Virginia Blackburn

JOHN BERCOW has never struck me as a particularly agreeable person in any of his various incarnations, neither as a young hard-line Right-winger nor as the potential Labour convert he later became. He looks like a thug. So those allegations of bullying in office – which he denies – are no surprise and it is quite right that he should stand down as Speaker. It is despicable to pick on people who don’t have the power to fight back.

But Bercow is very far from being alone. In my misspent youth I spent quite a lot of time hanging out with politicians and they are the most peculiar breed I have ever come across. On the one hand there is the arrogance that comes with thinking they are capable of running the country (and take my word for it, whatever they say, that is what every single one of them wants to do), but on the other there is the insecurity that pushed them into politics in the first place.

They say that politics is showbusiness for ugly people and it is widely accepted that many people go into the entertainment industry because they want to be loved. It is exactly the same when it comes to the Commons. If people vote for them, that provides some validation for their own sorry lives.

And then there is the dual existence they lead. In their constituency an MP is a superstar, sought-after guest at all local events and the focal point of important ceremonies such as laying the wreath on Remembrance Sunday.

You might (rightly) think of many MPs as spotty little oiks but an awful lot of their constituents don’t. However, when they come up to Parliament they are just one among hundreds – even in the ruling party – with only a handful ever destined to make it to greater things. It’s like all those