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Mike Johnson, a 51-year-old Republican from Louisiana, has been formally declared as the new Speaker of the US House of Representatives.

He took 220 votes compared to the 209 of Democrat Hakeem Jeffries.

The vote concludes a 22-day period of a House of Representatives without a Speaker since Kevin McCarthy was ousted three weeks ago.

On the far-right, Johnson is viewed by Republicans as a staunch conservative and Donald Trump-loyalist.

Toward the centre, moderate Republicans see him as a pragmatic and level-headed leader who will maintain conservative values while still passing legislation.

"He's one of those people who gets along with everybody and is well respected," Colorado Republican Ken Buck told CNN.

Democrats, however, fear he is too far-right. They point to Johnson's record of having voted against certifying the election results in 2020.

Matt Murphy
Live Editor, in Washington DC

Voting has now concluded in the chamber.

Mike Johnson, the fourth - and final - Republican nominee has won 220 votes and is set to be declared the 56th Speaker of the US House.

Interim Speaker Patrick McHenry is formalising the results, with an official announcement expected in the coming moments.

There was just a bit of tension in the House after New Jersey Democrat Bonnie Watson Coleman described Hakeem Jeffries as the only candidate who represents "integrity".

Republicans loudly booed - and at least one could be heard loudly uttering a profanity from the back of the room.

Democrats, for their part, seemed to enjoy the moment. Most were laughing before the House was called back into order.

Some Democrats are heckling Republicans who represent districts that Joe BIden won in 2020.

"Bye-bye!" Democrats called out to Mike Lawler and Marc Molinaro of New York after voting for the very conservative Mike Johnson.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Image source, Getty Images

We've just heard another standing ovation in the room, this time for Mike Johnson's fellow Louisiana representative, Steve Scalise.

For those who need a reminder, Scalise was the first of four Republican nominees to become Speaker.

His bid, however, fell apart in about 30 hours after he failed to garner enough support from right-wing members of the party.

Just before that, we heard Florida Republican Maria Salazar refer to Johnson as her "brother-in-Christ" - a nod to his religious upbringing and faith.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Capitol Hill

As the voting continues, the Republican and Democratic representatives are mostly in their seats, although a few have trickled out.

Ahead of the vote, however, we saw a few Democrats come over and speak to Mike Johnson.

Texas' Veronica Escobar, for example, embraced him. Ted Lieu and Jim Costa, both from California, were also speaking to him.

It remains unclear, at the moment, what Johnson plans to do to reach out to the other side of the aisle in the US Capitol.

Even during the Speaker vote, we heard very little from Republicans about being willing to work with Democrats to end the deadlock.

More than 200 Democrats and Republicans have voted so far, but it seems that both parties are standing behind their Speaker nominees.

Republicans have been fractured over a slew of candidates, but Mike Johnson has won every vote from party colleagues.

Barring an absent lawmaker's sudden arrival, Johnson needs 215 votes to become Speaker and can only lose five Republican votes.

At this point, it would be a surprise to see any Republican defections. It appears Johnson might just take the gavel.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Image source, Getty Images

We just heard from Tom Emmer, the man whose short-lived Speaker bid ended yesterday after little more than four hours.

The Republicans in the room stood and applauded.

He voted for Johnson - who seems so far to have successfully overcome any lingering opposition to his candidacy.

Ahead of the vote, all the former Speaker candidates, which also included Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan, said they planned to rally behind Johnson.

Image source, Getty Images

Not all Republicans view Johnson’s candidacy favourably, though those who are vocally opposed aren’t members of the House anymore.

Associates of Liz Cheney, the former Republican lawmaker, reportedly shared an article that said Johnson was the “most important architect” of Congress’s 6 January vote to overturn the 2020 election results. That was part of the Republican effort to keep Donald Trump in power.

Adam Kinzinger, another former House member, said on social media that he remembered Johnson “lobbying me to support this lawsuit” that claimed the election was stolen.

“Every reporter needs to remember this,” he added.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Capitol Hill

There's so far been no surprises in the room - with Republicans all voting for Johnson and Democrats all voting for Jeffries.

Two Democrats haven't cast any vote.

One of them, Pennsylvania's Brendan Boyle, tweeted earlier that his wife had surgery this morning and that he was on the way to Washington to hopefully make it in time for the vote. It seems he did not.

Arizona's Eli Crane - a Republican - is in the back of the room explaining the proceedings to a young boy sitting beside him.

It's fairly quiet and laid back in here at the moment. On the Democrats' side, I see a lot of representatives looking bored, some fiddling with their phones.

Representative Angie Craig shouted out an anniversary message to her wife - earning applause from Democrats and hard stares from many of the Republicans in the room.

