OFFICE OF SPEAKER

Waikato Times, Volume 132, Issue 22153, 27 September 1943, Page 4

OFFICE OF SPEAKER

REPLACEMENT NECESSARY With the defeat of the Hon. W. E. Barnard, Speaker of the House of Representatives, an-unusual situation .has been created and one with only | one parallel in the constitutional hisitory of New Zealand. The solitary | precedent was provided in 1922 with j the defeat of the Hon. Sir Frederic Lang, who was beaten in Manukau, later renamed Onehunga, by the Labour candidate, Mr W. J. Jordan. New Zealand’s Parliaments have Iliad 11 Speakers, and Sir Frederic : Lang and Mr Barnard are the only two who have lost their office through j personal defeat at the polls. Because the office ot Speaker does : not die, Mr Barnard will continue to exercise his appointment until the new Parliament is sworn in, and will be entitled to draw the salary attached to the office until that day. This is £9OO a year, plus a special allowance of £IOO, plus travelling expenses if duties should arise which ■ demand his presence as Speaker in Wellington. By tradition the Government has the choice of a Speaker, and precedent favours the Chairman of Committees, which office is held at present by Mr R. McKeen, who was rej turned for Wellington South.