In times of turmoil we look to heroes. For many people distraught at Britain’s departure from the European Union, that hero became John Bercow.
In 2019 a series of unusual interventions by the Speaker allowed Tory Remainer rebels to seize control of Commons business in last-ditch attempts to slow our inexorable path towards Brexit. No wonder some people loved him.
Yet heroes have feet of clay, and even then allegations about Bercow’s persistent bullying of staff had been reported by BBC Newsnight. Bercow’s fans ignored them.
The authors of a recent political science book, Poles Apart, identify a phenomenon called “affective polarisation”.
In short, you’re less likely to believe serious accusations against someone if they are a member of your own political tribe – you’re more likely to believe the worst of opponents.
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The levels of denial expressed by ultra-Remainers in the face of the Bercow accusations have exemplified this phenomenon.
Dame Margaret Beckett won notoriety after the Newsnight exposé for suggesting that Bercow’s Remain loyalties were reason to keep him as Speaker nonetheless. But Beckett wore her cynicism openly.
Other “progressives” seem unable to believe the accusations at all. They have called the complainants liars and alleged conspiracy.
Yet now an independent panel of professional investigators, laying out its evidence in 89 wince-inducing pages, has concluded “that Bercow’s conduct was so serious that, had he still been a Member of Parliament, we would have determined that he should be expelled by resolution of the House”.
Some of Bercow’s defenders claim to be feminists. This matters. Two of the three complaints named in the report are men; from outside, Bercow’s bullying may not seem a gendered issue.
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But female staff understand that senior male colleagues eventually lodged their own complaints against Bercow after recognising they were more likely to be believed.
The determined group of people who have organised against bullying and harassment of Commons staff are all female junior staff, largely anonymous and unrecognised. Feminists should recognise this pattern.
A series of reports have detailed a widespread culture of sexual harassment in parliament, predominantly experienced by women. Bercow sat at the top of this system.
He is not accused of sexual harassment; however, his own vulnerability to bullying complaints made him no friend to reform of parliament’s grievance systems.
A 2018 report by Dame Laura Cox was not given scope to name Bercow but wrote “leadership and culture are inextricably linked . . . Unless those in the most senior leadership roles acknowledge and understand a culture’s power and dynamics, and do what is necessary to change it, [reforms] are usually doomed.”
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The same year, Bercow blocked Newsnight from investigating his ally, Keith Vaz: Vaz was later found by another independent panel to have bullied his clerk, Jenny McCullough, by likening her to a prostitute and belittling her for being childless.
Deborah Frances-White is one of Britain’s biggest podcasters, thanks to The Guilty Feminist, which she created with the Danish comedian Sofie Hagen.
The show’s winning mixture of comedy and emotional punch draws from poking fun at the difficulties of living a truly feminist life. It has been downloaded 95 million times.
In December Frances-White launched a new podcast with a co-host: John Bercow. Absolute Power is billed as a lesson in which Bercow teaches Frances-White “who can operate the levers of power and how she can use that knowledge to be a force for good”.
Frances-White has passionately defended her co-star – December’s series featured a bonus episode in which Bercow gave “his side”, attacking complainants. It was a pre-emptive strike before the report’s release: Bercow’s victims were unable to respond because they were bound not to speak publicly at this point.
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Last week Frances-White popped up again to defend Bercow on Twitter. Her language reads as a textbook example of affective polarisation. To her, this is all about Brexit. The report “feels like Johnson’s revenge . . . because of Bercow holding up Brexit” and “corruption from this government’”
Those tempted to repeat her might want to be careful about what they say about the independence of the highly-regarded professional experts who adjudicated this case.
Frances-White repeats a classic Bercow line about the people affected by his behaviour. “As far as I know, it’s only three people who were senior.” Yet this simply isn’t true. As female staff affected have told her directly.
Of course, Britain’s most famous ‘Guilty Feminist’ isn’t the only person unable to separate her adoration of Bercow’s anti-Brexit politics from his reputation for bullying. But reforming parliament’s culture of abuse is a feminist issue.
Men like Bercow and Vaz have covered for each other for years. We don’t need women to do it for them.
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Kate Maltby is senior research associate at Cambridge University, chairwoman of the UK Critics’ Circle (Drama), and deputy chairwoman of Index on Censorship