Bercow gags John Hemming MP over superinjunction

Speaker Bercow has shown once again why he is held in almost universal contempt by MPs and members of the Conservative Party.

John Hemming MP tried twice today to speak about a superinjuction - something he is perfectly entitled to do as Parliamentary Privilege means civil law doesn't apply in the Palace of Westminster - and was silenced by the Speaker on both occasions.

I bet all those anti-Bercow Tories who turned out to vote for him in the general election last year just to stop Nigel Farage from unseating him are really proud of themselves.

H/T: Guido

Bercow is the gift that keeps on giving

Nigel Farage's side must be hurting from laughing so much as Bercow hits the news almost daily being slagged off by members of his own party.

I wouldn't be surprised if we see a press release in the morning saying that Nigel had to be rushed to hospital and sedated after seeing this ...

Angry MPs plot to oust Commons Speaker John Bercow for ‘being a little dictator’

MPs are plotting to oust Commons Speaker John Bercow amid accusations he is becoming “a bit of a little dictator”.

Nine months after he was elected Speaker, many Tory backbenchers are furious at the way he is treating colleagues. He is also said to be losing support among Labour MPs.

If he were toppled after a 6 May election, he would become the shortest serving Speaker since 1789.

But Mr Bercow today accusing a “political mujahidin” of seeking to undermine his Speakership. He also defended his insistence that MPs behave better in the Chamber.

Opposition to him, however, seems to have hardened after he slapped down Tory MP Mark Pritchard on Tuesday. One Tory frontbencher said: “He's become a little bit of a little dictator.”

John Bercow really is the gift that keeps on giving.

Tories desperate in Buckingham

The Tories are getting really desperate in Buckingham judging by the letter sent out recently by "Friends of Speaker Bercow" to local rich Tories asking them to contribute to a £40,000 election fund .

The Tories are scared of Nigel Farage and for good reason - he's going to unseat Bercow at the general election.  So many Tories in Buckingham are supporting Farage that Councillors have been warned that they will be deselected if they support anyone other than Bercow which frankly makes a mockery of the rule that the Speaker must be apolitical.

Bercow is not a Tory MP, he is the Speaker.  He is not a Tory candidates in the election, he is the Speaker.  The Tories should not be making threats to members of their own party if they don't support a candidate that isn't a Tory and personal details collected for the purpose of maintaining membership records for the Conservative Party should not be used for promoting someone who isn't a Tory candidate - that is a breach of the Data Protection Act.

Bercow running scared

John Bercow, the current speaker of the House of Commons, is so scared of losing his seat to Nigel Farage in next year's general election that he has suggested creating a new constituency just for himself which no party will be allowed to contest.

The suggestion is that MPs create a new constituency called St Stephens (named after the chapel in Westminster Palace) in which nobody would be allowed to stand on a party ticket.  The only constituents would be MPs.

This is all personally reasonable - the convention that the Speaker doesn't campaign in an election and that the Speaker doesn't act as a constituency MP in Parliament means that tens of thousands of people in his or her constituency are deprived of effective parliamentary representation.  But the driving force behind this suggestion isn't a professional concern on the part of Bercow for his constituents, it's a selfish and desperate suggestion to save his political career.

If this suggestion is taken forward by MPs then much will be made of how much more democratic it will be and how it will benefit the electorate.  But MPs won't dare take it further and give us all a vote for the new constituency and allow the entire electorate vote for a Speaker.

But do MPs have the ability to create a new constituency with their own rules on whim just to protect one of their own?  Surely the independent Electoral Commission is responsible for such things? Not according to John Bercow: "The House of Commons can always decide to do that if it wants".  MPs can give create seats for themselves and make up rules to stop anyone from unseating them.  Who'd have thought it, eh?

Ladbrokes shorten odds on Farage unseating Berscow

Ladbrokes have shortened the odds of Nigel Farage beating John Bercow in the general election from 4-1 to 10-3 (that's 3.3-1 to save you doing the maths).

