What happens when you get a get a little man with a big ego and an outspoken metropolitan feminist together in one room? You get Absolute Power – a new podcast in which former Speaker turned Labour comrade, John Bercow, and The Guilty Feminist, Deborah Frances-White, discuss how British democracy works.
The title of this show couldn’t be more fitting. Parliament, under Bercow, consistently went against the democratic wishes of Brexit, using discretion to favour every legislative means to hinder the Government.
Absolute Power aims to “provide a clear guide” of the British political framework. Listening to the three-minute trailer and promotional material, it doesn’t feel that way.
Rather, Bercow uses his platform to carp at former Conservative colleagues. When asked what matters to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, he said the “acquisition and retention of power… on the face of the earth”.
He also takes a dig at former Conservative leader William Hague: “It was a very sad last day for William Hague in the House of Commons: he was standing down at the general election and subsequently went to the House of Lords. It was, frankly, a pitiful way for him to conclude his parliamentary career.”
Absolute Power appears to be Bercow’s coping mechanism to being the first speaker for more than 200 years to be denied a peerage.
