The Right Honourable Sir Lindsay Hoyle shared insights from his Parliamentary career with Lancaster students during a visit to campus.
The Speaker of the House of Commons and Member of Parliament for Chorley visited the University to contribute to Lancaster University's new Parliamentary Studies module.
Parliamentary Studies is a unique third-year undergraduate module run in partnership with the UK Parliament.
Students learn about the structure, theory and history of Parliament with the opportunity to interact with a series of politicians, officials and researchers provided by Parliament itself.
The Speaker shared his experiences and knowledge of Parliament from nearly 30 years as an MP and through his current senior role as chair of the Commons.
During his time on campus on 17 January, the Speaker answered questions from students covering topics including public perceptions of Parliament, House of Lords reform, parliamentary behaviour, the security of Members of Parliament, parliamentary candidates, and reforms to the culture of the Commons.
Dr Thomas Loughran, Lecturer in Electoral Politics in the University's Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion, said: "We are very grateful to the Speaker for giving up his time so generously and for engaging so openly and candidly with student questions about Parliament.
"It made for the perfect start to this exciting new partnership with Parliament and we are hoping he will be able to come back next year as well."
The Speaker has long been a champion for Lancashire and the surrounding region and recently hosted the three Lancashire-based universities and Members of Parliament from the region in London.
Students of the Parliamentary Studies module, which is run at Lancaster by the Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion, will visit Parliament in March to see the Speaker in action. Parliamentary Studies is a higher education module which is co-taught by university tutors and officials from the Houses of Parliament.
It is the only higher education module formally approved by the Houses of Parliament, and Lancaster University is one of just 23 universities to be awarded the right to deliver the module, with 30 students currently enrolled.
Christopher Macleod, Professor of Politics and Philosophy, said: "It was a great pleasure to welcome Sir Lyndsay to speak to Politics students taking the Parliamentary Studies module. The Speaker gave us a really interesting insight into current pressing issues in the running of Parliament.
"The Parliamentary Studies module, run by Dr Loughran, is a great example of how we can bring student in to contact with experts on the theory and practice of contemporary politics."
