John Bercow
Encyclopedia
John Simon Bercow is a British politician who has been the Speaker of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom since June 2009. Prior to his election to Speaker he was a member of the Conservative
party.
Bercow was born in Middlesex
into a Jewish family and graduated from the University of Essex
in 1985. In his youth, Bercow was active in the Conservative Party and was a member of several right-wing
groups within the party. He served as a councillor from 1986–1990 and unsuccessfully contested seats in the 1987 and 1992 General Elections. In the 1997 General Election
, Bercow was elected the MP for Buckingham
and promoted to the shadow cabinet
in 2001, held posts in the shadow cabinets of 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 Michael Howard in 2003. In September 2004, Bercow was sacked from the shadow cabinet over disagreements with its leader Michael Howard.
Following the resignation of the Speaker Michael Martin, Bercow announced his intention to stand for the Speakership election
on 22 June 2009 and was successful. He was re-elected to this post on 18 May 2010 following unsuccessful challenges in the General Election.
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 Frith Manor Primary School in Woodside Park
, and Finchley Manorhill
, a large comprehensive school
in North Finchley.
In his youth, Bercow was 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. Professor Anthony King
remembers: "When he was a student here, he was very right-wing, pretty stroppy, and very good. He was an outstanding student."
As a young activist, Bercow was a member of the right-wing Conservative Monday Club
, becoming Secretary of its Immigration and Repatriation Committee. However at the age of 20 he left the club, citing the views of many of the club's members as his reason. In 1981 Bercow had stood as a candidate for the national executive of the Monday Club and called for a programme of "assisted repatriation" of immigrants.
After graduating from university, Bercow was elected as the last National Chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students
(FCS) from 1986–87. The FCS was then broken up by the Chairman of the Conservative Party
, Norman Tebbit
, 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 Saatchi & Saatchi) in 1988, becoming a board director within five years.
With fellow Conservative Julian Lewis
, Bercow ran an Advanced Speaking and Campaigning course for over ten years, which trained over 600 Conservatives (including several current MPs) in campaigning and communication techniques. He has also lectured in the United States to students of the Leadership Institute
.
. He served as a councillor for four years. In 1987, he was appointed the youngest Deputy Group Leader in the United Kingdom.
. 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
.
in Motherwell
, and again at the 1992 General Election
in Bristol South. 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
– and was 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 with a majority of 12,386. He then increased his majority, having been re-elected at the 2005 General Election
by a margin of 18,129 votes. He was also re-elected at the 2010 General Election, but with a reduced majority of 12,529 votes.
Bercow rose quickly through the 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 thought his lack of ruthlessness would prevent him from rising any further through the ranks. 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
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 has a 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 Tory Reform Group
. In 2001, he also supported the ban on MPs becoming members of the Monday Club
, an organisation of which he is 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.
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 the 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
.
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.
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.
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.
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.
resigned his leadership of then 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.
, 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:
News articles
|-
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
party.
Bercow was born in Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
into a Jewish family and graduated from the University of Essex
University of Essex
The University of Essex is a British campus university whose original and largest campus is near the town of Colchester, England. Established in 1963 and receiving its Royal Charter in 1965...
in 1985. In his youth, Bercow was active in the Conservative Party and was a member of several right-wing
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
groups within the party. He served as a councillor from 1986–1990 and unsuccessfully contested seats in the 1987 and 1992 General Elections. In the 1997 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
, Bercow was elected the MP for Buckingham
Buckingham (UK Parliament constituency)
Buckingham is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
and promoted to the shadow cabinet
Shadow Cabinet
The Shadow Cabinet is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition form an alternative cabinet to the government's, whose members shadow or mark each individual member of the government...
in 2001, held posts in the shadow cabinets of Iain Duncan Smith
Iain Duncan Smith
George Iain Duncan Smith is a British Conservative politician. He is currently the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously leader of the Conservative Party from September 2001 to October 2003...
and Michael Howard
Michael Howard
Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne, CH, QC, PC is a British politician, who served as the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005...
