Rumour has it that Tory MPs have had something of a Damascene conversion. After years and years of complaining about John Bercow as Speaker of the House of Commons, many are now missing him. A little bit anyway.
Have these MPs consumed too many Sauvignon Blancs at one of this week’s many summer parties? Or perhaps sunstroke is to blame?
What we hear is that MPs are annoyed that the “traditional Labour man” within Lindsay Hoyle is far too evident. Hoyle’s over-zealous adherence to Covid regulations has led many Tory MPs to angrily describe him as a doormat for union demands.
It is undeniable that a still near-empty chamber and the difficulty of face-to-face communication between MPs is diminishing democracy. As much as they hated his rule-bending on Brexit there is grudging acknowledgement that Bercow always fought hard for backbenchers against the executive. They reckon he would have been more innovative in finding ways of scrutinising ministers as the Covid hiatus persisted.
“Bring back Bercow” isn’t a cry we expected to hear so soon, if at all. But against all the odds, it looks like the ex-Speaker’s nemeses will look back on the halcyon days of Bercow, with his loud ties, meandering putdowns and the distinctive zing he gave to the Speaker’s catchphrase of “Ordahhhhhhh”, with a smile, and a tear in the eye.
