House of Commons speaker surprises U.K. Parliament by stepping down

(Image credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

last updated 9 September 2019

Parliament might soon get a bit more dis-orderly.

The United Kingdom's House of Commons Speaker John Bercow announced Monday he will step down from his post by Oct. 31, the current Brexit deadline, if no general election is called before then. In the unlikely scenario that there election before Oct. 31, Bercow will step down then. The "emotional" decision took members by surprise, Bloomberg reports.

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While he received a number of tributes following the announcement, Bercow's timing did garner some criticism. "Whatever people's view of him, we are in a very unstable situation and in desperate need of stability at the moment," former cabinet minister Rory Stewart said. "With an unwritten constitution the whole thing is so dependent on personality at the moment." Bloomberg reports the speaker's departure could be a blow for MPs working to stop a no-deal Brexit, as he was the authority who made time for them to take action.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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