. In November 2002, he resigned from the shadow cabinet over disputes with the Adoption and Children Act but returned under Michael Howard in 2003. In September 2004, Bercow was sacked from the shadow cabinet over disagreements with its leader Michael Howard.
Following the resignation of the Speaker Michael Martin, Bercow announced his intention to stand for the Speakership election
Speaker of the British House of Commons election, 2009
The 2009 election of the Speaker of the British House of Commons occurred on 22 June 2009 after the resignation of Michael Martin as Speaker following the MPs' expenses scandal. Martin was the first Speaker since Sir John Trevor in 1695 to be forced from office...
on 22 June 2009 and was successful. 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 JewishBritish Jews
British Jews are Jews who live in, or are citizens of, the United Kingdom. In the 2001 Census, 266,740 people listed their religion as Jewish. The UK is home to the second largest Jewish population in Europe, and has the fifth largest Jewish community worldwide...
family in Edgware
Edgware
Edgware is an area in London, situated north-northwest of Charing Cross. It forms part of both the London Borough of Barnet and the London Borough of Harrow. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
, Middlesex. His paternal grandparents were Jews who arrived in Britain from Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
a century ago. The son of a taxi driver, Bercow attended Frith Manor Primary School in Woodside Park
Woodside Park
Woodside Park is a suburban residential development in the London Borough of Barnet, in postal district N12.It is very varied in character. The area to the east of the tube station consists predominantly of large Victorian and Edwardian houses, many of which have been converted into flats...
, and Finchley Manorhill
The Compton School
The Compton School is situated on Summers Lane, North Finchley, London. It is a comprehensive school for boys and girls aged eleven to sixteen and the school years range from year 7 to year 11. It is located on the site of Finchley Manorhill School, which was progressively closed in the late 1980s...
, a large comprehensive school
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
in North Finchley.
In his youth, Bercow was 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
University of Essex
The University of Essex is a British campus university whose original and largest campus is near the town of Colchester, England. Established in 1963 and receiving its Royal Charter in 1965...
in 1985. Professor Anthony King
Anthony King (professor)
Professor Anthony King is a Canadian-born professor of government in the United Kingdom at Essex University, psephologist and commentator....
remembers: "When he was a student here, he was very right-wing, pretty stroppy, and very good. He was an outstanding student."
As a young activist, Bercow was a member of the right-wing Conservative Monday Club
Conservative Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club is a British pressure group "on the right-wing" of the Conservative Party.-Overview:...
, becoming Secretary of its Immigration and Repatriation Committee. However at the age of 20 he left the club, citing the views of many of the club's members as his reason. In 1981 Bercow had stood as a candidate for the national executive of the Monday Club and called for a programme of "assisted repatriation" of immigrants.
After graduating from university, Bercow was elected as the last National Chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students
Federation of Conservative Students
The Federation of Conservative Students was the student organisation of the British Conservative Party from the late 1940s to 1986. It was created to act as a bridge between the student movement and the Conservative Party....
(FCS) from 1986–87. The FCS was then broken up by the Chairman of the Conservative Party
Chairman of the Conservative Party
In the United Kingdom, the Chairman of the Conservative Party is responsible for running the party machine, overseeing Conservative Central Office. When the Conservatives are in power, the Chairman is usually a member of the Cabinet being given a sinecure position such as Minister without Portfolio...
, Norman Tebbit
Norman Tebbit
Norman Beresford Tebbit, Baron Tebbit, CH, PC , is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet from 1981 to 1987 as Secretary of State for Employment...
, 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
Conservative Collegiate Forum
The Conservative Collegiate Forum was the British Conservative Party's national student organisation from 1986 to 1998.It was the successor to the Federation of Conservative Students...
(the successor organisation of the FCS) to head the campaign for student support in the run-up to the 1987 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
.
After a spell in merchant banking, Bercow joined the lobbying firm Rowland Sallingbury Casey (part of Saatchi & Saatchi) in 1988, becoming a board director within five years.
With fellow Conservative Julian Lewis
Julian Lewis
Dr. Julian Murray Lewis is a British Conservative Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for New Forest East in Hampshire since the 1997 general election.-Education:Born on 26 September 1951 in Swansea, Dr...
