THE first known Speaker of the House of Commons was Wiltshire boy Sir Thomas Hungerford, who was MP for the area from 1357 onwards. His father and uncle had also been local MPs, a relation Lady Margaret Hungerford founded the wonderful Almshouses and school in Corsham, and there are still descendants of his living in the area. According to the Rolls of Parliament (the official record), Hungerford “avait les paroles pur les communes d’Angleterre en cet parliament”, being broadly translated as “spoke for the Commons of England in this Parliament”.

Then and through 150 speakers during 650 years since, Mr Speaker has been above the political hurly-burly. He resigns from his political party, and may not re-join it even after he has given up the Speakership (viz those great speakers Betty Boothroyd, Bernard Weatherill and George Thomas of Tonypandy.) He or she must “speak” for every MP, upholding our rights and privileges. To do so he cannot and must not enter into any kind of political discussion or controversy, national or international. He has his own views, no doubt, about which he may chunter over the breakfast table, but he is simply not allowed to express them, nor let them be known in public. He is largely unopposed in his constituency at General Elections, and in every way, rather like the football referee in a football match, must show neither “fear nor favour”.

Most famously, Charles I was the last monarch to enter the Chamber of the House of Commons. We chopped off his head as a result, and commemorate his exclusion every year at the State Opening of Parliament by banging our door in the face of the monarch’s servant, Black Rod. King Charles wanted to arrest five MPs who had meanwhile made good their escape down the Thames for alleged high treason. When the King asked Speaker Lenthall if he knew of their whereabouts, he replied: “ May it please your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here.”

These conventions help – together with such symbols as the Mace on the Table in the House, the obscure and antiquated uniforms which the doorkeepers, clerks at the Table and until recently Mr Speaker wear; the careful language, the rules of procedure - all of these things together make our great Parliament what it is. Lose them and you lose the reputation of our parliamentary democracy. “Throw away the even-handedness of the Speaker today; get rid of the clerks’ wigs tomorrow; allow MPs to wear jeans and T-shirts the day after – you name it. Let’s get rid of all these silly old traditions. Let’s modernise for modernisation’s sake.”

Well if you do you are salami-slicing away at the whole basis of decent government and a universally respected Parliament. Perhaps Mr Speaker Bercow should spend a little more time pondering some of these matters.