#BackBercow campaign takes off as Tories bid to oust Commons Speaker at election
Adversaries: Andrea Leadsom and John Bercow.
Isn’t it hilarious that Tory Andrea Leadsom is accusing Commons Speaker John Bercow of breaking Parliamentary rules when her government has been doing worse than he could imagine?
And isn’t it ironic that, claiming to be standing up for democracy, they are happy to break an ancient democratic convention?
How hypocritical.
Ms Leadsom reckons Mr Bercow has committed a “flagrant abuse” of process by allowing Parliament to take control of Commons business and table a Bill to stop the government from shafting us all with a “no deal” Brexit.
But he – together with Opposition MPs – was well within his rights to use a recognised procedure against Boris Johnson’s underhand attempt to deny UK citizens their right to democratic representation by proroguing Parliament for five weeks, at a crucial point in the run-up to Brexit.
Here’s how the BBC is reporting the matter:
The Conservative Party plans to stand a candidate against Speaker John Bercow for his role in allowing MPs to take control of the Commons agenda.
Breaching convention, the party plans to oppose Mr Bercow in his Buckingham constituency at the next election.
Formerly a Tory, Mr Bercow gave up his party affiliation when he took on the impartial role.
As the highest authority in the House of Commons, the Speaker chairs MPs’ debates.
In order to be impartial, the Speaker resigns from their party, and – while they still stand in general elections – they are usually unopposed by the main parties, and they do not campaign on political issues.
This latest attempt to silence democracy – and impartiality, if Ms Leadsom plans to put a Tory yes-man in Mr Bercow’s place – has sparked a backlash on the social media, under the hashtag #BackBercow .
Why?
He is for Parliament, first, last and always. pic.twitter.com/oPKTQYUSXz
— Dr Martin Opposes Gov’t Corruption (@MartinRemains) September 8, 2019
The fact Andrea Leadsom is going after John Bercow should be enough for everyone to #BackBercow.
Leadsom told the House of Commons that Islamophobia was a 'foreign' issue.
She's a bully and a bigot.
— Alex Tiffin (@RespectIsVital) September 8, 2019
https://twitter.com/MikeH_PR/status/1170673565223591936
By attempting to oust Bercow, @andrealeadsom @BorisJohnson and @Conservatives are fully demonstrating the need to defend democracy and parliamentary procedure and the reason we need to #BackBercow
— Rachel Cooper (@rlizcooper) September 8, 2019
The Speaker of the House commits to impartiality and of course, its natural to see that the Tories despise how he isn't being biased towards them and letting them do absolutely anything they want with the country #BackBercow
— Monty200🌱☮🦆🌍✨ (@_Monty200_) September 8, 2019
Source: Tories bid to depose Speaker Bercow after Commons revolt – BBC News
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Didn’t the Liberals and Labour party field candidates against Selwyn Lloyd when he was the Speaker back in te 1970s?
Yes, although I have no information about the reason for that.
My memory of why Labour and the Liberals broke convention and contested Selwyn Lloyd’s seat in the 1974 elections is because during the debates on Bloody Sunday he refused several times to let some Irish lady MP speak despite her having been an eye witness.
This denial of her right to speak broke the convention of The Speaker for the HOC being impartial, so both Labour and the Liberals decided he was no longer deserving of the convention of other parties not contesting the seat. SL’s majority was large so both Labour and the Libs knew they didn’t stand a chance of unseating him. They stood against him to make a point more than anything else.
Mind you, I was only 14 years old at the time, and the above is culled from my memory as my parent’s argued endlessly about it, so I could be wrong. We lived in SL’s constituency and my mum was a Conservative voter and pro SL, my dad was a Labour voter and hated his guts!
I just wanted extra pocket money at the time but my negotiations for this fell on deaf ears as they were too busy squabbling about SL. I got an extra paper round instead.
Thank you for that insight!
Yes, thank you Sandy for that information. I was aware that Bernadette Devlin, the MP in question, did not speak in the debate but was unaware that this was the reason why Lloyd was opposed at two elections by Labour and Liberals, but did not think the current situation was the first breach of this ancient democratic convention.
Sandy, do you know the reason Speaker Bernard Wetherall was opposed by Labour in Croydon North?