The man at the centre of more than three years of fiery Brexit debates in parliament, House of Commons Speaker John Bercow has been a controversial figure - much criticised by supporters of Brexit and praised by its opponents.
Mr Bercow, 56, is best known for presiding over debates, bellowing "Order! Order!" at unruly MPs and admonishing lawmakers who displease him.
But ever since the 2016 EU membership referendum, he has been particularly influential in defending the right of parliament to have its say on the tortuous Brexit process.
House of Commons Speaker John Bercow has announced he will step down. He's spent more than a decade in the job. Source: House of Commons
He branded Prime Minister Boris Johnson's suspension of parliament, which runs from the end of Monday's debates until 14 October, as a "constitutional outrage" designed to "stop parliament debating Brexit".
Last week he allowed MPs to hold a vote on taking over the parliamentary agenda in order to pass a law aimed at preventing a no-deal Brexit.
Earlier this year, Mr Bercow also caused an uproar when he blocked the government from holding another vote on the draft divorce deal that had already been rejected by MPs.
'No longer neutral'
Mr Bercow was first elected as an MP for the centre-right Conservative Party and was elevated to the role of speaker in 2009 – a position that is traditionally supposed to be politically neutral in Commonwealth politics.
However, his interventions in Brexit debates have prompted accusations from his former colleagues that he is biased both against the Conservative government and Brexit itself.
Adding to those accusations, he enjoys the broad support of opposition Labour MPs and exchanges between the speaker and government MPs have become increasingly bad-tempered, with tension reaching a boiling point in January.
The speaker has been criticised for becoming increasingly political about Brexit. Political artist Kaya Mar holds his painting of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Queen Elizabeth II and Mr Bercow. Source: AP
In open defiance of precedent – and reportedly, the advice of his clerks – Mr Bercow allowed MPs to amend a government motion on Brexit, forcing then-Prime Minister Theresa May to return to the Commons quickly to explain herself.
Mr Bercow's decision sparked an angry row in the chamber, as Conservative MPs and ministers stood up to denounce him to his face.
"Many of us will now have an unshakeable conviction that the referee of our affairs... is no longer neutral," one said.
Tellingly, the speaker was spotted driving a car which displayed a bumper sticker “Bollocks to Brexit".
When questioned, Mr Bercow replied tersely that it belonged to his wife and "she is entitled to her views".
Asked about whether he had ignored the advice of his aides, he said: "If we were guided only by precedent, manifestly nothing in our procedures would ever change”.
John Bercow addresses the house during a recent Brexit debate. Source: AAP
The speaker has also been accused of presiding over a culture of bullying in the House of Commons – once reportedly referring to a senior female government minister as "stupid".
'Sanctimonious dwarf'
Born in 1963 into a modest family, Mr Bercow grew up in London and was a child tennis champion and at one point was ranked Britain’s number one junior player.
That on-court success led to a lifelong love of the sport, notably of Roger Federer, and would eventually lead him to write a book on tennis, profiling the Swiss great.
Later, as an MP, he became a member of the Commons tennis team and famously formed a formidable doubles partnership with David Cameron, who went on to become prime minister. He remains a regular fixture in the Royal Box at Wimbledon.
He graduated from the University of Essex in 1985, and it was at university that he became politically active – and initially, staunchly conservative.
The speaker remains a lifelong tennis fan and is regularly seen at Wimbledon. Source: Getty Images
According to the UK’s Daily Telegraph, the future speaker was a “great admirer” of the far-right WWII hero turned politician Enoch Powell, who remains infamous for his 1968 anti-migration “Rivers of Blood” speech.
“He (Mr Bercow) was a great admirer of Enoch Powell. He used to read Powell's speeches and regurgitate them word for word because he has this amazing memory. I always thought at the time that he sounded a bit like Enoch Powell, as if he modelled his voice on him when he made speeches,” a fellow Essex graduate told the Telegraph in 2009.
Those hard-right views saw Mr Bercow join the Conservative Monday Club and he stood for election as the club’s national executive, with a program calling for "assisted repatriation" of immigrants and “an end to New Commonwealth and Pakistan immigration, a properly financed system of voluntary repatriation, the repeal of the Race Relations Act and the abolition of the Commission for Racial Equality".
"Essex was a very left-wing university at the time and he was pretty much universally despised," one contemporary told the Telegraph.
"He was always attacking left-wingers, gays and feminists. After one speech he made at the student union one of the feminists walked up to him and poured a pint of beer over his head."
Mr Bercow has increasingly been seen as no longer neutral when it comes to Brexit, despite the role of speaker being the traditional, neutral, arbiter of the ho Source: AP
However, Mr Bercow left the Monday Club in 1982, saying he found its views "unpalatable” and has since called his membership “utter madness” and “boneheaded”.
He later worked in banking and as a lobbyist before making the move back to politics – elected as MP for Buckingham in 1997 and elected as speakers 12 years later, becoming the youngest person to hold the role for 100 years.
His political career has seen him gradually move from the Conservative party’s right to the centre – something many MPs attribute to his 2003 marriage to Labour-supporting Sally Illman.
A young John Bercow as a newly elected Conservative Party MP for Buckingham in 1997. Source: ARDEA
While Ms Illman supported her husband on the campaign trail, she also unsuccessfully stood as a Labour candidate in local council elections and has repeatedly flagged an interest in running for the House of Commons as a Labour candidate.
In 2009, amid media accusations she had politicising her husband’s neutral role as speaker, Mr Bercow stated: "the obligation of impartiality does not apply to my wife who is not my chattel”.
Prior to his election as speaker, former partner Louise Acton said she believed Mr Bercow had just grown up.
"He is someone who always wears his heart on his sleeve and says exactly what he thinks. People don't always want to hear the unembellished truth,” she said.
“As for his political views, they have evolved as he has matured, which is to his great credit. Surely everyone is entitled to evolve their views as time goes on?”
Before the Brexit clashes came to dominate his tenure, Mr Bercow caused a stir by saying he would not allow US President Donald Trump to address parliament during a planned visit.
Critics pointed out he had afforded Chinese President Xi Jinping the honour.
He also raised eyebrows in 2012 with a curious speech in front of Queen Elizabeth II, labelling her as a "kaleidoscope queen".
But his supporters say Mr Bercow has sought to modernise parliament, abandoning the speaker's traditional robes for a simple gown over a suit, and seeking to make it easier for female MPs with new babies.
Supporters say Mr Bercow has sought to modernise parliament, abandoning the speaker's traditional robes for a simple gown over a suit. Source: AAP
Critics say he is pompous and overly fond of the sound of his own voice.
One Conservative MP famously described him as a "stupid, sanctimonious dwarf".
With AFP and AAP.