, Bercow ran an Advanced Speaking and Campaigning course for over ten years, which trained over 600 Conservatives (including several current MPs) in campaigning and communication techniques. He has also lectured in the United States to students of the Leadership Institute
Leadership Institute
The Leadership Institute is a 501 non-profit organization located in Arlington, Virginia that teaches "political technology.".The Institute was founded in 1979 by conservative activist Morton C. Blackwell...
.
Councillor
In 1986, Bercow was elected as a Conservative councillor in the London Borough of LambethLondon Borough of Lambeth
The London Borough of Lambeth is a London borough in south London, England and forms part of Inner London. The local authority is Lambeth London Borough Council.-Origins:...
. He served as a councillor for four years. In 1987, he was appointed the youngest Deputy Group Leader in the United Kingdom.
Special adviser
In 1995, Bercow was appointed as a Special Adviser to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Jonathan AitkenJonathan Aitken
Jonathan William Patrick Aitken is a former Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, and British government minister. He was convicted of perjury in 1999 and received an 18-month prison sentence, of which he served seven months...
. 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
Virginia Bottomley
Virginia Bottomley, Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone, PC, DL is a British Conservative Party politician. She was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons from 1984 to 2005. She was raised to the peerage in 2005...
.
Parliamentary career
Bercow was an unsuccessful Conservative candidate in the 1987 General ElectionUnited Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
in Motherwell
Motherwell South (UK Parliament constituency)
Motherwell South was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 to 1997. It was formed by the division of Motherwell and Wishaw and was later merged into a new creation of the constituency....
, and again at the 1992 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
in Bristol South. 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
Buckingham (UK Parliament constituency)
Buckingham is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
and Surrey Heath
Surrey Heath (UK Parliament constituency)
Surrey Heath is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. Since the 2005 general election the MP has been Michael Gove, a senior figure in the Conservative Party...
– and was 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
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
as the MP for Buckingham with a majority of 12,386. He then increased his majority, having been re-elected at the 2005 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
by a margin of 18,129 votes. He was also re-elected at the 2010 General Election, but with a reduced majority of 12,529 votes.
Bercow rose quickly through the 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
Iain Duncan Smith
George Iain Duncan Smith is a British Conservative politician. He is currently the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously leader of the Conservative Party from September 2001 to October 2003...
. He served as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury is the third most senior ministerial position in HM Treasury, after the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer . In recent years, the office holder has usually been given a junior position in the British Cabinet...
from September 2001 – July 2002, and as Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions
Department for Work and Pensions
The Department for Work and Pensions is the largest government department in the United Kingdom, created on June 8, 2001 from the merger of the employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security and headed by the Secretary of State for Work and...
from July–November 2002. During this first spell on the front bench, Bercow publicly stated that he thought his lack of ruthlessness would prevent him from rising any further through the ranks. 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
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
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
Conscience vote
A conscience vote or free vote is a type of vote in a legislative body where legislators are allowed to vote according to their own personal conscience rather than according to an official line set down by their political party....
. 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
Michael Howard
Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne, CH, QC, PC is a British politician, who served as the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005...
appointed Bercow as Shadow
Shadow Cabinet
The Shadow Cabinet is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition form an alternative cabinet to the government's, whose members shadow or mark each individual member of the government...
Secretary of State for International Development
Secretary of State for International Development
In the United Kingdom, the Secretary of State for International Development is a Cabinet minister responsible for the Department for International Development and for promoting development overseas, particularly in the third world...
. However he went on to clash with Howard over taxes, immigration and Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, and was sacked from the frontbench in September 2004 after telling Howard that Ann Widdecombe
Ann Widdecombe
Ann Noreen Widdecombe is a former British Conservative Party politician and has been a novelist since 2000. She is a Privy Councillor and was the Member of Parliament for Maidstone from 1987 to 1997 and for Maidstone and The Weald from 1997 to 2010. She was a social conservative and a member of...
was right to have said that there was "something of the night about him".
