Randolph Horton thought long and hard before deciding he would accept the nomination to be Speaker of the House of Assembly.The Southampton West MP said he did not approach Premier Craig Cannonier about the role, and had received some criticism from his party for accepting the job.And he confirmed speculation that he did not plan to serve another term as a parliamentarian if the current legislature completes a full term.One key criticism was that the Opposition party would lose a vote in parliamentary debates with him as Speaker.“The reality of it is, that is some consequence,” Mr Horton said. “But the reality of it, which I had to think of as well, is that 19-17 is no different from 18-17 because really the Government would have had the vote, no matter what — if they all show up.”He said it had also been suggested that his decision would contribute to instability in the Island’s governance.“I’m not sure I wanted to be a part of creating instability,” he said. “I like the way the Leader of the Opposition has begun his deliberations as the Leader because he recognised — and I recognised — that the Progressive Labour Party lost the government and whoever won the government need an opportunity to be able to see if they can bring about improvement in the country. And there’s no question there needed to be an improvement in the country. The people were saying it at every doorstep I was on.”Many of his constituents in Southampton West — which he won with a strong majority over the One Bermuda Alliance — agreed with his decision, but some had expressed that he was “selling out the PLP” an accusation he described as “totally unfounded”.Mr Horton said he had been “threatened” with expulsion. “But I’ve had nothing direct and I know I can say that the Leader of the Opposition, while he certainly would have liked for me not to have taken the position, has been quite cordial and has wished me the best on the job and I know he’s not one who’s interested in expelling me.”Whether he is expelled or not could end up being a moot point. Mr Horton said that his plan had always been to serve just one more full term. But he may well run again if an early election is called.Mr Horton revealed that, had the PLP won the election, he would have stood a good chance of being Speaker as he had canvassed colleagues on both sides of the political divide before the December 17 poll.He had predicted that the PLP would win by two seats but did not foresee One Bermuda Alliance victories in St George’s West, won by Nandi Davis, and Devonshire North Central, won by Glen Smith over former Premier Paula Cox.He agreed that an Opposition Speaker is unprecedented in Bermuda’s political history, but noted there was some precedence for it in the rest of the Commonwealth.“Of course when you become Speaker, you have to be non-partisan. What’s important here is that the role of the Speaker is to handle business fairly and people have to feel confident that it is handled in a non-partisan way.”Mr Horton’s Deputy is Government MP Suzann Roberts-Holshouser who represents St Georges South. Both were nominated by Premier Craig Cannonier and seconded by Deputy Leader Michael Dunkley when the House convened for the first time since the general election last month.The PLP which had made clear its disapproval of any of its members taking up such a position at a delegates conference meeting in December, reacted politely to the development.“I have not always wanted to be the Speaker of the House but certainly once I became the Deputy Speaker of the House, I began to learn more about the role of the Speaker and the kind of influence that the Speaker could have on proceedings on the House, it was certainly something I was very very interested in,” he said.“I was actually approached and asked if I would be interested.”The “difficult decision” was taken after some consultation with a number of people, including some of his political mentors.“I weighed the responses with the way I was thinking and at the end of it all, I felt it would be a good thing for parliament.“I felt that I had the level of experience, having served as a Minister for some eight years. Having been in the House since 1998, I certainly had become familiar with how parliament works.“I’ve also travelled to London where I had participated in seminars on the running of parliament, and also on the committee structure of parliament. So I believed I was well prepared if I decided to take the job.”Mr Horton resigned from his job as director of learning and development at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess to take up the full time post.