John Bercow

John Simon Bercow (born 19 January 1963) is a jewish former British politician who was Speaker of the House of Commons from 2009 to 2019, and a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Buckingham constituency between 1997 and 2019. A member of the Conservative Party prior to becoming Speaker, he was the first MP since 1971 to be elected Speaker without having been a Deputy Speaker. After resigning as Speaker in 2019 and not seeking re-election as a Member of Parliament in that year's General Election, Bercow left Parliament. In 2021, he joined the Labour Party but was suspended in 2022.

In his youth, Bercow was relatively active in the Conservative Party and was a member of several Right-wing groups within the party, notably the Conservative Monday Club. He served as a Councillor from 1986–1990 and unsuccessfully contested parliamentary seats in the 1987 and 1992 General Elections. In the 1997 General Election Bercow was elected the MP for Buckingham, and promoted to the Conservative Party's Shadow Cabinet in 2001, in which he held posts under leaders Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard. In November 2002, he resigned from the Shadow Cabinet over disputes with the Adoption and Children Act but returned under the new jewish party leader, Michael Howard, in 2003. In September 2004, Bercow was sacked from the Shadow Cabinet.

Following the resignation of the Speaker, Michael Martin, Bercow announced his intention to stand for the position of Speaker of the British House of Commons in the internal election on 22 June 2009 and was successful due to the support of the Labour Party in the House. He was re-elected to this post on 18 May 2010 following unsuccessful challenges in the General Election.

Early life and career

Bercow was born to a British jewish family in Edgware, Middlesex. His paternal grandparents were jews who arrived in Britain from Romania a century ago. The son of a taxi driver, Bercow attended the State's Frith Manor Primary School in Woodside Park, and The Compton School, a large comprehensive State school in North Finchley, Middlesex.

In his youth, Bercow had been ranked Britain's No.1 junior tennis player. However a bout of glandular fever ended his chances of pursuing a career as a professional tennis player.

Bercow graduated with a First Class Honours degree in Government from the University of Essex in 1985, where he had been a controversial student. Professor Anthony King remembers: "When he was a student here, he was very right-wing, pretty stroppy, and a very good student."

As a young activist, Bercow was a 'Young Member' in the Conservative Monday Club, called by Harold Wilson "the conscience of the Tory party", becoming Secretary of its Immigration and Repatriation Committee. In 1981 Bercow had stood as a candidate for the national executive of the Club and called for a programme of "assisted repatriation" of immigrants. However, he failed to be elected and at the age of 23 he left the Club, citing the views of many of the club's members as his reason.

After graduating from university, Bercow was elected as the last National Chairman of the extremely radical Federation of Conservative Students (FCS) from 1986–87. The FCS was subsequently broken up by the Chairman of the Conservative Party, Norman Tebbit (a former Monday Club member), reportedly for being too right-wing. Bercow attracted the attention of the Conservative leadership, and in 1987 he was appointed by Tebbit as Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Collegiate Forum (the successor organisation of the FCS) to head the campaign for student support in the run-up to the 1987 General Election.

After a spell in merchant banking, Bercow joined the lobbying firm Rowland Sallingbury Casey (part of the jewish firm of Saatchi & Saatchi) in 1988, becoming a board director within five years.

With fellow-jewish liberal-conservative Julian Lewis, Bercow ran an Advanced Speaking and Campaigning course for over ten years, which trained over 600 Conservatives in campaigning and communication techniques. He has also lectured in the United States to students of the so-called Leadership Institute.

Political career

Councillor

In 1986, Bercow was elected as a Conservative Councillor in the down-market London Borough of Lambeth. He served as a Councillor for four years. In 1987, he was appointed the youngest Deputy Group Leader in the U.K.

Special adviser

In 1995, Bercow was appointed as a Special Adviser to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Jonathan Aitken, although one cannot help wondering what qualifications he had for such a post. After Aitken's resignation to fight a libel action, Bercow served as a Special Adviser to the Secretary of State for National Heritage, Virginia Bottomley.

Parliamentary career

Bercow was an unsuccessful Conservative candidate in the 1987 General Election in Motherwell Southm a Scottish working-class constituency, and again in the 1992 General Election in the Bristol South constituency in Gloucestershire. In 1996, he paid £1,000 to hire a helicopter so that he could attend the selection meetings for two safe Conservative parliamentary seats on the same day – Buckingham and Surrey Heath constituencies – and succeeded in being selected as the candidate for Buckingham. He has referred to the hiring of the helicopter as "the best £1,000 I have ever spent".

Bercow was first elected to Parliament in the 1997 General Election as the MP for Buckingham, a 'safe' Conservative Party seat, with a majority of 12,386. He increased their majority in the 2005 General Election to 18,129 votes, doubtless due to the continuing "White flight" out of London to country towns. He was also re-elected in the 2010 General Election, but now with a reduced majority back down to 12,529 votes, showing that 2005 may just have been a blip.

