Copy of typed speech by the Labour politician and jurist Lord Chorley, intended to have been delivered in the House of Lords but not used, giving 'reasons why Mr. W. S. Morrison should not have been nominated for Speaker of the House of Commons'.

Following the 1951 General Election, Morrision was proposed as Speaker by the victorious Conservative Party, against convention. An election among MPs followed, with Morrision winning against the Labour candidate Major James Milner. 2pp., 4to. Fair, on aged and lightly-creased paper. At the head of the first page Chorley has written the words 'not used'. The first paragraph reads: 'There are a number of reasons why Mr. W. S. Morrison should not have been nominated for Speaker of the House of Commons which were not adequately brought out in the short debate, but which in view of the vital importance of maintaining the position of the Speaker as one of complete impartiality above the combat of parties ought to be put on record.' Chorley's main objections are to a former cabinet minister holding the office, and to one with little experience 'of the rule of the Chair'. In the concluding paragraph Chorley states: 'As it is a Conservative with no experience of the work of the Chair has obtained this highly prized office; and the Labour Party which after all has now for over a quarter of a century been one of the two great political parties of the country, has to wait still longer for one of its members to attain the Speakership.' From the Chorley papers.