Ms Speaker! Arch-feminist Harman ‘goes for Bercow job’
VETERAN MP Harriet Harman is hoping to capitalise on the ‘Pankhurst factor’ by making a bid to become Commons Speaker, Labour sources say.
Amid reports that John Bercow may signal later this year when he will stand down, Labour’s former deputy leader is understood to be planning to enter the race to succeed him.
In the year when Westminster is preparing to mark the centenary of the Suffragette triumph over voting rights for women, feminist Harman would be well placed to win support on both sides of the House.
The former Cabinet Minister would be only the second woman to be Speaker, following in the footsteps of Betty Boothroyd who held the post between 1992 and 2000.
If Ms Harman does stand for the position, she would be the main challenger to veteran Labour MP Lindsay Hoyle, the current Deputy Speaker.
One Labour MP said: ‘Harriet is not everyone’s cup of tea but she’s hugely respected on both sides of the House.
‘And no one can argue that with her experience of the place, she doesn’t know all the rules.’
The 67-year-old has been an MP since 1982 and holds the record as the longestever continuously-serving female MP.
Married to fellow Labour MP Jack Dromey, she comes from blue-blooded stock. Her aunt was Elizabeth Pakenham, Countess of Longford, her cousins include the writer Lady Antonia Fraser and she was educated at the fee-paying St Paul’s Girls School, London. Last night, Labour MP Jess Phillips said she would enthusiastically back Ms Harman if she threw her hat in the ring. She said: ‘In the history of Parliament, there’s only ever been one woman Speaker. Perhaps it’s time there was another one.’ Ms Harman, who last week led calls for MPs on maternity or paternity leave to be given proxy votes in the Commons, was unavailable for comment last night. A spokeswoman for Mr Bercow, who became Speaker in 2009, said that he had no plans to announce his retirement date later this year.