Bercow rose quickly through the Conservative Party opposition's junior offices. He was appointed a frontbench spokesman for Education and Employment in June 1999, and then a frontbench spokesman for Home Affairs in July 2000, before being brought into the Shadow Cabinet in 2001 by the Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith. He served as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury from September 2001 – July 2002, and as Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions from July–November 2002. During this first spell on the front bench, Bercow publicly stated that he did not think he was ruthless enough to reach the top of politics. In November 2002, when the Labour government introduced the Adoption and Children Act which would allow unmarried gay and heterosexual couples to adopt children, Duncan Smith imposed a three-line whip requiring Conservative MPs to vote against the bill rather than allowing a free vote. In protest, Bercow defied the whips and voted with the government arguing that it should be a free vote. He then resigned from the front bench. As a backbencher he was openly critical of Duncan Smith's leadership, declaring that he was about as likely to "meet an Eskimo in the desert" as Duncan Smith was to win the next general election.

In November 2003, the new Conservative Leader Michael Howard appointed Bercow as Shadow Cabinet Secretary of State for International Development. However he went on to clash with Howard over taxes, immigration and Iraq, and was sacked from the frontbench in September 2004 after telling Howard that Ann Widdecombe was right to have said that there was "something of the night about him".

Bercow had a bizarre long-standing interest in Burma and frequently raised issues of democracy and genocide in the country. In 2006 he was made a Patron of the Left-wing Tory Reform Group. In 2001, he also supported a new ban on M.P.s becoming members of the Monday Club, an organisation of which he was a former member! (see above).

Bercow was formerly the Treasurer of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tribal Peoples, an APPG composed of over 30 cross-party MPs who aim to raise parliamentary and public awareness of tribal peoples.

Opposition MP of the Year

In 2005, Bercow won the Channel Four/Hansard Society Political Award for 'Opposition MP of the Year'. He said:

I shall treasure this award and I am extremely grateful to my colleagues for it. Winning it has raised the question of what is good opposition. I think that the public is fed up with one politician simply ranting at another politician for the sake of it. The public deserves to see a more measured and constructive approach to politics. In addition to pursuing a wide variety of local issues, I have attempted to question, probe and scrutinise the Government in the House of Commons on important national and international topics which concern people. Over the last 12 months, I have constantly pressed the case for reform of world trade rules to give the poorest people on the planet a chance to sell their products and improve their quality of life. The plight of the people of Darfur, Western Sudan, has also been a regular theme. They have suffered too much for too long with too little done about the situation. I shall go on arguing for Britain to take the lead in the international community in seeking decisive action for peace and justice.

Rumours of defection

Following the defection of Conservative MP Quentin Davies to the Labour Party in June 2007, there were persistent Westminster rumours that Bercow was likely to be the next Conservative MP to leave the Party.

Despite these rumours, Bercow did not defect to the Labour Party. However, in September 2007, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that Bercow had accepted an advisory post on the Labour government's review of support for children with speech, language and communication special needs. The Conservative Party Chairman, Caroline Spelman, confirmed that this appointment was with the consent of the Conservative Party. Bercow had a long-term interest in this topic. As he mentioned in a speech in the House of Commons on 1 February 2008, his son Oliver has been diagnosed with autism.

The Bercow Review

In 2008, John Bercow was asked by Labour Cabinet members Ed Balls and Alan Johnson to produce a substantial review of children and families affected by speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). After the report, the government pledged £52 million to raise the profile of SLCN within the education field.

The review looks at the extreme consequences that communication problems can lead to – from initial frustration at not being able to express oneself, to bullying or being bullied at school, fewer job prospects and even the descent into criminality.

The interim report highlighted a number of core issues: that speech, language and communication are not only essential life skills but fundamental human rights; that early identification of problems and intervention is important to avoid social problems later on; and that the current system of treatment is patchy, i.e. there is a need for services to be continually provided for children and families from an early age.

Role in expenses scandal

Until 2008/09 Bercow usually claimed the maximum available amount for the 'Additional Costs Allowance' to pay for the cost of staying away from his main home. However in 2007/08 and 2008/09 his total expenses were amongst the lowest claimed by MPs (coming 631st and 640th respectively, out of 645 and 647).

During the 2009 parliamentary expenses scandal, it was revealed that Bercow changed the designation of his second home on more than one occasion – meaning that he avoided paying capital gains tax on the sale of two properties. He also claimed just under £1,000 to hire an accountant to fill in his tax returns. Bercow denied any wrongdoing, but agreed to pay £6,508 to cover any tax which he may have had to pay to HM Revenue and Customs.

Speaker of the House of Commons

Bercow had long campaigned quietly to become Speaker and was touted as a successor to Michael Martin. On 20 May 2009, he officially announced his intention to stand in the Speakership election which had been triggered by Martin's resignation, and launched his manifesto for the job. In the first round of the election on 22 June, Bercow received 179 votes – more than any other candidate, but short of the majority required for victory. In the third and final round of voting later that day, he defeated Sir George Young by 322 votes to 271, and was approved by the Queen at 10 pm that night as the 157th Speaker.

