Mr Smith was nominated as the partyroom's choice after a meeting of 74 Liberal MPs in Canberra on Monday.

Chief whip Scott Buchholz said Mr Smith had won in an "exhaustive ballot" but bungled the official announcement by incorrectly naming one of the contenders.

"The final two results come down to Andrew Broadbent and Tony Smith. The victor was Tony Smith, 51-22," he told reporters at Parliament House.

Mr Buchholz meant to say Russell Broadbent.

One MP did not attend the vote.

His nomination was endorsed by the House of Representatives shortly after 10am.

He replaces Bronwyn Bishop, who resigned in disgrace last Sunday after weeks of public pressure relating to her use of taxpayer-funded entitlements.

Mr Smith will receive a $146,000 pay rise, up from his previous backbench salary of $195,000.

There will be expectations upon him to restore faith in the parliamentary process given Mrs Bishop was widely perceived to be partisan in the role.

Pre-empting this, Mr Smith has already assured colleagues he would skip partyroom meetings as a way of showing his intention to be a fair adjudicator.

He confirmed this on Monday.

"I look forward to what is an important and difficult job that I will do to the best of my ability," he said.

"I won't be attending regular partyroom meetings as I've told colleagues."

He thanked his colleagues, fellow candidates and singled out his friend Andrew Southcott, who he arrived with to the partyroom meeting. 

Mr Smith prevailed over Mr Broadbent, Mr Southcott and Ross Vasta for the job. Veteran Sydney MP Phillip Ruddock did not contest. 

Michael Sukkar, Mr Smith's neighbouring MP, moved the formal nomination and praised the new Speaker's "keen intellect" and honesty.

"He's very well respected by his colleagues on both sides of the chamber and I'm therefore extraordinarily confident that Tony Smith has the experience, temperament and strength necessary to restore respect and trust in our parliamentary institutions," Mr Sukkar said.

New South Wales MP Lucy Wicks seconded the nomination.  She and Mr Sukkar dragged Mr Smith to the chair in keeping with the tradition.

Labor did not oppose Mr Smith's nomination.  

Prime Minister Tony Abbott demoted Mr Smith from the frontbench after the 2013 election but praised his success on Monday.

"In the course of your 15-year parliamentary career you have met with some disappointments," he said.

"It's precisely because you have met with triumph and disaster and treated both those imposters the same that you so strongly commanded a majority inside the Liberal partyroom and why you have been elected unopposed here in this chamber," he said.

He also praised the former speaker Bronwyn Bishop.

"She has been a warrior for the causes she has believed in," he said.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Labor wished Ms Bishop well and congratulated the new Speaker and urged him to raise the standards, particularly in question time.

"Serving as the Speaker is a privilege not a prize, a responsibility, not a reward," Mr Shorten said.

"We welcome the Speaker's commitment not to attend the party room meetings."

Mr Smith said Parliament should be robust but did not have to be "rude or loud".

"That is something I'd like to see improve. I can't do that, but together we all can," he said.

He vowed to meet the Opposition and crossbenchers "periodically" to discuss the operations of Parliament. 

SMH