Originally Posted by
tarquinbeech
Ahhhhh John Berkowitz (didn´t like the Jewish name so his family tried to make it sound English!)......originally stood for the right-wing Conservative Monday Club. He stood as a candidate for the club's national executive in 1981 with a manifesto calling for a programme of "assisted repatriation" of immigrants, and became secretary of its immigration and repatriation committee.
In November 2002, when the Labour government introduced the Adoption and Children Act, which would allow unmarried gay and hetero***ual couples to adopt children, Duncan Smith imposed a three-line whip requiring Conservative MPs to vote against the bill rather than allowing a free vote. In protest, Bercow defied the whips and voted with Labour arguing that it should be a free vote. He then resigned from the front bench.[23] As a backbencher he was openly critical of Duncan Smith's leadership.
In November 2003, the new Conservative leader Michael Howard appointed Bercow as Shadow Secretary of State for International Development. However, he went on to clash with Howard over taxes, immigration and Iraq,[24] and was sacked from the front bench in September 2004
Bercow won the Stonewall award for Politician of the Year in 2010 for his work to support equality for lesbian, gay and bi***ual people.[30] He was given a score of 100% in favour of lesbian, gay and bi***ual equality by Stonewall
Following the defection of Conservative MP Quentin Davies to the Labour Party in June 2007, there were persistent rumours that Bercow was likely to be the next Conservative MP to leave the party.[33]
Bercow did not 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.
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. He also claimed just under £1,000 to hire an accountant to fill in his tax returns. Bercow denied any wrongdoing, but agreed to pay £6,508 to cover any tax that he may have had to pay to HM Revenue and Customs.[40]
It was revealed in 2014 that the House of Commons authorities had destroyed all evidence of MPs' expenses claims prior to 2010. Bercow faced accusations that he had presided over what had been dubbed a "fresh cover-up" of the expenses scandal.[41]
In July 2015, Bercow was again criticised for the amount of his expenses, including a claim of £172 for a 0.7 mile chauffeur-driven journey. 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."[42]
Within weeks of taking office as Speaker, Bercow ordered a redecoration and refurbishment of the Speaker's grace and favour apartment in the Palace of Westminster, partly with the objective of making it child-friendly; the work cost £20,659 and was paid for by Parliament. It followed extensive work on the apartment under the previous Speaker.[58]
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. He was embroiled in the expenses saga and he presides over a Parliament that virtually does nothing."
As Bercow lacked a party endorsement and therefore a campaign team, he sought to build one and a group of his supporters known as 'Friends of Speaker Bercow' solicited donations for the campaign, aiming to raise £40,000. 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.[63] The Commissioner declined to launch an investigation because of the lack of evidence
In February 2017, Bercow said he had supported continued membership of the European Union in the 2016 referendum
In May 2018, Bercow's former private secretary Angus Sinclair alleged on the BBC's Newsnight programme that Bercow had repeatedly bullied him while at work.[79] Sinclair said that he was told to sign a non-disclosure agreement when he left his post, in order to prevent him revealing Bercow's bullying. Bercow denied the claims.[80]
In October 2018, Bercow had called for an independent body to be set up to investigate allegations of harassment and bullying in Parliament, after facing calls to quit after a report said harassment had been tolerated and concealed for years which he denies.[81] On 23 October 2018, three Conservative MPs, Will Quince, Mims Davies and Anne Milton, resigned from the Commons Reference Group on Representation and Inclusion, which is chaired by Bercow, and cited Bercow's handling of bullying and ***ual harassment allegations in Parliament as the reason for doing so.
Bercow married Sally Illman in 2002 and they have three children.[2] His wife used to be a Conservative, who switched to supporting the Labour Party, campaigning for both her husband individually and Labour in the wider election in 1997, though Bercow and those close to him reject the view that she was especially influential in softening his right-wing political views.[
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