Order! Order! House Speaker Bercow’s successor to be announced, with owner of parrot named ‘Boris’ favorite

The outgoing-Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, hands over the reins to his successor on Monday, in an election in which the favorite is the owner of a parrot named after PM Boris Johnson who can squawk “Order! Order!”

UK lawmakers will elect their new House Speaker from a list of seven candidates from both the Conservative and Labour parties. The bookmakers put current Deputy Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Labour’s MP for Chorley in Lancashire, as the most likely to emerge victorious.

It must be a somewhat daunting proposition for those looking to take Bercow’s mantle, considering he’s been seen as quite literally a huge voice in the UK Parliament who has ruffled a few feathers over the last 10 years.

Hoyle, who is admired by many MPs for his no-nonsense style of officiating, would appear to have a certain eccentricity about him. In an interview with the Times, the Lancastrian revealed that he owns a diverse range of pets; including a parrot and tortoise.

His noisy four-year-old parrot is called Boris, named after the blustering UK prime minister, who, according to Hoyle, has mastered the Speaker’s iconic cry of “Order! Order!” His other animals include a rottweiler dog named after ex-Labour Chancellor Gordon Brown and a tortoise called Maggie, after the iconic former Conservative UK prime minister, Maragert Thatcher.

Along with his menagerie of pet animals, Hoyle also has a rather peculiar way of watching televised sports, which he shared on social media.

Hoyle’s main rival is fellow Labour MP Harriet Harman, who holds the record for being the longest continuously serving female lawmaker in the House of Commons. The MP for Camberwell and Peckham in south London may ultimately come up short due to her heavily pro-remain stance on Brexit that could put off a number of Tories, whose votes she needs to win.

The other five candidates are Dame Rosie Winterton and Dame Eleanor Laing, who, along with Hoyle, served as Bercow’s deputies, Labour’s Meg Hillier and Chris Bryant, as well as Conservative Sir Edward Leigh.

UK MPs will begin casting their votes on Monday afternoon to whittle candidates down during a number of rounds, with the winner expected to be announced in the evening. The timing of appointing the new Speaker is rare, as the winner faces the prospect of having to be re-elected by lawmakers after the general election on December 12.

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