John Bercow
John Simon Bercow (/ˈbɜːrkoʊ/; born 19 January 1963) is a British former politician who was 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.
The Right Honourable John Bercow PC | |
|---|---|
Bercow in 2018 | |
| Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom | |
| In office 22 June 2009 – 4 November 2019 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown David Cameron Theresa May Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Michael Martin |
| Succeeded by | Lindsay Hoyle |
| Shadow Secretary of State for International Development | |
| In office 10 November 2003 – 8 September 2004 | |
| Leader | Michael Howard |
| Preceded by | Caroline Spelman |
| Succeeded by | Alan Duncan |
| Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury | |
| In office 18 September 2001 – 23 July 2002 | |
| Leader | Iain Duncan Smith |
| Preceded by | Oliver Letwin |
| Succeeded by | Howard Flight |
| Member of Parliament for Buckingham | |
| In office 1 May 1997 – 4 November 2019 | |
| Preceded by | George Walden |
| Succeeded by | Greg Smith |
| Chancellor of the University of Essex | |
| In office 22 July 2017 – 12 November 2021 | |
| Vice Chancellor | Anthony Forster |
| Preceded by | Shami Chakrabarti |
| Succeeded by | (vacant until 2023), Sarah Perry (2023-) |
| Chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire | |
| In office 25 July 2014 – | |
| Vice Chancellor | Bill Rammell Rebecca Bunting |
| Preceded by | The Baroness Howells of St Davids |
| Succeeded by | Sarfraz 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 19 January 1963 Edgware, Middlesex, England |
| Political party | Labour (2021–2022; suspended) |
| Other political affiliations |
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| Spouse |
Sally Illman (m. 2002) |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | University of Essex (BA) |
| Signature | |
| Website | Official website |
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.
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. 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. 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.
In 2014, Bercow was appointed Chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire. In July 2017, he was appointed Chancellor of the University of Essex, stepping down from this role in November 2021. In January 2020, he became part-time professor of politics at Royal Holloway, University of London. He was suspended from the Labour Party in 2022 following reports of him bullying staff. Since the death of Betty Boothroyd in 2023, as of 2024 he is the only living former Speaker of the House of Commons.