John Bercow
Main Page: John Bercow (Speaker - Buckingham)Department Debates - View all John Bercow's debates with the Cabinet Office
(9 years, 7 months ago)
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John Bercow (Buckingham) (Ind)
Thank you, Sir Gerald —and warmest congratulations on your new role as Father of the House. Next month will mark 45 years of your service in this place, and to your constituents. Some of us will record barely half that tenure.
It has been an honour to serve as Speaker for nearly six years, and I should be honoured to do so for a little longer if colleagues kindly agree. I shall strive to ensure that the House remains at the heart of our democratic system. All its Members, newcomers and veterans alike, should be part of the cast, not merely an audience.
If there are five words that I should like to be carved on my political tombstone—assuming that such items are not now for ever unfashionable—they are: “He was the Back-Benchers’ champion.” On that basis, I submit myself to the House.