The new Speaker will be extremely important in making Parliament more transparent, so that sites like this one can help people like you understand more about what your MP is doing.
mySociety asked likely candidates for the post of Speaker to endorse the following principles.
The three principles are:
- Voters have the right to know in detail about the money that is spent to support MPs and run Parliament, and in similar detail how the decisions to spend that money are settled upon.
- Bills being considered must be published online in a much better way than they are now, as the Free Our Bills campaign has been suggesting for some time.
- The Internet is not a threat to a renewal in our democracy, it is one of its best hopes. Parliament should appoint a senior officer with direct working experience of the power of the Internet who reports directly to the Speaker, and who will help Parliament adapt to a new era of transparency and effectiveness.
Summary of responses
These are the responses from all the MPs we contacted. Follow the MP link to read their response, if we have one.
| Margaret Beckett | No response (but was not a candidate for speaker). |
|---|---|
| Alan Beith | No response (but was not a candidate for speaker). |
| John Bercow | He endorses the principles (and was a candidate for speaker). |
| Menzies Campbell | No response (but was not a candidate for speaker). |
| Patrick Cormack | No response (but was not a candidate for speaker). |
| Parmjit Dhanda | No response (but was not a candidate for speaker). |
| Frank Field | No response (but was not a candidate for speaker). |
| Alan Haselhurst | No response (but was not a candidate for speaker). |
| Sylvia Heal | No response (but was not a candidate for speaker). |
| Michael Lord | No response (but was not a candidate for speaker). |
| Chris Mullin | No response (but was not a candidate for speaker). |
| Richard Shepherd | No response (but was not a candidate for speaker). |
| Ann Widdecombe | No response (but was not a candidate for speaker). |
| Tony Wright | No response (but was not a candidate for speaker). |
| George Young | No response (but was not a candidate for speaker). |
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