John Bercow Quotes

I was proud to be a Tory Member of Parliament for twelve years, proud to represent Buckingham as a Tory, proud to have voted with my party 99% of the time as the record shows.

Lying to a committee is a very grave abuse, and there ought to be a clear punishment.

There is no denying or hiding the fact that over the years I moved from well on the right of the Conservative Party, much much more to its left, and therefore to the centre of the poltical spectrum.

If someone is being very cheeky, it can be quite fun to deal with that situation.

Sally is my wife, but not my chattel or my property.

For far too long the House of Commons has been run as little more than a private club by and for gentleman amateurs.

I think the state opening of Parliament is an incredibly important occasion, and broadly speaking, the way in which it’s done is an invaluable tradition.

The Conservatives must realise that being sceptical is different from being phobic in what is an interdependent world.

The prime minister‘s job is to captain his team, his party and his government.

I don’t think that people are disinterested or uninterested in politics. I think very often they are disengaged from the formal political process. To some extent they are suspicious or even despairing of formal politics as a means to give expression and effect to what they want.

When I first started out in politics I was, what you might describe as, a hard right Conservative.

If you asked me if I’d rather be Speaker or a very senior minister, I’d say Speaker.

One consistent thing in an otherwise inconsistent career is that I’ve always been passionate about parliament.

I said that if I hadn’t been a politician, I’d have liked to be a barrister, or an academic. My beloved wife said: ‘You’d be a very good barrister and a hopeless academic.’ I said ‘Why?’ She said: ‘Because you’re not an original thinker.’

It’s a cowardly form of politics to use my spouse to beat me.

Even youngish men can acquire wisdom as time goes by.

I’m not psychic. I cannot know what is in the mind of particular public figures.

I do strongly believe myself that members of the government who sit in the House of Lords should be accountable to the elected House because otherwise there is a democratic deficit, and that is wrong.

It is quite wrong for party conferences to be used as an excuse for the Commons not to sit. Conferences could be held at weekends.

Fairness is not about statistical equality.

I’ve never been much given to little social cliques.

I think the record shows that as Speaker, I have taken the lead in cleaning up politics.