Bercow vows to BLOCK Johnson’s Brexit plan – ‘I will fight with every bone in my body!’

The suspension of Parliament was originally suggested by now Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in the Tory leadership contest. Speaking in Edinburgh’s New Town, Mr Bercow insisted he would not allow such an action to be taken. The Daily Telegraph reported he told the 200-strong audience: “The one thing I feel strongly about is that the House of Commons must have its way.

“And if there is an attempt to circumvent, to bypass or – God forbid! – to close down Parliament; that is anathema to me and I will fight it with every bone in my body to stop that happening.

“We cannot have a situation in which Parliament is shut down – we are a democratic society. And Parliament will be heard and nobody is going to get away as far as I am concerned with stopping that happening.”

Mr Bercow suggested he would be prepared to break parliamentary tradition: “I do respect tradition, and I do respect precedent, but it is important to have a degree of political and intellectual flexibility when thinking about these matters.

“We cannot be exclusively guided by tradition in the sense of what has happened before or nothing would ever change.”

Mr Bercow has been Speaker since June 2009, making him the longest serving MP to hold the position since Edward FitzRoy, who held the role from June 1928 until March 1943.

The incumbent said his time in the position could continue for a while longer .

When asked about speculation of it he may stand down, Mr Bercow said: “Not just yet. I have no plans to retire at the moment.”

According to Oddschecker, the favourite for next Speaker is current Deputy Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

Sir Lindsay is followed by Harriet Harman, Chris Bryant and Eleanor Laing in the MPs with the best odds.

Candidates for Speaker must be nominated by 12 MPs, three of whom from a different party, with the Commons voting on a the list.

If no candidate secures an absolute majority, the candidate that is the lowest ranking and any that receive less than 5 percent are eliminated until one candidate remains.

The House will then vote on whether or not to formally appoint the remaining candidate.

Mr Bercow beat fellow Tories Sir George Young, Sir Alan Haselhurt, Ann Widdecombe, Richard Shepherd, Patrick Cormack and Sir Michael Lord plus Labour’s Margaret Beckett and Parmjit Dhanda plus Liberal Democrat Sir Alan Beith.

The election was called after the resignation of Michael Martin due to his role in the expenses scandal.

The Speaker is expected to remain neutral and renounces party political ties, usually sitting as a crossbencher if elevated to the Lords.