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
beyond reach tory tribe
He is the Tory who can reach beyond the Tory tribe and take us back into government.
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.'
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
might promoted
But you might have been promoted by then!
psychics mind figures
I'm not psychic. I cannot know what is in the mind of particular public figures.
taken thinking records
I think the record shows that as Speaker, I have taken the lead in cleaning up politics.
children house speakers
I never aspired to be Speaker simply so I could say, 'I am the Speaker of the House of Commons,' and tell my children that.
running long house
For far too long the House of Commons has been run as little more than a private club by and for gentleman amateurs.
fairness-and-equality fairness
Fairness is not about statistical equality.