News from the New Party

Mr Speaker Bercow

There was no ideal candidate for speaker, but some were certainly less ideal than others.  In the event, the House of Commons has made a valid, and possibly an inspired choice - albeit for ludicrous reasons.

The first cause to be grateful for Mr Speaker Bercow is that he is not Madame Speaker Beckett.  The suggestion that Labour whips were heavily touting Margaret Beckett as the favoured candidate for the post of speaker was outrageous in itself.  The post is traditionally outside the purview of the whips and the party machines in general.  At a time like this, when public confidence in our parliamentary democracy is lower than it has been possibly at any time since universal suffrage, the last person needed was someone to reassure the most small "c" conservatives on the Labour benches.  The public is demanding change from its elected representatives - Margaret Beckett has demonstrated only arrogance and an entirely condescending attitude to the people who have employed her for the past thirty-five years.

The second cause for satisfaction is that John Bercow can be expected to perform well in the role of Speaker precisely because it is a job he has actively sought from an early age.  Traditionally the post has been given to somebody far more senior than Mr Bercow (who is only 46 years old).  By seeking the post at a comparatively early age he demonstrates that he may actually be taking it seriously - and not as a final career job in which to ease himself comfortably into the House of Lords in a few years time.

The main argument against John Bercow is that he has been loathed by his own party for a number of years.  Conservatives who are outraged that a Labour majority in Parliament has foisted upon them a Speaker whom many of them cordially detest on a personal level need to calm down.  Bercow's detachment from the Conservative Party is a demonstration of independence of mind which is sorely needed.  He belongs to the House of Commons and to the people at large.  He may be just the figure the House and our democracy needs. 

Given the state of Parliament and our democracy we had all better hope that this is the case.  John Bercow may be Speaker for a very long time.