Sir Edward vying for speaker role

Sir Edward, who has been MP fro the Gainsborough Constituency (Gainsborough and Horncastle from 1983 to 1997) since 1983 is one of nine candidates for one of the most prestigious roles in British politics.

Candidates need to submit their written nominations between 9.30am and 10.30am today, with their signed declaration needing to be supported by between 12 and 15 MPs.

The Commons will meet at 2.30pm, when each candidate will give a speech.

MPs will then vote in a round of secret ballots for their choice.

The names of any candidates who obtained less than 5% of the votes cast in the previous ballot, of the candidate with the fewest votes in the previous ballot, and of any candidates who choose to withdraw from the election, are removed from the ballot paper.

Ballots will continue to be held until one candidate obtains more than half of the votes cast or only one candidate remains when the exclusions described above are applied.