By Andrew Pierce for the Daily Mail
Published: 23:15 GMT, 22 March 2019 | Updated: 23:15 GMT, 22 March 2019
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John Bercow has infuriated Tory MPs by refusing to honour his promise to stand down – but now the decision over his future may be taken out of his hands.
Senior figures at Conservative Party headquarters have held detailed talks about fielding a candidate against the Commons Speaker at the next election.
To challenge a sitting Speaker would break with centuries of tradition, but they have given their blessing to the Conservative association in Buckingham, where Mr Bercow is the MP, to advertise for a new candidate.
John Bercow has infuriated Tory MPs by refusing to honour his promise to stand down – but now the decision over his future may be taken out of his hands because senior figures at Conservative Party headquarters have held detailed talks about fielding a candidate against him at the next election
Unlike most other MPs, Mr Bercow, first elected as the Tory MP for Buckingham in 1997, is an independent.
He left the Conservative Party when he was elected Speaker in 2009. It is a long-held tradition for the mainstream parties to respect the constituency of the Speaker by not standing against him.
Only the Greens, Ukip and an independent candidate stood against Mr Bercow in 2017, and he was elected with a huge 25,675 majority.
