John Bercow shamed as rap sheet of temper tantrums exposed: From calling staff 'f***ing stupid' to throwing phones at them

John Bercow shamed as rap sheet of temper tantrums exposed: From calling staff 'f***ing stupid' to throwing phones at them
08 Bercow Bully
GB News Reporter

By GB News Reporter


Published: 08/03/2022

- 14:51

Mr Bercow has been administratively suspended from the Labour Party

John Bercow has been banned from Parliament for life and administratively suspended from the Labour Party after an inquiry found him guilty of being a "serial bully".

21 complaints reviewed by the Independent Expert Panel (IEP) have now been revealed that detail what each member of staff suffered during Mr Bercow’s decade-long tenure in the speaker’s chair.


The rap sheet – made public after today's guilty verdict – exposes his violent outburst towards staff including cases of verbal abuse and even an incident where he threw a mobile phone so that it shattered over a secretary.

In one case it was reported he called a colleague "f***ing stupid".

The complaints were submitted by three Commons officials: Kate Emms who was appointed Speaker’s secretary in June 2010, Lord Lisvane who sits in the House of Lords as a crossbencher and Angus Sinclair who is a former member of House staff.

Kate Emms made seven allegations of bullying and harassment in her time as Speaker's secretary.

The Commissioner found that then Conservative MP Mr Bercow “shouted at and mimicked Ms Emms, created ‘an intimidating and hostile environment’, and was responsible for ‘intimidating, insulting behaviour involving an abuse of power’ towards her”.

Ms Emms said she suffered “stress, anxiety and loss of confidence” as a result of the “intense period of bullying inflicted”.

Ms Emms, who still works in Parliament, described the “final straw” as being Mr Bercow’s “unspeakably self-serving account in his memoirs”, for which the Commons rebuked him, and sparked her into using the formal complaints process.

Lord Lisvane, who joined the House of Commons Service in 1972 and served as Clerk of the House from 2011 to 2014, made 18 allegations of bullying and/or harassment against the former Speaker.

While working with Mr Bercow, he kept a diary on his computer that documented the incidents.

The standards tsar found that Mr Bercow had “subjected Lord Lisvane to ‘a sustained course of conduct that involved repeated unfounded criticism of the complainant … both publicly and privately … often made at length and at volume and included derogatory inferences about (his) upbringing and background'".

Angus Sinclair, who also served as Speaker’s secretary under Mr Bercow, also made seven allegations of bullying.

He similarly “adopted the practice of keeping contemporaneous notes” using five large notebooks.

One of the complaints centred on Mr Sinclair alleging that Mr Bercow called him “f***ing stupid” and used other foul language to express his dissatisfaction with the handling of a press inquiry in June 2009.

Ms Stone found that Mr Bercow “displayed ‘intimidatory’ and ‘undermining behaviour’, and ‘threatening conduct’ towards Mr Sinclair, including verbal abuse, displays of anger, and seeking to humiliate him in front of others”.

Mr Bercow said the investigation by Miss Stone was a “travesty of justice” and described it as “amateurish”.

In a statement, he said: “Parliament is supposed to be the highest court in the land. This inquiry, which lasted a ghastly 22 months at great cost to the taxpayer, has failed it dismally.

“At the end of it, the panel has simply said that I should be denied a parliamentary pass which I have never applied for and do not want. That is the absurdity of its position."

He went on to say the case made against him "would have been thrown out by any court in the land" as it's based on the "flimsiest of evidence, rooted in hearsay and baseless rumour, and advanced by old school dogmatists".

He continued: "Add to that a dash of personal spite and you have some idea of the vengeful vendetta mounted against me.

“It is a travesty of justice and brings shame on the House of Commons."

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