MPs gloat as Speaker Bercow loses power struggle

Committee tears up John Bercow's plans for hiring Clerk - and there’s a move afoot to get rid of him

The Mole

The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, has lost his power struggle with MPs over his bid to appoint an Australian as Clerk of the Parliament. But is this more than a blow to his ambitions – is it the first step in a campaign to oust him?

Bercow outraged his critics when he chose Carol Mills, an official of the Australian senate, as the first outsider to fill the 640-year-old post of Clerk, responsible for giving legal advice to the Speaker as well as running the Commons end of the Palace of Westminster. Bercow’s critics said she did not have the requisite expertise.

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is the pseudonym for a London-based political consultant who writes exclusively for The Week.co.uk.