The chairman is responsible for organizing the sejmik's business and presiding over debates.

When presiding over debates, the Lord Speaker sits on the Woolsack.

He was an impartial and influential spokesman of the city during the Anti-Convict Movement (1848-1850), holding public meetings and presiding over debates.

But his duties extend far beyond just presiding over debates in the House of Commons, as Simon Mares reports from Westminster.