Rebellion in party ranks sees 19 Republicans vote for other candidates
The position of House speaker is hugely important in the US political system and is in the direct line of succession to the White House after the vice-president.
Mr McCarthy, from California, who was the official nominee of the Republican Party, could afford to have only about four members vote against him given its slender majority. However, a group of right-wing Republican members had vowed not to support Mr McCarthy for the position. The initial vote on Tuesday was the first time in 100 years that a nominee had not succeeded in being elected to the House speakership on the first ballot.
Some of Mr McCarthy’s allies had previously maintained that such a provision would essentially make the speaker a hostage to extreme elements in the party.
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