Written transcript: How is the new Assembly Speaker elected?

Gareth McGrath, Director of Parliamentary Services, Northern Ireland Assembly: The nomination process again is set out both in the Northern Ireland Act and the Assembly Standing Orders and it's very systematic. So the outgoing Speaker will invite nominations from a member to the Office of Speaker. That nomination must be seconded and that nomination must then be accepted either by the member who has been nominated either in person or they can do that through a written statement.

The Speaker will then invite other nominations and that process will continue so each nomination must be seconded and then the Speaker, once it's clear that there are no further nominations, then a debate will open and any member can contribute to that particular debate. Once the debate has concluded the Speaker will then put the question that the first member nominated be Speaker of the Assembly. That will be subject to a vote and depending on the outcome of the vote, if that member is successfully elected as Speaker then he or she will take the chair.

If that member is not successfully elected then the member who is next nominated will be the subject of a vote and so on and so forth and that process continues until a Speaker is successfully elected. Once the Speaker is successfully elected then he or she will take the chair and then the new Speaker again will make some initial comments and will then oversee all the subsequent items of business. First of all overseeing the election of at least two Deputy Speakers.

The process for Deputy Speakers is exactly the same as that for Speakers.