory backbenchers Richard Shepherd and John Bercow, will also take part in the hustings. |