a serving MP who is elected by his or her colleagues to become Speaker, at which point he or she drops all party affiliations, at least until the next General Election.

Because the governing party will almost certainly elect one of their own to be Speaker, the holder of the post will invariably be under suspicion from the Opposition.

This places the Speaker in an invidious position. If he or she makes decisions which seem to favour the Government, the Opposition will be up in arms.

Overcompensate in the other direction and your former colleagues will accuse you of giving up the cause and being disloyal to your long-held beliefs.

Recently, the current holder of the post, Stanley Lowe, has been accused of favouring his former party, the governing Progressive Labour Party.

The Opposition United Bermuda Party believed he suffered from selective hearing when he claimed he had not heard Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb question UBP MP C.V. (Jim) Woolridge's integrity, but heard Mr.

Woolridge's response all too clearly. When Mr. Woolridge refused to apologise, he was ejected.

This is not the first time the Opposition has complained about Mr. Lowe, although this is the first time that a debate about his sense of fairness has hit the front pages.

Mr. Lowe has made some rulings against the UBP since taking the Speaker's chair.

In December, he rejected a bid by the UBP to hold a confidence vote in Premier Jennifer Smith by secret ballot. Mr. Lowe ruled that only the Governor could choose a Premier if the ruling party had selected a new leader or if the Government had fallen as a result of a vote of no confidence.

Mr. Lowe also allowed the Government to suspend the rules on hotel concessions for the Castle Harbour Hotel when the Opposition had only 48 hours notices of changes to the legislation.

He also cut off debate on allegations that the Tourism Ministry had solicited private business for funds to buy Pitts Bay Road mansion Cragmore for a new headquarters after Premier Smith cited a rule prohibiting members from answering questions raised in the media.

Mr. Lowe also admonished Opposition Leader Pamela Gordon after she sought an apology from Health Minister Nelson Bascome for accusing her of "jealousy'' and acting like a "dethroned princess''.

Having failed to get Mr. Lowe to order an apology, Ms Gordon then questioned the "degree of justice'' in the House of Assembly at which point Mr. Lowe demanded an apology from her at which point Ms Gordon walked out.

The Opposition says it detects a pattern in all this. The Government says that is not the case and have recently been vociferous in Mr. Lowe's defence.

He is not unfair, current and former MPs say, adding that it is often the retaliator in life and in sports, who gets caught, not the instigator. Anyway, they add, Mr. Lowe's predecessors from the UBP were biased and this is just sour grapes.

In the end, all of this comes back to Mr. Lowe.

Under the current system, any Speaker will be suspected of bias by the other party.

For that reason, Dame Lois Browne Evans' proposal for a vote of confidence in the Speaker is self-defeating; a Government vote for him will simply confirm the belief he favours it.

Instead, Mr. Lowe must repair his own reputation -- if he feels it has been damaged to begin with. The best Speakers govern the House according to their own consciences and principles and are beholden to no-one.