LONDON • Britain has a new referee who must keep order in its rowdy, divided and Brexit-battered Parliament.

Mr Lindsay Hoyle has been elected as the new Speaker of the House of Commons, after promising to be an antidote to his predecessor John Bercow. Mr Hoyle, 62, has never revealed his views on Brexit, while Mr Bercow admitted voting to stay in the European Union.

Mr Hoyle, who was voted in as a Labour MP but will renounce his party affiliation, won the contest on a promise to heal divisions over Britain's divorce from the EU after one of the most bruising periods in recent British political history.

It was a message that appealed to weary politicians who have spent three years struggling to cope with the pressure of navigating the country's exit from the EU.

"I will be neutral. I will be transparent," Mr Hoyle, who has been deputy Speaker since 2010, said after winning the vote. "This House will change, but it will change for the better."

It is the Speaker, chairing debates in the Commons, who often determines what a minority government can and cannot do. Mr Hoyle will potentially have the power to help rank-and-file MPs take control of the House of Commons agenda from the government as well as ruling on the amendments they can make to government legislation.

His appointment comes after Mr Bercow stepped down last week after 10 years in office. After four rounds of voting on Monday, Mr Hoyle won the support of 325 of the 540 MPs who took part.

The choice of Speaker could be crucial to the future direction of Brexit if neither of the country's main political parties wins a clear majority at the general election taking place on Dec 12.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his main rival, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, have traded barbs over Brexit as Britain votes next month on which of the duo should lead it out of the EU.

Mr Johnson wrote an open letter to Mr Corbyn asking him to clarify his strategy for the divorce, while the Labour leader accused the Prime Minister of "hijacking" Brexit by slashing regulations and moving Britain towards an American economic model to pursue an agenda of cutting workers rights and increasing the role of US companies in the National Health Service.

"What Boris Johnson's Conservatives want is to hijack Brexit to unleash Thatcherism on steroids," Mr Corbyn said in a speech yesterday.

Mr Johnson, in his letter, demanded to know Mr Corbyn's plan for leaving the EU. He also wrote: "We cannot afford to spend 2020 fighting two more referendums offering the public more of the same confusion and indecision that have plagued the last three years."

He said he would see through his deal, agreed with the EU on Oct 17, and leave the bloc by end-January, enabling the government to focus on voters' priorities of schools, policing and healthcare.

He asked Mr Corbyn questions about his policy, including whether Labour wants to remain in the EU's Customs union and if the party believes the result of the 2016 Brexit referendum should be respected. Mr Johnson also queried the cost of the national vote Mr Corbyn wants to hold to approve any deal the Prime Minister agrees with the EU.

Labour's policy is to renegotiate a deal with the EU and then put it to a referendum, with remaining in the EU as the other option. The party would not decide which side to support until the deal was done, but Mr Corbyn says the whole process could be completed in six months.

Public opinion research firm ICM's first poll of the election campaign has put Mr Johnson's Conservatives on 38 per cent and Labour on 31 per cent. Over two-thirds of those who voted "Remain" in the Brexit referendum in 2016 and for the Conservatives in 2017 intended to stick with the Conservatives, ICM said.

BLOOMBERG, REUTERS