By-election in Buckingham? Bercow to be bounced?

John Bercow got the overwhelming support of the electors of Buckingham in last year's general election. They seemed satisfied with an MP who was a bit dodgy on expenses and a bit dodgy on political savvy. But then this a seat that elected the bouncing Czech Maxwell, the maverick George Walden and, in the late 1800's, Edmund Verney, who managed to get expelled from the House because he was jailed for more than a year. Verney procured the services of  girl under 21 years of age for immoral purposes. He should have waited for Harriet Harperson to come along!

Buckingham electors may need to be looking around for another MP. Not that they are clamouring to get rid of Bercow. They seem very satisfied with him. No, it's the MPs in the Commons who are desperate to be rid of their Speaker. They have been badgering the government for a vote and the government will not stand in their way now. If a vote does happen, it is more than likely that it will be curtains (or heavy drapes) for Bercow. The dechaired Speaker would not fit in well on the backbenches. Which set of backbenches? Where would he go? Would they give him a peerage or a steerage? He wouldn't last in the Commons. Far better to resign his seat and cause a by-election to occur.

Who would win in Buckingham? They've had a Labour MP who went Conservative later in a different constituency (Aidan Crawley) and a Conservative MP who had been Labour in a different constituency (Frank Markham). Another famous MP for Buckingham was John Radcliffe, the physician. He was royal physician to William and Mary. His predecessor in the job, Ralph Verney, was against William being king. The one thing Buckingham has not done is elect a shrinking violet.

John Bercow's days may be numbered but with how many numbers?

Tories whispering against Speaker says Mrs Bercow

Sally Bercow knows all there is to know about a whispering campaign. Twitter does her whispering quite well. I don't think Conservative MPs need to worry. Most don't bother with whispering. Muttering might be on the agenda. Some even say it out loud. "You're not f*****g royalty!"

Here's Squeaker Bercow conducting a whispering campaign against the Conservative chief whip!

Flippin' 'eck, it's Bercow!

Yes, John Bercow has come through to be the voice of the Commons, the Speaker, the choice of the "reformers". This must be the first election for Speaker where the candidates were utterly eager to do the job. No more so than in Bercow's case. It is said that the bulk of the Conservative benches can't stand him. If Nadine Dorries is anything to go by, then that is true. He has a lot going against him. First, he isn't very tall. Tories are rather suspicious of diminutive men. Second, he has changed his views from Monday Club stalwart to New Labour admirer (it is alleged!). But one thing that Tories detect and fear most is political greasing. They don't mind a bit of honest armtwisting. They tolerate outright dissent on occasions. However, sucking up to gain advancement is very much frowned upon. Bercow has been accused of this.

He has also been accused of flipping his homes. I doubt though that the papers accusing him of this will have much of it stick. He appears above all this now. However, come the general election things may be a bit different. He may have a whopping majority in Buckingham, but that was Tory voters then. Would they be so keen to vote for a flipping independent next time? It could be interesting.

Buckingham has enjoyed a mixed bag of MPs. They had the delights of Robert Maxwell. John Radcliffe, who has the famous Oxford hospital named after him, was elected for Buckingham in 1713, but died the next year. Given than John Bercow will be standing for election under the banner of "The Speaker" and that both Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates will stand aside, it is open to others to mount a challenge. Horace King found he had a challenge in 1970 from the then little known National Democratic Party.

Opportunity arises for anti-sleaze candidates. Also, those out to peel away the Conservative vote, such as UKIP. It could be an interesting election. John Bercow may well need to don his reformer's habit in case the electors of Buckingham get the habit of reforming their constituency representation.