Words matter. These are the best John Bercow Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
Lying to a committee is a very grave abuse, and there ought to be a clear punishment.
I think the record shows that as Speaker, I have taken the lead in cleaning up politics.
I’ve never been much given to little social cliques.
For far too long the House of Commons has been run as little more than a private club by and for gentleman amateurs.
I do strongly believe myself that members of the government who sit in the House of Lords should be accountable to the elected House because otherwise there is a democratic deficit, and that is wrong.
I think the state opening of Parliament is an incredibly important occasion, and broadly speaking, the way in which it’s done is an invaluable tradition.
I said that if I hadn’t been a politician, I’d have liked to be a barrister, or an academic. My beloved wife said: ‘You’d be a very good barrister and a hopeless academic.’ I said ‘Why?’ She said: ‘Because you’re not an original thinker.’
If someone is being very cheeky, it can be quite fun to deal with that situation.
I’m not in the business of warning people.
A legislature cannot be effective while suffering from public scorn.
The prime minister’s job is to captain his team, his party and his government.
I don’t think that people are disinterested or uninterested in politics. I think very often they are disengaged from the formal political process. To some extent they are suspicious or even despairing of formal politics as a means to give expression and effect to what they want.
Fairness is not about statistical equality.
I never aspired to be Speaker simply so I could say, ‘I am the Speaker of the House of Commons,’ and tell my children that.
Even youngish men can acquire wisdom as time goes by.
I’m supremely uninterested as to what is written in many of the newspapers.
When I first started out in politics I was, what you might describe as, a hard right Conservative.
The Conservatives must realise that being sceptical is different from being phobic in what is an interdependent world.
I was proud to be a Tory Member of Parliament for twelve years, proud to represent Buckingham as a Tory, proud to have voted with my party 99% of the time as the record shows.
One consistent thing in an otherwise inconsistent career is that I’ve always been passionate about parliament.
If you asked me if I’d rather be Speaker or a very senior minister, I’d say Speaker.
I am seeking every day to restore faith in Parliament – to ensure we have a House of Commons which is representative, effective and reconnected to the people we serve.
