John Bercow

[lindapalmara]

I've just read something quite astonishing. Apparently There is an arrangement that none of the main parties should out a candidate up against him because he is speaker. If this is true it is totally Undemocratic. I looked at the candidates and there is a UKIP candidate and a Green candidate and Bercow who will probably not be involved in his own campaign because he can't lose. What does this say for the People of Buckingham.

Yes, I know I will get a torrent of left wingers on this forum talking about the Tory Toffs in Buckingham but this "unwritten agreement" is so wrong. Did the same happen in Goerballs Micks constituancies?

[sandyRoe]

Yes. The speaker is usually unopposed at an election.

[Peter Pedant]

since at least the sixties

the then speaker at So'ton Itchen ( whoever he was ? Selwyn Lloyd ) was never opposed

probably for ever

[lindapalmara]

Wel I realise that but don't you think the people in the constituency are short changed? I think it's very Undemocratic.

[Peter Pedant]

.

but minorly undemocratic

the big question is whether someone like the prime minister can also look after the interests of his constituents...

I think Cameron has a flunkey to do that - so when you write to Cam as MP it is all done by a recent graduate of politics or sociology and not the Great Man himself....perhaps bercow does as well

[EDDIE51]

Details of the Speakers role here
http://www.parliament.uk/business/commons/the-speaker/the-role-of-the-speaker/role-of-the-speaker/
The Speaker will pass on constituency matters to other MPs , it has always been the case that other MPs no matter which party they belong to help out the Speaker by handling day to day consituency work on his/her behalf.
The Speaker has so much power in the house of commons that he/she will never be short of offers of help. In fact the Spaker's constituents are looked after better than most others.

[quizzywig]

Nasty little man - can't stand him or his publicity seeking wife!!!

[EDDIE51]

What would be undemocratic would be to have no Speaker!
The Speakers role is vital to ensure the rules of debate are followed and all sides get the chance to give their views.

[ToraToraTora]

yes it is a tradition and yes it is wrong.

[lindapalmara]

OMG this gets worse!

Eddie

//The Speaker will pass on constituency matters to other MPs , it has always been the case that other MPs no matter which party they belong to help out the Speaker by handling day to day consituency work on his/her behalf. //

So you are saying that the constancy will be run by MPs in other parties so that they can be Sycophants to Becow. The constituents lose out in every way then, not being able to chose at an election and having strangers, who just want to suck up to Becow, represent them

Surely if a Speaker loses his seat they can elect another one.

[jim360]

Since the role of the Speaker is to oversee the running of the House, by definition he can't really do his constituency job at all. So perhaps the solution is to have a Speaker who is not elected at all. I don't see how this can be argued to be democratic either; because then the choice as to who takes part in debates is made by someone who has no democratic accountability at all. I don't see how this can be argued to be an improvement. As to the unwritten rule of not standing against him -- since the Speaker has no political jobs it's not clear what the point of standing against him actually is. You can hardly campaign on policies, and the role has to be above politics anyway.

[Gromit]

Bercow faced 10 other candidates in his Buckinghamshire Constituency in 2010, but not a Labour or LibDem one.

At this election there is currently a UKIP and a Green candidate opposing him.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckingham_(UK_Parliament_constituency)

[Gromit]

The Speaker is selected by the elected MPs so his (or her) appointmentand is the will of Parliament. There is a process for MPs to remove him.

So we cannot have mere plebs going against the will of Parliament by electing someone else.

[lindapalmara]

Sorry but you have missed my point. I would like to know why the people of Buckingham are denied candidate from the other main parties. We know people with top jobs have to have help with their local constituency matters. I can't imagineCameron being able to attend a weekly constituency clinic, or any other minister for that matter.

I also didn't suggest that a speaker shoukd be I elected. There are other MPs quite capable of doing the job.

I am sorry that the recent botched attempt to change the voting rules so that the Speaker can make a note of the ones who were against him so that he/she can refuse to let them speak. The rules were changed by the Tories long ago to allow secret ballots for Unions to avoid victimisation.

[slaney]

This is something that has needed to be addressed for some time, as the voters in the Speaker's constituency - Buckingham (at the moment) are effectively disenfranchised.

There are a few ideas in here...

http://www.democraticaudit.com/?p=1288

This seems of the best..
"One option may be to transform the office of Speaker, so it is no longer carried out alongside the duties of a regular MP. In this scenario, Speakers would resign their parliamentary seat once selected for the post, but remain in Parliament with a special status. They could perhaps be given a token position such as MP for the Palace of Westminster, if the weight of parliamentary tradition proves too hard to cast off. The constituency would then elect a regular MP to replace the new Speaker."

[jim360]

With all of the millions of voters being disenfranchised anyway, the problem of Speaker seems somewhat less urgent to solve.

[Gromit]

He is not unopposed. His constituents can vote him out.

As I have already said, Parliament have bestowed the honour on him. Rival parties are part of the process, so they do dont stand against him.

They are not disenfranchised. If his constituents have any problems they are still dealth with.

[jno]

as PP points out, it's the same for those in the constituencies of at least senior cabinet members, who don't realistically have much time to attend to local pothole problems.

[Quizmonster]

The greatest thing Bercow has going for him is the fact that he annoys the Tories, one of which he was before getting the post! He remains in position despite what was called above "a botched attempt" (by the Tories) recently to undermine him. "Botched and shoddy", I would have said...par for the course.

[slaney]

John Bercow is not a bad constituency MP, and yes he does have an office to deal with problems, but I would be happier if I had an MP who had the ability to vote in the House of Commons.

I think the solution in my first post could be fairly easily implemented.

[bhg481]

Doesn't the speaker have the casting vote on the occasion of a tie? If so, he has a vote when it matters.