Government Whip Mr. Richard Spurling expects another "impasse'' today when the House of Assembly meets for a second try at electing a Deputy Speaker.

But there were signs that Opposition MP Mr. Stanley Lowe could emerge the victor in today's voting.

Mr. Spurling left a United Bermuda Party caucus meeting and other talks yesterday to say a consensus among Government MPs had not yet emerged.

"The position tomorrow will probably be similar to last week,'' when no nominee for Deputy Speaker could garner the 20 votes needed to win, Mr.

Spurling told The Royal Gazette .

The Government nominee would be St. George's South MP, the Progressive Labour Party was expected to nominate Mr. Lowe, and it was not clear whether Government backbencher Dr. Clarence Terceira would again be nominated, Mr.

Spurling said.

He expected none of the two, or possibly three, candidates, would garner the 20 votes needed to win -- representing a majority of the 39 MPs in the House.

"My expectation is that we will reach another stalemate,'' Mr. Spurling said.

"That gives us another week to try to reach a consensus.'' Last week, five UBP MPs -- Mrs. Ann Cartwright DeCouto, Dr. David Dyer, Mr.

Trevor Moniz, Dr. Clarence Terceira, and Mr. C.V. (Jim) Woolridge -- abstained in the vote to make Mrs. Bell Deputy Speaker.

Mr. Woolridge was defeated by Premier David Saul for the party leadership after the August Independence referendum, and the other four MPs supported him. Only one of the five -- Dr. Dyer -- attended yesterday's caucus meeting at Chancery Lane, sources said.

Both Mr. Moniz and Dr. Dyer said yesterday they would not support Mrs. Bell today.

And the possibility emerged that they may support Mr. Lowe, whether by voting for him directly or by aiding the passage of a procedural motion that would allow a candidate to win with fewer than 20 votes.

Mr. Moniz would not rule out voting for Mr. Lowe.

"I haven't been in the House that long, but he's certainly always been very gentlemanly and very above board,'' Mr. Moniz said of the PLP MP for Southampton East.

"He seems to have a good knowledge of the rules. I understand that two elections ago the UBP offered the position to Mr. Lowe, but the PLP declined.'' It appeared Mr. Lowe "had the support of the governing party'' not long ago, Mr. Moniz said.

And he agreed there could be a tactical advantage for Government in having an Opposition MP in the Deputy Speaker's chair, given the UBP's slim majority in the House.

Last Friday, three secret ballot votes failed to produce a Deputy Speaker.

Mrs. Bell received 15 votes, Mr. Lowe 18, and Dr. Terceira got five. Health and Social Services Minister Harry Soares, who was off the Island last week, can today be expected to support Mrs. Bell.

Mr. Moniz would not say whether Dr. Terceira would again be nominated today.

But Dr. Dyer said he expected "my man is still in the race.'' Dr. Dyer said he could not support Mrs. Bell and had "not considered'' whether he could support Mr. Lowe.

The Pembroke West MP also said that election of the Deputy Speaker was a free vote as a matter for the House to decide. That was widely misunderstood by the public, he said.

"It has nothing to do with party politics,'' Dr. Dyer said.

Mr. Spurling agreed there was not a "whip'' on the vote as such, but he disagreed with Dr. Dyer that election of the Deputy Speaker amounted to a free vote. "The caucus did select Grace Bell in accordance with its procedures,'' he said. "Therefore, she is the party's nominee.'' Opposition Leader Mr. Frederick Wade, meanwhile, said his party would again nominate Mr. Lowe and he was again ready to ask for a secret ballot vote.

And "a three-line whip'' would be in place, meaning all PLP MPs would be expected to toe the party line, said Mr. Wade, who also disagreed with Dr.

Dyer on the nature of the vote.

Last Friday, one PLP MP apparently abstained in the vote for Mrs. Bell. Mr.

Wade later said he believed it was an accident.

The Opposition Leader said yesterday he had received no assurances of support for Mr. Lowe from the five members of the UBP back bench which Dr. Terceira has dubbed "The People's Five.'' Mr. Moniz said the MPs wrote to Mr. Spurling as "a courtesy'' prior to last Friday's vote, telling why they could not support Mrs. Bell.

"We quite frankly don't think she's the best-qualified for the job,'' Mr.

Moniz said. "Some of her behaviour during the run-up to the referendum was not such as to give confidence that she would be impartial.

"She indulged in a significant amount of name calling and behaviour which in our view would not give us confidence to support her as Deputy Speaker.'' Also, Mr. Moniz did not believe Mrs. Bell was sufficiently "technically minded'' and knowledgeable of the House rules. See story on Page 7 Also in the House today: Mr. Wade, who is marking his 10th anniversary as PLP leader, delivers his Reply to the Throne Speech.

Mr. Wade's speech is to kick off the Throne Speech Debate, which is expected to continue until 8 p.m., then resume next Friday.

A Government statement is expected on the progress of Bermudianisation at the newly-named Bermuda International Airport, which was turned over to local control from the US Navy this summer.