Orde! Orde!
John Bercow, Speaker of the House, and blight upon the political parties of the UK.
The great irony of Bercow’s position is that the holders of virtually any point of view feel obstructed by him. He is the person in front of you at the bar.
Once upon a time (2009) Tory MPs were delighted with Bercow’s appointment to the Speaker’s chair. He asked clerks to find ways to make the then Labour government’s life as miserable as possible.
Now the shoe is on the other foot. And it is kicking the governing Tories. Over and over and over again. Now they hate him, and he is the darling of Remainers.
The reason for this is that Bercow’s political goal since then has been to expand the power of parliament and challenge the executive. If any party had secured a decent majority since Tony Blair he would likely have been removed by now.
Instead, Theresa May spurned the first Conservative majority for 23 years with her snap election in 2017 and ensured Bercow’s continued tenure.
It’s made him somewhat of a cult figure. And central to unprecedented levels of parliamentary control as the Brexit process inverts and allows backbenchers to dictate business.
So a Dutch TV show decided to invite the Speaker to their table. Upon which there was beer and meats and cheeses. It’s Europe, after all.
They asked him if he warmed up before a parliamentary session, played some highlights and then stuck a colossal picture of him calling for ‘order’ on a screen while he was interviewed.
Hosts also revealed that when Bercow landed at Amsterdam Schipol fellow travellers were yelling ‘order’ at him and taking selfies.
Maximum Bercow.
The full segment can be seen here.
