Sixth form pupils from a St Albans school have had their very own question time with a speaker of the House of Commons.

On Friday, February 11 students from St Albans Girls School welcomed The Rt Hon John Bercow.

Students listened intently as Mr Bercow, the 157th speaker of the house, explained the four main functions of his role in Parliament.

He explained his role of chairing the house, remaining impartial and coping with the phenomenal challenge of remembering the names and constituencies of all 650 MP’s.

Mr Bercow went on to tell the pupils he was "immensely proud to have opened proceedings in the House of Commons last October", when his "long time heroine" Burmese political leader Aung San Suu Kyi visited Parliament.

He said he strongly believed that more women should become involved in their respective Governments, which currently remains male dominated.

Year 13 Sociology student Madelaine Tarling said: "it was very interesting to find out what the role of speaker involved because I didn’t know before.

"I especially liked the fact he agreed that there was not enough women working in Parliament and I was impressed that he wanted to change that."