John Bercow

The Right Honourable
John Bercow
Bercow in 2018
Speaker of the House of Commons
of the United Kingdom
In office
22 June 2009 – 4 November 2019
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterGordon Brown
David Cameron
Theresa May
Boris Johnson
Preceded byMichael Martin
Succeeded byLindsay Hoyle
Shadow Secretary of State for International Development
In office
10 November 2003 – 8 September 2004
LeaderMichael Howard
Preceded byCaroline Spelman
Succeeded byAlan Duncan
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In office
18 September 2001 – 23 July 2002
LeaderIain Duncan Smith
Preceded byOliver Letwin
Succeeded byHoward Flight
Member of Parliament
for Buckingham
In office
1 May 1997 – 4 November 2019
Preceded byGeorge Walden
Succeeded byGreg Smith
Chancellor of the University of Essex
In office
22 July 2017 – 12 November 2021[1]
Vice ChancellorAnthony Forster
Preceded byShami Chakrabarti
Succeeded by(vacant until 2023), Sarah Perry (2023–)
Chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire
In office
25 July 2014 – June 2017
Vice ChancellorBill Rammell
Rebecca Bunting
Preceded byThe Baroness Howells of St Davids
Succeeded bySarfraz Manzoor (2023–)
Member of Lambeth London Borough Council for St Leonard's ward
In office
9 May 1986 – 4 May 1990
Personal details
Born
John Simon Bercow

(1963-01-19) 19 January 1963
Edgware, Middlesex, England
Political partyNone
Other political
affiliations
Spouse
Sally Illman
​
(m. 2002)​
Children3
Alma materUniversity of Essex (BA)
Signature

John Simon Bercow (/ˈbɜːrkoʊ/; born 19 January 1963) is a British former politician who served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 2009 to 2019, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Buckingham between 1997 and 2019. A member of the Conservative Party prior to becoming speaker, he was the first MP since Selwyn Lloyd in 1971 to be elected speaker without having been a deputy speaker. After resigning as Speaker in 2019 and opting not to seek re-election as MP for Buckingham in the 2019 general election, Bercow left Parliament. In 2021, he joined the Labour Party but was suspended in 2022.

Bercow was a councillor in the London Borough of Lambeth from 1986 to 1990 and unsuccessfully contested parliamentary seats in the 1987 and 1992 general elections, before being elected for Buckingham in 1997. Promoted to the Shadow cabinet in 2001, he held posts under Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard. In November 2002, Bercow resigned over a dispute concerning his support for the Adoption and Children Act 2002, but returned a year later, only to be dismissed from the Shadow cabinet in 2004. Having initially been strongly associated with the right-wing faction of his party, his views shifted; by 2007, there were rumours that he would defect to the Labour Party.[4]

On the resignation of Michael Martin in June 2009, Bercow stood successfully in the election to replace him as speaker. As speaker, he was obliged to leave the Conservative Party and remain as an independent for the duration of his tenure. He was re-elected unopposed at the commencements of the Parliaments in 2010, 2015 and 2017.[5] This made him the first speaker since the Second World War to have been elected four times, as well as the first since then to have served alongside four prime ministers.[6][7] In September 2019, Bercow declared that he would stand down as Commons speaker and MP on 31 October; he remained speaker until being appointed to the Manor of Northstead on 4 November 2019.[8]

In 2014, Bercow was appointed Chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire.[9] In July 2017, he was appointed Chancellor of the University of Essex,[10] stepping down from this role in November 2021.[1] In January 2020, he became part-time professor of politics at Royal Holloway, University of London.[11][12] He was suspended from the Labour Party in 2022 after 21 complaints of him bullying staff were upheld.[13][14] Since the death of Betty Boothroyd in 2023, he is the only living former Speaker of the House of Commons.

  1. ^ a b "john bercow steps down as chancellor | University of Essex". University of Essex. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Helm 2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "10/01/2010". Westminster Hour. 10 January 2010. BBC Radio 4. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference jbstory was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "John Bercow to continue as Commons Speaker with MPs' backing". BBC News. 18 May 2015. Archived from the original on 21 May 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  6. ^ McGillivray, Kate; Vartanian, Talin (4 October 2019). "Speaker John Bercow reflects on 10 years of keeping British parliamentarians in line". Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019. After being elected for four consecutive terms as Speaker, and serving under four prime ministers, Bercow is exiting at a time of high drama and tension in the U.K.
  7. ^ Tominey, Camilla (9 September 2019). "John Bercow: the Speaker dogged by claims of bullying and bias who was a thorn in the side of his own party". Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019. Bercow is the longest-serving Speaker since Edward FitzRoy served 15 years in post between 1928 and 1943, and the first Speaker since FitzRoy to serve under four Prime Ministers.
  8. ^ Rowena Mason "John Bercow to step down as Speaker by 31 October" Archived 30 September 2019 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, 9 September 2019.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference beds was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Speaker of the House of Commons to become our sixth Chancellor". Colchester: The University of Essex. 18 July 2017. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  11. ^ Hope, Christopher (24 January 2020). "John Bercow starts first paid job since quitting Parliament as Professor of Politics at Royal Holloway University". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 25 January 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  12. ^ "John Bercow made Professor of politics at Royal Holloway, University of London". Evening Standard. London. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  13. ^ Siddique, Haroon (16 January 2022). "'Kangaroo court' has found me guilty of bullying, says John Bercow". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  14. ^ Diver, Tony (8 March 2022). "John Bercow branded 'serial bully' by independent watchdog". The Telegraph. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
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