SPEAKER JOHN BERCOW REFUSES TO BUDGE
PLOTS aimed at prising John Bercow out of the Speaker’s Chair are intensifying after his vow to carry on in the plum job until 2022.
The Commons Speaker’s many critics at Westminster were furious this week that he confirmed he has abandoned the pledge made on taking the post in 2009 to only serve for nine years. That deadline will be up in the middle of next month.
Tory MP James Duddridge was given short shrift when he reminded Mr Bercow of the promise during Business Questions on Thursday. “He will recall that I indicated my willingness to continue in the chair in June of last year. That proposition was put to the House and it was accepted unanimously,” the Speaker said.
The testy exchange came a day after Mr Bercow missed Prime Minister’s Questions to attend the funeral of his predecessor Michael Martin in Glasgow. His deputy Lindsay Hoyle earned a cheer from MPs at the end of a session that was refreshingly free from the usual pompous hectoring from the chair.
Mr Bercow needs to remember that he took over his post at the height of the Westminster expenses scandal, which exposed widespread exploitation of parliamentary allowances by MPs. He said at the time that his mission was to rebuild the public trust in Parliament that had been shattered by the tawdry episode.
His foes argue that reneging on his pledge to stand down this year can only reinforce voters’ suspicions that politicians fail to keep their promises.
The late Lord Martin was the first Speaker in more than 300 years to be forced out of the job. Mr Bercow is in danger of going the same way. He faces possible allegations of bullying his staff, which he denies, and a campaign of parliamentary mischief by his foes aimed at getting him out.
Mr Bercow has survived several other attempts to end his term of office. Another unseemly tussle over the Speakership would be hugely damaging for Parliament. For the sake of the dignity and authority of his office the Speaker needs to stick to his original promise and hang up his gown.