Found to be a ‘serial bully’ – what now for John Bercow?

The former speaker of the House of Commons denies the allegations against him, but the independent inquiry report makes grim reading, writes Sean O’Grady

John Bercow in the House of Commons (EPA)

The political career of John Bercow has enjoyed more than its share of twists and turns, and never ceases to yield surprises, not all of them pleasant. Rather than the peerage that is normally granted to retired speakers, Bercow has instead been denied the usual courtesy offered to ex-MPs of a complimentary parliamentary pass, which would allow him to come and go as he pleases and treat the place like a particularly grand version of a Pall Mall club. Now, he may only attend as a guest of a member or member of staff. It is a small but significant snub: not quite a ban, but humiliating.

Far worse has been the damage to his reputation. A one-time member of the right-wing Monday Club, a dedicated libertarian, Thatcherite, Tory frontbencher, Tory rebel over gay rights, brave speaker of the House of Commons during the turbulent Brexit years, and now a Starmerite Labour member, Bercow has been as politically restless as he is personally so. We know more about his private life, and that of his wife, than we ever needed to.

As speaker, he was known for his wit, sometimes withering and harshly applied against members countering from sedentary positions, and his habit of setting his own precedents to the maximum extent of his prerogatives, in defence – as he saw it – of the rights and privileges of the House of Commons against the executive. His language was a bizarre cross between the elegance of Jane Austen and the force of Alexei Sayle in angry stand-up. An intelligent and well-read man, he did not suffer fools, or even those moderately less intelligent than him, gladly.

It seems, though, that such a taste for verbal gymnastics, natural impatience and single-minded self-confidence spilled over into something much more unpleasant during his (admittedly stressful) period as speaker.

Bullying of staff in the speaker’s office was the allegation levelled against Bercow, and strenuously denied by him, and it has now been upheld by the “Independent Expert Panel” (IEP), a sort of court of appeal/HR department for the conduct of MPs – with 21 out of 35 complaints against him upheld. The panel considers referrals from the independent parliamentary standards commissioner, and determines sanctions in cases involving an allegation against an MP of a breach of parliament’s sexual misconduct policy or its bullying and harassment policy, under the independent complaints and grievance scheme (ICGS). No MPs sit on the panel, so it is at least free of political bias.

Bercow’s case was initially examined by the standards commissioner, Kathryn Stone. She found that he had displayed "threatening conduct" to staff, such as verbal abuse, ridicule and displays of anger – “intimidating, insulting behaviour involving an abuse of power". Bercow appealed against her judgement, but the IEP upheld all the commissioner’s findings, and concluded that the former speaker was a “serial bully” and a “serial liar”. The details of his behaviour are distressing. Bercow maintains that the inquiry into the complaints was “amateurish” and based on “tittle-tattle”.

And so it rests, with no further appeals. He is, in a way, the last casualty of the Brexit wars, as he is cordially loathed by many Leavers. Bercow’s chances of a peerage, or a comeback as an elected member, look vanishingly slim, and he has landed his latest party leader, Starmer, with the headache of what to do with him. Bercow has been administratively suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation – proud as the party is of its stand against alleged bullying by the likes of Priti Patel and Dominic Cummings. At any rate, we have not heard the last of him.