Found to be a ‘serial bully’ – what now for John Bercow?

The former speaker of the House of Commons denies the allegations against him, but the independent inquiry report makes grim reading, writes Sean O’Grady

John Bercow in the House of Commons (EPA)

The political career of John Bercow has enjoyed more than its share of twists and turns, and never ceases to yield surprises, not all of them pleasant. Rather than the peerage that is normally granted to retired speakers, Bercow has instead been denied the usual courtesy offered to ex-MPs of a complimentary parliamentary pass, which would allow him to come and go as he pleases and treat the place like a particularly grand version of a Pall Mall club. Now, he may only attend as a guest of a member or member of staff. It is a small but significant snub: not quite a ban, but humiliating.

Far worse has been the damage to his reputation. A one-time member of the right-wing Monday Club, a dedicated libertarian, Thatcherite, Tory frontbencher, Tory rebel over gay rights, brave speaker of the House of Commons during the turbulent Brexit years, and now a Starmerite Labour member, Bercow has been as politically restless as he is personally so. We know more about his private life, and that of his wife, than we ever needed to.

As speaker, he was known for his wit, sometimes withering and harshly applied against members countering from sedentary positions, and his habit of setting his own precedents to the maximum extent of his prerogatives, in defence – as he saw it – of the rights and privileges of the House of Commons against the executive. His language was a bizarre cross between the elegance of Jane Austen and the force of Alexei Sayle in angry stand-up. An intelligent and well-read man, he did not suffer fools, or even those moderately less intelligent than him, gladly.