Rejoice! At last we have a new Speaker. After weeks of scandal – and more helicopter jokes than anyone could bear – Bronwyn Bishop is officially out and Tony Smith is in. It’s a bit of a comeback for Smith who made it into Malcolm Turnbull’s shadow cabinet only to be turfed out after the 2010 election. But Peter Costello’s former right hand has garnered a lot of respect with his promise to stand up for the decency and the independence and the disdain for small, exorbitant aircraft we all expect in the parliament’s chief officer.

Most of the chatter has been around the selection process for the Speakership. Instead of being handpicked by the Prime Minister, this time the backbench has called the shots. And we had an open field of likeable backbenchers jostling the job. And Abbott’s candidate? Well, he didn’t have one this time. After his ‘captain’s pick’ of Bronwyn Bishop, the Liberal party-room decided the PM should butt right out. A challenge to his authority? Undoubtedly as far as it goes, but it might just be the boot up the backside he needs.

Bronwyn Bishop was hardly a Speaker to die for. Of course the Opposition will always get it in the neck more – they do tend to enjoy misbehaving in Parliament – nor was she the only biased Speaker in the history of the world. But it was too clear she umpired for the Government and the Prime Minister. She let Coalition frontbenchers get away with murder, she attended party meetings in their entirety, she frequented party fundraisers. No, we don’t have a totally independent Speaker but we do expect a bit of discretion.

And what of this new Speaker? What can we expect from Tony Smith? Well, his first speech in the chair was brilliant. It was made abundantly clear that he would be fair, independent (even admitting to the PM he had plenty of Labor chums) and he has taken the first step of saying he will avoid regular party meetings. And his declaration that he will deal with all individual MPs fairly suggests a Speakership, at long last, which will stick up for the backbenchers.

Part of the problem with Bishop was that she has been – for so many years – a frontline warrior. Okay, not in cabinet, and, yes, banished for a long stretch by Howard, she’s nonetheless always seen herself as a top dog, an equal to the highest and mightiest ministers. How notable it was that she was dragged to the chair by a Prime Minister and a Leader of the House. No mere local MPs for Bronwyn, she got the A list treatment all the way.

Smith on the other hand had some young backbenchers nominating him, and considering his large win in the party room ballot, seems to have more than a few mates in the general ranks.

In Britain, which has a far superior version of the office to ours, the Speaker is very much seen as the king (or queen) of the backbenchers. Someone who ensures local representatives get their voices heard, who takes pains to ensure they have all they need. To kowtow to the government in the British system is not to pay your dues to your party as a whole but only to its frontbench.

It’s true that we don’t have as many MPs – governments in Britain can function for years with dozens of its own regularly rebelling, we don’t have that luxury – but we do tend to treat backbenchers a little like cattle. Let’s hope we have a Speaker who’ll stand up for his fellow day labourers and not let those snooty frontbenchers rule the roost.

So where does this leave conservatives? Rejoice too that this Speaker seems willing and able to do what any conservative should: uphold and respect the traditions of the House. More than anything, the Speaker’s chair should command respect. Though Harry Jenkins and Anna Burke did their best in hard times, Julia Gillard all but reduced the Speakership to a joke when she installed Peter Slipper. Yes, he was quite independent but the ensuing scandals about dirty texts and dodgy cab charges not only weakened him but all Speakers after him. Nor did Bronwyn Bishop’s taxpayer-funded antics exactly do her or the chair much favours.

But the merest veneer of impartiality from Tony Smith is something conservatives should cheer on.

First of all it respects the time-honoured ways of the Westminster system, still probably the best system of democratic government the world knows. And, well, the Labor Party doesn’t have the same excuse to run riot in the way they did under Bishop’s rule. It was okay to battle Bronnie because she represented the Government, not the parliament. Any disrespect towards a conciliatory and fairminded Smith will smell to high heaven of disrespect for the majesty of parliament.

As for the Prime Minister, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look quite as miserable as he did when Smith spoke from the chair. This saga was a huge blow – as Newspoll and ReachTEL show – and his now infamous peck on the cheek for Bronwyn after the party room ballot was a bit silly.

But he should not be disheartened. A stronger parliament can only reflect well on the government in the long term. Bronwyn Bishop allowed – God help us, she encouraged – rancour and discord to dominate the chamber. An independent Speaker will calm things down and the Government, whose frontbenchers are better parliamentary performers by and large than their Labor counterparts, can still shine. Now they’ll look like they’ve earned it.

The Prime Minister has a lot of challenges ahead. With the fallout from the gay marriage debate and any number of big white papers looming, he has the chance to reboot a leadership which has clearly faltered over the entitlements saga. Tony Smith may be the angel Tony Abbott never knew he needed.

We were told this government would be run by grown-ups and at last, just maybe, we’ll have a grown-up running the House of Representatives. The PM should use this opportunity to rebuild after a bad winter break. God knows a two party-preferred rating of 46 per cent can’t give him much comfort.