John Bercow
Speaker of the House of Commons (2009-2019)
John Bercow served as the 157th Speaker of the House of Commons, and the first since World War II to keep order in front of four Prime Ministers. He was re-elected three times. He also built a reputation as a reformer, requiring Ministers to make 685 statements on pressing issues, replacing the shooting range with a nursery.
"The first Speaker to allow the UK Youth Parliament to debate in the Commons chamber"
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John entered Parliament in 1997 as Conservative MP for Buckingham. He was appointed Shadow Chief Treasury then Work and Pensions Secretary, but resigned to support the Labour Government's policy to allow unmarried gay and heterosexual couples to adopt. He was later asked by Ed Balls to lead a review of children and families affected by speech, language and communication needs, which resulted in millions of additional funding. John took over from Speaker Martin with a mission to "strengthen the backbenches and recognise that Parliament is more than a rubber-stamping operation for the government of the day." In a stream of tributes on his departure, even critics admitted that he had delivered on the original promise.
WHAT he OFFERS YOU
After stepping down from Westminster John shares his insights on the future of our politics and the lessons learned about driving change. He is also a seasoned raconteur with countless stories from the corridors of power.