A new-look Parliament resumes today, with the first order of business the naming of a new speaker to replace Peter Milliken.

A slew of Conservatives who realize they will never be in Cabinet have put their names forward, including Barry Devolin, Lee Richardson, Bruce Stanton, Merv Tweed, Dean Allison, Ed Hold, and Andrew Scheer, along with NDPer Denise Savoie. While Denise would be great, I would be shocked to see Conservative MPs vote for a speaker from the opposition benches when they enjoy a comfortable majority.

My money is on Scheer, who was the runner-up to Milliken in 2008, but I’m certainly not apprised of all the backroom chatter and horse trading, so we might get a surprise. Either way, I’ll be sure to post an update here as soon as the new speaker is dragged to his, or her, chair.

UPDATE: Off to the 5th ballot we go. Scheer (the favourite), Savoie (the Dipper), and Richardson (the rumoured anti-PMO candidate) left standing.

UPDATE: The final ballots are being counter, but Wikipedia has already crowned Scheer the winner. That, and the Tory voting bloc majority, are good enough for me. Speaker Scheer it is! At the age of 32, the youngest ever.