BY DAVID CRAUSBY MP FOR BOLTON NORTH EAST THIS week I returned to the House of Commons after a long and busy recess in Bolton.

My first task on Monday was, of course, to be involved in the election of the Speaker, which began with a typical parliamentary wrangle over how it should be determined.

Sir Edward Heath the 84-year-old MP presided over the formalities and did a magnificent job but, in my view, he missed an ideal opportunity to modernise the way we elect our Speaker.

He should certainly have taken up something like Tony Benn's sensible and more democratic suggestion of a straightforward ballot.

Instead we plodded through a seven-hour selection procedure with 11 amendments before we finally elected Michael Martin MP as the first Roman Catholic Speaker since the Reformation.

The nearest anyone came to winning an amendment was when Sir George Young was defeated by 317 votes to 241. In the end, Mr Martin was elected by 370 votes to eight.

Sir George Young was clearly the establishment's choice, but I believe that we have selected the right man in Michael Martin, who described himself as someone from the poverty of Glasgow seeking the great office as Speaker.

I agreed with him completely when he said that this should be no reason for him to be elected, nor should it be a reason for him to be debarred.

Having experienced hardship and difficulty in his life does, however, give him a special insight into the nation's problems, and I am sure his integrity and worldly wisdom will be a tremendous asset.

This wealth of experience will ensure that the man chosen to occupy the highest office that the House of Commons can bestow will rise to the challenge.

Monday was an important and interesting moment in our history, but we must find a better way to conduct future elections as a progressive step towards modernising the way that we vote in the House of Commons and manage our democracy.

My next surgery will take place at Bolton Town Hall on Friday, Nov 10, at 4.30pm in the Loyals Lounge, when all will be welcome, or you can write to me at the House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA.