EAST Lancashire MPs have condemned the 'shambles' of yesterday's seven hour election for a new Speaker of the House of Commons.

Pendle Labour backbencher Gordon Prentice -- who led the campaign for a new system -- said it was "a discredited system that would not have been out of place in Eastern Europe before the Berlin Wall came down."

He organised a special Hustings for candidates to address MPs before the vote - which new Speaker Michael Martin refused to attend.

Mr Prentice said: "The system we use should be open and transparent and people should be able to understand it. There should be a ballot of the candidates."

Ribble Valley Tory Nigel Evans, said: "It was a complete shambles. There must be a new system in place for next time.

"I wish Mr Martin well, but the Speakership should have returned to the Tory Party. Labour used its thumping majority on party lines to get its man through."

Labour whip and Hyndburn MP Greg Pope, agreed -- he voted consistently for minority party candidates and, along with Home Secretary and Blackburn MP Jack Straw and Burnley MP Peter Pike, backed leading Tory candidate Sir George Young.

He said: "I would have preferred a Speaker from one of the Opposition parties in view of Labour's massive majority. In the end, I voted for Mr Martin in the final vote to ensure we got a Speaker. The system needs to be changed."

Mr Pike said:"It was an absolute shambles and the system must be changed before the next Speakership election."