Michael Martin has said he will stand up for the House of Commons, stressing that he was not a Labour Party placeman.

Speaking to journalists, the former sheet metal worker stressed that he would defend the Commons and its members at all times. "I am not the executive's man, I am the house's man and I will not allow the rules of the house to be broken."

He said he had not yet moved into the grand "grace and favour" apartment used by the speaker and suggested his style would be different to that of his predecessor. "That was speaker Boothroyd, I am speaker Martin," he said.

Martin said he accepted some of the criticisms of the system used to select him, but stressed that the Commons was given a chance to choose any of the candidates who stood on Monday.

Some Westminster sources, including Tam Dalyell, who is set to become the father of the house after the next election, have criticised Martin for going on the record with the press. One Conservative source said: "It seems a bit odd that after several years during which Betty Boothroyd criticised the government for making announcements to press conferences and not to parliament that speaker Martin does just that."