John Bercow

**John Simon Bercow** (surname pronounce _BER-COE_; born 19 January 1963) is a former British politician who was the 157th Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 2009 until 2019. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Buckingham from 1997 to 2019.

## 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".

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **honorific-prefix**: The Right Honourable
- **name**: John Bercow
- **image**: John Bercow.JPG
- **imagesize**: 200px
- **caption**: Bercow in 2009
- **office**: 157th Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
- **monarch**: Elizabeth II
- **term start**: 22 June 2009
- **term end**: 4 November 2019
- **predecessor**: Michael Martin, Baron Martin of Springburn, Michael Martin
- **successor**: Lindsay Hoyle
- **office1**: Shadow Secretary of State for International Development
- **leader1**: Michael Howard
- **term start1**: 10 November 2003
- **term end1**: 8 September 2004
- **predecessor1**: Caroline Spelman
- **successor1**: Alan Duncan
- **office2**: Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
- **leader2**: Iain Duncan Smith
- **term start2**: 18 September 2001
- **term end2**: 23 July 2002
- **predecessor2**: Oliver Letwin
- **successor2**: Howard Flight
- **office3**: Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament
for Buckingham (UK Parliament constituency), Buckingham
- **term start3**: 1997 United Kingdom general election, 1 May 1997
- **term end3**: 4 November 2019
- **predecessor3**: George Walden
- **successor3**: Greg Smith (British politician), Greg Smith
- **office4**: Chancellor of the University of Essex
- **1namedata4**: Anthony Forster (political scientist), Anthony Forster
- **term start4**: 22 July 2017
- **predecessor4**: Shami Chakrabarti
- **office5**: Chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire
- **1namedata5**: Bill Rammell
- **term start5**: 25 July 2014
- **predecessor5**: Rosalind Howells, Baroness Howells of St Davids, The Baroness Howells of St Davids
- **office6**: Member of Lambeth London Borough Council for St Leonard's (ward), St Leonard's ward
- **term start6**: 1986
- **term end6**: 1990
- **birth name**: John Simon Bercow
- **birth place**: Edgware, Middlesex, England
- **party**: Labour Party (UK), Labour (2021–present)
- **children**: 3
- **alma mater**: University of Essex (Bachelor of Arts, BA)