John Bercow learns to take the banter

During his time as House of Commons speaker, John Bercow earned a reputation as a cantankerous man. As well as annoying Brexiteers with his flexible attitude to parliamentary procedure, he often appeared pompous and irate in the chamber and was latterly accused of bullying.

Guido Fawkes was a leading critic of Bercow, publishing numerous unflattering stories. The rightwing blog must therefore be miffed that its attempt to embarrass the former speaker by flagging his services on Cameo has backfired.

Bercow has become the latest British politico to charge fans for shout-outs alongside real celebrities. For £82.50 the ex-speaker will record a personal message, with one reviewer intriguingly describing the service as “absolutely wholesome”.

On receiving a request from what he calls “order-order.com”, Bercow suspected that the message might go beyond the Guido team. Noting that he has “never favourably” appeared in stories on the site, the ex-speaker nonetheless hoped the video will provide some “merriment”.

Guido has posted the video, but the blog had probably not intended to make Bercow look like such a good sport. I had previously considered pulling a similar stunt to annoy my remoaner co-host Jazza, but bunging £75 at Nigel Farage was a bit steep for me.

Jimmy Nicholls
Writes somewhat about British politics and associated matters. Contact jimmy@rightdishonourable.com