In a vote that took place in the House of Commons on Monday evening the 22^nd of June, Tory MP John Bercow emerged victorious as the new Speaker, replacing Michael Martin who resigned due to the expenses scandal. In the final round of voting, Mr Bercow received 322 votes to Tory MP Sir George Young's 271 in the first ever secret ballot for a Speaker's election.

High expectations have been placed on Bercow to raise the reputation of the House of Commons out of the mire and restore public trust in Parliament. In his campaign to become Speaker he called himself the "clean break candidate" and promised radical reform of the expenses system if he was elected. Bercow beat nine other candidates, including Labour's Margaret Beckett and Conservative's Ann Widdecombe to reach the top spot.

Bercow had the support of many Labour MPs and Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg welcomed his appointment. However, many Conservative MPs opposed him as they felt he has been too close to New Labour and very few Tories actually voted for him. In the 1980s he was a strong supporter of Margaret Thatcher but over time his views have become closer to the Labour party's platform.

The public will be his main judge, however, as they expect Bercow to follow up on his promises to show impartiality, hold the executive to account and 'clean up' Parliament. In his acceptance speech Bercow reiterated that the Speaker needs to cast aside partisanship and to seek reform in the interest of the public.

Watch a video of Steve Clifford's commissioning event and prayer walk with a stop at Downing Street as part of Pentecost Festival. Steve was able to present a prayer to Downing Street which included prayers for Gordon Brown and the government as a whole.

News links

Independent: MPs who break tough new rules risk one year in jail

BBC: Bercow faces first day as Speaker

Times: Tories put victorious Commons Speaker John Bercow on probation

Guardian: Bercow defies own party to become new Speaker

Guardian: Tory MPs urged to respect new Speaker

Guardian: John Bercow says he will revive parliament

Times: Burning ambition of John Bercow, who won in spite of his own party

Comment links

Telegraph comment: Labour seems bent on insulting the voters until the very end

Independent comment: Here's how to embolden our MPs - separate executive and legislature

Telegraph comment: John Bercow is the new speaker - now the real change must come

Times comment: Triumph or Disaster

Guardian comment: John Bercow's tall order

Guardian comment: I will be a 21^st century speaker