was opposed by a Labour Party candidate at the 1935 general election, there was strong disapproval from other parties and a sub-committee of the Cabinet considered whether a special single-candidate constituency should be created for the speaker. The sub-committee concluded that parliamentary opinion would not favour this suggestion. Likewise, in December 1938 the Commons rejected a motion from the Prime Minister for a Select Committee to re-examine the idea. The sub-committee, chaired by former Prime Minister David Lloyd George, reported in April 1939 that no change should be made; not permitting opposition to a sitting speaker would be "a serious infringement of democratic principles" and that "to alter the status of the speaker, so that he ceased to be returned to the House of Commons by the same electoral methods as other members or as a representative of a Parliamentary constituency, would be equally repugnant to the custom and tradition of the House". Labour and Liberal candidates opposed Selwyn Lloyd in both elections in 1974. Labour and the SDP stood against Bernard Weatherill in 1987. Speakers for Scottish and Welsh seats commonly face nationalist opponents: Plaid Cymru stood against George Thomas at his re-election, and Scottish National Party candidates stood against Michael Martin throughout, as their party constitution requires them to stand in all seats in Scotland, since October 1974. In 2010 Speaker John Bercow faced ten opponents, including Nigel Farage, former leader of the UK Independence Party polling 17.4% of the vote and John Stevens, from the Buckinghamshire Campaign for Democracy party polling 21.4%. Bercow won with 47% of the vote. Role Presiding officer The speaker's primary function is to preside over the House of Commons. According to parliamentary rules, the speaker is the highest authority of the House of Commons and has final say over how its business is conducted. Traditionally, the speaker when presiding wore court dress—a black coat with white shirt and bands, beneath a black gown, with stockings and buckled shoes, and a full-bottomed wig. But in 1992 Betty Boothroyd, the first female speaker, eschewed the wig. Her successor, Michael Martin, also declined to wear the wig; moreover, he chose to simplify other aspects of the costume, doing away with the once customary buckled court shoes and silk stockings. His successor John Bercow abandoned traditional dress, wearing a plain black gown over his lounge suit when presiding. For ceremonial occasions such as the State Opening,