Chaos! The unpredictable life of a speaker in parliament.

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Many children aspire to become an astronaut, a globally recognized athlete, or work in accounting for a medium-sized company that produces printer ink cartridges.

Being the speaker of a parliament is not a desirable position, but these individuals responsible for maintaining order and managing the schedule continue to make headlines. This can have positive outcomes, such as the recent election of the first Black speaker in Canada’s House of Commons, Liberal MP Greg Fergus. However, there are also instances where it may not be favorable, as seen in the recent events in the U.S.

The recent removal of House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy was a result of a conservative uprising, as he relied on Democratic support to approve funding and prevent a government shutdown.

That revolt was led by pompadoured Florida Republican member of Congress Matt Gaetz, who looks like if you asked a 6-year-old to draw the bad guy in a superhero comic. In the U.K. in the 1980s, French cookware brand Tefal’s TV adverts featured boffins with massive foreheads to indicate how smart they were. Gaetz — who is well blessed in the forehead department — has ruined that entire ad campaign as well as McCarthy’s career.

Furthermore, is the leader of the European Parliament merely a highly esteemed speaker? Please direct any angry grievances regarding this matter to another individual.

John Bercow, a well-known public figure, was known for loudly declaring “Order!” during his time as the U.K.’s foremost speaker. Bercow, who enjoyed being in the spotlight, has joined the cast of “The Traitors US,” a TV show where participants are selected to be “traitors” and have the power to eliminate their competitors in order to win a significant cash prize. This concept bears a striking resemblance to politics.

Not every speaker is as attention-seeking as Bercow. Sweden’s Andreas Norlén, who has been speaker of the Riksdag since 2018, told POLITICO that he once guided the parliament through an unprecedented deadlock that saw Sweden bereft of a government for 134 days with such characteristic Swedish calm that one broadcaster, TV4, juxtaposed riotous clips of Bercow with Norlén’s history-teacher demeanor and asked on its homepage: “Mild or wild: How do you like your speaker?”

Norlén stated that clapping is permitted in the Swedish parliament, but booing is not. However, there is a little-known U.N. regulation that permits the booing of Matt Gaetz in any parliament around the world.

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Paul Dallison is POLITICO

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