John Bercow
John Bercow
John Simon Bercowis a British politician who has been the Speaker of the House of Commons since June 2009. Prior to his election to Speaker, he was a member of the Conservative Party. A former hardline right-winger who moderated his views after becoming an MP and at one time was rumoured to be likely to defect to the Labour Party, Bercow's election to the Speaker's Chair depended heavily on the backing of other parties, and was deeply unpopular with many...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth19 January 1963
accept chance committed decide eliminated extremely led members party people round sad sends signal simply vote wants whether win worrying
A lot of our members will be extremely disappointed that they will not have a chance to vote for Ken. For him to be eliminated in the first round sends a very sad and worrying signal to the electorate. Some people simply can't accept being led by someone committed to Europe. The party has to decide whether it wants to win or not.
Ann and I have a lot in common,
member parliament record represent time tory twelve voted
I was proud to be a Tory Member of Parliament for twelve years, proud to represent Buckingham as a Tory, proud to have voted with my party 99% of the time as the record shows.
incredibly invaluable parliament state
I think the state opening of Parliament is an incredibly important occasion, and broadly speaking, the way in which it's done is an invaluable tradition.
despairing effect expression extent formal means people politics suspicious
I don't think that people are disinterested or uninterested in politics. I think very often they are disengaged from the formal political process. To some extent they are suspicious or even despairing of formal politics as a means to give expression and effect to what they want.
aggressive attracted physically politics possibly quite relatively version
Possibly the fact that I was physically quite feeble, a relatively short little fellow, attracted me to that idea of a very authoritative and aggressive version of Conservative politics.
beloved good hopeless liked original
I said that if I hadn't been a politician, I'd have liked to be a barrister, or an academic. My beloved wife said: 'You'd be a very good barrister and a hopeless academic.' I said 'Why?' She said: 'Because you're not an original thinker.'
beyond reach tory tribe
He is the Tory who can reach beyond the Tory tribe and take us back into government.
centre denying moved therefore
There is no denying or hiding the fact that over the years I moved from well on the right of the Conservative Party, much much more to its left, and therefore to the centre of the poltical spectrum.
might promoted
But you might have been promoted by then!
believe democratic elected government lords members otherwise sit strongly
I do strongly believe myself that members of the government who sit in the House of Lords should be accountable to the elected House because otherwise there is a democratic deficit, and that is wrong.
people house parliament
I am seeking every day to restore faith in Parliament - to ensure we have a House of Commons which is representative, effective and reconnected to the people we serve.
psychics mind figures
I'm not psychic. I cannot know what is in the mind of particular public figures.
people warning
I'm not in the business of warning people.