Effigy of John Bercow to go up in flames

A giant effigy of House of Commons Speaker John Bercow is to be set alight on Bonfire Night.

After burning likenesses of figures including Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and Harvey Weinstein in recent years, Edenbridge Bonfire Society in Kent has this year chosen the Buckingham MP due to his “controversial behaviour” over the past 12 months.

The 11m effigy of Mr Bercow – holding the heads of Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn – was unveiled yesterday morning and will go up in flames at the annual bonfire celebration on Saturday.

The event raises money for local charities and also features an effigy of Guy Fawkes.

Andrea Deans, who created the Bercow figure, below, said: “As always, we received many suggestions for who the public would like to see at our event and this year it was a close vote between John Bercow and Piers Morgan.

“However, John Bercow is not going to be on his own on the night as we have included Johnson, Corbyn and the whole Houses of Parliament to join him.”

Past targets for the society’s celebrity effigy have included Katie Hopkins, Jonathan Ross, Katie Price, Wayne Rooney, Lance Armstrong, Gordon Brown, John Prescott, Anne Robinson and Saddam Hussein.

Bonfire society chairman Bill Cummings said “This year we have chosen the infuriating Commons Speaker John Bercow as our celebrity guy, and I am sure you will agree that our artist, Andrea Deans, has captured his likeness very well.

“We hope Mr Bercow will appreciate the humour contained in our caricature and take it in the good spirit with which it is intended.”

The bonfire society says the aim behind its light-hearted tradition is to bring an element of fun to proceedings and to raise awareness of the event, which raises thousands of pounds for local charities and community organisations.