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As voting continues, let's looks back on Rep Pete Aguilar's nomination speech.

He accused Republicans of freezing the House to see "who can appease Donald Trump," in a speech to nominate Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries.

It appeared that Aguilar believed Johnson might have a shot at the Speakership and noted the Louisiana congressman was "the most important architect of the electoral college objections".

A Republican congresswoman, Anna Paulina Luna, yelled "damn right" in response.

Matt Murphy
Live Editor, in Washington DC

Nominations have concluded and the vote is now underway in the chamber, with Mike Johnson looking assured in his position.

If he clinches the speakership it will end three weeks of turmoil in the House, sparked after hardline Republicans voted to oust Kevin McCarthy from the chair.

You can follow all the action here, or watch live by clicking the play button at the top of the page.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Capitol Hill

California's Pete Aguilar is now nominating Hakeem Jeffries, and began his remarks with the observation that there "are more smiles in the room".

That got laughs and a standing ovation from both sides of the room - something we haven't seen very often.

Clearly, there's relief among members that they probably won't have to do this again.

His speech, however, was interrupted by what seemed to be an inside joke between embattled New York Republican George Santos and Colorado's Lauren Boebert, who were laughing and clapping at themselves.

Image source, Getty IMages

Elise Stefanik, the chair of the Republican Conference, gave the nominating speech for Mike Johnson on the House floor.

Her declaration that she intended to nominate Johnson led to a standing ovation on the Republican side of the chamber and chants of "Mike!"

"Today is the day that House Republicans wil humbly look in our hearts and elect Mike Johnson as Speaker of the People's House," she said.

She called Johnson a "dedicated servant" and "titan" who has dedicated his life to "America's great principles of life, liberty and the pusuit of happiness".

Stefanik's praise of Johnson and criticism of Joe Biden received further cheers from Republicans. The jabs at Biden earned boos from Democrats.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Capitol Hill

New York's Elise Stefanik is now formally nominating Mike Johnson - and he's getting an extremely loud, extended standing ovation from the Republicans.

It ended with a chant of "Mike, Mike, Mike!".

They seem relieved that this is over. From where I'm sitting, I did not see a single Republican still seated.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Attendance taking is over - and there are 429 members present in the room.

We're shortly going to move into voting for Speaker

First up, we'll hear speeches for nominating Mike Johnson for the Republicans, and New York's Hakeem Jeffries for the Democrats.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Capitol Hill

So far, it seems as if Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson - the party's fourth nominee for the Speaker position - has the votes.

Earlier, some of Mr Johnson's allies told reporters they expect that support for him will be unanimous among House Republicans, meaning that we may have a House Speaker as early as this afternoon.

No Republicans - at least not publicly - have said they plan to oppose him on the House floor. That's a far-cry from the earlier nominations, two of which did not even make it to a floor vote amid mounting resistance from within the party.

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Mike Johnson may seem bland, but his allies are the most fiery right-wing figures in American politics.

Johnson backed Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election. And he’s gotten kind words from Trump since he became the nominee.

"I haven't heard one negative comment about him," Trump said outside court on Wednesday. "Everybody likes him, he's respected by all."

Johnson has worked closely with conservative firebrand Jim Jordan, the Ohio lawmaker who had a failed Speaker bid last week. Some described Jordan as a mentor to the congressman.

Steve Scalise, another failed Speaker nominee, is also a reported mentor. Scalise and Johnson are both from Louisiana and Johnson was on Scalise’s legal team in the state legislature, defending his conservative legislation.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Hello from Capitol Hill - where I'm currently in the chamber of the House of Representatives.

It's a very different atmosphere from the last few times I've been in here for a Speaker vote.

The Republican side seems confident, almost cheerful. Today's Republican nominee, Mike Johnson, has been working the room, shaking hands and hugging his colleagues.

He certainly does not look like a man whose is worried about the outcome. The last time I was here, last week for Jim Jordan, there was frantic last-minute negotiating happening, all of which was ultimately unsuccessful.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Matt Murphy
Live Editor, in Washington DC

Image source, Getty Images

Welcome to our live coverage as the US House of Representatives prepares to vote on a fourth Speaker nominee.

The full chamber is about to hold a roll call on Louisiana congressman Mike Johnson's bid for the gavel.

Johnson was chosen after three rounds in an internal party ballot late on Tuesday.

The last nominee, Tom Emmer, withdrew from the race after former President Donald Trump derided him as a "Globalist".

But Trump said on Wednesday morning that Johnson would be "fantastic" in the job, boosting his support among the right-wing faction that engineered the downfall of the last Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, on 3 October.