Leadsom calls for Speaker’s power in the Commons to be diminished

SIMMERING tensions between Andrea Leadsom and John Bercow have exploded into the open after the Cabinet minister called for the Speaker to be stripped of his role running the House of Commons.

Ms Leadsom said that Mr Bercow should step down from the House of Commons Commission, the influential body that is in charge of the Commons’ administration, including overseeing investigations into bullying allegations.

Mr Bercow’s role as the commission’s chairman came under scrutiny in October because of its role in implementing the findings of Dame Laura Cox’s report into the toxic culture in Westminster.

Dame Laura had singled out “a shocking culture of fear and deference [that] is driven right from the top of the House of Commons, behaviour that we would not tolerate elsewhere”. Mr Bercow has faced claims, which he denies, that he bullied two former officials.

In a speech to Liverpool John Moores University on Thursday night, Ms Leadsom, the leader of the House of Commons, said that the Commons needed “a chairman who can ultimately combine the authority and the accountability that should be demonstrated in the governance of the seat of our democracy.

“Currently, statute requires that the chair of the House of Commons Commission is the Speaker of the House. Yet, the Speaker of the House is there to serve the Chamber first and foremost, and to be a figurehead for the broader organisation.

“The role of the Speaker is to hold one of the highest offices in the land, presiding over debates, managing the chamber and ensuring political impar- tiality. It is a stretch to imagine that the highest office within the seat of our democracy should also be responsible for determining the opening hours of our cafeterias.”

Ms Leadsom said she had been approached by “a number of people” about the bullying culture in Parliament who told her about their “harrowing experiences”.

She said that “when the public expressed outrage over the President’s Club scandal, the chairman resigned and the charity shut down. But where does the buck stop in our Parliament, in our political world, in our democracy?”

Ms Leadsom singled out the clerks for the way they ran the Commons – but made no mention of the Speaker – and said: “In the 18 months I have been in this job, it has become apparent to me that – when it comes to the way the House itself runs – there are some serious questions to be answered.”

In a veiled dig at Mr Bercow, who chairs a Speaker’s Commission on Digital Democracy, Ms Leadsom said “it is not enough to make democracy digital”.

Ms Leadsom said that as well as removing the Speaker from chairing the House of Commons Commission, its membership should be opened up to staff who work in the Commons, while voting rights should be extended to clerks and other officials.

She said: “The House of Commons Commission provides the board-level oversight of everything from the maintenance of an ancient building to staff pay, and even whether the Wi-Fi is working. My grave concern is there is a massive disconnect between authority and accountability.”

The pair have repeatedly clashed in the Commons, and Mr Bercow was accused of muttering that Ms Leadsom was “f------ useless”. A spokesman for Mr Bercow declined to comment.

One of Jeremy Corbyn’s MPs has resigned from the shadow cabinet after she misled the public over what she knew about her son’s drug offences. Kate Osamor, 50, the shadow international development secretary, had claimed she knew nothing about her son’s conviction for having drugs worth £2,500 until after he was sentenced in October. But it emerged yesterday that the MP, pictured with the Labour leader, had written to the judge asking for leniency for Ishmael Osamor, 29, who worked in her office after his conviction. When asked by a reporter about her letter, Ms Osamor said she “should have come down here with a bat and smashed your face in”, and threw a bucket of water at him.