If you asked me if I'd rather be Speaker or a very senior minister, I'd say Speaker.

I don't want to crawl over the entrails of past disputes.

It is quite wrong for party conferences to be used as an excuse for the Commons not to sit. Conferences could be held at weekends.

I never aspired to be Speaker simply so I could say, 'I am the Speaker of the House of Commons,' and tell my children that.

When I first started out in politics I was, what you might describe as, a hard right Conservative.

I pride myself on being courteous to people, and trying to fashion good relations.

If you asked me if I'd rather be Speaker or a very senior minister, I'd say Speaker.