The Speaker of the Yukon Legislative Assembly has suddenly exited his post and left the Yukon Party caucus to sit as an independent MLA, effective immediately.

David Laxton, the MLA for Porter Creek Centre, told the premier this morning he is resigning for “personal reasons.”

Early this afternoon, MLAs elected Yukon Party backbencher Patti McLeod of Watson Lake as the new Speaker as their first order of business.

Laxton was not in the house.

Yukon Party MLA Darius Elias was elected deputy Speaker and chair of the committee of the whole, comprised of all MLAs. McLeod previously held those titles.

“I have been privileged to serve as Speaker these past 4 1/2 years,” Laxton said in a brief statement released this morning.

“However, I have decided at this time, I need to step back from this role and focus on personal matters.”

The outgoing Speaker will continue to represent his Whitehorse riding, but not as a member of any party.

“It’s important that my constituents continue to have a representative so I will honour my commitment to them in this difficult time,” he said.

Laxton’s sudden departure comes less than a week after it was announced he was acclaimed as the Yukon Party candidate in Porter Creek Centre.

Now it’s unclear whether he will run again at all.

Laxton could not be reached for an interview before press time.

Apart from a short news release, the premier and his party were tight-lipped on this morning’s announcement.

“The Yukon Party has nothing more to add at this time,” Yukon Party president Linda Hillier wrote in an email today.

“Being that his resignation from caucus was for personal reasons, we will be giving him some time before we reach out regarding his nomination.”

Amid the silence, a number of questions remain unanswered.

What prompted Laxton’s abrupt resignation?

Did he choose to leave the party, or was he pushed out?

Does this signal the end of Laxton’s life in politics?

Though down one, at 11 MLAs, the Yukon Party still maintains a majority in the house.

Laxton has served as Speaker of the legislature since he was first elected as an MLA in 2011.

In 2006, Laxton ran as the Liberal candidate in Porter Creek Centre and lost to Archie Lang of the Yukon Party.

As Speaker, Laxton was in charge of enforcing the house rules.

It was his job to make sure the Yukon Party government could carry out its business while also giving the opposing parties fair opportunities to get their voices heard.

The Speaker is the official spokesperson for the legislative assembly as a whole, and as such, must treat every MLA equally, regardless of party affiliation.

This means the Speaker doesn’t take part in debates on the floor, and only votes in the event of a tie.

In the latter case, he or she is expected to vote in line with the status quo so as to continue the debate until there is majority agreement.

The NDP and Liberals had little to say this morning about Laxton stepping down.

“Whether the Speaker is Mr. Laxton or anyone else, we’re prepared to continue going about the work of holding the government to account on the important issues Yukoners care about,” said NDP spokesperson Mike Fancie.

“If Mr. Laxton is ready to work with us as an independent, we’re ready to work with him in that regard.”

The Yukon Liberal Party had no comment.