THE speaker of Britain's House of Commons, Michael Martin, resigned Tuesday in the wake of a scandal over MPs' expenses. Early resignations of speakers, the highest position in the lower house of parliament, are extremely rare, with the last removal believed to have been more than 300 years ago. Following are some reactions reported by Reuters from political analysts to the development, which is likely to fuel calls by the opposition Conservative party for parliamentary elections to be brought forward. The next election does not have to be held until mid-2010: “It is unlikely this will precipitate a general election. “I suspect the opposition will continue to call for an election and the government will continue to avoid having one. “I doubt there will be a great deal of public mourning that Martin has gone. This isn't going to stop the story. “All that Westminster can hope is that this is the beginning of the end of the matter, but there is an awful lot of bridge building to do.” – Andrew Russell, senior lecturer in politics at the University of Manchester “I don't think this will be sufficient to quell public anger. This is the beginning of the process. In overall terms this will be regarded as a progressive move, by public opinion but I don't think it dissipates public anger.” “If the June 4 (local and European elections) go disastrously badly for Labour, with less than 20 percent of the vote and less than UKIP (UK Independence Party), there will be great pressure for Gordon Brown to be replaced and it will be very hard to change the prime minister for a second time without a general election.” “I still think it's most likely that he (Brown) will want to delay the election until May next year....They will hope that over summer some green shoots of recovery will emerge.” – Simon Lee, politics lecturer at Hull University Grant said he was not surprised that Martin would announce his resignation, given the unusually direct attacks on him in parliament on Monday. “To have that kind of hostility exhibited to a speaker given the normal courtesies of the House is really quite exceptional. “It is a very unusual event, but it was clear from the questions and interventions in the chamber yesterday that he has upset a significant number of MPs (members of parliament). “This matter has been handled badly by him throughout, he was reluctant about releasing the information about MPs' expenses and reluctant to set in train the reforms that were necessary. “It is very important symbolically. The speaker is regarded as the highest commoner in the land. It (the position) holds a special historical and constitutional significance, one that is seen above the partisan struggle.” He added that the resignation was unlikely to add any weight to Conservative leader David Cameron's call for an early election. “I think the two things are separate to quite a large extent,” he said. “If he (Martin) goes at the end of this parliamentary session this summer it will create the need for a by-election which will be quite difficult for Labour to defend in current circumstances.” – WYN Grant, politics professor at University of Warwick “This is momentous... but it isn't going to precipitate a general election because turkeys don't vote for Christmas. “If a general election were held, it would precipitate a massive change in the make up of the house of parliament, meaning that an awful lot of Labour MPs would be losing their seats, and as I said, turkeys don't vote for Christmas. “There's an awful lot of people standing behind Labour MPs with sharpened knives right now, so they are not going to want an election right away.” “You would think that this (Martin stepping down) would end this period of turmoil ... but a week is a long time in politics.” – Sir Robert Worcester, founder of Polling Group Mori “The only way I would look at this is from the aspect of what difference it makes to public opinion, and the answer to that one is nothing whatsoever, simply because the role of the speaker, knowledge of the speaker, name and face recognition, what he actually does, how important he is – all of those things – 95 percent plus of the population are completely unaware of (it). “Only a few people would recognize him as the main culprit in terms of the expenses scandal. Many people would blame politicians in general, of which he is one. “All political parties and politicians have been damaged by the scandal. Where blame is attached, Labour politicians are blamed more than are others and Gordon Brown is seen to be the leader who has performed most poorly with regard to the scandal. “Nevertheless, according to our polls, it is having relatively little impact on voter intentions. There is some evidence that the proportion firmly intending to vote in an immediate election is down. There is some evidence that minor parties are benefitting from the scandal.” – Nick Sparrow, political analyst at ICM Research
