Martin, Michael (1945-…), a Scottish politician, was elected speaker of the United Kingdom House of Commons in 2000. Martin became the first Roman Catholic speaker since the English Reformation in the 1500’s. In 2005, he was reelected to the post.
Michael John Martin was born on July 3, 1945, in Glasgow, Scotland. Before entering politics, he was a sheet-metal worker and a labor union official. He served on the Glasgow city council from 1973 to 1979.
Martin won election to the United Kingdom’s House of Commons in May 1979, serving as member of Parliament (MP) for the Scottish parliamentary constituency of Glasgow Springburn. From 1981 to 1983, Martin was a parliamentary private secretary to Denis Healey, deputy leader of the Labour Party. Martin was chairman of the Scottish Grand Committee, a committee in the Commons made up of all the Scottish MP’s, from 1987 to 1997. In 1997, he became a deputy speaker of the House of Commons under Betty Boothroyd. He succeeded Boothroyd as speaker of the House of Commons when she retired in 2000.
