Bercow speaks up for backbenchers

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ePolitix.com reviews Speaker John Bercow's speech on reforming the House of Commons.

John Bercow is man with a plan; a Speaker who wants to speak. An umpire concerned with not only the state of play but also the condition of the pitch – that last one was his own.

The latest stop on his tour of duty – a cross-country hike which is taking in the parliamentary buildings of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – was the Attlee Suite in Portcullis House for a Hansard Society gathering on parliamentary reform.

Given that he gave his speech during recess and in the midst of the life-sapping conference season, Bercow was playing to an impressively packed room: for a while Lib Dem MP Evan Harris was reduced to sitting cross-legged on the floor like an attentive child listening to teacher - he seized upon a table space at the earliest moment.

Also looking on, very much from the comfort of a chair, was the austere figure of Sir George Young, the runner-up to Bercow in the race for the speakership and a man who has perfected an expression of interested serenity.

As a speaker who wants to make his voice heard, Bercow faces the balancing act of rearranging Parliament's mangy feathers without ruffling them while doing so. Though he is, as he pointed out, the first Speaker to be elected after a formal campaign - and therefore has the mandate to act - some MPs, mostly on the Tory benches, took umbrage to that very formal campaign. Not to matter: Bercow has clearly decided to dispense with reverse gear as he makes himself felt as Speaker.

He is not a man lacking in self-confidence: Two of his more eye-catching proposals will have teeth grinding in fury in some quarters the parliamentary estate.

The summer recess could be shorter, Bercow announced, declaring that there was no reason why September needs to be sacred. He then argued that ministers serving from the House of Lords should be more accountable to backbench MPs, perhaps through Westminster Hall. "I suspect that they would be more than willing to be made available," Bercow announced. Somewhere in the heart of his Empire – the biggest since that of Alexander the Great in Bercow's opinion – the "esteemed" Lord Mandleson is unlikely to have applauded.

Bercow wants the backbench MP to take centre stage in the House of Commons, and create a set of conditions that allow for "more assertive and individualistic" backbenchers. "To enjoy respect you have to show self-respect," he announced.

Ambitious stuff. Maverick MPs are few and far between: Career opportunities and footholds on the ladder of promotion don't sit naturally with assertiveness and individualism. Bercow's plans amount more to a re-wiring of the typical MP brain than a rejigging of Commons procedure. "The House of Commons has to change if it is to renew itself against the over-powerful executive," he insisted, declaring that the centenary of the 1911 Parliament Act – which saw the Liberal prime minister Hebert Asquith strip powers from the upper House after they had blocked the 1909 Budget of his chancellor Lloyd George – should be the target for change to be in place.

In proposing 10 aspects that could make up a 'backbench bill of rights', Bercow stepped into territory normally viewed with trepidation by the Speaker. It was, he said, a "relatively bold departure", but by speaking out Bercow will find himself questioned on subjects that he cannot engage in – one persistent questioner wanted Bercow's views on an English Parliament but Mr Speaker sidestepped the issue with care.

With the Wright Commission, the Legg review, the work of Sir Christopher Kelly, and the Speaker's Conference all ongoing, Parliament is in review-overload. John Bercow has joined the debate. He'll make some enemies in doing so. He may also pave the way for a Parliament that thinks in a very different way.