Michael Martin has been unanimously re-elected as speaker of the House of Commons.

Martin was proposed by the new father of the House, Tam Dalyell, on Wednesday afternoon and was voted in unopposed.

The formalities of the new parliament began with Black Rod, Sir Michael Willcocks, summoning MPs to the House of Lords for the Commission to be read.

Lord Irvine ordered MPs to elect a speaker before calling for their return to the Commons.

Dalyell, who replaced Tory former prime minister Sir Edward Heath as Father of the House, proposed his re-election.

In the Commons Speaker Martin said: "I submit myself to the will of the House as is the ancient custom."

Unlike his October 2000 election, he was unopposed and the custom of the Speaker being dragged unwilling to the Chair was repeated. Once there, Martin thanked the voters of Glasgow Springburn for re-electing him.

Sir George Young, who was a rival for the post in October, supported the move for re-election.

Young began by paying tribute to Tam Dalyell with reference to Sir Edward heath. "I hope you will continue to be as irreverent to your own front bench as your predecessor was to mine," he said.He said there were two reasons for nominating Martin: "The first is continuity. I don't believe our Speaker should be put into play at the beginning of every parliament. As we have seen since the middle of the 19th century there has been a strong presumption that a Speaker once elected by the House is not subsequently challenged.''

Young said to go against the protocol would bring "grave dangers that the office itself would be destabilised and in danger of becoming politicised''.

He said: "While the Speaker should be validated there should be a presumption against challenging the incumbent. If we were starting from scratch, I believe the House would choose Mr Martin today. His long service in the House with deep roots on the backbenches, his work on the chairmen's panel, his experience as deputy speaker, his genial and approachable manner ... are qualities that strike a chord with the House.''

He said that Martin had developed an "informal and approachable style'' as Speaker. "A key role lies ahead for him in this Parliament. There is a strong view that the House should reassert the accountability of the Executive to Parliament. A growing number of Members want the House to be more relevant to the concerns of those we represent, more effective in what it does, a better link between Government and governed,'' Young said. "You are entitled to support from the whole House in that role.''

Tributes were led by the new Leader of the Commons, Robin Cook, who was joined in the chamber by deputy prime minister John Prescott and chancellor Gordon Brown.

Cook said he had already shown "all the necessary qualities of a modern Speaker''. "You have been fair but firm. You have turned aside confrontation with humour. You have got the better of those unwise enough to challenge your authority.''

For the Opposition, William Hague also warned of the need to "restore'' Parliamentary accountability.

"Few things would give me greater satisfaction in politics than to see this House once again restored to the centre of our national life. The great issues coming before us over the next few years, some of possibly supreme importance to the way our country is governed, should be fully scrutinised and debated first and foremost in this chamber. We all look to you as the independent champion of all parties in the House," said Hague.

Charles Kennedy said: "I do hope that early steps will be taken to look at our procedures and practices in here to make them as relevant and comprehensible to the people out there because there is clearly a growing gulf and it is one which will engulf us all in all parties if we are not careful,'' he said.

Martin told new members of the House: "The best advice I could give new members is never hesitate to seek advice from the speaker, from colleagues and the staff of the house."