Bercow has a 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 Tory Reform Group
Tory Reform Group
The Tory Reform Group is a group aligned to, but independent of, the British Conservative Party, that works to promote the values of the One Nation Tory vision...
. In 2001, he also supported the ban on MPs becoming members of the Monday Club
Conservative Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club is a British pressure group "on the right-wing" of the Conservative Party.-Overview:...
, an organisation of which he is a former member (see above).
Bercow was formerly the Treasurer of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tribal Peoples
All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tribal Peoples
The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tribal Peoples is a group in the UK Parliament, chaired by Martin Horwood MP, that was founded in 2007. Its stated aim is to "raise parliamentary and public awareness of tribal peoples"...
, an APPG
All-Party Parliamentary Group
An all-party parliamentary group is a grouping in the UK parliament that is composed of politicians from all political parties.-All-party parliamentary groups:...
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 DaviesQuentin Davies
John Quentin Davies, Baron Davies of Stamford is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Grantham and Stamford from 1987 to 2010. Originally elected as a Conservative, he defected to Labour on 26 June 2007. Davies announced in 2010 that he would not stand for...
to the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
in June 2007, there were persistent Westminster rumours that Bercow was likely to be the next Conservative MP to leave the party.
Despite the rumours, Bercow did not defect to the Labour Party. However, in September 2007, Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
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
Caroline Spelman
Caroline Alice Spelman is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom who has served as the Member of Parliament for Meriden in the West Midlands since 1997...
, 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
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
.
The Bercow Review
In 2008, John Bercow was asked by the Labour Cabinet members Ed BallsEd Balls
Edward Michael Balls, known as Ed Balls, is a British Labour politician, who has been a Member of Parliament since 2005, currently for Morley and Outwood, and is the current Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer....
and Alan Johnson
Alan Johnson
Alan Arthur Johnson is a British Labour Party politician who served as Home Secretary from June 2009 to May 2010. Before that, he filled a wide variety of cabinet positions in both the Blair and Brown governments, including Health Secretary and Education Secretary. Until 20 January 2011 he was...
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
In the financial years 2007–08, 2006–07, 2004–05 and 2002–03, Bercow occupied joint first position in a league table of highest-claiming members of the House of Commons, while in 2003-4 he was the joint third. However, in 2008–09 Bercow's total expenses were amongst the lowest claimed by MPs (coming 631st out of 645).During the 2009 parliamentary expenses scandal
United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal
The United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal triggered by the leak and subsequent publication by the Telegraph Group in 2009 of expense claims made by members of the United Kingdom Parliament over several years...
, 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 electionSpeaker of the British House of Commons election, 2009
The 2009 election of the Speaker of the British House of Commons occurred on 22 June 2009 after the resignation of Michael Martin as Speaker following the MPs' expenses scandal. Martin was the first Speaker since Sir John Trevor in 1695 to be forced from office...
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
Sir George Young, 6th Baronet
Sir George Samuel Knatchbull Young, 6th Baronet is a British politician. He is currently the Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal, and has served as a Conservative Party Member of Parliament since 1974, having represented North West Hampshire since 1997, and Ealing Acton before...
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
British Jews
British Jews are Jews who live in, or are citizens of, the United Kingdom. In the 2001 Census, 266,740 people listed their religion as Jewish. The UK is home to the second largest Jewish population in Europe, and has the fifth largest Jewish community worldwide...
Speaker, the first Speaker to have been elected by an exhaustive ballot
Exhaustive ballot
The exhaustive ballot is a voting system used to elect a single winner. Under the exhaustive ballot the elector simply casts a single vote for his or her favorite candidate. However if no candidate is supported by an overall majority of votes then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated...
, 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.
Speaker's residence controversy
Within weeks of taking office as Speaker, Bercow ordered a redecoration and refurbishment of the Speaker's grace and favourGrace and favour
A grace and favour home is a residential property owned by a monarch by virtue of their position as head of state and leased rent-free to persons as part of an employment package or in gratitude for past services rendered....
