which he presided with such distinguished ability and dignity in the Chair of this House". Life peerage and death Martin was made a life peer on 25 August 2009 as Baron Martin of Springburn, of Port Dundas in the City of Glasgow. He was introduced in the House of Lords on 13 October 2009. Like previous Speakers elevated to the Lords, he sat as a Crossbench peer. Martin took a leave of absence from the House of Lords on 13 September 2017. After a short illness, he died on 29 April 2018. Tributes were paid by current and former politicians, including then Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, his successor John Bercow, and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Arms Family and Personal Life Martin met Mary McLay at the Heatovent factory, where she worked as an assembly worker, and they got married in 1966. The couple had a son and a daughter. His son Paul Martin was the Labour Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow Springburn from 1999 to 2011, then for the Glasgow Provan constituency from 2011 until his defeat at the 2016 Scottish election. Martin was a keen player of the bagpipes, having regularly played for guests during his annually hosted Burns night supper. In the run-up to a St Andrew's Day reception on the parliamentary estate, Martin is reported to have once made a special intervention on behalf of the SNP group in the run-up to a St Andrew's Day reception, overruling the decision of the Serjeant at Arms to allow bagpipes to be played on the parliamentary estate. Notes References External links Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Michael Martin MP TheyWorkForYou.com – Michael Martin MP Biography and profile in the Sunday Times 27 July 2008 Conservative MPs accuse Speaker of bias and threaten to walk out Profile, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 24 February 2008 |- |- 1945 births 2018 deaths Councillors in Glasgow Scottish Labour councillors Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Glasgow constituencies Scottish Labour MPs Scottish trade unionists Speakers of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Crossbench life peers Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section-sponsored MPs UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Scottish Roman Catholics People from Springburn People from Anderston Sheet metal