UNLESS he has a last- minute change of heart, Frank Field won’t be putting in his nomination papers for Speaker of the House of Commons this morning.

The Birkenhead MP was seen by some people as an early favourite for the job, but on his website he writes about having support outside Parliament, but not among MPs. Frank is a man with radical ideas, who speaks his mind irrespective of party allegiance.

Those qualities are ideal for the sort of Speaker MPs should be electing today. They need someone who is bipartisan, prepared to reform the whole rotten system at Westminster, and be independent of the Government.

However, as other candidates have entered the race, the old concerns about Frank Field being a bit of a maverick have arisen. It’s a pity because it means Wirral won’t be getting its second Speaker since the Second World War. Selwyn Lloyd was Conservative MP for Wirral from 1945 until 1976. He was a senior Cabinet Minister until falling out with Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1962, when he was sacked as Chancellor.

Nearly ten years later, Lloyd was elected Speaker and served for six years until he became a Peer and was replaced as MP for Wirral West by David Hunt.

It’s a custom of the House that whoever is elected Speaker is “dragged” to the chair. This is a traditional sign of reluctance to take on a job that in past centuries saw some Speakers losing their heads at the behest of the monarch. With Parliament in its current state, let’s see if Bercow, Beckett, Widdecombe or Sir George Young have second thoughts as they approach the chair.

Rarely can a Speaker have been chosen when the House of Commons was held in such contempt by voters. The public is angrier now than when the first flush of greed was revealed by the Daily Telegraph last month. With the resignation of Speaker Michael Martin, we were told that the Government, MPs and the Commons authorities had finally got it. There would be transparency over expenses and Gordon Brown promised a style of government more open to the people.

What did we get? The official expenses record with vast sections blanked out and Gordon Brown announcing a secret inquiry into the Iraq War. The fact that he’s partially back-tracked throws into question the wisdom of the Parliamentary Labour Party a fortnight ago in giving him its support.

THE Northwest Development Agency is one of the key partners in the £24m redevelopment plan for the Everyman Theatre. We all wish the project well at this crucial time for decisions on the scheme. The Agency itself is also in need of a decision; on its next chairman.

The saga has been going on for a year now, and I understand the incumbent, Bryan Gray, would like to be out by July. I’m told it’s still between Peel Holdings’ Robert Hough and ex-broadcaster Felicity Goodey. Peter Mandelson will decide their fate – and probably the Prime Minister’s, too.