Ex-Commons speaker John Bercow brands Tories an 'absurd clapped-out spectacle of a non-government'
8 December 2023, 18:18
The former speaker of the House of Commons and Tory MP John Bercow has labelled the Conservative party an "absurd clapped-out spectacle of a non-government".
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Speaking to Global's The News Agents, Bercow said he would like to see a Labour government following the next general election, saying the Tories have had "their time and more".
"I think it's a crying shame that we are probably going to experience and endure and suffer another 12 months of this absurd clapped-out spectacle of a non-government. And I think the sooner there is a change of government, the better," Bercow said.
He added that he thought it was tragic that the Tory party had "shifted to the right" as he reflected on his own political "shift to the left".
Bercow gained notoriety after becoming the Speaker of the House of Commons in 2009, a role he held for 10 years.
He announced in 2019 that he would not be standing as an MP in the upcoming general election and went on to join the Labour Party as a member.
He joined due to what he described as Boris Johnson's "populist, narcissistic" Tory party.
He was suspended in 2022, following a series of bullying allegations.
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Speaking to the News Agents about who he would like to see enter politics from public life, Bercow immediately said Andy Murray.
"I'd very much like to see Andy Murray in Parliament. I'm a huge tennis fan… But in Britain, I think one person who's not in politics now that I would be interested to see in politics is Andy Murray," he said.
"Now, I would very much hope that he would want to be a Labour Member of Parliament. My hunch is that he wants to be either Labour or SNP, I would urge him to be a Labour Member of Parliament.
"Why do I think he would be a good person to have in politics? Apart from anything else, he's principled, he's determined. And he has a quality that I think is critical to success in politics, which is resilience.
"Resilience, both physical and mental. And I think if he were interested, he would be a very substantial addition to the House of Commons. And I hope that he might entertain that possibility."
