page_title: Speaker Denison's rule
hierarchical_section_title: Speaker Denison's rule
caption_attribution_description: Evelyn Denison, 1st Viscount Ossington (1800-1873)
context_page_description: Speaker Denison's rule is a constitutional convention established by John Evelyn Denison, who was Speaker of the British House of Commons from 1857 to 1872, regarding how the Speaker decides on their casting vote in the event of a tie in the number of votes cast in a division.
  Speaker Denison in 1867, when a tie arose on a motion on Fellowships at Trinity College, Dublin, gave his casting vote against the motion, declaring that any decision must be approved by the majority. The rule as subsequently adopted is that the Speaker, in any division upon a bill, should vote to leave a bill in its existing form.
  The principle is always to vote in favour of further debate, or, where it has been previously decided to have no further debate or in some specific instances, to vote in favour of the status quo. Thus, the Speaker will vote:
  against the final reading of a bill
  in favour of earlier readings of bills
  against amendments to bills
  against motions of no confidence
  in favour of disagreeing with amendments made by the House of Lords
  The thinking behind the rule is that change should only occur if an actual majority vote is in favour of the change.
context_section_description: Speaker Denison's rule is a constitutional convention established by John Evelyn Denison, who was Speaker of the British House of Commons from 1857 to 1872, regarding how the Speaker decides on their casting vote in the event of a tie in the number of votes cast in a division.
  Speaker Denison in 1867, when a tie arose on a motion on Fellowships at Trinity College, Dublin, gave his casting vote against the motion, declaring that any decision must be approved by the majority. The rule as subsequently adopted is that the Speaker, in any division upon a bill, should vote to leave a bill in its existing form.
  The principle is always to vote in favour of further debate, or, where it has been previously decided to have no further debate or in some specific instances, to vote in favour of the status quo. Thus, the Speaker will vote:
  against the final reading of a bill (and against holding such readings immediately rather than in the future, to allow for time to consider the matter)
  in favour of earlier readings of bills (and in favour of holding such readings immediately rather than in the future, to allow for further debate)
  against amendments to bills
  against motions of no confidence
  in favour of disagreeing with amendments made by the House of Lords
  The thinking behind the rule is that change should only occur if an actual majority vote is in favour of the change. 
  Speaker Denison's rule is now a guiding principle in many other bodies that have neutral chairpersons.
caption: Mr. Speaker Denison
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