John Bercow

John Simon Bercow (surname pronounce BER-COE; born 19 January 1963) is a British politician who was the Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 2009 through 2019. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Buckingham.

The Right Honourable John Bercow
Bercow in 2018
Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
In office 22 June 2009 – 4 November 2019
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Deputy	Alan Haselhurst Lindsay Hoyle
Preceded by	Michael Martin
Succeeded by	Lindsay Hoyle
Shadow Secretary of State for International Development
In office 10 November 2003 – 8 September 2004
Leader	Michael Howard
Preceded by	Caroline Spelman
Succeeded by	Alan Duncan
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In office 18 September 2001 – 23 July 2002
Leader	Iain Duncan Smith
Preceded by	Oliver Letwin
Succeeded by	Howard Flight
Member of Parliament for Buckingham
In office 1 May 1997 – 4 November 2019
Preceded by	George Walden
Succeeded by	Greg Smith
Chancellor of the University of Essex
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 July 2017
Vice Chancellor	Anthony Forster
Preceded by	Shami Chakrabarti
Chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 July 2014
Vice Chancellor	Bill Rammell
Preceded by	The Baroness Howells of St Davids
Member of Lambeth London Borough Council for St Leonard's ward
In office 1986–1990
Personal details
Born	John Simon Bercow (1963-01-19) 19 January 1963 Edgware, Middlesex, England
Political party	Labour (2021–present)
Other political affiliations	Non-affiliated (2009–2021, As Speaker) Conservative (1980–2009)
Spouse(s)	Sally Illman (m. 2002)
Children	3
Alma mater	University of Essex (BA)
Website	Official website

Biography

John Bercow was active in the Conservative Party from a young age and was a Conservative councillor, for Lambeth, from 1986 to 1990. He stood as a candidate to become an MP at the 1987 and 1992 General Elections but was not successful. At the 1997 General Election, Bercow was elected the Conservative MP for Buckingham. He served in the shadow cabinets of Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard. After the Speaker Michael Martin resigned on 22 June 2009, Bercow was elected as the Speaker.

Bercow is the first Jewish Speaker. He is the first Speaker not to wear traditional court robes while presiding over the House of Commons. But, along with tradition, Bercow does now display his coat of arms at Speaker's House.

On 9 September 2019, Bercow told the House of Commons that he would stand down on 31 October, or at the next general election, whichever occurs first. He officially left the office on 4 November 2019.

In 2021, Bercow became a member of the Labour Party, saying that Boris Johnson's leadership was making his old party "reactionary, populist, nationalistic and sometimes even xenophobic".