Who is Lindsay Hoyle? New Speaker of the House of Commons and Chorley MP

SIR Lindsay Hoyle has been elected as the new Commons Speaker after beating fellow Labour MP Chris Bryant in the fifth round.

Here’s what we know about the veteran politician who has vowed to “polish away the tarnish” of Parliament.

Who is Sir Lindsay?

Sir Lindsay Hoyle is a Labour politician who has served as MP for Chorley, Lancs, from 1997.

MPs voted him in as Speaker on November 5, 2019. He will be required to resign from the Labour Party but can continue as MP.

Hoyle was born on June 10, 1957, in Adlington, where he continues to live and work.

His father was Labour MP Doug Hoyle, who named him after Australian batsman Lindsay Hassett.

Hoyle was knighted in the 2018 New Year Honours for parliamentary and political services.

He is a colourful character who, apart from Boris the parrot, owns a rottweiler named Gordon after the former Labour PM Brown, a tortoise called Maggie after Mrs Thatcher and Betty, a terrier named after former Speaker Betty Boothroyd.

What did Sir Lindsay say in his opening speech?

After being dragged to the powerful seat for the first time as Speaker, as is tradition, Sir Lindsay told the House: “I stand by what I said.

“I stand firm, that I hope this House will be once a great respected House, not just in here but across the world.”

He added: “It’s the envy and we’ve got to make sure that tarnish is polished away, that the respect and tolerance that we expect from everyone who works in here will be shown and we’ll keep that in order.”

He also paid tribute to his tragic daughter Natalie Lewis-Hoyle.

What’s Sir Lindsay’s background?

Sir Lindsay is the most senior of departing Speaker John Bercow‘s three deputies, and also works as Chairman of Ways and Means.

He was elected as Deputy Speaker of the House in a secret ballot on June 2010.

This means he has had some serious practice in the Speaker’s chair – deputising for two or three hours every day.

He is popular on both sides of the House and wants to position himself as the stable choice in unpredictable times.

Hoyle is known for clashing with former PM Tony Blair over Gibraltar and student tuition fees.

He has said of their differences: “I’m not anti-Tony; he made us electable and won three times. But there are principles and promises you don’t break.”

Hoyle is known to be softly spoken, in contrast to the belligerent Bercow.

Prior to his election he vowed to “tame the bear pit” of a “toxic Parliament”, telling the he would crack down on aggressive language.

Hoyle has never declared his views on Brexit, a change after Remainer John Bercow’s decade-long reign.

Is Sir Lindsay Hoyle married?

Sir Lindsay Hoyle has been married twice and had two daughters.

He married his first wife, Lynda Anne Fowler, in 1974.

They later divorced and Mr Hoyle went on to marry Catherine Swindley in 1993.

They celebrated their silver wedding anniversary last year.

Catherine Hoyle is employed as his part-time constituency secretary.

One of his daughters, Natalie Lewis-Hoyle, tragically took her own life at the age of 28.

Her mother, Miriam Lewis, said Natalie had been in a “toxic” and “troubled” relationship before her death in 2017.