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 FarageNigel Farage
Nigel Paul Farage MEP , a position he previously held from September 2006 to November 2009. He is a current Member of the European Parliament for South East England and co-chairs the Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy group....
resigned his leadership of then United Kingdom Independence Party
United Kingdom Independence Party
The United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP...
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
Martin Bell
Martin Bell, OBE, is a British UNICEF Ambassador, a former broadcast war reporter and former independent politician...
. Bercow also faced opposition from the British National Party
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
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 1911Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949
The Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 are two Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which form part of the constitution of the United Kingdom. Section 2 of the Parliament Act 1949 provides that that Act and the Parliament Act 1911 are to be construed as one.The Parliament Act 1911 The...
, 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
BBC Parliament
BBC Parliament is a British television channel from the BBC. Its remit is to make accessible to all the work of the parliamentary and legislative bodies of the United Kingdom and the European Parliament...
. The subjects were:
- David Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
by Lord Morgan, 11 January - F. E. SmithF. E. Smith, 1st Earl of BirkenheadFrederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead GCSI, PC, KC , best known to history as F. E. Smith , was a British Conservative statesman and lawyer of the early 20th century. He was a skilled orator, noted for his staunch opposition to Irish nationalism, his wit, pugnacious views, and hard living...
by Sir Peter Tapsell MP, 1 February - Nancy AstorNancy Astor, Viscountess AstorNancy Witcher Astor, Viscountess Astor, CH, was the first woman to sit as a Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons.Constance Markievicz was the first woman elected to the House of Commons in December 1918 after running for the Sinn Féin party in 1918 General Election, but in line...
by Shirley Williams, 29 March - Sir Winston ChurchillWinston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
by Nicholas SoamesNicholas SoamesArthur Nicholas Winston Soames MP , known as Nicholas Soames, is a British Conservative Party Member of Parliament for the constituency of Mid Sussex....
MP, 26 April - Aneurin BevanAneurin BevanAneurin "Nye" Bevan was a British Labour Party politician who was the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1959 until his death in 1960. The son of a coal miner, Bevan was a lifelong champion of social justice and the rights of working people...
by Gordon MarsdenGordon MarsdenGordon Marsden is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Blackpool South since 1997.-Early life:...
MP, 17 May - Enoch PowellEnoch PowellJohn Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, classical scholar, poet, writer, and soldier. He served as a Conservative Party MP and Minister of Health . He attained most prominence in 1968, when he made the controversial Rivers of Blood speech in opposition to mass immigration from...
by Lord Norton of Louth, 14 June - Michael FootMichael FootMichael Mackintosh Foot, FRSL, PC was a British Labour Party politician, journalist and author, who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992...
by Lord KinnockNeil KinnockNeil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock is a Welsh politician belonging to the Labour Party. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995 and as Labour Leader and Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition from 1983 until 1992 - his leadership of the party during nearly nine years making him...
, 12 July - Iain MacleodIain MacleodIain Norman Macleod was a British Conservative Party politician and government minister.-Early life:...
by Lord HurdDouglas HurdDouglas Richard Hurd, Baron Hurd of Westwell, CH, CBE, PC , is a British Conservative politician and novelist, who served in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major between 1979 and his retirement in 1995....
, 6 September - Roy JenkinsRoy JenkinsRoy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician.The son of a Welsh coal miner who later became a union official and Labour MP, Roy Jenkins served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in...
by Lord AdonisAndrew Adonis, Baron AdonisAndrew Adonis, Baron Adonis is a British academic, journalist, Labour Party politician and Life Peer, who was Secretary of State for Transport between 2009-2010....
, 25 October - Margaret ThatcherMargaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
by John WhittingdaleJohn WhittingdaleJohn Flasby Lawrance Whittingdale OBE, , is a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1992.-Education:...
MP, 15 November
External links
- John Bercow MP official constituency website
- The Speaker official Parliament website
- APPG for Tribal Peoples – Official website
News articles
- Profile: Commons Speaker, John Bercow, David Hencke, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 22 June 2009 - The John Bercow story, Brian Wheeler, BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, 24 June 2009 - Getting the House in order, James Macintyre, Prospect magazine, 20 July 2011
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