Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle chooses
When did you first hear about William Lenthall? At school, though it’s only since becoming speaker – just like William Lenthall – that I’ve fully come to appreciate his significance as a historical figure.
What kind of man was he?
Firstly, he was a man of great strength of character. Secondly, he was a family man, and every time I walk up the stairs to the speaker’s chambers and see the magnificent painting of Speaker Lenthall and his family in all their finery – believed to have been painted by the portraitist Edward Bower – I’m reminded of that fact.
What was his finest hour? Well, it’s got to be the moment that he stood up to Charles I in 1642 after the king, accompanied by around 400 loyal troops, attempted to seize five MPs who he thought guilty of treason. When Charles asked Speaker Lenthall where they were, he famously replied: “May it please your majesty, I have neither eyes to see, nor tongue to speak, in this place, but as the house is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here.”
It was a defining moment in English history because it was the first time that a speaker had declared his first loyalty to the liberty of Parliament rather than the will of the monarch. Crucially, it also changed the relationship between Parliament and monarch for good: the king or queen has never again been allowed to enter the Commons chamber – and the respect that sovereign and speaker now show each other is down to his stand all those years ago.
Even now, after more than three years in the role, I sometimes ask myself: “How would Speaker Lenthall have handled this?” And that gives me the courage to do the right thing.
Is there anything that you don’t particularly admire about him? Every speaker has had his or her detractors – the role inevitably involves ruffling feathers from time to time. But nothing I’ve learned about Lenthall has lessened my
