inaugural formation incumbentsince insigniasize body imagesize post termlength appointer incumbent insignia residence image article_title appointerpost style
thomas hungerford 1377 22 june 2009 240px the house of commons 200px speaker at commons at the start of each parliament , and upon her a vacancy -rrb- majesty 's pleasure -lrb- elected by the elizabeth ii john bercow house of commons of the united kingdom.svg palace of westminster john bercow senate of poland 01.jpg speaker -rrb-
 of the house of commons -lrb- united kingdom the the house of commons head of parliament , at the behest of mr. the right honourable -lrb- formal -rrb- speaker -lrb- informal and within the house -rrb-
speaker of the house of commons -lrb- united kingdom article_title_10:-rrb-

the speaker of the house of commons is the presiding officer of the house of commons , the united kingdom 's lower chamber of parliament .
the office is currently held by john bercow , who was initially elected on 22 june 2009 , following the resignation of michael martin .
he was returned as an mp in the 2010 general election and was re-elected as speaker when the house sat at the start of the new parliament on 18 may 2010 .
he was again returned as an mp in the 2015 general election and was re-elected , unopposed , as speaker when the house sat at the start of the new parliament on 18 may 2015 .
the speaker presides over the house 's debates , determining which members may speak .
the speaker is also responsible for maintaining order during debate , and may punish members who break the rules of the house .
unlike presiding officers of legislatures in many other countries , the speaker remains strictly non-partisan , and renounces all affiliation with his or her former political party when taking office .
the speaker does not take part in debate or vote -lrb- except to break ties ; and even then , the convention is that the speaker casts the tie-breaking vote according to speaker denison 's rule -rrb- .
aside from duties relating to presiding over the house , the speaker also performs administrative and procedural functions , and remains a constituency member of parliament -lrb- mp -rrb- .
the speaker has the right and obligation to reside in speaker 's house at the palace of westminster .
