John Bercow Quotes

I've never been much given to little social cliques.

- John Bercow

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.

- John Bercow

I'm supremely uninterested as to what is written in many of the newspapers.

- John Bercow

I'm not in the business of warning people.

- John Bercow

Possibly the fact that I was physically quite feeble, a relatively short little fellow, attracted me to that idea of a very authoritative and aggressive version of Conservative politics.

- John Bercow

There are people who are just very, very sniffy and snobby and have always sort of looked down their noses at me.

- John Bercow

I pride myself on being courteous to people, and trying to fashion good relations.

- John Bercow

A legislature cannot be effective while suffering from public scorn.

- John Bercow

I don't want to crawl over the entrails of past disputes.

- John Bercow

It is quite wrong for party conferences to be used as an excuse for the Commons not to sit. Conferences could be held at weekends.

- John Bercow

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.'

- John Bercow

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.

- John Bercow

Lying to a committee is a very grave abuse, and there ought to be a clear punishment.

- John Bercow

There's no point in worrying about things you can't influence.

- John Bercow

I'm not psychic. I cannot know what is in the mind of particular public figures.

- John Bercow

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.

- John Bercow

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.

- John Bercow

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.

- John Bercow

If someone is being very cheeky, it can be quite fun to deal with that situation.

- John Bercow

It's a cowardly form of politics to use my spouse to beat me.

- John Bercow

There is no denying or hiding the fact that over the years I moved from well on the right of the Conservative Party, much much more to its left, and therefore to the centre of the poltical spectrum.

- John Bercow

If you asked me if I'd rather be Speaker or a very senior minister, I'd say Speaker.

- John Bercow

The prime minister's job is to captain his team, his party and his government.

- John Bercow

Sally is my wife, but not my chattel or my property.

- John Bercow

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.

- John Bercow

For far too long the House of Commons has been run as little more than a private club by and for gentleman amateurs.

- John Bercow

Even youngish men can acquire wisdom as time goes by.

- John Bercow

The Conservatives must realise that being sceptical is different from being phobic in what is an interdependent world.

- John Bercow

When I first started out in politics I was, what you might describe as, a hard right Conservative.

- John Bercow

One consistent thing in an otherwise inconsistent career is that I've always been passionate about parliament.

- John Bercow

I think the record shows that as Speaker, I have taken the lead in cleaning up politics.

- John Bercow

Fairness is not about statistical equality.

- John Bercow