John Bercow

John Bercow

John Simon Bercow ( /ˈbɜrkoʊ/ BUR-koh; born 19 January 1963) is a British politician who has been the Speaker of the House of Commons since June 2009. Prior to his election to Speaker he was a member of the Conservative Party.

Bercow was born in Middlesex into a Jewish family and graduated from the University of Essex in 1985. In his youth, Bercow was active in the Conservative Party and was a member of several right-wing groups within the party. He served as a Councillor from 1986–1990 and unsuccessfully contested parliamentary seats in the 1987 and 1992 general elections. In the 1997 general election, Bercow was elected the MP for Buckingham and promoted to the shadow cabinet in 2001. He held posts in the Shadow Cabinets of Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard. In November 2002, he resigned from the Shadow Cabinet over disputes concerning the Adoption and Children Act but returned under Michael Howard in 2003. In September 2004, Bercow was sacked from the Shadow Cabinet after disagreements with leader Michael Howard.

Following the resignation of the Speaker, Michael Martin, Bercow announced his intention to stand for the Speakership election on 22 June 2009 and was successful. He was re-elected to this post on 18 May 2010 following unsuccessful challenges in the general election.