Has Mr Speaker lost the confidence of the House?

COMMONS Speaker Michael Martin was last night under intense pressure to stand down for failing to prevent counter-terrorism police raiding the parliamentary offices of a Tory MP.
By The Newsroom
Published 7th Dec 2008, 00:00 BST

The findings of a poll of backbench MPs were set to trigger a parliamentary revolt, after more than one in three respondents said they no longer had confidence in Glasgow MP Mr Martin in the wake of the Damian Green affair.

One former deputy speaker called on Mr Martin to announce plans to retire next year, while Tory leader David Cameron refused to say he had confidence in the Speaker. With MPs disregarding parliamentary convention by openly discussing Mr Martin's future, the scene was being set for what appears to be the first enforced removal of a Speaker.

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Ahead of a Commons debate today on the fallout from the arrest of Mr Green on 27 November, a BBC survey found 32 of 90 MPs prepared to discuss the Speaker's future no longer retained confidence in his ability to protect the independence of the Commons.

These included eight Labour MPs, 14 Tories and seven Liberal Democrats. Another 50 considered the Speaker "culpable" for the raid.

At least three MPs have already called on Mr Martin, who has been dogged by controversy since becoming Speaker in 2000, to quit. But yesterday's poll prompted several high-profile politicians to add their voices to growing uncertainty about his chances of survival.

Temperatures were further raised by a newspaper report suggesting Mr Martin was determined to remain Speaker after the next general election – a story his spokeswoman then downplayed.

Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said: "That (another term] is a matter for MPs to decide, not for the Speaker to decide."

Tory peer Lord Naseby, who was a deputy speaker under the popular previous speaker, Betty Boothroyd, said Mr Martin had made a "very big mistake" by failing to block the police raid and should retire next year to allow a new speaker to get to grips with the role before the next general election.

Lord Naseby, the former Tory MP Michael Morris, said: "Why the Speaker was not in the lead role (over the Green search] is something I find absolutely incomprehensible.

"He needs to reflect on that situation. I don't think it is for the members to necessarily put down a motion of no con