A flurry of bets on Farage to win, ConservativeHome's poll showing that 64% of Tories would vote for Farage and heavyweight Tory bloggers pledging support for Farage have brought the odds of Farage winning right down.

I think I'll have a punt myself before they shorten the odds even further!

64% of Tories would vote for Farage

ConservativeHome is doing such a wonderful job of promoting Nigel Farage's election campaign and showing the huge gulf in the Tory Party caused by the European Empire and UKIP.

No need to spend a fortune on a polling company to find out how many Tories are intending to vote for Farage, ConservativeHome have already got the answer - 64%!


The Tories are more split than ever under the expert leadership of David Camoron. Keep up the good work Dave.

What's dishonest about fighting fraud and incompetence?

Tim Montgomerie of ConservativeHome is back-pedalling over his public support for Nigel Farage's general election campaign against the Tory Speaker, John Bercow. Presumably someone at CCHQ reminded him of their special relationship and what happens to Conservative Party members that suggest UKIP aren't the spawn of satan.

Tim thinks that Farage is dishonest because he stood for re-election as an MEP 2 months ago and is now standing for election to Westminster. He contrasts this with 3 Tory MEPs who didn't stand for re-election because they were going to stand for election as an MP.

Firstly, you don't vote for a person in EU elections, you vote for a party. People in the South West euroregion that Farage represents voted for UKIP, not for Nigel Farage.

Secondly, Bercow was elected Speaker on 22nd June and the EU election was on 4th June. Farage is standing against Bercow because of his expenses fiddles and failure to do anything as Speaker to improve the reputation of propriety of the House of Commons. How could he have known back in April when the nominations for the EU elections had to be in, that Bercow would be elected Speaker and be crap at the job?

Interesting that there was no suggestion a fortnight ago on ConservativeHome that Councillor Denise Headley is in any way dishonest for being elected a Liebour councillor and then defecting to the Tories. Surely that's a little more "dishonest" than an MEP standing for election as an MP with the intention of unseating the crooked and ineffectual incumbent?

Tories backing Farage

Since the Daily Telegraph leaked the story about Nigel Farage's intention to stand against the Speaker, John Bercow, in the forthcoming general election, UKIP and Farage have been the hot topic of discussion.

Wherever Farage decided to stand, it was bound to hit the headlines but standing against Berscow is a definite headline-grabber given that the Speaker always stands uncontested by the big parties by Parliamentary convention.

We're in an era of political firsts at the moment. The party in power at Westminster has come 3rd in an EU election - the only party in the election to come out with less MEPs than they started with - and lost control of every local authority they controlled in England. The 4th largest political party in the UK is one that has no MPs at Westminster and the convention that the Speaker stands for re-election uncontested by major parties is effectively no longer respected having been contested by the SNP twice in the last two elections and will be again by UKIP next year.

Tim Montgomerie, the editor of Conservative Home, says that he'd be tempted to vote for Farage if he was in the constituency. Another Tory blogger, Right to Common Sense says the same thing. Andrew Allison and Dizzy, both heavyweight Tory bloggers, go one step further and say that they would actively campaign for Farage against Bercow. Iain Dale doesn't come out in favour of Farage in so many words but then you often have to read between the lines with Dale and then read between those lines to figure out what he's really thinking. He won't speak out against the Tories while they're on a winning streak but his failure to put down Farage speaks volumes. PoliticalBetting says that Ladbrokes have Farage at 4/1 to beat Bercow.

Farage can count not only on UKIP support during the next election but also on disaffected Tories, most of whom can't stand the fake conservative Bercow. And those Tories that think they can rely on Liebour voters ticking the box for Bercow to keep the seat are deluding themselves. Liebour voters would rather have Nigel Farage MP to fight against next time round than a Tory because they'll see him as a weaker candidate.

I might even have a punt on Farage myself, I reckon he's in with a good chance.