John Simon Bercow (/ˈbɜːrkoʊ/; born 19 January 1963) is a British former politician who served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 2009 to 2019, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Buckingham between 1997 and 2019.

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.

[27] The FCS was then broken up by the chairman of the Conservative Party, Norman Tebbit, after one of its members had accused previous Tory PM Harold Macmillan of war crimes in extraditing Cossacks to the Soviet Union.

[31] In 1986, Bercow was elected as a Conservative councillor in the London Borough of Lambeth and served for four years representing the Streatham, St Leonard's ward.

Following Aitken's resignation to fight a libel action, Bercow served as a special adviser to the Secretary of State for National Heritage, Virginia Bottomley.

Bercow devoted a notable portion of his maiden speech to praising former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher whom he called "the world's greatest living statesman.

"[33] In 1999, the Almanac of British Politics described him as an "articulate, abrasive and waspish Commons performer" who Tony Blair had labelled as "nasty and ineffectual in equal quantity" for an attack he had made on Robin Cook.

[citation needed] In November 2003, the new Conservative leader Michael Howard appointed Bercow as Shadow Secretary of State for International Development.

[42] Bercow won the Stonewall award for Politician of the Year in 2010 for his work to support equality for lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

He said: In addition to pursuing a wide variety of local issues, I have attempted to question, probe and scrutinise the Government in the House of Commons on important national and international topics which concern people.

Over the last 12 months, I have constantly pressed the case for reform of world trade rules to give the poorest people on the planet a chance to sell their products and improve their quality of life.

[47] Bercow did not at that time defect to Labour, but in September 2007, accepted an advisory post on Gordon Brown's government's review of support for children with speech, language and communication special needs.

[49] In 2008, Bercow was asked by Labour cabinet members Ed Balls and Alan Johnson to produce a substantial review of children and families affected by speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).

[50][51] The interim report highlighted a number of core issues: that speech, language and communication are not only essential life skills but fundamental human rights; that early identification of problems and intervention is important to avoid social problems later on; and that the current system of treatment was patchy, i.e. there was a need for services to be continually provided for children and families from an early age.

[52][53] During the 2009 expenses scandal, it was revealed that Bercow changed the designation of his second home on more than one occasion – meaning that he avoided paying capital gains tax on the sale of two properties.

Andy Silvester, campaign director at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "This is an obscene waste of money and shows appalling judgment from whoever made the arrangements.

[9][66] Bercow was elected by a large number of Labour votes, many MPs being driven by the perception that Michael Martin had been hounded out of the job and wanting his replacement to be someone who was not a Conservative Party favourite.

In September 2009, Nigel Farage resigned his leadership of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) to stand for Bercow's Buckingham seat, asserting, "This man represents all that is wrong with British politics today.

When one of their letters was received by a member of UKIP, the recipient referred it to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, complaining that it appeared that Bercow's fundraising campaign was operating from the Speaker's Office, which is required to remain politically neutral.

[88] His comments were criticised by some opponents of Trump, such as Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi, for being hypocritical and undermining the Speaker's neutrality,[89] and some in the government reportedly felt that Bercow had overstepped his role.

[94] During the Brexit debates throughout that year, his particular speaking style and calls for order got widespread attention in viral videos on social media outside the U.K.[95][96][97][98][99] "I apparently say it in a way that amuses some people.

"[100] He told CBS' 60 Minutes in fall 2019 that "quite quickly my wife and kids drew my attention to the fact that they saw on the internet that there was a lot of interest in other countries.

[105] On 9 September 2019, amid debates about Brexit and parliament being prorogued, Bercow declared to the House of Commons that he would stand down on 31 October, or at the next general election, whichever was sooner;[106] the former applied.

Overall, he is the tenth Speaker not to receive a Peerage since the 1707 Act of Union, and the fifth since Onslow's retirement not to be immediately elevated to the House of Lords: Charles Wolfran Cornwall died in office with no peerage offer to his surviving family, John Henry Whitley was offered but declined, and following the deaths of Edward FitzRoy and Sir Harry Hylton-Foster in office, their widows were ennobled instead.

[128] Sinclair's allegations came not long after the BBC reported that his successor as Bercow's private secretary, Kate Emms, had been signed off work and then moved to another role.

He faced calls to quit after an independent report by Dame Laura Cox found that harassment and bullying had been tolerated and concealed for years, which Bercow denies.

[131][132][133][134] In January 2020, Lord Lisvane, who served as Clerk of the House of Commons under Bercow, submitted a formal complaint to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

[137] In January 2022, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Kathryn Stone, upheld 21 allegations out of 35 brought by Lord Lisvane and private secretaries Kate Emms and Angus Sinclair against Bercow, who appealed to the Independent Expert Panel.

[139] Formally reprimanding Bercow, the Panel recommended that, as he was no longer a Member of Parliament and could not, therefore, be expelled from the House of Commons, "he should never be permitted a pass to the Parliamentary estate".

[140] Bercow rejected the Panel's findings and declared the body⁠—which included a former Lord Justice of Appeal and a former Chief Coroner⁠—to be a "kangaroo court" lacking in legal expertise.