Nigel Evans, Member of Parliament for the Ribble Valley, was on Tuesday 8 June 2010 elected by a secret ballot of MPs to become First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means, a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons.

Nigel is joined by fellow Deputy Speakers Lindsay Hoyle MP (as Chairman of Ways and Means) and Dawn Primarolo MP (as Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means). Mr Evans now takes responsibility for chairing debates in the Chamber of the House in the absence of Speaker John Bercow. Although Mr Evans topped the poll, which utilised the Single Transferable Vote system, of first preference votes tradition holds that the Chairman of the Ways and Means must be drawn from the opposite side of the House to the Speaker.

Mr Evans said,

“I am delighted to have been given such support by colleagues from all sides of the House of Commons in order to be elected First Deputy Speaker. This is the first time the position has been elected and I am humbled by the trust my colleagues have placed in me. This is an enormous honour not just for me, but for the people of the Ribble Valley.

 “I very much look forward to the challenges of my new role and to serving the House for many years to come.”