Former Speaker Says Her Successor Is Doing A Great Job

Laura Tucker-Longsworth

And while Longsworth has spent much of her life in nursing care and helping cancer patients to access treatment and care, she is also known in this country as the immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives. Many will remember her for encouraging members of parliament to use parliamentary language when speaking in the House, particularly when the proceedings got testy. It’s been just over three years since Longsworth vacated the seat and was succeeded by Valerie Woods as the current House Speaker. So today when we had a chance to ask her what she thinks of Woods’ performance, she said nothing short of amazing, both in terms of keeping things in line and in terms of modernizing the system in place.

Laura Tucker-Longsworth, Former House Speaker

“I think Speaker Woods is doing an amazing job. She has taken on – I think she understands clearly behind the scenes. Most people do understand that the National Assembly needs a lot of reform, and she embraced that, and she’s doing it. I think that this year we’ll see host meetings happening out of the George Price Center. And I was the happiest – they invited me to the launch of that initiative. I was very proud to be there because it’s something that I really felt passionately about. Our National Assembly should be our pride and joy and our operations need to improve. The environment needs to be improved. We need a good library and so on, and Speaker Woods and the President of the Senate there, they are moving. They are getting things done in a way that has not been done for a while. And so I applaud them and congratulate them. And I look forward to the end results. Yes, it’s difficult, by the way, even politically, dealing with all the members of the House. Good for her. Good for her, because I do – all I can say, I understand.  I do understand. We do the best that we can do when you’re in that seat, and it’s never popular.”