Tories size up Bryant to replace Bercow

Labour MP emerges as a strong outsider to be next Speaker as Gove and other ministers declare support

CHRIS BRYANT, the former Labour minister, has won the surprise backing of Michael Gove and other Government ministers in the race to succeed John Bercow as Commons Speaker.

The news came as Mr Bryant said he would encourage MPS to get off their mobile phones in the chamber and ban MPS from calling each other “traitor” during debates.

MPS are due to vote this afternoon to select a member from the eight-strong field of MPS to succeed Mr Bercow, whose controversial decade as Speaker came to an end last Thursday.

Mr Bryant is a strong outsider to be elected behind the favourites: the Labour MPS Sir Lindsay Hoyle and Harriet Harman, and the Conservative Dame Eleanor Laing.

In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, published today, six Tories, including Mr Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, Chris Heaton-harris, the transport minister, and former cabinet minister Greg Clark, backed Mr Bryant, in part because he has the “sense of humour to defuse tension” in the House.

They write: “The job of Speaker of the House of Commons is one of the most demanding in British politics.

“It requires a deep knowledge of the rules, a respect for our history, a lively intellect and the ability to explain complex decisions in plain English.

“It has to be someone with enough of a sense of humour to defuse tension and enough of a sense of occasion to keep good order.

“Above all at this critical moment, it is vital that the Commons elects the very best person for the job, regardless of party. That is why we are supporting Chris Bryant. He clearly loves Parliament, he knows Erskine May inside out and he will be an umpire, not a player.”

Mr Bryant told The Telegraph he would discourage MPS from extensively consulting their mobile phones in the chamber and said his mental health had improved since he quit Twitter in September.

Mr Bryant also said he would publish lists of MPS who wanted to speak in the chamber so junior MPS did not have to wait for hours – with some even having to ask permission to go to the lavatory – to get the chance to speak.

Prime Minister’s Questions would be strictly limited to 30 minutes each week – rather than the hour it has reached on occasions under Mr Bercow – and Wi-fi in Parliament would be improved.

“There isn’t anybody in Parliament who knows the rules better than I do, and the history. I’ve got a copy of the standing orders by my bedside,” Mr Bryant said. “I want to intervene as little as possible but I do want to get the temperature of these things down.

‘It has to be someone with enough of a sense of humour to defuse tension and enough of a sense of occasion to keep good order’

“The main thing is the tone, and the Speaker just needs [a] gentle touch of humour. Let’s move on. Let’s keep it going. And, you know, a bit like a rugby referee. You know you want to keep the game flowing.”

The next incumbent might also not get to live in the Speaker’s apartments in the House of Commons because extensive “fire safety work has got to be done”, he said.

Today’s election is highly anticipated because of the importance the winning candidate will have over future Brexit debates. In his latter years, Mr Bercow was accused of bias against Brexit and presiding over a bullying culture. He denied both accusations.

Separately, Shailesh Vara, a Tory candidate in the race, spoke of how his training in martial arts gave him “an inner confidence to be able to deal with people from all walks of life in any manner of situations”.

In local newspaper photographs dating from 1986, Mr Vara, who as a 17-year-old was one of the youngest

‘There isn’t anybody in Parliament who knows the rules better than I do, and the history. I’ve got a copy of the standing orders by my bedside’

black belts in taekwondo, is pictured smashing 15 roof tiles.

Mr Vara said: “Martial arts training gives an individual an inner confidence to be able to deal with people from all walks of life in any manner of situations. If I were Speaker, that means no more demeaning or condescending comments of fellow MPS. It simply isn’t necessary.”

Candidates must hand in nomination forms by 10.30am today. Each form must be signed by 12-15 MPS, with at least three from a party other than their own. The House of Commons will convene at 2.30pm, with Ken Clarke, the Father of the House, in the chair.

The candidates will have five minutes each to make their pitches before MPS will have 20 minutes to cast their votes. If an outright winner does not emerge, the candidate who received the fewest votes will be eliminated, along with any other candidate who polled less than 5 per cent of the total.

In the past, the election of a Speaker of the House of Commons rarely caught the public imagination. Perhaps the choice of Betty Boothroyd as the first, and so far only, woman occupant, in 1992, came closest to inspiring much interest beyond Westminster. Before the proceedings of Parliament were televised, few voters would have had a clue who occupied the chair. After all, the Speaker is supposed to be an impartial arbiter whose anonymity beyond the Palace of Westminster is a sign of success, not failure. Once the Speaker starts behaving in what is perceived to be a partisan way and appears to relish celebrity status the role changes, and not for the better.

One of the many disconcerting aspects of the current Parliament now drawing to a close is the exodus of many MPS, a lot of them women, who are fed up with the abuse they have received.

The past two years have been especially fractious, given the divisions in the country over Brexit and the anger it has engendered. Arguably, the way John Bercow handled matters in the Commons, watched by millions on television, contributed to this baneful atmosphere. His apparent favouritism for the Remain side (which he denied, but was none the less interpreted as such) poured fuel on an already raging political inferno. His aggressively derisive putdowns of MPS set a tone that was replicated by those looking in who thought it acceptable to be equally hostile, even nasty, to parliamentarians.

Mr Bercow, an undoubted champion of the backbenchers, was accused of bending the rules or, more charitably, interpreting them flexibly. Yet he was in a position to do so by dint of the Government’s weakness without a majority. A far greater charge against him is that his personal style made an already febrile situation worse.

Given the prominent role played today by the Speaker in public life, MPS should elect someone who will mollify, not foment division by playing to the gallery – although after spending three hours praising Mr Bercow to the rafters last week, can they really manage that?

When he took the chair in 2009, Mr Bercow said: “My commitment to this House is to be completely impartial as between members of one political party and another.” Ten years on and MPS will today elect a successor who will assuredly make the same commitment. Let’s hope this one adheres to it.