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BREAK: John Bercow to stand down as Speaker on OCTOBER 31st.
This is the eternal definition of burn.
This is the eternal definition of burn.
This is a speech for the ages. Opposition clapping and cheering him. He’s standing down before an election so govt (if there is a majority) cannot replace him with their preferred candidate.
Bercow now in tears talking about his children.
Opposition absolutely loving it. Government front bench looks furious.
Opposition absolutely loving it. Government front bench looks furious.
Endless pointedness from the Speaker: “MPs are elected not as delegates but as representatives. We degrade this parliament at our peril.”
The whole of the opposition stands in applause. Only a smattering on the government benches join them.
Jeremy Corbyn: “This Parliament is the stronger for your having been Speaker. Our democracy is stronger for your having been Speaker. Enjoy the last short period in your office. Your choice of timing and date is...incomparable.”
Michael Gove offers a very erudite tribute.
John Bercow is already the longest serving Speaker since Edward FitzRoy (1928-43). He has been easily one of the most important. He has transformed and enhanced the importance of the chamber with his use of urgent questions and presumption in favour of backbenchers’ rights.
He has also been one of the most controversial. He has doubtless made the job both more important and more political, it no longer seems quite right to think of it as mere referee, a change many decry.
Nonetheless, the centrality of the Speakership has only seemed more important because we’ve gone through an era of small or no majorities. If that changes, the role of the Speaker will once more diminish.
