Tories fear they could become 'irrelevant' if Labour form pact with Lib Dems

It is traditional for the leading opposition party to elect two deputy speakers to maintain balance.

However, an informal pact could see a Liberal Democrat MP become deputy speaker.

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who was a Labour MP, returned to the chair after successfully holding his Chorley constituency on July 4.

Echoing concerns about the potential situation, a senior Tory MP told The Telegraph: “It’s not just a precarious time for us, it’s a perilous time.

“This is not just about who sits in the chair, it’s about how Parliament operates – it’s about Bills, legislation and amendments.

“The Conservatives could become irrelevant if the Government just bulldozes legislation through.

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“Of course, Labour has a huge majority, and that limits how effective we can be, but we still have a constitutional role to play in providing an effective opposition.”

The Commons Speaker is supposed to be politically neutral.

However, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage made clear what he thought of Hoyle’s predecessor John Bercow during his maiden speech in the House of Commons.

“We are the new kids on the block,” he said. “We have no experience in this Parliament whatsoever, even though some of us have tried many times over the years previously to get here.

“So we can't judge you from working in this place, but we can judge you from the way the outside world sees you.

“I don't just mean the UK, I mean the world, because Prime Minister's Questions is global box-office politics.

“It's pretty clear to everybody that you act with great neutrality, that you import tremendous dignity to the role as Speaker, so we absolutely endorse you entirely for this job.”

Farage added: “And it is, I must say, in marked contrast to the little man that was there before you and besmirched the office so dreadfully in doing his best to overturn the biggest democratic result in the history of the country.”

Hoyle later told MPs he would continue to be “fair, impartial and independent” after he was returned to the post unopposed.

Around half a dozen Tory MPs look set to run for deputy speaker, creating the risk of a split in the Conservative vote.

The vote is expected to take place in the week beginning July 22.

One Conservative source said: “We should be narrowing down our candidate list, but the party is in disarray at the moment – we can’t even run our own internal elections properly.”

Tories have also voiced concern about internal elections to the 1922 Committee after a number of MPs missed out on voting in Bob Blackman’s victory.