Labour's Mr Michael Martin last night succeeded Miss Betty Boothroyd as Speaker of the House of Commons. While MPs and commentators likened the arcane Commons rules governing the election to "a medieval shambles", Mr Martin made history by becoming the first Roman Catholic Speaker since the Elizabethan Settlement in 1559.
Mr Martin's main challenger for the post, the Conservative Sir George Young, conceded defeat after being rejected by MPs by 317 votes to 241. But before confirmation of his inevitable victory, the former sheet-metal worker had to see off the remaining five candidates from an original field of 12.
Proposing Mr Martin as Speaker, Labour's Mr Peter Snape described him as a man of "even temper, calmness and gentle humour". In a pitch to women Labour MPs disillusioned with facilities in the Palace of Westminster, Mr Snape suggested Speaker Martin would be a reformer - reminding them he had instigated the provision of proper childcare facilities in the Commons precincts.
But as it became clear that Labour was prepared to break with tradition and use its majority to elect a second Labour Speaker in succession, there was dismay at Westminster as the 84year-old Father of the House, Sir Edward Heath, resisted calls led by veteran MP Mr Tony Benn for a secret ballot.
Sir Edward said he had "considerable sympathy" with those wanting a ballot but warned it was not "a simple solution" and insisted the existing rules be adhered to. Under those rules, Mr Martin was first proposed for the post, and then had to wait as each of his rivals was proposed and voted on, one by one.
A former Conservative minister, Mrs Gillian Shepherd, backed Mr Benn's call for a ballot because of the "unprecedented number of contenders". Labour backbencher Mr Gordon Prentice said the election should be open and transparent, and likened the election system to "something out of Eastern Europe before the wall came down". Liberal Democrat MP Mr Paul Tyler warned the procedures did not reflect the wishes of MPs: "Even if we do proceed as you have indicated . . . we are likely to leave a sense of dissatisfaction and real frustration in the House, whoever is elected," he told Sir Edward.
But Sir Edward was as unmoved by them as he was by backbench cheers for Mr Benn, even as he described the House as "impotent".
During one intervention Mr Benn told MPs: "We have to face the fact that we are, to a very large extent, an impotent House of Commons. We've been in recess since July. There's been a fuel crisis. There's been a Danish No, the collapse of the euro, a war in the Middle East. And what is our business tomorrow? Insolvency Bill, Lords."
As a matter of fact, he continued, "it ought to be called Bankruptcy Bill Commons because we simply don't play a role". People, he said, were more likely to take to the streets of Prague or Seattle to make their point than go to the House of Commons. "They do it because we don't do the job we were elected to do."
In a swipe at the Prime Minister, Mr Blair, who was sitting on the government front bench, Mr Benn declared: "We have a president and we do not have a House of Representatives."