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Brown backs Tory 'turncoat' as new speaker
John Bercow - a former right-winger who once called for immigrants to be repatriated - emerges as front-runner.
- By Simon Walters and Glen Owen, Daily Mail
- Published: 23:46 May 24, 2009
London: Gordon Brown is plotting to help a Tory MP succeed Michael Martin as Commons Speaker in an attempt to sabotage a future Conservative government.
The prime minister's decision to back John Bercow - who once campaigned to send immigrants back to their own country - has angered some left-wingers who claim that his political background means he is not suitable for such a powerful post.
Labour sources told The Mail on Sunday that Brown believes Bercow would be a good Speaker - and, crucially, would cause major problems for Cameron if he wins the next election.
Cameron snubbed Bercow when he became Tory leader. Brown then recruited him as a government adviser in a move seen as a bid to lure him to defect to Labour.
As the ex-leader of a right-wing student group, Bercow was once challenged by Labour to disown members of the organisation who brandished "hang Nelson Mandela" slogans.
In a remarkable political role-reversal, Cameron is determined to stop Bercow being Speaker because of his new Labour links.
During Cameron's leadership campaign in 2005, Bercow launched an outspoken attack on his credentials, saying "Eton, hunting, shooting and lunch at Whites" made Cameron the wrong man for the job.
One Tory source said last night: "John has become something of a hate figure for many on his own side."
Bercow emerged as the Labour-backed frontrunner in the race to be Speaker as Ann Widdecombe effectively threw her own hat in the ring, vowing to rid the Commons of "thieves, liars and fiddlers".
Tory MPs moved to support Brown's Labour foe, maverick ex-minister Frank Field, and Martin's cronies called for his former deputy, Labour MP Sylvia Heal, sister of the party's 'expenses queen' Ann Keen, to be Speaker.
Bercow, the 46-year-old son of a minicab driver, was a precocious young Conservative when he called for a halt to Commonwealth immigration. Aged 19, he became secretary of the 'immigration and repatriation committee' of the infamous rightwing Monday Club.
Bercow became chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students (FCS), which was accused of brandishing 'hang Nelson Mandela' slogans. Bercow was in charge of the FCS when it was shut down by party chairman Norman Tebbit.
When Bercow stood for Parliament in 1996, Labour MP Brian Wilson challenged him to apologise for FCS members who had heaped abuse on Mandela. In a carefully written letter, Bercow said: "I defy Wilson to produce any statement abusive of Mandela made or approved by me at any time. He will not do so, for none exists."
He became Tory candidate for Buckingham after arriving at the selection contest with seconds to spare in a helicopter, saying the ride was "the best £1,000 I've ever spent".
Bercow started shedding his right-wing views at about the same time that he met Sally Illman, whom he married in 2002 when he was 39.
A Labour supporter, who towers above her husband in height, she is credited with turning Bercow into a social liberal in favour of issues such as gay adoption. Tory MPs like to joke: "The trouble with John is that he discovered sex and the Labour Party at the same time."
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