John Bercow has begun his career as Commons Speaker by telling MPs to speed it up.

After the traditional procession through the Palace of Westminster - wearing a simple gown over a lounge suit and dispensing with the wig and elaborate court dress donned by his predecessors - Mr Bercow told MPs they should ask only one question and ministers that they should answer briefly.

To cries of "hear hear", he added: "I am determined we make good progress through the order paper."

Earlier today Mr Bercow revealed that he will not claim the parliamentary second home allowance while in the post.

Mr Bercow, who yesterday told MPs he offered a “clean break” after the expenses scandals of the past weeks, has claimed more than £20,000 annually over the past four years to cover the cost of staying away from home on parliamentary business.

He said that he wanted to see the issue of parliamentary expenses dealt with “in a timely fashion” and said reform should not be put off for “a period of several months” or more. But he stressed that, while transparency should be a fundamental principle of any new regime, financial support for MPs should not be pared away to the point where only those with a private income can follow a political career.

Presenting himself as a champion of backbench MPs, he said he intended to ensure that the proceedings of the House were “brisk” and indicated that this might involve requiring the Prime Minister and leader of the Opposition to be more “snappy” in their weekly exchanges over the despatch box at Question Time.

Mr Bercow this morning sought to brush off claims that did not enjoy cross-party support, saying: “I did enjoy very widespread support right across the House. I was informed by a very significant number of colleagues form my former party - my party at the time, the Conservative Party - that they would be supporting me in the secret ballot and I have every reason to believe that they did so.

“I am not going to get into a numbers game and argue about how many people voted for me from one party rather than another, but I said I had broad support and I meant it and it is true.”

“I am preoccupied with the rather important responsibility of trying to do my best to serve the House in this Parliament.

“My responsibility to the House of Commons is to devote myself wholeheartedly every day to the task of doing a good job as Speaker, by upholding the rights of backbench members, by facilitating fair play, by ensuring that the House does its business in the way that it should and as the public expects.”

Mr Bercow, whose new job comes with a £141,866 salary and a lavish apartment on the banks of the Thames, said he would personally not claim the parliamentary Additional Costs

Allowance to which MPs are entitled to cover the cost of staying away from home. He last year claimed the maximum permitted £23,083.

Mr Bercow made clear that he would be making some immediate changes to his own appearance in the House “So far as I am concerned, I have no intention of wearing a wig,” he said.

“I think it is perfectly proper that the Speaker should wear a business suit and have a simple and unfussy gown over that suit and that is what I intend to do.

“That is very much a personal choice for me. I think that is right for the spirit of the times.” Wider reforms of archaic Commons procedures - such as the practice of MPs addressing one another as “my honourable friend” and directing all questions through the chair - were “issues that can potentially be considered over a period”, he said.

But he added: “They should be considered in a sensible fashion and on the understanding that a wide range of views might be held and ought to be sought.”

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