Mr Bercow has disgraced himself and his office. But no one can get rid of him.
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Over the last week, it’s become clear that John Bercow intends to stay as Speaker of the House of Commons until 2022. When he took office in 2009, he stated that he would retire in June 2018. His time in office has been both unconstitutional and brought the role into disrepute, so how has he managed not only to cling on, but actually extend his tenure?
On everything from Trump through to Brexit, Mr Bercow has been forthright in expressing his opinions through the position he occupies. Yet the Speaker’s politics must appear to be devoid of partisan opinions so he can maintain order in debates, determine which MP can speak and punish those who break rules. The Speaker cannot do this if there’s any hint of bias. Bercow fails completely in being non-partisan, and is therefore unfit to hold the office.
Mr Bercow has been embroiled in allegations of bullying while in office. His former private secretary, Angus Sinclair, signed a non-disclosure agreement about been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder caused by bullying while working for the Speaker. A report into the Speaker’s office last year by Dame Laura Cox condemned a culture in which abusive behaviour was ‘tolerated and covered up’. In any normal parliamentary role Bercow would be sacked or outed from office due to lack of confidence – however, last time that happened to a Speaker was in 1695 and the nature of a hung Parliament means he’s even more entrenched.
Bercow is still the sitting MP for Buckingham. The constituency, which is overwhelmingly hard Brexit and socially conservative, is represented by an MP who pursues a Remain and socially liberal agenda through the office of Speaker. Ordinarily the MP for Buckingham would be brought to heel by the local Conservative Party Association or deselected. Ironically, the Association has no recourse because a Speaker should have no party-political affiliation. Bercow has, therefore, cut ties with the local Conservative Association.
The people of Buckingham can’t even vote for another MP because parliamentary convention states that other parties don’t put up a candidate against the Speaker. This resulted in the constituency recording a record 1,289 spoilt ballots in the 2016 General Election. Bercow stated that he would commission a review into spoilt ballots in his acceptance speech. Nothing has been done.
Therefore, the Commons has a Speaker who is unconstitutional, has brought the office into disrepute and, as an MP, fails to represent his constituency . . . and nobody can do anything about it.
With the gutting and refurbishment of the Palace of Westminster should come the gutting and refurbishment of the office of the Speaker.
First, the role of the Speaker should be overseen by the judiciary (for example the Supreme Court), according to a set constitution, centred on historical precedence. This will ensure a Speaker who expresses any political sentiment or brings the office into disrepute will be called to account – something which clearly isn’t happening now.
Second, there has been a widely held belief that there should be an MP for the Palace of Westminster. This MP would stand on a Speaker’s manifesto written above party politics. He or she would be elected by a constituency made up the sitting MPs in the House of Commons. The effect would be to widen the selection pool of Speaker to people who’ve held high office in and outside of politics and ensure there isn’t a constituency in Parliament which isn’t democratically represented.
Speaker Bercow will go down in history as one of the worst since the office’s foundation in 1258. Parliament must learn from the mistakes of Mr Bercow, and modernise accordingly.
