Tory MPs are demanding that the party breaks with convention by fielding a candidate against Commons Speaker John Bercow in his Buckingham constituency because of his “blatant bias” against Brexit
Mr Bercow has been unchallenged by the major parties in his Parliamentary seat since becoming Speaker in 2009.
But amid Tory anger over his description of the proroguing of Parliament as “a constitutional outrage”, Monmouth MP David Davies has called on Conservative Party chairman James Cleverley to get the local association in Buckingham to field a candidate in the event of a snap election.
“The reality is now that the gloves are off. Remain-supporting MPs – including Mr Bercow – are using every trick in the book and tearing up all precedence to try to prevent the democratic voice of the public from being heard on Brexit,” Mr Davies said. “We have to fight this battle in the same way.”
Writing in The Mail on Sunday, Natascha Engel, a former deputy speaker, claimed Mr Bercow was “in open opposition to the people who voted to leave”.
Asked by the paper whether the Speaker intended to fight the next election, a spokesman said Mr Bercow would tell the Commons if “he has anything to say on his future plans”.
Addressing a conference last year, Mr Bercow said his late father had implored him never to hide his Jewish background, and to be proud of being Jewish, even if he did not embrace religious practice as an adult.