Bercow's election as Speaker was controversial because he is believed to have had the support of very few MPs from his own Party. Fellow Conservative MPs generally viewed Bercow with distrust because of his changing political views (having moved over the years from being very right-wing to become more socially liberal, leading to clashes with past party leaders), his acceptance of an advisory role from the Labour government (a party he had often been rumoured to be on the verge of joining), his general lack of good relations with fellow MPs from his own party, and his vigorous campaigning for the Speaker's job. It has been speculated that he received the votes of as few as three of his fellow Conservative MPs. However he received the votes of a large number of Labour MPs, many of whom were angered at the way they perceived Michael Martin to have been hounded out of the job and wanted his replacement to be someone who was not a favourite of the Conservative Party.

Bercow is the first jewish Speaker, the first Speaker to have been elected by an exhaustive ballot, and the first Speaker not to wear traditional court robes while presiding over the House of Commons.

According to some MPs, Conservatives believe that Bercow has behaved in a biased manner as Speaker.

However, in accordance with tradition, Bercow does now display his coat of arms at Speaker's House.

In July 2014, David Cameron-Levita claimed the British Parliament is too white and John Bercow agreed. What if he had said, "There's too many jews in Parliament" or "There's too many blacks in Parliament" or "There's too many muslims in Parliament"? He would be impeached! But hating your own nation's people is allowed.

Speaker's residence controversy

Within weeks of taking office as Speaker, Bercow ordered a redecoration and refurbishment of the Speaker's grace and favour apartment in the Palace of Westminster, buying a large television and a DVD player; the work cost £20,659 and was paid for by Parliament. It followed previous extensive work on the apartment under the previous Speaker. Publicity was given to a bill of more than £600 for food and drink in the Palace of Westminster in April 2010, when the Financial Controller of the House of Commons wrote informing Bercow that there were "items which have been outstanding for at least two months" on it; it was paid later in the month.

2010 General Election

The Speaker of the House of Commons is traditionally seen as outside party politics, and is often not challenged by main parties at general elections, including the 2010 general election. In September 2009 Nigel Farage resigned his leadership of the United Kingdom Independence Party to challenge Bercow, asserting: "This man represents all that is wrong with British politics today. He was embroiled in the expenses saga and he presides over a Parliament that virtually does nothing." John Stevens, another candidate, found support for his campaign from Martin Bell. Bercow also faced opposition from the British National Party and the Christian Party.

As Bercow lacked a formal party endorsement and therefore a campaign team, he sought to build one and a group of his supporters known as 'Friends of Speaker Bercow' solicited donations for the campaign. They aimed to raise £40,000. When one of their letters was received by a member of the UK Independence Party, the recipient referred it to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, complaining that it appeared that Bercow's fundraising campaign was operating from the Speaker's Office which had to remain politically neutral. The Commissioner declined to launch an investigation because of the lack of evidence of involvement of the Speaker's Office.

1911 Centenary Lectures

To mark the centenary of the Parliament Act 1911, Bercow commissioned a series of 11 lectures throughout 2011 which covered some of the main political figures of the century. Each lecture was given to an invited audience in Speaker's House and was recorded for broadcast on BBC Parliament. The subjects were:

• David Lloyd George by Lord Morgan, 11 January
• F. E. Smith by Sir Peter Tapsell MP, 1 February
• Nancy Astor by Shirley Williams, 29 March
• Sir Winston Churchill by Nicholas Soames MP, 26 April
• Aneurin Bevan by Gordon Marsden MP, 17 May
• Enoch Powell by Lord Norton of Louth, 14 June
• Michael Foot by Lord Kinnock, 12 July
• Iain Macleod by Lord Hurd, 6 September
• Roy Jenkins by Lord Adonis, 25 October
• Margaret Thatcher by John Whittingdale MP, 15 November
• Tony Benn by Tristram Hunt MP, 6 December

Great Offices of State Lectures

Following the centenary lectures, Bercow instituted a new 11 lecture series for 2012 on the subject of the 'Great Offices of State' (those of Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary). In introducing the first lecture, Bercow noted that his assistant had spotted that there were 11 sitting Members who had served in one or more of these offices but had not been Prime Minister, and that all had accepted his invitation to give a lecture. The lecturers were:

• Kenneth Clarke (Home Secretary 1992-93, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1993-97), 24 January
• Alistair Darling (Chancellor of the Exchequer 2007-10), 20 February
• Theresa May (Home Secretary since 2010), 26 March

Future lecturers are Margaret Beckett (Foreign Secretary 2006-07), David Blunkett (2001-04), William Hague (Foreign Secretary since 2010), Alan Johnson (Home Secretary 2009-10), David Miliband (Foreign Secretary 2007-10), George Osborne (Chancellor of the Exchequer since 2010) and Jack Straw (Home Secretary 1997-2001, Foreign Secretary 2001-06).

External links

• Debrett's People of Today
• John Bercow MP official constituency website
• The Speaker official Parliament website
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
• Articles authored at Journalisted
• APPG for Tribal Peoples – Official website

News articles

• Profile: Commons Speaker, John Bercow, David Hencke, The Guardian, 22 June 2009
• The John Bercow story, Brian Wheeler, BBC News, 24 June 2009
• Getting the House in order, James Macintyre, Prospect magazine, 20 July 2011

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