Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle to deliver JH Whitley Lecture

The Speaker of the House of Commons the Right Hon. Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP will reflect on the challenges of his role at the 2025 JH Whitley Memorial Lecture on 12 June.

This free event at the University of Huddersfield will see Sir Lindsay discuss the changes and similarities in the role since Halifax MP JH Whitley occupied the Speaker’s chair between 1920 and 1928.

The lecture is taking place in the Oastler Building at the University of Huddersfield at 6.30pm on Thursday 12 June and registration is required. Follow this link to attend.

Sir Lindsay, whose late father Lord Doug Hoyle was also a Labour MP, was elected as MP for Chorley in the 1997 general election.

In Parliament, Lindsay has served on the Trade & Industry Select Committee and the European Scrutiny Committee – and in 2010, he was elected by fellow MPs to the position of Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Ways and Means.

But on a pledge to keep MPs, staff and their families safe, to be an impartial chair and improve the image of Parliament, Lindsay was elected as Speaker on 4 November 2019, following the resignation of John Bercow.

Sir Lindsay is married with one daughter and has two grandchildren. He is an animal lover and his sporting passions are split between Bolton Wanderers and Warrington Wolves.

The Right Hon. J H Whitley was Liberal MP for Halifax from 1900-1928 and Speaker of the House of Commons from 1920-1928. In his memory, the University of Huddersfield and the Whitley Family have held an annual lecture since 2012 following the Whitley family's generous donation of the JH Whitley collection to the University of Huddersfield.