Mrs Bercow’s love rival and the smile that says: I’ve won
Sally Bercow’s rival puts on show of unity with her cheating husband
THE woman whose husband had a fling with Speaker’s wife Sally Bercow said she felt sorry for her – and branded the affair a ‘car crash’.
Erica Bercow hit out yesterday as she put on a show of unity with her cheating spouse Alan.
Smiling, she posed for cameras on the doorstep of the £3million London home she shares with her philandering husband – the cousin of Speaker John Bercow.
The couple, both corporate lawyers, stepped outside the Chiswick house having clearly decided to put on a show of togetherness after a three-day war of words with Sally.
A day after she was mocked for taking back Alan, Erica said: ‘I feel a bit sorry for [Sally] actually and it’s a bit of a car crash really isn’t it.’ Wearing a smart navy suit, Alan stood next to his wife, who had chosen neat ankle-skimming trousers and a blue tunic perfectly matching her husband’s tie. Unlikely lothario Alan, 57, returned to the family home a week ago after dumping Sally, 45, who proceeded to declare herself ‘f***ing heartbroken’.
She later ranted about Erica: ‘If she’s decided to take Alan back, more fool her. He can do whatever he wants and she just sucks it up.’
She added: ‘It takes two to tango, and Alan is just as guilty as me.’
Yesterday, Alan Bercow was asked about Sally’s ‘tango’ comment and joked: ‘I prefer Coca-Cola.’
His wife added: ‘I just think all this needs to stop. We need to get back to work. It’s a very private matter, well it should be a very private matter. There are innocent parties.’ There was no response at all from Sally yesterday but friends said she wanted a divorce.
A war of words broke out earlier this week as she spoke to the media outside her £1.2million mews house in Battersea, ranting about Erica, Alan and her hatred of living with John Bercow in Parliament.
She called herself a ‘terrible wife’ and speculated openly whether her husband would take her back.
But her friends claimed the Speaker was a ‘terrible husband’ and said the marriage was effectively over. They said Mrs Bercow had been unhappy for ‘many, many years’ and should have divorced the 52-year- old when he took up his Commons role.
One friend said: ‘Sally is hoping he will divorce her for adultery. She was asked if John was a good husband and didn’t answer because she needs to leave the grounds open for unreasonable behaviour. The truth is she thinks he is a terrible husband.’
Another friend added she had an affair with Alan because she was unhappy, not because he was ‘handsome’. After Sally said she was ‘heartbroken’ that Alan had gone back to his wife, Erica responded: ‘I think you have to have a heart to have it broken’. Earlier, Mrs Bercow broke down as she hobbled on crutches outside her Thames-side home where she lives with her children.
While admitting to the affair with Alan, Sally said that she will ‘always love’ her husband, who was also her ‘best friend’. ‘He’s a great man and I wish him well and we will always be friends, I hope,’ she said. Erica has also condemned the Speaker’s wife as being driven by ‘ego and narcissism’.
Meanwhile Erica’s mother, who lives in Australia, has described Sally as ‘a nutter’ who had brought ‘disgrace on the British Parlia- ment’. Olive Scott-Young said: ‘This woman should stick her head down in the ground and keep it there. She obviously loves being in the limelight, standing there enjoying it as the cameras go off around her, while my daughter suffers.’
She added her daughter’s rugbyplaying brother was on his way to London to offer her support.
John Bercow has not commented on the affair. However, senior Conservatives say many feel pity for him, and the episode is so embarrassing they have called off a long-standing plot to unseat him as Speaker.