CASH BERCOW
‘Lying bully’ earns £500k for public speaking
SHAMED John Bercow has banked over half a million pounds since leaving his role as Commons speaker.
The ex-tory – branded a “serial bully” and liar in a bombshell report last week – bags between £5,000 and £10,000 a pop for talks to businesses.
After quitting Parliament in November 2019, Mr Bercow joined elite speaking agency JLA, whose clients include James Corden, Jimmy Carr and Alastair Campbell.
The following year he declared £367,714 in retained earnings through his company Fedhead Ltd.
And Companies House records for 2021 show £328,230 in retained earnings. Mr Bercow owns 76% of the firm and wife Sally has the rest.
The couple live in a £950,000 London townhouse. Their firm is on the HMRC spreadsheet of employers to have claimed through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, securing up to £90,000.
One speech was for a financial firm and another for a letting agency conference before the pandemic.
A synopsis says: “After stepping down from Westminster John shares his insights on the future of our politics.
“He is also a seasoned raconteur with countless stories from the corridors of power and an eye out for anyone ‘chuntering from a sedentary position’.”
Mr Bercow, 59, was elected speaker in 2009 and shot to fame during the Brexit debates for his theatrical style and cries of “order!”. He was Tory MP for Buckingham for 22 years but switched to Labour last year after denouncing his old party as “reactionary, populist, nationalistic and sometimes even xenophobic”.
Labour has now suspended him after an 89-page report by Parliament’s Independent Expert Panel. He was accused of hurling a mobile phone at staff, swearing at officials and making racially and sexually offensive remarks.
Mr Bercow has denied bullying and dismissed the report as a “travesty of justice”. He was asked for comment.